Finally: The Third Annual New Jack Hip Hop Awards (1/2)
Charles L Isbell
A couple of years ago, everyone on alt.rap and the funky-music mailing
list was bitchin' about how lame the Grammy's were in general, and
especially how weak they were when it came to rap and hiphop.
Thus was born the New Jack Hip Hop Awards.
*You* nominate. *You* vote. We count.
This time:
Nasty rap
Crossover Rap
Braggadacio
Misc 1: Breaking it Down
Misc 2: Awards for Innovation
Next time:
Misc 3: Videos & Such Stuff
Whackness and former whackness
Gangsta Hip-Hop
Political Hip-Hop
Progressive/Jazz
Hall of Fame
So, let's begin shall we?
====----> Nasty rap
Nasty just to *be* nasty folks. Just plain dirty. Nasty. Nasty.
As nasty as he wants to be, Chris Hart counted this one with his toes.
Phattest Nasty Group
28.7% Naughty By Nature
27.8% Pharcyde
18.5% Onyx
13.0% Geto Boys
12.0% Cypress Hill
Well, just about everyone got a chance to take the lead at one point
or another in this race, but in the end Naughty by Nature repeats
their win from last year by the hairs on their nasty parts. I guess I
*still* haven't listened to them closely enough to figure out why
they're so nasty....
Phattest Nasty Male Rapper
34.9% Snoop Doggy Dogg
31.1% Too $hort
11.3% Sticky Fingaz
10.4% Scarface
9.4% B-Real
2.9% Eazy E
Well, Snoop takes home an, uh, award (gotta come up with a cutesy name
for these things... maybe a hippy? Naaaaah....) for his nastiness.
He held the lead pretty much from day one and it looked like a cake
walk until halfway thru when Too $hort fans started voting. Still, it
was too little, too late. This makes Too $Short a bridesmain for two
years straight. Of notable interest is the incredibly poor showing of
Eazy E, now on the real solo tip.
Phattest Nasty Female Rapper
40.3% BO$$
25.0% MC Lyte
18.3% Yo Yo
13.5% (Roxanne) Shante
2.9% Choice
Bo$$ took no shorts this year. After being one of the few write-in's
last year to get more than one vote, she managed to move from last
place to first this year, beating out her more seasoned competition.
And without her to remain the unknown newcomer from below, Choice
moved to dead last.
The field for female rappers is fairly small, especially in this
category, but this year Bo$$ and her sister hip hoppers made their
presences felt. Witness the next category:
Phattest Nasty Rap Single
23.6% "Slam!" - Onyx
17.3% "Written on ya Kitten" Naughty by Nature
16.4% "Hits From the Bong" Cypress Hill
11.8% "Recipe of a Hoe" Bo$$
11.8% "Sweat of my Balls" CB4
10.9% "Gotta get a Ruffneck" MC Lyte
4.5% "Gimme That Nutt" Eazy E
3.7% "Dirty Nursery Rhymes" 2 Live Crew
Look: nominated singles actually peformed by women, a first for these
humble awards. Of course, the big winner was Onyx with "Slam!" (I
must admit that I've slept on them like I was on a pillow 'cause I
have no idea why this song is nasty). Anyway, NbN and Cypress
practically tied for second with Bo$$ settling for fourth with
pseudo-fictional rap group CB4... both just above MC Lyte.
Down in the basement is 2 Live Crew with Eazy E for a little bit of
company. Considering everything, the Pudgee write-in came off looking
better.
Phattest Nasty Rap Album
28.6% _Bacdafucup_ Onyx
27.6% _Black Sunday_ Cypress Hill
25.7% _Get In Where Ya Fit In_ Too $hort
18.1% _Born Gangstaz_ Bo$$
Again, Onyx comes out on top in a *very* tight race. Cypress Hill and
Too $hort both looked like winners at different points during the
voting, but the boys with the steel larynxes are triumphant. And
although she came in last, Bo$$ has the distinction of being the first
sister to have an album nominated in any of the categories.
Well... that was nasty wasn't it? Time for something cleaner, I
suppose....
====----> Crossover Rap
This is not to be confused with hip-pop like Vanilla Ice Cream Cone.
This is the rap that really "crosses" to other genres, be they R&B,
reggae, hard rock or even pop while actually remaining both good
*and* true to hip hop. Some of these have spun off into their own
subgenres (see Progressive/Jazz).
