I Miss 90s Hip-Hop Vol. 4
Late 1991 (July-December)
The true strength of artists who debuted in the 80s
While new artists continue to find success one after another, veteran artists who were active in the 80s are also releasing wonderful works. On Nice & Smooth's second album, *Ain't A Damn Thing Changed* (released September 17th), which is immensely popular with core hip-hop fans, the combination of Greg Nice and Smooth B has become even stronger, with singles like "Hip Hop Junkies" and "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow" all being classics.
Nice & Smooth "Hip Hop Junkies"
Nice & Smooth "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow"
Nice & Smooth「Cake & Eat It Too」
Nice & Smooth「How To Flow」
Public Enemy's fourth album, "Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Back" (released October 1), maintained their strong style with its powerful message, while also featuring new experiments like a remake of their signature song "Bring The Noise" with Anthrax, which proved to be remarkably successful.
Public Enemy - Can't Truss It
Public Enemy "Shut Em Down"
Public Enemy "Bring The Noise feat. Anthrax"
Heavy D & The Boyz's third album, "Peaceful Journey" (released July 2nd), features a lineup that includes Teddy Riley and Marley Marl from the previous album "Big Tyme," with the addition of Pete Rock as a new producer. Among these, "Now That We Found Love" and "Is It Good To You," produced by Teddy Riley, were huge hits. A version of "Is It Good To You" sung by Tammy Lucas was also released and proved to be very popular.
Heavy D & The Boyz - "Now That We Found Love"
Heavy D & The Boyz "Is It Good To You"
Heavy D & The Boyz - "Don't Curse"
Hip-Hop x Movies
The movie soundtrack album for *Juice*, released on December 31st, features the Tammy Lucas version of "Is It Good To You." Released by the label S.O.U.L. (Sound Of Urban Listeners), which we also introduced in Vol. 3, this soundtrack includes tracks from various hip-hop/R&B artists such as Naughty By Nature, EPMD, Big Daddy Kane, and Cypress Hill. The overall quality of the album is exceptionally high, and Eric B. & Rakim's "Juice (Know The Ledge)," which is also the movie's theme song, stands out as particularly cool. By the way, 2Pac stars as one of the main actors in the film, and the movie's story is also very hip-hop oriented.
Eric B. & Rakim's "Juice (Know The Ledge)"
As another important film involving a rapper, I would like to mention John Singleton's *Boyz n the Hood*, which starred Ice Cube. This was also his film debut, after which he went on to a successful career as an actor and film director. The soundtrack album for *Boyz n the Hood* (released July 9) is also very substantial, with Compton's Most Wanted's ‘Growing Up In The Hood" being the main track that links to the film's story. Furthermore, almost at the same time, Compton's Most Wanted's second album, *Straight Checkn 'Em* (released July 16), which includes the same song, was also released.
Compton's Most Wanted "Growing Up In The Hood"
South hip-hop legends = Geto Boys
As hip-hop scenes beyond the East Coast and West Coast gradually become more active, masterpiece albums are also emerging from the central and southern regions of America. Among them, the 3rd album from Geto Boys, "We Can't Be Stopped" (released July 9th), a legendary presence in the Southern hip-hop scene, based in Houston, Texas, is a very important work. Beyond the impact of the album cover, which was shot inside a hospital, the characteristic gritty atmosphere of the South is clearly distinct from artists in other regions. Their single hit, "Mind Playing Tricks On Me," encapsulates all of their appeal. Furthermore, three months later, Geto Boys member Scarface's 1st solo album, "Mr. Scarface Is Back" (released October 8th), was also released.
Geto Boys "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
Scarface「A Minute To Pray & A Second To Die」
From Flint, Michigan, in the American Midwest, the first album *MC Breed & DFC* (released August 13) by MC Breed & DFC was released. From this album, ’Ain't No Future In Yo’ Frontin'", which samples Ohio Players' "Funky Worm", became a hit. With this one song, he became known to hip-hop fans across the United States.
MC Breed & DFC 'Ain't No Future In Yo' Frontin'"
Many other veteran artists' works have also been released, and I would like to simply list their titles.
・Slick Rick "The Ruler's Back" (released July 2)
・DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince "Homebase" (released July 23)
・Poor Righteous Teachers "Pure Poverty" (released September 3rd)
・Queen Latifah "Nature Of A Sista" (Release Date: September 3)
MC Lyte - "Act Like You Know" (Release Date: September 17)
Slick Rick - "I Shouldn't Have Done It"
Slick Rick "It's A Boy"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince "Summertime"
Poor Righteous Teachers - Shakiyla
Poor Righteous Teachers「Easy Star」
Queen Latifah "Fly Girl"
MC Lyte "Poor Georgie"
Biz Markie sampling lawsuit controversy
Lastly, I'd like to discuss the sampling lawsuit surrounding Biz Markie's third album, "I Need A Haircut." The track "Alone Again" from this album was found to have sampled Gilbert O'Sullivan's song of the same name ("Alone Again (Naturally)") without permission. As a result, Biz Markie and the record company were sued, leading to the album's recall and a re-release without the song "Alone Again." This was, in a way, an inevitable event that occurred as hip-hop became a significant force in the business world. However, it also led to an increase in sampling clearance fees and had a major impact on hip-hop sound production thereafter.
Biz Markie "Alone Again"
Biz Markie "What Comes Around Goes Around"
＜本文終わり＞
Music writer. Began writing in 1996, contributing to publications such as the hip-hop magazine "blast." Moved to Los Angeles in 2003, where they covered the underground hip-hop scene, including artists like Stones Throw, while also writing about fashion, art, and other fields. Returned to Japan in 2015 and continues to work as a writer for various magazines and web media, focusing primarily on hip-hop.
