Take Three: Kool G Rap "4, 5, 6"

"It's a damn shame, what I gotta do just to make a dollar..."

Kool G Rap is a legend in our minds and his own right. The man knew how to tell a good street story, and balance that with a verbal acrobat ability regarding multisyllabics and diction. This album is very much a crowning achievement because Kool G took what he already knew from such classics he delivered as "Streets of New York," and pretty much put that into a changing rap world that was getting more of an organized crime sensibility. In turn, "4, 5, 6" (common winning combination in Cee-Lo or dice) provided some of the apex of Kool G's creativity, in an album that largely followed up his separation from DJ Polo. If nothing else, this is Kool G's mastery of street/mafioso rap.
As usual, let's break down three selections. Take three is a chance to take albums that are already familiar and regarded highly in rap, and deliver three tracks from one album to open a new listener's ears to that said classic. So without further adieu, let's get it started (absolutely no Black Eyed Peas).

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE: Biggie and Pac, the best?

From time to time we're going to allow some other heads speak via the blog. Dam is a friend of The Mad Bloggers and dude definitely goes at in on different issues. He'll be featured from time to time on the blog with his thoughts.

We know the following is a controversial statement. Soon as I saw this posted as his FB status I knew cats were going to come for him. I quickly jumped in with, "You know heads are coming for you son! Haha! They about to murder your email. Blow up the cell. They coming son! They coming!" But we strive to post real things from real people. It's a thought provoking statement

From Dam's FB status, "Since we keeping it 100. Can we honestly say in 2009 that Biggie and Pac were the best that ever did it? Biggie to me was decent... clever and witty punchlines, but definitely had fast foward material. Pac was and will always be wack to me. I never liked his music and I felt he was one of the biggest frauds and hypocrites in hip-hop. I never had neither of these cats in my top 5, or even top 10. But that's just me.."

See, told you it was a controversial statement. Other heads quickly joined in and offered names like KRS-One, Kool G Rap and Rakim as the best. And the B.I.G. fans and Pac fans definitely joined in saying dude was crazy not to include them in the top 10 of the best emcees, if not calling them the greatest.

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Twenty-five minutes after the original post, Dam responded to folks saying he was just seeking attention with, "Ask anybody who knows me, I don't say shit for attention I say exactly what i feel, people either agree or they don't. I never ever ever ever ever liked Tupac. I was a BIG fan, but in retrospect, he wasn't that great. I can think of many artists who were better than Pac and BIG and still are better. Biggies subject matter was limited. To be honest, I was a backpacker and still am. I like my shit underground. I had major issues with commercial shit back then and I still do today."

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Then forty-five minutes after we posted this joint another friend, Ced, joined in on the debate. Dude knows and appreciates good music. I had to update and give you his side.

Ced joined the debate with, "Man I had to stop breathing hard to answer this. Pac actually had a variety of meaningful content. In his early days he was more like an activist poet than a rapper. His lyrics really addressed issues rather than just intricate poetic devices about shallow things. Your friend hasn't said much about who is better than Pac and why. I think your friend should take a class on poetry and storytelling and read the lyrics for me against the world. Some people just aren't smart enough to catch what's being thrown.

Btw... Pun's mechanics are untouchable... Eminem has tried... listen to the Infinite album... and if u notice he still using a lot of rainman shit in his videos and music... its code bro. Kool G Rap's style changed my life... when I first heard Road to the Riches, I listened to it like 27 times in a row. Kane is who got me into poetry in the first place. Rakim had emotion filled content with an emotionless flow.

All that being said... I would like to know WHY dude feels the way he does. because it sounds like he's just talkin to talk. And he must of forgot all the albums before All Eyes on Me. Cause I don't know anyone who can really go toe to toe with him content wise... and he may not have always been consistent but he was real. There is no one realer in the mainstream, period."

Where are you at on this debate? Join in and comment below!

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