There have been lots of late nights and early mornings at the computer this week. The music getting me through has been some quintessential hip-hop hits.
I regret how long it took me to get into Gang Starr. Two champions of their craft teamed up and made a stack of classic records. It is Guru (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal) and DJ Premier (yes, that one). I didn’t know who it was at the time, but the Boiler Room soundtrack was my introduction to several of Preemo’s classics. I’m guessing Scott Caan was behind this.
Gang Starr “Full Clip”
We will just get right to it, the title comes from this one, obviously. Sure, Gang Starr is referencing Big L, but I’m going with the chorus sample of Guru being “One of the Best Yet”. Beyond “Flamboyant” on the Rawkus 20th comp, I’m not too familiar with Big L’s catalog. There are some great clips of him weaved into the video below though.
I love the way DJ Premier cobbles together a few different Guru classic lines into a cogent hook. The song “You Know My Steez” provides the lines “Do you wanna mess with this?” and “I’m nice like that” too.
GZA “Shadowboxin’/4th Chamber feat. Method Man”
Tying this one together with the last song, Method Man has the “You Know My Steez” sampled line in his verse that resonates in your head. I hadn’t seen a video for this one, but it actually combines the two Liquid Swords tracks “Shadowboxin’ and “4th Chamber” into one era appropriate Wu video.
I got familiar with this record while working late nights on a staging center assembly line. Typically employees were lined up by 3:53 ready to clock out (and not get docked the 15 minutes like leaving at 3:52). I lead a project that required running the 4 PC deployment lines at double our typical capacity. That meant overtime, no bosses around after 4, and the ability to play albums like this as loudly as those cheap headphone jack speakers would handle.
Little Brother “What I Came For”
Good timing for this one, as the 1 year anniversary of May the Lord Watch was yesterday (released Aug 20, 2019). That had me re-listening to the classic record a few times, re-discovering the rate of Phonte’s jewels per verse, looking up random NC law history (Locklears v Oxydines), and in general appreciating that the guys got back together and made more hits.
True facts: Searching my favorite lyric of this song returns my own design on Dribbble. It’s included below. Question, is there a word for the split second you stare in appreciation of art before realizing it is something you created? It is rare, but definitely my favorite feeling as a designer.
