Urban Thought Collective

Last week was Memorial Day!!! It’s the day you officially break out the grilles, throw some incredibly unhealthy meat on it, and eat/drink yourself into Bolivian. The official start of summer is supposed to be a joyous occasion. Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided to drop about six feet of rain upon southeast GA that week. At the time of me writing this, there was NO sign of letup. As a matter of fact, it’s supposed to rain every day up to the Monday AFTER Memorial Day! How you like them apples? At any rate, I need something to keep my spirits up. So this week I’m hitting you off with videos that will get you in the mood for summer. If I can’t look out of my window and see sunshine, damn it I’m gonna see it on my monitor. Holla!

Montell Jordan – “Something For Da Honeyz”
“Sounding like nobody cause I’m on another level.” Lark Voorhies. Damn. Ya’ll gonna have to give me a minute.

All right, I’m back. I don’t think I’m hurting anyone’s feelings when I say that Montell wasn’t the greatest singer. But, he was effective doing his thing. He wasn’t effective for very long, but that’s neither here nor there. This jam works on every level. I just want to bump this with the top down, on my way to the beach, with a cooler of “refreshments” in the trunk, and a smile on my face. Now if it would only stop RAINING!!!!

Kriss Kross feat Supercat | “It’s Alright”
Seriously, can Supercat get some work out here? A remix? Somebody’s mixtape? Puff? Jay? 50? Kanye? You mean to tell me, can’t none of you cats use this dude on a track? NOBODY? Seriously? Well that’s too bad, cause he’s the one that really sets this joint off. The Chris’ are just OK, and I’m being generous, but Supercat takes it to another level. This track is definitely one to ride to with the top down.

Gangstarr feat Nice & Smooth | “Dwyck”
“I get more props and stunts than Bruce Willis.” Classic material. My snark can’t possibility do it justice.

Naughty By Nature | “Feel Me Flow”
“We heard hip hop needed another anthem.” This song brings back so many good feelings. It was the summer after Freshman year, and all I did all day was watch videos, play Nintendo, and eat pizza egg rolls [don’t ask]. Ya’ll remember MTV’s Summer Beach House? Ya’ll remember actually watching MTV? Lol Anyway, ‘95 was really the last summer where I basically just chilled and had zero worries. That was so fun. I need to win the lottery…

Juvenile | “Back That Thang Up”
“Drop it like it’s hot.” The Summer of ’99! Good Lord that was a fun summer. I flew all over the country…on my company’s dime. I ate like a champ…on my company’s dime. I kicked HARD…on my company’s dime. And every time I kicked it, I was sure to hear this song about five times a night. There was a lot of backing up going on, for real. But I can’t fault the DJs, because it was THE song of the summer. Even old, white grandmothers were backing their thangs up. The number of hip replacement procedures went up that year, but it was worth it, damn it.

Diallo Tyson is a filmmaker, writer, beat miner, [self-proclaimed] comedian, and old school music junkie. In his spare time, he contributes to the music blog, Finessed & Blessed and is a collaborator for the sports/pop culture blog The Commission. He can be reached at ddog_tap@hotmail.com. Step into a groovin’ time machine every other Monday on UTC.