My man Fletch (fle...@mit.edu) straddled the fence to count these.
Phattest Crossover Group
37.2% De La Soul
31.0% Digable Planets
18.6% Us3
13.2% Rage Against The Machine
De La Soul is dead? I think not. Despite a last-minute surge by
Digable Planets--who may have had the misfortune of dropping theirs
too long ago to be in current memory--The Soul was never really in
trouble. "It might blow up but it won't go pop."
Newcomers Us3 held a comfortable third most of the way with Rage
Against the Machine playing clean-up.
Phattest Crossover Male Rapper
34.7% Guru
24.2% Snoop Doggy Dogg
21.0% MC Solaar
16.9% Heavy D
3.2% Father MC
Well, it was a Guru race from day one. Snoop overcame french-rapping
MC Solaar and took a definite second place, but the big surprise is
Heavy D's relatively poor showing. I mean, he did better than Father
MC (who just barely beat the 2Pac and Zach De La Rocha write-ins), but
that's not saying much apparently. How far the mighty have fallen....
Phattest Crossover Female Rapper
35.0% MC Lyte
30.0% Ladybug
16.2% Mary J. Blige
12.0% Shortie No Mass
6.8% Patra
It was never really a contest. MC Lyte had it wrapped up from the
giddy-up. Digable Planets' Ladybug does a good job with a solid
second place showing. Mary J Blige pulls in third (!)--an interesting
concept to say the least--over De La Soul pal Shortie No Mass. Patra
pulls up last (but she did a bit better than the Salt write-in).
Phattest Crossover Rap Single
67.2% "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" Digable Planets
32.8% "Le Bien, La Mal" Guru with MC Solaar
Rather than belabor the obvious, I'll just note that Salt and Pepa got
a write-in here for "Shoop" just as they did in the album category for
_Very Necessary_.
In defense of Guru, I *should* point out that the English and French
single has yet to be released from the _Jazzmatazz_ album and may not
have been heard by many of the voters. It certainly hasn't benefited
from the major airplay of the Digables' first single. Considering
that, it did pretty well.
Phattest Crossover Rap Album
28.7% _Jazzmatazz Volume 1_ Guru
25.4% _Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)_ Digable Planets
22.1% _The Chronic_ Dr. Dre
13.9% _Judgment Night Soundtrack_ Various
9.9% _Blue Funk_ Heavy D
It was a race until the very end, first between Guru and Dre then
between Guru and the Digables. Still, the voice behind Gangstarr
triumphed in the end with his "experimental fusion of Jazz and
Hip-Hop." Usual favorite Heavy D came in dead last this time.
====----> Braggadocio
Rappin' for your ego and not much else.
Marcell...@ebay.sun.com wants to make certain that all of you
know he counted these votes... and he smoked all the other sucker
vote-counters--seven at a time--while he was doing it.
Phattest Braggadocio Group
26.6% Pharcyde
23.4% Das EFX
20.3% Souls of Mischief
18.8% Wu Tang Clan
10.9% The Alkaholiks
Leaders of the Underground and Cypress Hill managed write-ins.
The Souls of Mischief started this race off with a nice lead, but
quickly gave way to the Pharcyde. Once they got it, they held first
and refused to let go, no matter how close the others came. The
Diggedy Das EFX crew managed second place, but by and large, this was
a pretty even race; everyone did fairly well.
Phattest Braggadocio Male Rapper
35.5% Del The Funkee Homosapien
26.4% Ice Cube
14.0% Eric Sermon
11.6% LL Cool J
8.5% Jeru Tha Damaja
Just between you and me, I was a bit surprised by this. Del The
Funkee managed a decisive victory in this category, even beating his
more famous cousin, Ice Cube. Considering that he didn't drop jack
the first for almost all of 1993 makes this all the more impressive.
Eric Sermon, now on the solo tip from EPMD, managed a nice solid third
over veteran LL "I wear a hat 'cause I'm bald" Cool J and newcomer
Jeru.
Phattest Braggadocio Female Rapper
37.8% Yo-Yo
21.0% MC Lyte
21.0% Queen Latifah
20.2% BO$$
Well, it was practically a three-way tie for second, but there's no
question who took first. Yo-Yo took an early lead and just kept it.
The next two switched leads throughout and in the end managed to end
up in the same place. The big comeback award goes to Bo$$ who came
from absolute zero in the first third of the period to, well,
basically tie for second.
