Gas is between about $1.75 and $1.85 around Boston. Katie and I went to a wedding on Long Island last weekend, and prices were kissing $2.00 for the low octane stuff. These days, I’m pretty psyched that my ancient SUV isn’t working, because I couldn’t afford to drive it around. My ’89 Jeep gets the same mileage out of it’s 18 gallon tank as Katie’s 10 gallon Accord. Maybe it’s time to retire the beast…

Anyway, has anyone ever been out to Long Island? That place is a hell hole. Traffic was a severe bitch, and everything required a trip on some parkway, expressway, or four-lane super street. The only good thing was that our hotel was 10 miuntes from the Hicksville IKEA, and just further down the road, I had my first Krispy Kreme doughnut. DAMN! Those things are definitely worth the hype. Katie told me that the first time her sister had one, she ate an entire dozen. Then she puked. I kept my numbers down accordingly…

It’s almost a given these days that people who haven’t gotten into hip-hop will have constructed a defense of sorts to use when they meet someone who is a fan. There are so many well-known examples of gimmicky, shallow, and just plain bad hip-hop songs that have become popular for one reason for another. These songs not only discourage potential listeners, they provide a clearly visible symbol for detractors of rap music to construct their arguments upon. It’s one of the frustrations of hip-hop fans that they have to constantly try to validate their taste by trying to fight through these arguments. This got me thinking about the albums on the other side of the spectrum: which albums are ones which I’d gladly display as good examples of the positive side of hip-hop? So I decided to pick a list of eight albums. For those looking to give hip-hop an honest try, I present you with this list, in no particular order.

A Tribe Called Quest — The Low End Theory

This album would also go on most people’s list of all-time classic albums. It’s accessible, with catchy and danceable beats. It has memorable lyrics, and Q-Tip’s voice goes a long way towards drawing the listener in. What’s more, it (like other Tribe albums) grows on the listener, sometimes for years. This is perhaps the best example of that strange phenomenon in hip-hop whereby a perfect confluence of wording, music, and timing can create an incredibly resounding moment which must be experienced in the right setting to be understood, yet seems to stick with almost anyone who has listened to that particular piece. These moments are the kind of thing that frustrate many hip-hop fans the most, because they make no sense and often seem rather ridiculous when explained, but become a part of a shared heritage when experienced. Cameos by Leaders of the New School and Brand Nubian are an added bonus. (look, kids, it’s Busta Rhymes when he wasn’t a freak!) The politics are relatively mainstream, in stark contrast to a lot of their contemporaries (see: Public Enemy, X-Clan), which makes this a perfect “gateway” album for new listeners.

The Pharcyde — Bizarre Ride to the Pharcyde

I can still remember when I picked up this album (always a good sign). More often than not, I’d see this album stuck in the midst of the collection of some rock or pop fan, nestled between Beck and Stone Temple Pilots. The strength of the storytelling makes its appeal universal. This album is also unique in that it takes hip-hop’s machismo and attitude and turns it on its head. Where most rappers will go to great lengths to advertise their sexual prowess and appeal, they tell a bittersweet story about their failure to catch the eyes of their potential mates. When other rappers spit homophobic lyrics and violent ghetto tales, the Pharcyde instead describe in hilarious detail getting caught in some of the most embarrassing situations you could imagine. They also offer unique perspectives on the familiar themes of the police and smoking weed.

Public Enemy — Fear of a Black Planet

While most would argue that “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” is in fact their breakthrough album, I think that Public Enemy’s third effort offers the best combination of politics, production, and accessibility. One of the things that struck me about this album is how the production is structured to keep building the momentum and power of the music, continuing for several tracks and inevitably culminating in one of several hip-hop classics: “Welcome to the Terrordome” being the first and “Fight the Power” the last. The interplay of Flavor Flav and Chuck D adds remarkably to this effect, with Flav providing the release, and setting the stage for another eventual tour de force by his more serious counterpart. In addition, the sheer endurance and consistency of this album secures it a spot on almost any list of rap’s all-time greatest hits.

Heavy D — Big Tyme

Heavy D always put a great-sounding dance track as the first track on many of his albums, and “We Got Our Own Thang” is no exception. It marks this album as immediately recognizable, from the first second (see: the Humpty Dance), for anyone who listened to hip-hop in the early nineties. Heavy has the rare gift of being a talented lyricist and tunesmith all at once. While some tracks on this album were assured of being hits, based solely on catchy production, he also leaves the listener with long strings of lyrics that cannot be forgotten (“Height: 6-3, style: swing beat,…” and so on). The cameo line-up of “Don’t Curse”, which appeared on his next album, shows that his appeal across a wide spectrum of hip-hop listeners is universal: Kool G Rap, Grand Puba, Pete Rock, CL Smooth, Q-Tip, Big Daddy Kane.

