Best Decade Tournament - 90s - Numbers wins!

[PryTo]

and actually DID skip me!

If you want that Heavy D track, I can pick something else.

[Heathen]

I pick:

The Lapse - Hide Your Daughters

[ABNorman]

and actually DID skip me!

If it gets to me and I'm not around do not wait for me.

[Norah]

Heather deserves better than this.

[ABNorman]

Dammit, she knew the risks.

[Heathen]

and actually DID skip me!

If it gets to me and I'm not around do not wait for me.

Yeah but I didn't think you'd have the heart to actually do it.

[ABNorman]

and actually DID skip me!

If it gets to me and I'm not around do not wait for me.

Yeah but I didn't think you'd have the heart to actually do it.

We're nothing if not brutal here.

[stip]

Heavy D is a somewhat minor figure in rap’s history but he enjoyed a legitimate smash with his 1991 album, Peaceful Journey, which had a couple of well-known pop-rap hits (Now That We Found Love and the sublime Is It Good To You). The entire album is pretty good, but my favorite track is a collaboration between Heavy D and a cavalcade of buddies, including old-school legends such as Kook G. Rap and Pete Rock, and up-and-comers (at the time) such as Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest.

These “posse” tracks tend to be a mixed bag, but this one is delightful due to a simple but effective premise: Each rapper gets to rhyme a verse and say whatever they want, but with the caveat that they’re not allowed to say any curse words. Each rapper attempts to pull it off using any number of metaphors and wordplay, while trying to one-up each other and get as close to breaking the rules as possible. It’s a great track, one that really underscores the sheer joy of standing around rapping with a bunch of friends. (I don’t rap, but I play a few instruments and presume it’s comparable to jamming with some good friends.) Even better, the rhymes are set to a fantastic sample, Hip Hug Her by Booker T and the MGs. Nothing serious or political here, just good clean fun.

Heavy D. & The Boyz feat. Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Grand Puba, Kool G Rap & Q-Tip - Don’t Curse

the fact that this song exists makes me happy

[numbers]

Heathen was basically doing Stip's job for him all weekend too you jerks.

[Heathen]

Heathen was basically doing Stip's job for him all weekend too you jerks.

Except better.

[ABNorman]

Now I'm convinced Heathen's a woman, since she told us to do something and then got mad when we did it.

"No, it's fine, do what you want to do, RM, I don't mind".

Ba-dum tish.

[PryTo]

Heavy D is a somewhat minor figure in rap’s history but he enjoyed a legitimate smash with his 1991 album, Peaceful Journey, which had a couple of well-known pop-rap hits (Now That We Found Love and the sublime Is It Good To You). The entire album is pretty good, but my favorite track is a collaboration between Heavy D and a cavalcade of buddies, including old-school legends such as Kook G. Rap and Pete Rock, and up-and-comers (at the time) such as Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest.

These “posse” tracks tend to be a mixed bag, but this one is delightful due to a simple but effective premise: Each rapper gets to rhyme a verse and say whatever they want, but with the caveat that they’re not allowed to say any curse words. Each rapper attempts to pull it off using any number of metaphors and wordplay, while trying to one-up each other and get as close to breaking the rules as possible. It’s a great track, one that really underscores the sheer joy of standing around rapping with a bunch of friends. (I don’t rap, but I play a few instruments and presume it’s comparable to jamming with some good friends.) Even better, the rhymes are set to a fantastic sample, Hip Hug Her by Booker T and the MGs. Nothing serious or political here, just good clean fun.

Heavy D. & The Boyz feat. Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Grand Puba, Kool G Rap & Q-Tip - Don’t Curse

the fact that this song exists makes me happy

Me, too. I wrestled with choosing a more "important" track, but couldn't leave this one off the table. (I also skipped artists already chosen by others, hence the lack of Nas, Dr. Dre, and Cypress Hill on my team.)

[epilogue]

So, is it actually me?

[ABNorman]

So, is it actually me?

Yup, BiH gave the skip go-ahead.

[epilogue]

So, is it actually me?

Yup, BiH gave the skip go-ahead.

[Heathen]

So, is it actually me?

Yup, BiH gave the skip go-ahead.

Yeah but...

[stip]

this probably goes without saying but we'll skip BiH on the back end, as well as Bundy and BRL. So after Dct, Pryto, and Heathen I think we're back to numbers

[epilogue]

Probably not an artist that will win any tie-breaker votes for my team, but one that means the world to me. He's the second on my team (after Waits) that I discovered post - 90s, but has burrowed deep into my musical heart.

This song, in particular, has knocked me flat. I first heard it when I saw him live in Massachusetts in the summer of 2003. The performance made me cry and the lyrics hit like a falling piano. I'd risked so much and thrown all of my shit into the back of my shitty car and driven to Stockbridge, my first time away from home on my own, and the furthest I'd ever been from my parents house for any extended period of time.

Anyway, you guys don't care. But you should check out his album, BLACK SHEEP. It's one of my top 5 albums of the 90s.


Martin Sexton - Glory Bound

[epilogue]

Here's where I have no idea...

[PryTo]