Phattest Braggadocio Rap Single
21.8% "Slam!" Onyx
21.8% "Chief Rocka" Lords of the Underground
20.3% "Outta Here" KRS-ONE
16.5% "That's When Ya Lost," Souls of Mischief
9.0% "Come Clean" Jeru Tha Damaja
6.8% "Freakit" Das EFX
3.8% "What's Next?" Leaders of the New School
It looked like the Lords were going to just pull this one out, but
Onyx held on and managed a tie. And, of course, KRS-One all but tied
them. No clear winner here among the top three. Just clear losers.
No, I'm sorry, I take that back. *Everyone* is a winner (cue Sound of
Music theme).
Phattest Braggadocio Rap Album
31.2% _Return of the Boom Bap_ KRS-One
30.4% _Here Come The Lords_ Lords of the Underground
27.2% _93 Till Infinity_ Souls of Mischief
11.2% _T.I.M.E._ Leaders of the New School
With a nod to _The Chronic_ as a write-in, we end this section with
KRS-One in the top spot, this time managing to beat out his
sometime-competition LotU.
We will *not* mention the apparent contradiction with the nominees for
album not being reflected in the other nominations.
Nope.
I *will* mention that we still have not seen any big majority wins in
categories with more than two nominees. No big, clear winners as of
yet.
====----> The Dope Thangs
This section was counted by none other than Kathy Peck who was once
al...@mit.edu, but is now off in the *real* world (gasp) making money
and contributing to the economy of this fine country.
Funniest Rap
For the, um, funniest rap.
45.8% "Ya Mama" The Pharcyde
29.2% "I Can't Wake Up" KRS-One
17.5% "Return of the Crazy One" Digital Underground
7.5% "Only When I'm Drunk" Tha Alkaholiks
KRS-One *tried* to threaten to win with a brief flirtation with first
place, but it became apparent rather quickly that the Pharcyde was
going to win this one. And they did. Handily.
Due to one of the impossible-to-remove technicalities of the New Jack
Hip Hop Awards, "Ya Mama" was available last year as well. Then it
took a decisive second place to Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back."
Phattest Lyric
Slammin' music is not required.
21.6% "U.N.I.T.Y." Queen Latifah
21.6% "Live And Let Live" Souls of Mischief
17.6% "Hits from the Bong" Cypress Hill
13.6% "Protect Ya Neck" Wu Tang Clan
13.6% "Not Yet Free" The Coup
12.0% "Come Clean" Jeru Tha Damaja
And Queen Latifah breaks a barrier this year to tie for first with
newcomers Souls of Mischief. It was a close race throughout with The
Queen and Souls pulling slightly ahead as time went on. No clear
winner. Lots of long lyrical pipe laid here.
Most Slammin' Beat
Dope lyrics are not required.
27.0% "That's When Ya Lost" Souls of Mischief
26.2% "Gin And Juice" Snoop Doggy Dogg
19.2% "Who Got The Props?" Black Moon
18.6% "Come Clean" Jeru Tha Damaja
8.4% "Make Room" Tha Alkaholiks
Let's start at the bottom with the Alkaholiks. They also received a
write-in for "Likwit" (which *did* have a slammin' beat now that I
think about it). As we move up we see that Black Moon and Jeru pretty
much tied but fell behind the top two spots.
The Souls of Mischief take the top spot again... this time refusing a
tie with mega-star Snoop Doggy Dogg (who actually had a nice lead for
the first half). We'll have to wait until to see if Souls can combine
their slammin' lyrics and their slammin' beats and take any other
awards (hip-hoppies?) home.
Phattest DJ
It's not a lost art yet.
62.1% DJ Premier for _Return of the Boom Bap_ and others
16.4% DJ Mark Luv for _Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde_
15.5% Lord Jazz for _Here Come The Lords_
6.0% Pam The Funkstress for _Kill My Landlord_
In the first major upset of the day, DJ Premier, the more
turntable-minded side of Gangstarr, takes a majority win over the
others in the pack. Most nominators noted his wheels of steel mastery
in _Return of the Boom Bap_ but he was also noted for a slammin' beat
in Jeru Tha Damaja's "Come Clean."
Jazzy Jeff, once known as a truly top-notch DJ did get a sympathy vote.