Organized Konfusion — Stress: The Extinction Agenda

It would be remiss to compile any list of hip-hop albums and leave out representation of the darker side of the culture. Organized Konfusion’s second album is extremely important because it harnesses so effectively the frustration and tension that accompanies life in cultures where hip-hop is a central component. Because it centers on the causes, instead of the effects, of this tension, this album stands out, and did not recieve nearly the amount of critical acclaim which it deserved. Nevertheless, Pharoahe Monche’s re-tracing of the flight path of a stray bullet is nearly worth the price of the album by itself. As an added bonus, there are at least three tracks hidden among the general gloom of this album that, by contrast, radiate optimism and a sense of peace, showing that OK’s prose is as wide as it is deep.

The Roots – Things Fall Apart

It’s a hard call to choose just one Roots album because they have so much great material, but their most recent release has to be the best mix of lyricism, catchy hooks, and great overall production released in hip-hop in the past few years. The message to the Roots is so subtle that it is sometimes hard to find between all of the memorable one-liners (“we got a doctorate/in cold rockin’ it…) and get-it-stuck-in-your-head basslines (Dynamite, 100% Dundee, The Next Movement), at least one of which has found its way into a recent Volkswagen commercial. However, while Chuck D. will come straight out with his opinions, Black Thought and Malik choose to let their choice of specific words and topics speak to their mindsets. As an example, compare the rather mundane lyrical content of What They Do to the hilarious and, well, brutal caricatures found in the video. Perhaps the most interesting autobiographical element of Roots albums is the mini-diary enclosed in the jacket of each album.

De La Soul – Buhloone Mind State

Again, it’s a close call which of De La’s albums is the best representation of their genius. After some thought, I have to go with their most subdued work. If I had to convince someone of the incredible power and cleverness of some of the better vocalists in hip-hop, the first person I would quote would be Pos. Some of the double entendres and extended metaphors which he utilizes to make his point simply boggle the mind (to wit, check Stakes Is High, arguably his most impressive performance: “gun control means using both hands in my land…” or “neighborhoods are just hoods/cause nobody’s neighbors/just animals, surviving/with that animal behavior” or “these brothers no longer talk shit/hey yo, these ni**as LIVE it”). His autobiographical turn on “I Am I Be” is about as melancholy and personal as hip-hop gets, providing a counterpoint to their hyper-kinetic first two releases. Great stuff.

Mos Def – Black on Both Sides

This is the most recent release on the list, just as Mos Def seems to be the brightest hope for the future of interesting hip-hop these days. Mos Def’s lyrical style is reminiscent of Posdnuos’s, so I suppose it is fitting that he got his first break in the form of a cameo on Stakes Is High. This album is stacked from one end (Hip Hop, a very personal commentary about the artist’s personal relationship with the music) to the other (Mr. Nigga, a series of powerful insights about race and racism in the 90’s). The latter song is constructed so carefully that the lyrics almost read like a well-written essay. The thesis of the essay is never stated outright, but the message is clear to even the most inexperienced listener of hip-hop, a combination that makes this track universal to any person in any era. Add the seamless storytelling on Ms. Fat Booty to these two tracks, and you have three songs which could easily be hip-hop anthems. The remainder of this solid album is just gravy.

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Email: Ben Schrag

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Last updated: February 23, 2001.

I meant the AI for your own troops sucked. The pathing is a little off, where I find units that were told to go someplace just sitting a their original place a minute ago. When attacked they just sit there, too instead of retreating or moving in range to attack back. I believe in earlier CnCs you had the option of setting aggression levels for your troops…

Oh yeah, I’ve read Snow Crash. My first Stephenson book. Been reading the Manifold trilogy by Stephen Baxter. Some good ideas in them, some kinda neat ideas but never fully realized…

Hmm, that’s interesting… I guess the question is then whether playing vs. humans is worth it, if the AI is that bad. Have you tried MOO3 yet? What’s your impression of that? By “AI”, do you mean the computer player’s tactics or do you mean the pathing, etc for you to control your OWN units? For the former, it won’t matter vs. humans…for the latter, it could be a showstopper I suppose.

Hey, if you have something where I can try out the game, I’d be interested to see how it plays. Or you can tell me where you got it, heheh…speaking of which Mark, have you read Neal Stephenson’s “Snow Crash”? Fun book, I will send it to you if ya want.

If you are really a “tactics” person you should boot up starcraft, go to battle.net and look for a “use map settings” game called micro wars. it gives you and your opponent each an army which are very different and you battle it out…then it switches the armies so it’s fair…so for example you have a battle of your 6 marines vs. my 3 zealots or something…once that was over, it would give me the 6 marines and you the zealots…and it keeps score…i think there’s like 24 different levels…some of the matchups are really interesting to play…

🙂

Actually, the scenarios where you can’t build a base are the ones that appeal the most to me. I like knowing that it is definitely possible to win with the right tactics given the troops you have. Building a base, on easy difficulty, usually means I’ll have a long game with an assured win since I tend to over build. On hard difficulty or vs. real people, it usually means I will lose. This basically for me makes the game one about maximizing effiency in building your base, and that is not the game I’m interested in.

