Dead End Kidz

A: Young Black Teenagers
(Q: What controversial 90’s group was led by another MC called Kamron?)

No question, Cam’ron is a unique figure in hip-hop, setting fashion trends and coining new lingo as easy as Stephon Marbury macks Knick interns. Not too long ago though, the name Kamron signified someone entirely different to hip-hop fans than the Diplomats‘ Killa-in-Chief.

The Young Black Teenagers were a quintet of kids from New York produced by Hank Shocklee and co-signed by Public Enemy, who also happened to be not black at all. Four of the YBT’s, including the dreadlocked, gold-fronts sporting Kamron were white; the remaining member was Latino.

Public Enemy’s camp was no stranger to provoking controversy, so their endorsement of this group was a bit of a puzzle. Were Chuck D & co. staging an elborate protest over the commercialization or were they just trying to cash in on its spread to suburbia? More importantly…were these YBT’s joking or what? Radio deejays and video show hosts weren’t amused; they gave the group a hostile reaction that never really subsided until the group disbanded in 1994.

YBT’s may be a punchline now, but their one hit song “Tap The Bottle & Twist The Cap” still (kinda, maybe, sorta) knocks. Check it out:

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“Son of Kurtis, brother of Rush…”

A: Kurtis Blow
(Q: Before Rev. Run was the King of Rock, he was the “son” of what old school MC?)

If you think about it, Rev. Run’s had it rough. He’s always been Russell Simmons‘ little brother; that couldn’t have been easy on young Joseph. When DJ Run started deejaying and rapping, he didn’t even get his own stage name at first. Russell managed Kurtis Blow, Joseph (aka Run) was his DJ, and he was known as simply “Son of Kurtis Blow”.

Ouch.

Maybe that’s why, despite all the success he’s had as one-third of the greatest rap group ever, he’s never seemed satisfied or been able to gracefully walk away.

So, for the foreseeable future, we can expect the ill-advised solo albums to keep coming. (Run is working on an album with Kid Rock for 2008). Watch, soon one of his teenage sons will also try to rap (JoJo? or Diggy?)… Don’t be surprised to see Rev. Run bogart the mic then too.

Unfortunately, not much video survives from Run’s “Son of…” days, but Kurtis and Run did rap together in Krush Groove years later. (By the way, we know the title of the post quotes DMC instead of Run, but we just liked the way it sounded.)

 

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“Get used to one style, you know I might switch…”

A: Rhyme Syndicate
(Q: What rap crew was folk-rock singer Everlast in before he jumped around with House of Pain?)

Everlast may be a mellow acoustic guitar-playing dude now, but in his beginnings as an MC, he was rowdier than Roddy Piper.

Before his incarnation as a thugged-out frontman for House of Pain, Everlast was street-certified by membership in a pre-Coco (but not pre-pimpin’) Ice-T’s Rhyme Syndicate. Okay, with members as diverse as Low Profile and Divine Styler, Rhyme Syndicate was actually more of a motley crew than a G-Unit, but soft they were not.

Late Eighties Hip-hop wasn’t quite ready for the rugged-neva-smoove Irish MC, but by 1992, House of Pain had rap in a four leaf cloverlock.

What Ya Wanna Do

 

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Gimmie a Beat

A: James Brown’s “Funky Drummer”
(Q: What is the most frequently jacked soul sample in hip-hop history?)

Despite being only a minor hit when it was released in 1970, “Funky Drummer” (aka “The Funky Drummer”) has gone on to become one of the most recognizable pieces of music ever. The drum performance on the song, particularly the solo towards the end, was apparently gut-bucket enough for James Brown to name the whole track after it. He was the original man to “give the drummer some.”

Starting in the 80’s, literally hundreds of hip-hop songs -hits and misses alike- have used the 8-bar drum break as their rhythmic foundation. Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” and N.W.A’s “Straight Outta Compton” are two prime examples.

Since hip-hop has proven to be the driving force in pop music for at least the past 15 years, quite a few pop/rock tracks have sampled drummer Clyde Stubblefield’s remarkable solo, from Madonna to Sublime to Pizzicato Five. The sad part is that since he was only a session drummer on the track, Stubblefield has not seen one dime of the lucrative royalties generated by (over)use of the sample. Now that is funky.

“…sound of The Funky Drummer”

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The HHLT

A: B.I.G.-Faith-2Pac
(Q: What was the first public beef-related Hip-Hop love triangle?)

What’s beef? How about when a one-time friend claims on record that he bagged your wife?

The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac became friends in 1993 while Pac was filming Above The Rim in New York City. However, a year later amid the confusion and recriminations surrounding an attempt on his life and his involvement in an ongoing rape trial, Pac’s friendship with Biggie had soured. TuPac’s opening salvo upon release was the blistering dis track “Hit ‘Em Up.”

It seems that since “Hit ‘Em Up” the Hip Hop Love Triangle (HHLT) has only grown in popularity. The HHLT’s in recent memory have ranged from the ironic (Faith-B.I.G.-Lil’ Kim) to the incosequential (Nelly-Ashanti-Irv Gotti) to the bizarre (Young Buck-Trina-Lil’ Wayne).

