The late 80's and early 90's represented a period of both relentless creativity and intense change in the world of hip-hop. The genre was hitting what many fans see as its peak, a declaration that can be backed up by that era's advances in both production, namely a greater sophistication in terms of sampling, and MC'ing, with Rakim in particular ushering in a game-changing complexity and dexterity sadly missing from much of today's landscape. Alongside such rapid transformation and innovation, there of course appeared a good share of trends, some good, some over-hyped, some completely misguided. A lot of rappers struggled to find footing in some of these new fads, often clumsily taking blunt stabs in desperate attempts to either prolong their cache or for new artists, orchestrate their big break. And yes, respected crews weren't immune to these growing pains or blind chases for relevance; as you'll see here, lots of personal favorites of hip-hop geeks like myself had their share of shaky false-starts and confusing identity crises. So here is the first in what may be a small series: classic rap acts who first came out of the gate riding on images that fall on the complete opposite spectrum of what they would eventually become celebrated for.
Onyx - Ah, And We Do It Like This (1990)
Hearing the boys in Onyx, who's hyper-aggressive, speed-freaking, throat-lacerating nihilism in the early 90's proved equal parts harrowing and cartoonish, attempt what comes across as a sort-of half-hearted Leaders Of The New School impersonation on their debut single is quite unexpected, if not downright confusing. Sure, Sticky Fingaz had yet to enter the picture for this 12", with his darkly humorous, gonzo-grit providing the crew with their memorably rugged shtick, and maybe he slipped some weird shit in the rest of the boys' blunts when he joined up with them, maybe accounting for the complete change of face when Bacdafucup dropped (I remember hearing the guys were all psychedelics when that LP was recorded, though as tracks like "Throw Ya Gunz" can attest, "Incense And Peppermints" this was not). Regardless, "Do It Like This" just feels awkward for a crew that hadn't even hinted at the fury to come. It's probably best this one was left off the resume.
DMX - Born Loser (1993)
Before DMX became the late-period-Phil Spector of the rap world (an unstable recluse given to increasingly frequent bouts of bizarre behavior including animal abuse and federal-agent-impersonation) he attempted this forgotten single for Ruffhouse/Columbia in which he sounds startlingly reserved. "Loser" essentially offers nothing much more than a rather self-pitying dissection of everything going wrong in his karmic space or in essence, all the turmoil that causes him to exist as a self-proclaimed "born loser." At least there's a happy ending by the coda, although his whole "hey, now I have a record contract!" celebration that accounts for this change of heart would in hindsight ring as somewhat premature since this cut ended up collecting more dust than it did dough. Those trademark rabid-barks were still waaaay down the line.
Prince Rakeem (RZA) - "Deadly Venoms" (1991)
The Genius (GZA) - "Words From The Genius (Remix)" (1991)
While the RZA and GZA's pre-Wu endeavors are at this point familiar to even the Clan's most casual of followers, most of the lore surrounding this period seems to focus solely on the two falling victim to various record industry trappings in the form of the sort-of embarrassing cross-over pandering (most notoriously the GZA's "Come Do Me," an attempt at New Jack Swing loverman swagger best left erased from everyone's memory) that was ubiquitous at the dawn of the 90's. What most people don't speak of is how there were some definite gems in this brief period of noticeable growing pains. Sure, "Deadly Venoms," a b-side to RZA's maligned "Ooh, We Love You Rakeem" 12", is a little too smooth coming from the man who would soon become synonymous with a certain uber-gritty, no-fidelity production charm, but it's a rare little keeper, while his remix for the GZA's title track for his early 90's Cold Chillin' LP has the charm of early Large Professor with hints of his own emerging production prowess, not to mention a certain "watch your step kid" hook we'd all know by heart soon enough.
3 more MCs below the fold...
CIA - "My Posse" (1987)
This Dr. Dre-produced banger of pre-NWA RUN-DMC/Beastie Boys worship from three future staples of West Coast hip-hop (Ice Cube, superproducer Sir Jinx, and K-Dee of Cube's proteges Da Lench Mob) is surprisingly deft even in its aura of youthful clumsiness. Cube's overcaffeinated shout rap exerts a certain charming absurdity that would turn legitimately threatening by the time Straight Outta Compton rolled around, and it's amusing to hear Jinx drop some choppy verses before giving space to an expertly placed Beastie Boys vocal snatch on the hook. Yo Dre, KICK IN THE BASS!
Atban Klann (Black Eyed Peas) - "Puddles Of H2O" (1994)
So yeah, the Black Eyed Peas once had something approaching credibility, even around 1998 when their mediocre-but-pleasant faux-Tribe debut hit the world; their gratingly ubiquitous and soullessly insufferable Top 40 domination was still a few years down the line. This even earlier incarnation under the banner Atban Klann, from their failed tenure on, of all labels, Eazy E's Ruthless Records, strives for a quasi-Heiroglyphics vibe that shockingly isn't all that bad. Good job guys? The dudes in this incarnation who didn't survive the morph into BEP are still missing-in-action to my knowledge, and this cut almost threatens to undo some of the damage Will.I.Am and Apl.de.Ap have committed against people with the ability to hear in the past ten years or so.
Bonus Video:
UMC's - "Time To Set It Straight" (1994)
In a bit of reverse identity shifting, a slew of whimsical, eccentric, and laid-back MC's from the more restrained early 90's period suddenly feared being called out as "soft" in the new post-Wu/post-Chronic landscape. In one of the more ill-advised cases, post-Daisy Age jesters the UMC's abandoned the goofy, cheesy-yet-endearing levity of their 1991 classics "Blue Cheese" and "One To Grow On," for some half-assed Das EFX-isms that were already passe even for Das EFX by the time this clunker from their sophomore album Unleashed rolled around. Not much to recommend on this one; not awful, but awfully faceless for a group that in '91 chased around a weird blue monster-puppet in their video for "Cheese."
What a magnificent post!
It makes me think about the "Horror Hop" thing that Def Jam was trying to do in the 90s. that still cracks me up, especially Bushwick Bill's "Phantom of The Rapra"...
Posted by: Arvo | August 09, 2011 at 07:35 AM