The :flabbynsick: ask us anything thread....

[Juggalo Fred]

I'm officially pushing 40 - and one of the interesting things about getting older is seeing the younger generation (can't believe I'm even using that term) debate about things that you actually lived through....

I know there are a few of us here, so I wanted to jump this off by just telling the true events and feeling from our culture at the time they were actually happening (and everyone us that's my age or older jump in) - Ask us anything.

*90s kid/Early 00's teen/20s

1. Eminem was widely thought to be a clown, 1-hit wonderish type of rapper, until the "Dead Wrong" by Biggie dropped - when everyone heard Eminems verse it was like a bomb hit. Eminem went from clown white rapper to holy sh*t best verse ever like overnight. (Yea he battled and had a mini-rep but we didn't really have internet like that to even know)

2. Of course there was no social media, but if you did use computers or the internet, you were a super geek. I mean it was def cool to say "Computers?? I don't even know how to use those things"...If you were on SOHH you had to hide it. The internet was like a super-nerd thing to the "hood"...now we have Presidential Twitter Fingers and Social Media Beef. Crazy.

3. When Ether dropped it was like the world stopped spinning. Nas was like a joke for the year or 2 Jay-Z had been dissing him, and Jay-Z was media equivalent to what Drake is now. People like to argue that Nas never fell off, but he definitely had fallen way off in public eye..there was no internet forums for stans to congregate. That's why Ether hit so hard - no one expected it, and no one really dissed Jay-Z hard.

4. You could get shot and killed in a Biggie vs. Tupac argument in late 90s. People took it that serious, and I am not exaggerating.

5. The 50 Cent of 2001 is the biggest rapper I've ever seen in any year ever. I don't think that year can be replicated, even 2009 Drake.
EDIT: I meant 2002-2003...sorry, I'm getting old.
More random thoughts to come...maybe

where were you when you first heard ICP was being dropped by Hollywood records because Disney didn't want the negative backlash?

 

[LandryFieldsDad]

50s mixtape run..and the buzz surrounding him leading up to the Shady/Aftermath deal was like nothing else I've ever witnessed..
i was only 8-9 years old in 92 so dont remember snoop too well

 

[Trot LaRoc]

35 ....fellow club

1. Pretty accurate about Em. I knew about him a little from Unsigned Hype. I remember tha My name is video and i couldnt stop laughing...it thought it was on some parody Weird Al shyt. My little sister copped the cd and a couple joints were ok but most blac ppl still thought he was goofy. I remember hearing his shyt on Dead Wrong at a party in college and cats were like damn who is dude. Its not like no one liked him but that verse and Renegade are what got him respect with black ppl.

3. Kinda accurate. Nastradamus was seen as a misstep and Nas did fall bac so Ether really was like damn where that come from. I still dont think it was that good of a diss but thats another argument

5. Fiddy in 2002-3 was major. Snoop in 92 is up there too but hiphop was a lot more mainstream in 2000s. I was out on a afriday getting gas about to head to a club. Swear to god, every car in the station was bumpin 50...i looked atound and damn near every car was bumpin 50. It was surreal....i wasnt even up North. I was in Tallahassee, FL....i swear there was like 20-25 cars bumpin 50 at tha same damn time...cacs, nikkas, everyone was roccin wit Fif.

Snoop was major too...i was in middle school then but tha whole school was playin Snoop heavy. He had like four strong heavily played singles. My parents were big Luther, 80s rnb heads but even they copped Doggystyle. That was tha only hiphop cd they ever bought

 

[LandryFieldsDad]

also reasonable doubt was ill right out the gate..

we didnt need jayz to tell us a decade later.
reasonable doubt was crazy

 

[wizworld]

I would say Reasonable Doubt IMO.

There was just so much Biggie/2pac talk that I always heard Jay-Z being considered cool and dope, but you would get laughed out the room if you bought up his name in the "best" conversation.

I actually personally saw that happen. Back in like 00-01 though.

Yeah. The Jay-Z "Reasonable Doubt" conversation started with "Yo, you heard the album? Duke is nice". No one I knew had any idea he'd be what he is NOW. The concept tracks on there had so much replay value. The beats didn't stand out on their own, but the more you listened the more you appreciated the level of lyricism he was coming with.

 

[wizworld]

also reasonable doubt was ill right out the gate..

we didnt need jayz to tell us a decade later.
reasonable doubt was crazy

It was ill, but it didn't stop everything though. Most classic albums stop everything. I remember when I first heard "Illmatic", "Cuban Linx", "The Infamous", "Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life" etc. He was a rapper's rapper on "Reasonable Doubt", the heads I knew discussed him because his level of lyricism was so high.

 

[LandryFieldsDad]

It was ill, but it didn't stop everything though. Most classic albums stop everything. I remember when I first heard "Illmatic", "Cuban Linx", "The Infamous", "Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life" etc. He was a rapper's rapper on "Reasonable Doubt", the heads I knew discussed him because his level of lyricism was so high.

