You got your Peanut Butter in my Chocolate...

The local modern rock corpo-station has been playing a 90's playlist this weekend, aptly titled "Smells like the 90's;" because, what more reminds anyone of the 90's than a reference to that deodorant phenomenon? So in the spirit of my 90's rap kick and the X's 90's rock weekend:



Ahh, the rap/rock crossover. Most hiphophistorians would claim the joining of Run-DMC and Aerosmith on "Walk this Way" to be the catalyst for two facets of music combining, enlightening fans and critics, and exposing more ears and opening more eyes and merging tastes. Subsequently, Limp Bizkit would be the downfall of this potentially beautiful friendship, and those of us whose collegiate years encompassed the dawn of a millenium would have to suffer hordes of douchebags packing our favorite bars and blasting pure incomprehensible garbage. Somewhere in the middle of that ride came a pretty decent collab of rap and rock for the soundtrack to a mediocre movie starring Academy Award winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. Helmet makes House of Pain sound pretty raw and hardcore, Faith No More gives the Boo-Yaa TRIBE some pretty scary backing, Cypress Hill and Sonic Youth shared an ounce or two...and De La and Teenage Fanclub created this little gem.

Tounge Tied

Moving right along with the 90's, here's a track to bump in your rides or at your Labor Day cookout. Most people know Das EFX best for the backing chorus on the remix (or more popular version) of Ice Cube's "Check Yo Self." I know them for penning a track that I wore out as a cassingle, trying to get down all of the words and impress my friends on the basketball court in early middle school. "They Want Efx" is one of my favorite early 90's jams, particularly the remixed version.



Just listen to that bass line! Songs like this make you want to drive around with your friends, windows down and cruising a local strip on a Friday night looking for "something to do." Ahh, the days of gas-wasteful American attitude and teenage irresponsibility. On a side note, one of my favorite parts is where Skoob works "pretty sneaky sis" into one of the lines. I hated that game.

Reunited

Early 90's rap has been the soundtrack to this week, so I'll keep yammering on about my favs. A Tribe Called Quest reunited this year for the Rock the Bells tour, and damn if I'd like to partake. I'd even risk crossing paths with a Doombot. Those lineups always make me wish I lived in NY or LA or another comparable city so I could catch shows like that. Of course I'd probably go broke doing it, but it would have coasted me through my 20's with a slight more joy of reminiscence than seeing oddly themed cover bands.



I got to see Tribe live my freshman year, and it was one of my favorite concerts. Q-Tip and Fife totally command the stage, fully entertain, and put on a solid show. Live hip-hop and rap is so risky - either it's a total "let your boys have the stage" night where the real act barely performs, or they show up late and in small numbers. Tribe was different; they seemed as if they were grateful to have such a turnout and showed that gratitude by putting on a killer set. Recently, a long forgotten remix of "Scenario" has resurfaced, with De La and Lawnge from Black Sheep joining Tribe and LONS on a version that sounds as if it were played through a funhouse mirror. The album cut will always be my favorite, but this version's pretty dope and stoopid and poppin fresh. I'm just glad they've patched things up and potentially heading back to the studio. Now if we can just get Dig-Plans to venture out of Cali, our kids might be in good hands.

Kickin it Old Skool

So I've been doing a lot of iPod reorganizing as of late, and I'm either reminiscent for youth or developing a new appreciation for some already admired classics from the crates of early 90's rap and hip-hop. We'll start the week off with Black Moon.



Buckshot's a highly underrated emcee, most notably shown throughout their debut album "Enta Da Stage." Not that he doesn't get much deserved respect, but his name isn't as household as others of his time (Q-Tip, Eric Sermon, etc). These guys suffered the unfortunate fate of being any rap act other than the Wu-Tang Clan during 1993. Had "Enter the 36 Chambers" not dropped right at the same time as Black Moon's first foray, we might have heard a lot more from Buckshot & Co. Just as well, they remain as concise and smooth as ever, and run a pretty strong spot in the indie-rap world. As of late, they've ended up on their own label, and seem to be picking up a string of solid acts to boot. The stuff Buckshot's done with 9th Wonder is a definite addition to any mix, and "Who Got Da Props" (as seen above) is a tried and true classic.

Asian Flu

So, I tried to avoid it, but like most Americans I'm caught up in Olympic hype. Here's my thoughts so far:

Currently I'm watching women's beach volleyball. Call me childish, but I think it's hilarious that the Brazilian team's bikini tops say "BRA 1" and "BRA 2."

Does anyone else hate when they cut back to Bob Costas? I mean, unless Bela Karolyi is hating on the Chinese, of course. I've never seen anyone so into gymnastics. Pure hilarity.

Most all boxers besides American boxers are pansies (and completely boring).

This year we say goodbye to women's softball (oh...Jennie Finch will definitely be missed), yet we keep speed walking and men's field hockey. WTF?

Wednesday morning repulsion

No real news or anything, but I LOATHE the smell of ketchup (catsup) in the morning. If I were hungover right now, I'd probably yak right in my trashcan, having to suffer this wave of ketchup covered breakfast wafting across the office floor. That type of thing should be outlawed.