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There's no real thread tying these together, but these three are integral to my hip-hop collection. There are so many more(and often on teh same records...), but we're doing three tracks, so three tracks it is.
Erik B and Rakim - As the Rhyme Goes On
Rakim is one of hip-hop's best flowists, and Eric B was responsible for some great tracks I still throw in a set today. Simple and solid, his framework gives Rakim a place to let it all pour out, and he does.
He's working at a time when new rhymes were easier to find and technical fast pace delivery wasn't in vogue, but it's still seriously compelling shit.
KRS1 - Sound of da Police
Mainly? Because it fucking rocks.
To this day this is still one of the most exciting tracks I've heard, and when I first heard it it all but shot me in the face.
The instantly recognisable 'woop woop' chorus will be familiar to almost all, and rightly so. It's an iconic lyrical delivery, the trademark KRS raggafied delivery, and it comes together with the boom-bap beat to make a sound harder than some of the most thugged out shit.
And it's about cops!
Growing up with a practical distrust of the 5-0, I related heavily to the 'just another gang' sentiment.
Wu Tang Clan - Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nothin Ta Fuck With
The whole first album is essential listening for any rap historian, butpicking on... this was the singalong classic when I was wee, second only to M.E.T.H.O.D. Man. It also uses the best sounding click samples I have heard to this day. RZA takes main mic on it, flanked by Method Man and Inspectah Deck. Predictably enough given the lyrics, the song has become a bit of a Wu anthem.
I do really like some more recent hip hop as well, but as my youth fades less tunes seem to grab me as assertively by the testicles as the above. |
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