Reading articles yesterday about the WAY too young passing of rapper Eyedea, I couldn't help but slow down and reminisce at every mention of Scribblejam, Underground Hip-Hop and Backpack rap. You see, prior to my contention that hip-hop is indeed doing fine, and doesn't need a bunch of white dudes listening to 12"s to save it, I definitely was way into the "backpack" rap scene (a term that has a hilarious 24 entries over at urbandictionary.com ). Thankfully I never embarrassed myself by participating in any of of it, (as far as I know graphic design still hasn't been recognized as one of the elements of hip hop right?) but I did jam out to it quite a bit, snatching up over priced 12" imports and arguing about them over at okayplayer.com, VHS taping Lyricist Lounge episodes, watching people DJ on way to many turntables... There may even be some pictures out there of me in a bucket hat...
So in honor of Eyedea, here's Jac and Co's 10 favorite Backpack jams that I can remember
Sole- Bottle Of Humans
A milestone in white sad dude rap, and not surprisingly the most cringe inducing to revisit, I played this out, first a tape of the 12" and then when I finally found it, the record itself. There was no "before Anticon got weird" or anything, but this was maybe when it was at it's most rap-y? The Song for You sample is still tight though, someone needs to kill that now....
Jedi Mind Tricks- Heavenly Divine
I got Violent By Design the night it came out and played it daily for many months after. It's strange to me now to hear how much they copped from the WU-Tang playbook, but it sounded so fresh to me at the time. Still, in a scene that was all about positivity, this was a breath of fresh, raw air....
Planet Asia- In Your Area
One of my favorite mixes from back in the day, from a DJ and a label that have managed to stay relevant even now (Peanut butter Wolf, Stones Throw), I still love how well Asia takes his time on the beat.
MF Doom- Doomsday
Speaking of taking your time on a beat-few can sound so relaxed and be hitting it that hard. It can be hard to remember that before MF Doom rapped cartoon characters, and sent imposters to his live shows, he self released, self produced and even went to cities he played at days early to bomb them with the same MF Doom tag on his records.
Louis Logic- Dos Factotum
As a fellow fan of the bottle, I couldn't leave off Louis Logic. A great booze song, filled with a good mix of celebration, regret, and a Bukowski reference. I'll toast to this still.
Canibus- Micnificent
This may be stretching it- I'm pretty sure that Canibus didn't particularly want to stay underground, but between his hard to reign in flow, and the diminishing returns of his next records, he got stuck there. Still the lyricism on this record kills- definitely wore the grooves down on this one.
Cypher Complete- Bring Hop Back
My one token Hip-Hop revival pick, from the classic Lyricist Lounge records. I've never heard anything else from Cypher Complete (It may have been a constructed group for the CD- I don't remember, but this is a rare party beat and killer delivery in an overly serious genre.
Thirstin Howl III - Brooklyn Hard Rock
The Polo Rican! I remember Thirstin bening pretty decisive, a lot of people didn't dig his clothing name dropping (Is it ok to be materialistic if you rap abut stealing it?) but this is a jam, off of another classic record, the Rawkus Soundbombing 2 comp.
Aesop Rock- 1000 Deaths
Aesop always veered a little close to the super fast white dude delivery I just can't get behind, but the simple moody beat does a lot to anchor it in here.
Grouch & Eligh - Lake Release
I would be doing California wrong by not listing a Living Legends track. This was pretty arbitrary, due to how prolific Grouch & Eligh's output, but I love Grouch's Bone Thug jacking flow on this one.
ok, so Eyedea's conspicuously missing, it wasn't quite my thing- but in honor of him, and since that's what inspired the list- I thought this little nugget of history would be well worth inclucing
Eyedea & Abilities- Rhymesayers 10th Anniversary
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