In the midst of colossal battles between juggernaut artists and a seemingly endless barrage of music to be consumed every month, it can be very fun, and slightly overwhelming, to keep up with the quick flow of the rap world. I am grateful for the projects I am able to really take the time to digest, but oftentimes I feel I am forced to play catch-up with everything that flies under my radar.
Being the overwhelmed rap fan that I am, one of my favorite pastimes is to simply relax and listen to all the rap songs from my childhood, the ones that made me fall in love with the genre. Whether it be "World of Entertainment (WOE Is Me)" by the Jurassic 5, or "Walk Like a Warrior" by Dead Prez and Krayzie Bone, these are songs that ground me within the rap world, just as they beckoned me to it in the first place.
As hip-hop turns 52, I felt it only fitting to look back, way back, at a few times that the rappers themselves decided to reflect on the sounds of their youth, and how they fell in love with the art form they made their own.
7 rap hits from the past that still haven't lost their magic
1. Bust The Facts by Ultramagnetic MCs (1992)
Four years after their infamously classic debut, Critical Beatbown (1988), this Bronx collective consisting of the core members of Kool Keith, Ced-Gee, TR Love, and DJ Moe Love released their follow-up entitled Funk Your Head Up.
Nostalgia is present at multiple points in the album, such as in the "Blast from the Past" interlude near the opening, which is composed of an assortment of sound bites from the group's 1980s hits, such as "Ego Trippin'" and "Break North."
However, towards the middle of the album, the listener is treated to "Bust The Facts," which to me can be read as an ode to the first recorded era of hip-hop, as well as the pre-recorded park jam era of the 1970s, which was the backdrop to the group's childhood.
Musically, "Bust The Facts" features various samples that harken back to this bygone but pivotal era for rap music. This includes Double Trouble saying "Here's a little story that must be told," in the classic hip-hop film Wild Style (1982), directed by Charlie Ahearn, as well as the "go off, go off" chant said by the Treacherous Three at the beginning of Spoonie Gee's "Love Rap" from 1980. Famous break beats are also used, such as "Catch A Groove" by Juice from 1976.
Aside from the production acting as a portal in time, Kool Keith's lyrics weave an astoundingly unorthodox tale that phases through various famous artists, gangs, locales, clothing brands, and drinks synonymous with New York City that fostered the early hip-hop scene.
Included are name drops for crews like the L Brothers or Kool Herc and the Herculoids/Herculords, DJs like Disco King Mario, Grand Wizzard Theodore, and Charlie Chase, rappers like Melle Mel, Chief Rocker Busy Bee Starski, and Dot-A-Rock, and even venues like the T-Connection in the Bronx.
Those are but a few of the names and samples featured in "Bust The Facts," as my description can barely scratch the surface of the adventure you will partake in by giving it a listen.
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