Of course the most important HHLT post-B.I.G.-Faith-2Pac was the infamous Jay-Z-Carmen-Nas triangle. Arguably the most important tri-person dalliance in Hip-Hop history, this love beef gave birth to some undenialbly classic material. The question of which dis track is better – “Takeover” or “Ether“- still leads to many a heated argument among Hip-hop nerds.

Even before the Nas/Jay battle went public it seems as if many of Jigga’s best songs refer, if only subliminally, to this greatest of all HHLT’s. (Listen to “Big Pimpin’“, “Get Your Mind Right“, and/or “Soon You’ll Understand” and decide for yourself.) For your convenience, we’ve posted the ultimate ode to HHLT’s below.

Is That Your Chick

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Maury’s Native Tongue

A: “Stakes Is High”
(Q: In what Native Tongues video did Maury “Paternity Test” Povich first demonstrate his commitment to the urban audience?)

In the late 90’s, just before The Maury Show took on it’s current format (“You are NOT the father!”) Maury Povich demonstrated his interest in the urban audience by appearing in the video for De La Soul’s single “Stakes Is High,” from the album of the same name.

Released during the summer of 1996, Stakes Is High is De La’s fourth full-length album. The album received mostly strong reviews, but as happens with too much good music nowadays it was not much of a commercial success. “Stakes Is High” was the first single and video from the album and was produced by Jay Dilla (RIP).

Ironically, the album as a whole and the song in particular lamented the commercialization of hip-hop music and it’s increasingly trivial, sensationalistic themes. It seems Posdnous didn’t know the direction Maury would take, subsequent to the host’s appearence in the video. The show’s seemingly endless stream of urban young ladies who all have a dubious knowledge of prophylactics and children of equally dubious paternity, seems diametrically opposed to the themes of Stakes Is High and the mores of De La Soul as a group.

Although it’s doubful that Maury and Dave still keep in touch, the album and single are certified hip-hop classics.

Stakes Is High

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Watch Your Head

A: “Hey Papi”
(Q: In what video does Karrine “Superhead” Steffans make an infamous cameo?)

For all the hype about “video vixen” Karrine Steffans, her videography is shockingly skimpy.

Steffans’ tell-all book Confessions of a Video Vixen promised an in-depth exposé of the rap music video world, from an industry insider. The book left little doubt that Steffans was a popular companion to hip-hop’s elite, but as much of a fixture as she allegedly was on video sets, it seems that most of her work was done ended up on the cutting room floor. (Yeah yeah, we know: excluding that flick she shot with porn star Mr. Marcus).

Our survey of the wildest videos in rap history (“Big Pimpin’“, “Shake It Fast“, “Tip Drill”, “Holla Holla“, etc) found only two clear on-screen music video appearances by Steffans: Mystikal’s “Danger” & Jay-Z’s “Hey Papi“.

The Origin of “Superhead”

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Forever My Lady (in common)

A: Al B. Sure!
(Q: Diddy shares an executive producer credit and a babymama with what 90’s R&B idol?)

Diddy (back when he was “Puff Daddy”) and Al B. Sure! both took part in the creation of Jodeci’s classic debut album. They also happen to both have children with model Kim Porter.

Al’s solo debut album from 1988, In Effect Mode, sold more than two million copies, topping the Billboard R&B chart for seven straight weeks. The album included his memorable “Nite and Day” single. Al received numerous Grammy and American Music Award nominations, and won an AMA for Best New R&B Artist. He also received several Soul Train Award nominations, and won the award for Best New Artist. He also won several New York Music Awards. In addition, Al’s 900 phone line was third in generating revenue following those for New Kids on the Block and Run-DMC.

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“Girls around the world no need to be skeezin”

A: EPMD
(Q: What rap act was the first to strike it rich with a hit called “Gold Digger”?)

Sixteen years before Kanye hollered “we want prenup“, EPMD was keeping it real about mercenary groupies and schooling hip-hop’s budding millionaires on the finer points of prenuptial agreements and division of property laws. Allegedly inspired by expensive experiences with vindictive babymamas and scheming skeezers, Erick and Parrish wrote their “Golddigger” in 1990. “Golddigger” became one of their biggest hits on the classic Business As Usual album, which also featured the debut of EPMD’s most successful protege, Redman.

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High Potent-[M]C

A: High Potent
(Q: Before he was a solo artist, what was the name of Jay-Z’s first rap group?)

As a fledgling rapper, Jay-Z was tutored by his neighborhood homie, Jaz aka Jaz-O aka Big Jaz. Together they formed a relatively short-lived group called High Potent.

Observing Jaz’s experiences gave a teenaged Shawn Carter valuable lessons in the art and business of music. Jay-Z got his start on recordings for first High Potent in the late 80’s and then in the early 90’s for Original Flavor. However, the pair had a falling-out early in Jay’s solo career and no longer speak/collaborate.

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