Thinking about it more, I think the ideal maps for me are ones where you and your opponent have the exact or very similar armies and it’s all up to your battle tactics who wins.

Anyway, I’ve got some bad news… CnC:Generals requires a serial number to play online, much like *craft meaning we all need legit copies if we are to meet online. I did see a LANcraft type of thing for CnC:G, but I *think* it only allows direct connection between two computers. We’d have to play allied vs. computer AI for that to be even remotely fair to me. I’ve tried the first couple of missions last night, and, frankly, I’m not sure I’d want to pay money for this game. Sure it looks pretty, but the AI doesn’t exist or at least is a step backwards from Warcraft 3, so much of a step that I am frustrated at how much micromanaging I need to do for each freakin ground troop.

As for Jet, yeah… one may respect his beliefs, but the pudding is in the cake. I don’t think his movies make it clear enough the idea of karma, or in the case of Kiss of the Dragon the bad guy is so bad that it makes for an uninteresting character. I’d like to see a movie where everyone just has motives, as in real life, and people’s goals will often conflict, not some sort of artificially created black and white world.

So, I’m finally posting. Life’s been hectic this week; we had Intel in for three days and today I was supposed to go to IBM but the snowstorm made me reconsider. So I can catch up on the “Real World” re-run watching.

As far as Jet Li goes, I guess the whole motivation thing seems weak to me. On the other hand, there’s plenty of actors I like who have questionable personal activities (i.e. they are Scientologists, etc). So that shouldn’t matter that much. However, if the Buddhism made him, for example, stop administering dragon kicks to peoples’ heads in his movies, then he’d be going to far. All religions agree on the dragon kick. How making movies connects with Buddhism I’d be interested to hear about…

Hey Mark, I checked out the C&C: Generals home page and it looks pretty interesting. People on the forums always say it’s well balanced, which I think is the most important thing about an RTS game. We should definitely play that or MOO online sometime. I just wish I could go back and play the one C&C game where you could make dogs…I’d love to run over someone’s base with a rabid pack of german shepherds…good stuff. The last installment I played briefly was Red Alert 2. Didn’t ever get into it. I hate the single-player missions where they don’t let you make a base…so you actually have to “conserve” for forces rather than being able to make them shoot each other for fun. Let me know if you are interested in screwing around and learning it together online. What about George money? Is he Internet-accessible up on the mount?

Won our last b-ball game last night…yay for forfeits!

Hey Brandon, shouldn’t you change your name to Big John John?

In the car CD right now: X-Clan’s “To the East, Blackwards”. Just read the song titles (“Funkin Lesson”, “Verbal Milk”, Grand Verbalizer, What Time Is It?”, “Operation Snatchback”) and you know it’s money.

Ya’ll look the same…

Actually, Mark posted the link. He’s the dangerous one.

Even though I haven’t seen “Cradle 2 Tha Grave,” I have to wonder (as you did, B) how he plans to educate the West about buddhism through it. Were buddhist teachings tattooed on DMX? I saw a “making the video” with DMX on it. The director said something like:

“Yeah, now we are just waiting for X to show up. We usually set up, let him know that we’re ready for him, and he’ll drop by when he feels like it. We might wait 4 or 5 hours, but when he gets here, he’s focused. On top of his game.”

I got the impression that DMX couldn’t really be bothered to attend his own video shoot. Once he showed up, he repeatedly referred to himself in the third person and sounded more like a charicature of a modern-day Mr. T than anything else. I guess it sells records.

Schrag… you’ve been quiet. Is that ankle keeping you at home (watching re-runs of The Real World)?

Mark, had trouble with the new categories again. Any ideas?

Better try to get some work done.

Days until Hawaii: 15

So Chris, I read that link. Whatever; that’s his bag and that’s great and all. The question as to whether or not that should matter could be applied to movies like say The Omega Code, where the agenda is so apparent (obviously the whole point of the story, but they kinda pushed it, unlike something like the whole Indiana Jones series). I can’t recall if I actually thought it was a good movie, but the whole point of the movie basically annoyed me. This of course would bring up the point of why I’d go to such a thing in the first place as it’s content wasn’t unknown. In some respects, when one is at the point of going to movies done by specific actors, directors, producers, or whatever, one already knows and accepts whatever this person presents. So, yes, as an educated consumer, all I care is that the movie I go to see because of “x” person’s efforts is good. The dilemma; now that I am aware of Jet’s motivation or whatnot, I cannot for the life of me see any influence of this in Cradle. So in this specific case, his motivation matters only in the sense that I feel inadequate for not having drawn a greater insight from watching DMX and Jet pummeling people.

So, read this: http://www.jetli.com/jetli/jet/jet_religion_why.php?bw=high

I knew about this a while ago, but never really put much thought into it. My initial reaction was backlash only because it’s religion, but I think over the last couple of years I’ve since learned to be more tolerant. Do you guys think Jet’s motivations matters at all? As consumers, do all we care about are good movies?