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Hip Hop & I are roughly the same age. I'm 38 & depending on who you ask it's about 35. During that time I remember lots of iconic moments. There was watching my uncle, DJ Hutch, on the ones & twos under the carport of his house in Queens while the party people did their thing right on the sidewalk. There was the first time I heard "Rapper's Delight" on the radio or saw the video for "Walk This Way" which brought two distinct & seemingly opposing genres together & reignited the career of Aerosmith. There was watching a line of local MCs take turns on the mic at a club in Raleigh, NC & do okay but they'll never be remembered because a grisled vet long past his hit-making prime still had enough game to shut it down that night. Oh by the way, that vet was Big Daddy Kane.
However, like any other genre there have been a number of things the collective fan-base anxiously anticipated that for one reason or another never came to fruition. These are...
The 10 Greatest Hip Hop Moments...
...That Never Actually Happened
10. Jewels
After Shaquille O'Neal found some success on the mic (platinum debut album & gold follow-up), a slew of athletes either put out albums or were said to be in the booth spitting bars for an upcoming release. The list included Chris Webber, Cedric Ceballos, Kobe Bryant & a number of others. The only one actual hip hop fans cared about was that of The Answer: Allen Iverson. His background & look more closely resembled a rapper than a ballplayer. It had become known he had some real skill on the mic & he even had a cool moniker: Jewels. Along came the first single, 40 Bars & the hip hop world actually liked it. NBA commish David Stern wanted to ignore it but couldn't when AI faced charges of misogyny & glorifying violence & criminal activity. Stern then joined those on AI's case & distanced the league from Iverson's album. Under all that pressure, AI never actually released the album. Here's the song that started it all:
[youtube]-5ADD9kOP7A[/youtube]
9. N.I.N.A
After the breakup of the one of the greatest girl groups of all time, TLC, the rapper of the crew Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was trying to find her way & remain in the public eye at the same time. She had gone through an extremely rocky & public relationship with NFL star Andre Rison. She made bazaar solo album titled Supernova & hosted a talent show on MTV. Most fans wondered if she could actually rap well enought to carry an album. If she could, would anyone buy it? We were about to find out. News broke that Lopes signed a deal with the infamous Death Row Records & would record under the name "N.I.N.A." Sadly, before we got to see the offspring of strange bedfellows Lopes was killed in an automobile accident. Here are some "rare" recordings of what she was working on with "Tha Row:"
[youtube]uDQ7I5uEU70[/youtube]
8. The Fat Boys Are Back
The Fat Boys were icons of early 80s hip hop. By the close of the decade & after a couple of failed albums & a movie that flopped the crew went their separate ways. In the early 90s, the grooup's most popular member, Prince Markie Dee found moderate success as a solo artist & producer. That's when we found out there was a FB reunion in the works. I wouldn't say the world was burning with anticipation but old schoolers like myself were definitely curious about the project. Unfortunately, the man who gave the group its soul, Buffy the Human Beatbox (far left in the pic) died of a heart attack while working on the album. There's still this gem from the movie Krush Groove:
[youtube]BDPk6OQkpeI[/youtube]
7. That Ol' Dirty Roc-A-Fella
Russell Jones AKA Ol' Dirty Bastard AKA Dirt Dog AKA Dirt McGirt AKA Big Baby Jesus is one of hip hop's all time favorite clown princes & one of its most troubled children. His debut album Return to the 36 Chambers is widely considered one of the best in the Wu Tang catalog. His follow up N*gga Please is a severely underrated piece of work. It quite literally sounds like a man losing his mind. Unhappy with his label after they created & released an album built from studio outtakes and previously unreleased material while he was incarcerated, Dirty signed with Jay-Z & Dame Dash's Roc-A-Fella Records upon his release. What would the most insane MC in the world do with access to some of the game's best producers? Sadly, we'll never know as Dirty passed away while in the studio of an apparent overdose. I love his music, but has there ever been any Ol' Dirty moment as defining as this one:
[youtube]b2-5GSjZvW8[/youtube]
6. Kane vs. Ra
Yes, Eric B & Rakim was officially a group. However, only Ra rapped & in one of their earliest hits the god MC made that clear by proclaiming himself "the soloist." Fast forward a couple years to when Big Daddy Kane is the hottest thing in the game. On his rapid fire single Set it Off Kane spouts "Rap soloists/You don't want none of this!" Hip Hop heads put 2 & 2 together & figured Kane was calling out Rakim. This would be a battle of epic porportions. Two of the greatest rappers to ever touch a mic in rhyme to rhyme combat would be huge. Only it wasn't. The two got together & Kane apologized for making an honest mistake. It seems he had simply forgotten about Rakim's song. Fans were pretty much told "Move along, nothing to see here." But there is something to see. Check out the two legends in their prime...
