Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96...

Dinninit - De La Soul - 1996
MC's Act Like They Don't Know - KRS-One - 1995

Or did it? Even though some might say it was all about the money, commercially successful rap was seemingly on the run in '96. Snoop Dogg's disappointing Doggfather was released while he stood trial for murder. 2pac was killed. Even MC Hammer, by then a faded symbol of commercial hip hop, symbolically declared bankruptcy in '96. No surprise then that alternative stalwarts De La Soul and KRS-One (late '95) seized the opportunity to release some generally underappreciated albums, sparing no feelings in their critiques of mainstream hip hop. It was akin to writing a noble dissenting opinion for the hypothetical Supreme Court of Rap in a vote that ultimately went the other way. 1996 saw Nas, the once-heralded savior of the Native Tongues movement, release his most commercially successful album (along with the release of some album called All Eyez on Me). For better or worse, they marked a strong shift away from alternative rap towards the hardcore rap that would define the rest of the decade. It seems clear that Hip Hop didn't suck, though.

Like a tumbleweed

Rotativa - Chico Buarque/Ennio Morricone - 1970

I've always felt like "Rotativa" could've been the theme from a lost Spaghetti Western. But actually, this Ennio Morricone arrangement is a reworking of Chico Buarque's "Roda Vida," a pop tune from the late '60s that helped launch Chico's singing career in Brazil to Sinatra-like levels. I don't know much else about the back story of the album, but according to Wikipedia, Chico recorded these tracks with Morricone when the Brazilian star was in exile from his home country in 1970. So here we have a Brazilian exile song, covered in Italian, and filtered through the American Old West. Now if only I could find a translation of the lyrics...

In other news, check out this interview where Morricone talks trash about "A Fistful of Dollars."

Big L R.I.P.

Street Struck - Big L - 1995
Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous - Big L - 1995

So many of the things I miss about East Coast hip-hop... the jazz and R&B samples, the edge, the story telling. The back and forth between glorifying and despising a certain lifestyle. Dark, often astute, with some surprising rhymes. It's not exactly revolutionary, but it's a solid listen.