Urban Thought Collective

Pretty big happenings going on tomorrow, wouldn’t you say? I’m sure you don’t need me to prattle on about the significance of this inauguration. The White House will be painted black for at least four years, and that’s going to be pretty dope on general principle. I don’t need to go into further detail, but it has got me thinking about something. Are we about to enter a new era?

Will Barack be able to rise above partisanship, bring the country together, AND solve our myriad of problems? I have no idea, but there is definitely hope that he can get it done. If he does, one could say that he will have lead us into a Golden Age. [Segue alert!]

And now we get to what this week’s column is about. The Golden Age of Hip Hop. It was the point when Hip Hop broke through to the mainstream, and became the dominant musical expression. The Golden Age is generally considered to have taken place from 1988-1992. So we’re gonna go back to 1988, when the magic began. Hopefully, President Obama will set things off like 1988 hip hop did.

BDP | “My Philosophy”
“Let us get back to what we call hip hop.” Yes, Kris, let’s get back to some real hip hop. I hate to get all old phogey on you cats, but I’m just not feeling the new school right now. It’s seems like every dude that can rhyme cat with hat through a vocoder is getting a deal. I listen to the radio, and can’t tell when one song ends and the next begins because they all sound exactly the same. And stop with the freaking talk box. Come on people! Let’s get it together. I can only listen to the same CDs I’ve had the last ten years, so many times. My car stereo almost cussed me out when I put in The Chronic…again.

EPMD | “You Gotz To Chill”
“Never sweatin’ ya girl. Why P? Cause she’s a skeezoid.” Why don’t we talk like that anymore? I love late 80’s slang. “Get the bozack!” You know what else I love? Late 80’s dances. Seeing those cats break it down in the background, brings back all kinds of memories. Like, recording videos so you can practice your dance moves when no one was watching. I did it often. And I often looked like a total spaz. I had fun though.

Tone Loc | “Wild Thing”
“Hasta la vista baby.” Ahnuld owes this dude some money. I’m dead serious. Any way, I forgot how hilarious this video was. From Tone’s dancing and facial expressions, to the poor production quality, this joint is primo comedy. It’s really too bad that people accused Tone of being too commercial. “Loc-ed After Dark” is a classic that I will still bump to this day, no hesitations at all. “Wild Thing” and “Funky Cold Medina” are the weakest tracks, and they’re still tight. The album is clean all the way through.

Eric B & Rakim | “Microphone Fiend”
“I melted microphones instead of cones of ice cream.” I’m gonna be quiet. You have to know when to shut up and just let perfection speak.

Boogie Down Productions feat Everybody | “Self Destruction”
“Heaven’s at the door so there’ll be no bum rushing.” There are classics, and then there are CLASSICS. This song is so classic, Coke wanted to sue KRS-1 for copyright infringement. It was that serious. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating. But the song was truly dope. I don’t know if it made the social impact that Kris was looking for, but in musical terms it really can’t be denied. You know what else can’t be denied? Kool Moe Dee’s shades. They were the bees knees. For real.

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.