[youtube]gMPh18nHNxI[/youtube]
[youtube]Zu4RM1Iq-wg[/youtube]
5. Dre's Gonna Do My Album
Some of rap's greatest albums were sonically crafted by Dr. Dre. There's all NWA's work plus Eazy E's first solo album, Snoop's Doggystyle & of course Dr. Dre's own The Chronic & The Chronic 2001 along with a number of others. Understandably, it's a pretty big deal when news breaks that the Doctor is going to produce someone's album. That's been the case for Rakim, The Lady of Rage, Eve, Ice Cube & a slew of other artists. For one reason or another things fell apart & we never got to find out how these artists would do armed with Dre's mastery. Too bad, so much promise came from this track...
[youtube]UEUgf2nUViw[/youtube]
4. The Stop the Violence Movement
While working on the group's 2nd album, By Any Means Necessary DJ Scott La Rock was gunned down. The album became a classic & helped usher in a more politically conscious era in rap as MC KRS-One pretty much steered clear of his beef with MC Shan & the Juice Crew & reinvented himself as a positive force in hip hop. To follow this, KRS would organize the Stop the Violence Movement. There was some good work being done but most people only knew the song that came from the movement, Self Destruction. It featured a number of raps biggest stars including Public Enemy, Heavy D, MC Lyte & Kool Moe Dee to name a few. It would inspire a similar song in the West Coast All-Stars We're All in the Same Gang. Most people also believed there was a Stop the Violence album coming. The roster on the song provided endless possibilities plus there were others rumored to be down with the cause that weren't on the song...ahem...LL Cool J...ahem. Anyway, it never materialized & we were again left to wonder what if. Oh well, here's the song:
[youtube]jxyYP_bS_6s[/youtube]
3. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill II
First, the Fugees hit us with a terrible debut album, Blunted on Reality. Even then, Lauryn Hill was hailed as something special & the hip hop community called for her to ditch the two dudes in the group & go solo. Then came the group's absolutely brilliant follow up The Score. Then fans were hoping for another Fugees gem but instead got the break-up they wanted before The Score. Ms. Hill didn't skip a beat, dropping the classic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It's widely regarded as one of the best albums of the 90s regardless of genre. It also won her an armfull of Grammies. Ever since we've been told she's in the studio working on something amazing. What we've gotten is a bazaar live album taped on MTV's Unplugged series. We've still been told she's working on the real follow-up album but that strange outing only made us all question her sanity. Oh well, still got my fingers crossed. Maybe she tell us more about "That Thing":
[youtube]lMRiudMgHCs[/youtube]
2. New N*ggaz Wit Attitude
NWA is arguably the most influential rap group ever. Not only did they have great success as a group but two of its members became icons as solo acts (Ice Cube & Dr. Dre). Even more important to their legacy, gangsta rap became the dominant style of the genre for well over a decade. After Dre left the group, the beef between he & Ice Cube was squashed. Cube even appeared in Dre's Let Me Ride video. A little while later, Eazy E passed away due to complications from AIDS. Still later, but not much, Dre & Cube appeared on the cover of The Source along with Dre's top protege, Snoop. Instantly, the trio was hailed as the new NWA. They themselves hinted at such a project. Fans waited with baited breath for a number of years. Anticipation heightened even more when the rumor mill added then rookie Eminem to the lineup. Alas, whether it was due to conflicting schedules or disagreeing record companies or whatever, nothing ever happened. At least we all got to "witness the strength of street knowledge":
[youtube]jzaCSrKS-R8[/youtube]
1. Jay-Z Retires
Okay, I know he actually said he retired. He even released a farewell album, The Black Album & went on a farewell tour complete with a documentary, Jay-Z: Fade to Black. So what. Jigga never really left our airwaves. During his "retirement" Hova kept popping up as a featured guest on hit singles by various artists. He also did a mashup album, Collision Course with Linkin Park. Suddenly, Jay declared himself tired of retirement & released a comeback album, Kingdom Come. Let's be honest, calling what Jay did a retirement is pretty much the same as people who say they've quit smoking one day only to restart the next. It just didn't happen. Hopefully, while he's "back" he really will kill autotune:
[youtube]8z13AjI8n4I[/youtube]
Other moments that never happened...