I was 13 in NYC when reasonable doubt dropped. That was the shyt.

 

[wizworld]

how you old farts feel about j snore?
i hope its like this:

I'll never listen to him, but I can see why my nieces and nephews identify with him.
They grew up middle class, naturally they are less angry/aggressive and more angsty than I was at their age.

 

[SirBiatch]

Remember how unbelievably famous Lil Kim was? Was she bigger in late 90s/early 00s than Prime Nicki? It feels like to me but that could be revisionist history...

All the movie stars and celebs used to name drop her and she was in tv, movies, pop culture everything...

Definitely.

I'll never listen to him, but I can see why my nieces and nephews identify with him.
They grew up middle class, naturally they are less angry/aggressive and more angsty than I was at their age.

I've been middle class my whole life, but I could never identify with suburban angst. I think it's because I grew up abroad and also lived in Nigeria for some time. And I've lived with some hood dudes.

I always thought: 'the fukk you angsty about? nikkas is starvin"

Rap went from being aggressive (which I love) to being angsty (which I hate).

While we're on this topic, something that routinely gets forgotten is how huge Will Smith was as a rapper in the 90s. I wouldn't say he's the J Cole of the 90s in terms of subject matter and style but he was non-threatening as fukk. Will made way better music than J Cole though.

 

[Pegasus Jackson]

where were you when you first heard ICP was being dropped by Hollywood records because Disney didn't want the negative backlash?

I'll help you out here.


I saw ICP here in Atlanta in 1997 during their Milenko tour with Hour of Krazees and Myzery (I think.. ). The ticket price was $6.. so I said why the fukk not. I like theater. I then bought a Gold Milenko album (Hollywood record version) from Peppermint music in the hood (was surprised they had ICP). I already had been bumping Esham and had bought Ringmaster and Riddle Box in the past. I'm not a juggalo.. but I have followed ICP for a long ass time kinda like a casual observer.. I also went to the gathering two years ago in thornsville ohio and ended up on stage at the Neden game drinking a fifth of jack daniels and telling the bytch I was going to nut on her face.

 

[Tetris v2.0]

30 years of age...

I remember Cappadonna and Canibus albums being a big deal in 97-98 which is hilarity in hindsight

Also, No Limit could slap that fukkin tank logo on anything and people would cop without a second guess

DMX was prolly not as popular as 50 in '02, but I worshipped dude back then

I miss the 97-99 era It was the perfect balance of quality and commercial

 

[Juggalo Fred]

I'll help you out here.


I saw ICP here in Atlanta in 1997 during their Milenko tour with Hour of Krazees and Myzery (I think.. ). The ticket price was $6.. so I said why the fukk not. I like theater. I then bought a Gold Milenko album (Hollywood record version) from Peppermint music in the hood (was surprised they had ICP). I already had been bumping Esham and had bought Ringmaster and Riddle Box in the past. I'm not a juggalo.. but I have followed ICP for a long ass time kinda like a casual observer.. I also went to the gathering two years ago in thornsville ohio and ended up on stage at the Neden game drinking a fifth of jack daniels and telling the bytch I was going to nut on her face.

repped. You don't happen to still own that Milenko cd do you??

I just happened to see ROC from House of Krazees on Friday out in Mass - along with Blaze Ya Dead Homie. here's some footage:

 

[Pinyapplesuckas]

30 years of age...

I remember Cappadonna and Canibus albums being a big deal in 97-98 which is hilarity in hindsight

Also, No Limit could slap that fukkin tank logo on anything and people would cop without a second guess

DMX was prolly not as popular as 50 in '02, but I worshipped dude back then

I miss the 97-99 era It was the perfect balance of quality and commercial

same age. feel the same way. X was def huge but wasnt willing to work with the amount of people 50 did...thats what made Fif so huge..he was chasing money.

No Limit went gold+ so many times in '98

 

[SAINT]

What rappers in the 90s did you think would still be relevant today?

 

[R.O. Double]

I'm 34.

Everybody had The Chronic. If you didn't have The Chronic album, you were probably deaf.

nikkas in the hood didn't give a fukk about the internet until Napster came along.

Having verse of the month in The Source was a big deal. I remember when Blueprint came out and that was the only album I remember having verse of the Month 2 months in a row. Jay-Z got it for H to the Izzo and Em got it for Renegade.

I wasn't really up on Jay-Z until later. I used to think of him as just the nikka who rapped with Foxy Brown.

I used to stay watching The Box. I never called in to order any videos, but a nikka would watch hoping to see some new shyt. I remember The had the Gin and Juice video and I realized that everyone was running out the house at the end becuz dude was shooting. MTV and BET used to blank out the gun shots.

Rap City had 3 host. Joe Clair, Big Tigger and Big Lez. shyt was dope. Yo MTV Raps came on everyday and was a 30 minute show unless you watched it on Fridays at midnight where they wasn't blanking out the words as much.

Don't let the revisionist fool you. nikkas was bumping Silkk The Shocker during the prime of No Limit.