Urban Thought Collective

“You can find me in the club.”

I’ve never been a “go to the club every weekend” kind of guy, but I do like to cut a rug from time to time. The best time I’ve ever had at a club was graduation night at Club Soho in ATL. The DJ played “No Limit Soldiers” and everyone absolutely collectively lost their sh*t. For the next 20 minutes, he played nothing but No Limit classics. I’ve never ever been that crunk in my life. It was crazy. I got champagne poured on my head, my eyes were burning, I was losing my voice, but I was straight up ‘bout it out there on the floor. It was the perfect way to end my college experience. While I’m reminiscing, I’d like to thank K-Dawg for being the designated driver that night, and for saying the single funniest thing a human being has ever said. Wouldn’t you like to know what he said? HAHAHAHAHA Holla.

LL COOL J | “DOIN’ IT”
“Tomorrow I’ll take you back downtown [wink & lip lick].” Ok, so “club” can mean many things. Nightclub. Dance club. Science Club. Gentlemen’s club. So yeah, this was pretty much the strip club anthem during the summer of ’96. My cousin and I went often that summer. And by often I mean, “Holy shitzu did we go a freaking lot.” Every time we went, this joint was played several times a night. Maybe it was different in other parts of the country, but DUVAAAAAL couldn’t get enough of James Todd. God bless him.

JAY-Z | “I JUST WANNA LOVE YOU (GIVE IT TO ME)”
“I wish I never met her at all.” ATL. Club Liquid. New Year’s Eve. 2000. Me, Smooth, K-Dawg, Big Sean, J-Bugg, and Ace get absolutely wrecked off of screwdrivers in my car outside the club. As soon as we get in the club, where do we make a beeline? The bar. After a half hour, I was stumbling like Fred Sanford on a Champipple bender. But when this song came on, I practically ran to the dance floor and grabbed the closest female I could find. My limbs didn’t really work, but I was working it on the floor. That was a freaking great weekend.

BEENIE MAN FEATURING MYA | “GIRLS DEM SUGAR”
“Angel. You’re mine.” Oh my gracious, do I heart this jam. The Neptunes could get repetitive earlier in the decade, but this little diddy hit on all cylinders. Fellas, doesn’t this song make you wanna grab the closest 5’5” cute little thing, rocking the Apple Bottoms and dripping with smell good, and bum rush the dance floor so you can two-step way past the respectable limits of two-stepping? Don’t act like it’s just me. Nicq I see you nodding your head, kid.

JUNIOR M.A.F.I.A (But really Biggie feat Li’l Kim) | “GET MONEY”
“Why she wanna stick me for my paper?” It’s taken me about 20 minutes to write this because I can’t keep my hands out of the air. You know how dope the song is, but I want to talk about the abomination that was Junior M.A.F.I.A. I tried listening to the album, but halfway through I came to the conclusion that my time would be better spent repeatedly punching myself in the “man region.” When Biggie heard the album he was probably like, “Well, at least I sounded good.” Historic Fail.

STRAFE | “SET IT OFF”
“Ya’ll want this party started right?” My boy Mizzo posted this video on his facebook page this week, and I had to jack it. Now I won’t profess to know what it was like to rock out to this in 1984, but I do know it’s a crucial track. My cousin used to bump the Hell out of this song when I was a kid. I heard this track so much, I actually tried to set it off once. Hair still won’t grow in that spot, but I’ve moved past it. Anyhoo, how long will it be before Kanye remakes this joint? Don’t we expect him to, at this point? lol

Diallo Tyson is a filmmaker, comedian and old school music junkie. When he’s not busy, he is a rapper with the group “Two Pimps and a Dream.” Step into a groovin’ time machine every week on UTC.