Puffy weds J-Lo
Lil Kim does Playboy
The HRSMN (pronounced Horsemen) actually make an album together: Canibus, Ras Kass, Kurupt & Killah Priest
However, like any other genre there have been a number of things the collective fan-base anxiously anticipated that for one reason or another never came to fruition. These are...
The 10 Greatest Hip Hop Moments...
...That Never Actually Happened
10. Jewels
After Shaquille O'Neal found some success on the mic (platinum debut album & gold follow-up), a slew of athletes either put out albums or were said to be in the booth spitting bars for an upcoming release. The list included Chris Webber, Cedric Ceballos, Kobe Bryant & a number of others. The only one actual hip hop fans cared about was that of The Answer: Allen Iverson. His background & look more closely resembled a rapper than a ballplayer. It had become known he had some real skill on the mic & he even had a cool moniker: Jewels. Along came the first single, 40 Bars & the hip hop world actually liked it. NBA commish David Stern wanted to ignore it but couldn't when AI faced charges of misogyny & glorifying violence & criminal activity. Stern then joined those on AI's case & distanced the league from Iverson's album. Under all that pressure, AI never actually released the album. Here's the song that started it all:
[youtube]-5ADD9kOP7A[/youtube]
9. N.I.N.A
After the breakup of the one of the greatest girl groups of all time, TLC, the rapper of the crew Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was trying to find her way & remain in the public eye at the same time. She had gone through an extremely rocky & public relationship with NFL star Andre Rison. She made bazaar solo album titled Supernova & hosted a talent show on MTV. Most fans wondered if she could actually rap well enought to carry an album. If she could, would anyone buy it? We were about to find out. News broke that Lopes signed a deal with the infamous Death Row Records & would record under the name "N.I.N.A." Sadly, before we got to see the offspring of strange bedfellows Lopes was killed in an automobile accident. Here are some "rare" recordings of what she was working on with "Tha Row:"
[youtube]uDQ7I5uEU70[/youtube]
8. The Fat Boys Are Back
The Fat Boys were icons of early 80s hip hop. By the close of the decade & after a couple of failed albums & a movie that flopped the crew went their separate ways. In the early 90s, the grooup's most popular member, Prince Markie Dee found moderate success as a solo artist & producer. That's when we found out there was a FB reunion in the works. I wouldn't say the world was burning with anticipation but old schoolers like myself were definitely curious about the project. Unfortunately, the man who gave the group its soul, Buffy the Human Beatbox (far left in the pic) died of a heart attack while working on the album. There's still this gem from the movie Krush Groove:
[youtube]BDPk6OQkpeI[/youtube]
7. That Ol' Dirty Roc-A-Fella
Russell Jones AKA Ol' Dirty Bastard AKA Dirt Dog AKA Dirt McGirt AKA Big Baby Jesus is one of hip hop's all time favorite clown princes & one of its most troubled children. His debut album Return to the 36 Chambers is widely considered one of the best in the Wu Tang catalog. His follow up N*gga Please is a severely underrated piece of work. It quite literally sounds like a man losing his mind. Unhappy with his label after they created & released an album built from studio outtakes and previously unreleased material while he was incarcerated, Dirty signed with Jay-Z & Dame Dash's Roc-A-Fella Records upon his release. What would the most insane MC in the world do with access to some of the game's best producers? Sadly, we'll never know as Dirty passed away while in the studio of an apparent overdose. I love his music, but has there ever been any Ol' Dirty moment as defining as this one:
[youtube]b2-5GSjZvW8[/youtube]
6. Kane vs. Ra
Yes, Eric B & Rakim was officially a group. However, only Ra rapped & in one of their earliest hits the god MC made that clear by proclaiming himself "the soloist." Fast forward a couple years to when Big Daddy Kane is the hottest thing in the game. On his rapid fire single Set it Off Kane spouts "Rap soloists/You don't want none of this!" Hip Hop heads put 2 & 2 together & figured Kane was calling out Rakim. This would be a battle of epic porportions. Two of the greatest rappers to ever touch a mic in rhyme to rhyme combat would be huge. Only it wasn't. The two got together & Kane apologized for making an honest mistake. It seems he had simply forgotten about Rakim's song. Fans were pretty much told "Move along, nothing to see here." But there is something to see. Check out the two legends in their prime...
