Monday, April 24, 2006


# 6 - Common Sense - Resurrection
The first time I saw the video for "I Used To Love H.E.R." (back when Rap City was worth watching), like anyone else I was in awe at the conclusion. I had to listen closer the next time it came on. When the title song came out as a video he was 2 for 2, but my funds were still too slim to purchase the album. Summer 1998, a female I began courting had good tastes in music and she heavily recommended this album.

Insane wordplay all throughout, plus it was the first grown man hip-hop lp I heard with songs like "Thisisme", "Nuthin To Do", and "Book Of Life." He matured in a major way from the squeaky voiced misogynistic alcoholic that made "Can I Borrow A Dollar?" I believe it had to have some kind of an influence on "Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star", with Kweli admitting to Com being his favorite MC in that album's liner notes. In addition was a further continuation of the jazz rap subculture popularized by A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets amongst others, with No I.D. delivering stellar work behind the boards.

This was the album most fans would hold his future work up to. He's never released a weak lp since 94 (yes Im including "Electric Circus"), but this album was special because he started to take himself serious just entering adulthood.

Thursday, April 20, 2006


# 7 - Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

I remember Funkmaster Flex world premiering “Glaciers of Ice” in the spring of 1995, coming to school Monday and talking about it. The “Criminology” video was the illest thing in the world, I didn’t understand what Ghost was talking about but it sounded great. I bought the purple tape the day it came out, at (Nobody Beats) The Wiz if memory serves me right. “Knuckleheadz” made me think U-God had it.

Raekwon could spit nearly anything and it would sound ill. It took maybe 8 years for me to grasp “you got guns, got guns too/What up sun doo? Wanna battle for cash and see who sons who?” FOR REAL IT’S JUST SLANG RAP DEMOCRACY, HERE’S THE POLICY SLIDE OFF THE RINGS PLUS THE WALLABEES

“Rainy Dayz” has to be one of my top 10 rap songs ever

“Guillotine” and “Wu-Gambinos” are amongst the crew’s best posse cuts

Everyone swears and lives by Nas’ verse on “Verbal Intercourse”, not to take away anything from it but that song is about Ghost for me (infirmary niggas is screamin I GOT SHOOK). Really he’s the secret weapon of the album, Starks’ contribution to this masterpiece has gone greatly underappreciated over the years.

This is the album they worked all of their lives to make, let’s hope the forthcoming sequel is nearly as good as the Chef is hyping it up to be.

peace Connecticut