ReGenesis

This month has been littered with blessings and burdens. My car spun out and rolled over leaving my wife and daughter bruised but not broken. We walked away with no real injuries to speak of . The following week was spent watching God remove obstacle after obstacle restoring our faith and Christian confidence daily. Triple the money on the trade in offer 8 months ago, approved for a car loan in less than ten minutes with a lower interest rate by 3%. With all this going on I realized that I still had a purpose. I can not go back to sleep.

Lupe Fiasco - Daydreamin'

I find in Lupe what the a large portion of the game is missing, imagination and sensitivity. He is not the most charismatic, energetic or swagtastic but he is one of the most lyrically out of the box mc's around. I put emcee's (and almost everything) in classes. Their is the class of 87/88 Kane,KRS,Rakim, 94 Biggie, Jay-z, Nas, Outkast , 03/04 Ye,50,Game . Then there is the everybody after that class without diverting too much off subject there 5 maybe 10 truly talented spitters since 05. And when I look at them all Lupe resonates the most with me. I previously mentioned his sensitivity, I don't mean in the whiny connotation often applied to it but the open awareness to the plight of others connotation. He speaks for the disenfranchise african, the latchkey kid, the skateboarder and so many more. Like Kanye he is an everyman emcee. He is not without flaws and faults, one in particular is his beat selection. He often chooses awkward off putting tracks for the average beat connoisseur. His mix tape beat selections don't suffer from this as much as his official releases do. I however usually find the rhymes so enchanting that I can endure the beat. Understandably others may not have that kind of patience for his offerings.

I can not fairly or intelligently critique Jay Electronica because I have not given the attention a review deserves. I found that he is a lyrical beast on the few offerings but as I mentioned in the previous post reminds me of GZA. For all the brilliance of GZA's opus Liquid Swords I think I may have listened to it four times in 14 years because of his voice. For all of the mix tapes of Jay Elec floating in cyberspace I have not completely listened to one. I must give credit to the producer side of him as an artist. He is a dope producer from the joints he has done for himself, Nas and others. I will report further once I have taken some songs to the wood shed.

"DEAR MOLESKINE" JAY ELECTRONICA

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I tried to find the studio version of this but there isn't a complete one. But this is my favorite joint among the few Jay Elec cuts I have listened to. I tried to give examples of them spittin' and then comin' with extra imagination kind of stuff. My thing with Jay is the voice just throws me a little. His voice is in that GZA family unique but annoying at times. Without a doubt both of these brothers are crazy nice.

Lupe Fiasco (Twilight Zone) (Lyrics)

Jay Electronica - So What You Saying (produced by J Dilla)

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My man put me on to this cat and got my ire when he said this is Lupe Fiasco but better. My response was wait for the wolf and it has taken two months here it is.

A Tribe called quest - Scenario

AT ODDs RD 2 (A Tribe called quest - check the rhime)

EPMD Feat. K-Solo & Redman - The Head Banger

Here we have the two groups with their respective crews. I must admit that I liked HeadBanger better by just a smidge. The importance of these post are beyond words. These tunes offer a window into my adolescence.

AT Odds RD 2 (EPMD - So Wat Cha Sayin')

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1988-89 are widely recognized as two of the greatest years in Hip Hop. Those years gave us Epmd and A Tribe Called Quest, two iconic groups. My man Dre was a die hard fan of the brother's from the Boondocks and I swore by Queens finest. Here are samples of their finest work IMO. Enjoy.

What f0llows was initially a response to a friend but I decided to share it:

Jay Dee didn't come in until the last two joints starting with Beats,Rhymes and Life. He was a co-producer hence the Ummah (he,Q-tip, and Ali collectively). I think they were most influential aside from maybe four or five other groups in Hip Hop, Tribe was definitely more influential than EPMD as far as style, sound and vibe. As far as better rappers I am torn. Because when you look back at it only one of the four mc's in both of these groups made the top 50. Q-tip # 25. Here is a short list of accolades related to the above mentioned Low End Theory: Among the accolades awarded to the album were:

5 Mic Album award from The Source (1990)
#2 in Ego Trip's Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980-98 (1999)
#53 in Blender's 100 Greatest American Albums of All time (2002)
#56 in Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (2003)
#154 in Rolling Stone's Best 500 Albums of All Time (2003)
Spin Magazine
#32 in Top 90 Albums of the 90s (1999)
#38 in Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years (2005)
#87 in 100 Alternative Albums (1995)

All around I think they were more diverse lyrically and conceptually. The production was better. This is one of those beatmaker v. producer discussions that will go into perpetuity. Just my thoughts.

You had mentioned the Hit Squad being better all around than the Native Tongues. Hit Squad(EPMD,Red,K-solo,Das EFX even Keith Murray) v. (Dela,Jungle Brothers,Black Sheep, Latifah,LONS and ATCQ) that's another debate.

Martin Lawrence Def Comedy Jam

Eddie Murphy on Boxing

Martin Lawrence - Jokes About Boxing - Audio

At Odds Til We Even Rd 1 (Eddie Murphy on singers)

My friend Dre and I have been friends for 25 years and over the course of that friendship we have agreed to disagree on many subjects. We may often agree that someone is the greatest in their field but the point of contention is usually who is number 2. For example we both agree that Richard Pryor is the greatest comedian ever but we split on who is a greater contender Eddie or Martin. My stance is that Eddie has it in all three categories, stand up, tv, and film. My brother Dre feels Martin is the greater stand up, Eddie the greater film star and I'm unsure of his opinion of tv Eddie. Here is a series of clips. I could not find video of Martin's HBO video which is finest stand up. But what I have is pretty good. I havd the same issue with Eddie's SNL footage . So I excluded the TV portion. Also when you see the clips, I feel those who know us will see the influence and reflection of each of them in us. You get a glimpse of why I gravitated to Eddie and he Martin.