[youtube]gMPh18nHNxI[/youtube]
[youtube]Zu4RM1Iq-wg[/youtube]
5. Dre's Gonna Do My Album
Some of rap's greatest albums were sonically crafted by Dr. Dre. There's all NWA's work plus Eazy E's first solo album, Snoop's Doggystyle & of course Dr. Dre's own The Chronic & The Chronic 2001 along with a number of others. Understandably, it's a pretty big deal when news breaks that the Doctor is going to produce someone's album. That's been the case for Rakim, The Lady of Rage, Eve, Ice Cube & a slew of other artists. For one reason or another things fell apart & we never got to find out how these artists would do armed with Dre's mastery. Too bad, so much promise came from this track...
[youtube]UEUgf2nUViw[/youtube]
4. The Stop the Violence Movement
While working on the group's 2nd album, By Any Means Necessary DJ Scott La Rock was gunned down. The album became a classic & helped usher in a more politically conscious era in rap as MC KRS-One pretty much steered clear of his beef with MC Shan & the Juice Crew & reinvented himself as a positive force in hip hop. To follow this, KRS would organize the Stop the Violence Movement. There was some good work being done but most people only knew the song that came from the movement, Self Destruction. It featured a number of raps biggest stars including Public Enemy, Heavy D, MC Lyte & Kool Moe Dee to name a few. It would inspire a similar song in the West Coast All-Stars We're All in the Same Gang. Most people also believed there was a Stop the Violence album coming. The roster on the song provided endless possibilities plus there were others rumored to be down with the cause that weren't on the song...ahem...LL Cool J...ahem. Anyway, it never materialized & we were again left to wonder what if. Oh well, here's the song:
[youtube]jxyYP_bS_6s[/youtube]
3. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill II
First, the Fugees hit us with a terrible debut album, Blunted on Reality. Even then, Lauryn Hill was hailed as something special & the hip hop community called for her to ditch the two dudes in the group & go solo. Then came the group's absolutely brilliant follow up The Score. Then fans were hoping for another Fugees gem but instead got the break-up they wanted before The Score. Ms. Hill didn't skip a beat, dropping the classic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It's widely regarded as one of the best albums of the 90s regardless of genre. It also won her an armfull of Grammies. Ever since we've been told she's in the studio working on something amazing. What we've gotten is a bazaar live album taped on MTV's Unplugged series. We've still been told she's working on the real follow-up album but that strange outing only made us all question her sanity. Oh well, still got my fingers crossed. Maybe she tell us more about "That Thing":
[youtube]lMRiudMgHCs[/youtube]
2. New N*ggaz Wit Attitude
NWA is arguably the most influential rap group ever. Not only did they have great success as a group but two of its members became icons as solo acts (Ice Cube & Dr. Dre). Even more important to their legacy, gangsta rap became the dominant style of the genre for well over a decade. After Dre left the group, the beef between he & Ice Cube was squashed. Cube even appeared in Dre's Let Me Ride video. A little while later, Eazy E passed away due to complications from AIDS. Still later, but not much, Dre & Cube appeared on the cover of The Source along with Dre's top protege, Snoop. Instantly, the trio was hailed as the new NWA. They themselves hinted at such a project. Fans waited with baited breath for a number of years. Anticipation heightened even more when the rumor mill added then rookie Eminem to the lineup. Alas, whether it was due to conflicting schedules or disagreeing record companies or whatever, nothing ever happened. At least we all got to "witness the strength of street knowledge":
[youtube]jzaCSrKS-R8[/youtube]
1. Jay-Z Retires
Okay, I know he actually said he retired. He even released a farewell album, The Black Album & went on a farewell tour complete with a documentary, Jay-Z: Fade to Black. So what. Jigga never really left our airwaves. During his "retirement" Hova kept popping up as a featured guest on hit singles by various artists. He also did a mashup album, Collision Course with Linkin Park. Suddenly, Jay declared himself tired of retirement & released a comeback album, Kingdom Come. Let's be honest, calling what Jay did a retirement is pretty much the same as people who say they've quit smoking one day only to restart the next. It just didn't happen. Hopefully, while he's "back" he really will kill autotune:
[youtube]8z13AjI8n4I[/youtube]
Other moments that never happened...
Puffy weds J-Lo Lil Kim does Playboy The HRSMN (pronounced Horsemen) actually make an album together: Canibus, Ras Kass, Kurupt & Killah Priest
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