Phattest Producer(s)
36.5% Ali Shaheed Muhammed for _Midnight Marauders_
35.8% Dr. Dre for _The Chronic_ and _Doggy Style_
27.7% DJ Premier for _Return of the Boom Bap_ and others
This was a great race. Dr Dre was ahead--sometimes by a large number
of votes--until the very end when everyone finally figured out just
what the hell it is that Ali does for A Tribe Called Quest and decided
to vote for him. DJ Premier ("thank God for DJ Premier" as one voter
put it) pulls a solid third.
This is a turn around from the last two years when one could bet the
farm *and* the kids that any hardcore act would beat out the jazzier
folks. Looks interesting. A new trend or just an aberration?
====----> More Dope Thangs
This is one of favorite groups of votes and was counted by workaholic
Kathy Peck (again).
Leaders of the New School
The most innovative hip hoppers around. Doesn't have to be
someone new, might be an old dog learning and teaching some new
tricks. In any case, should take hip hop in a new direction.
39.8% _Bizzare Ride II Tha Pharcyde_ Pharcyde
24.6% _93 'Til Infinity_ Souls of Mischief
20.7% _Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)_ Digable Planets
8.6% _Black Sunday_ Cypress Hill
6.3% _T.I.M.E._ Leaders of the New School
The top three spots were pretty stable from the get-go and Pharcyde
takes a decisive first place. Fan-fave SoM does a solid second with
the Digables pulling up third. Everyone else just sort of showed up.
Best fusion of Hip-Hop with non-Hip-Hop
Being the experimenters that they are, Hip-Hop artists are often
trying to merge their styles with stuff from other genres, be it
heay metal, jazz or country.
38.4% _Jazzmatazz Volume 1_ Guru
23.2% _Hand on the torch_ Us3
20.0% _Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)_ Digable Planets
11.2% _Judgement Night Soundtrack_ Various
7.2% "Slam"/"Judgement Night" Onyx & Biohazard
"Fusion" was taken literally this year and almost everyone took it
mean Jazz (even the write-in was for a Jazz-Hip-Hop attempt: _3-D
Lifestyles_ by Greg Osby). Guru got mad votes and just plain smoked
everybody. Digables got lazy halfway thru and gave up a solid second
for a solid third. Us3 pulled off that upset.
The Hard Rock-Rap fusion got less dap (81.6 to 18.4%) but didn't do
*too* badly.
Phattest Non-USA Artist
43.2% MC Solaar for "Le Bien, Le Mal" & _Qui Seme Le Vent Recolte Le Tempo_
43.2% Us3 for _Hand On the Torch_
13.6% Apache Indian
Need I say more? Last minute voting made this one a tie with
French-speaking rapper MC Solaar gettin' dap mostly for his Guru duet
but also gettin' props for his own album (yes, I own it). The English
Us3 jazz up the proceedings a bit.
And Apache Indian is in the basement (unless you count write-in
Gunshot).
Of course, it's possible that the non-American readers are all shaking
their heads at this point, wondering at our ignorance. For my part,
all I can say is that I've only *heard* of Us3 and Solaar. Who *is*
Apache Indian anyway? Anyone want to share with the class?
Provider of Phattest Samples
Everyone from James Brown to The Gap Band to Chick Corea have been
so kind as to provide hip hop with dope samples. Who's provided the
best stuff *this year*?
44.3% Parliament-Funkadelic
20.5% Zapp and Roger Troutman (Erick Sermon's "Stay Real")
14.8% George Clinton's "Atomic Dog"
11.4% James Brown
9.0% Emotions for "Blind Alley" off of the _Untouched_ LP (seen in
oldies like Big Daddy Kane's "Ain't No Half Steppin'",
it was used this past year by LL, Trilogy, Kenny Dope
and King Sun, among others)
And the answer is Pfunk. But then, it's always PFunk (albeit by less
than last year). One day, very soon, it's going to be against the law
to sample them. Still, I never ceased to be amazed at the number of
different and interesting ways one can use "Atomic Dog" and still make
it sound fresh.
Speaking of which, that particular PFunk sample managed third all by
itself. James Brown, grandfather of FONK beats out the Emotions
entry. Also worth noting for posterity are the following write-ins:
"Ode to Billy Joe" as used by Black Sheep (Still in the
Ghetto), Lord Finesse (Stop Sweatin the Next Man), Cypress
Hill (Three Lil Putos), Grand Puba (Reel to Reel)
Pharoah Sanders
Most Innovative Use of a Sample
Award for the artist who used a sample (be it music, voice or
whatever) in the most innovative, unexpected or phattest way
47.2% Ice Cube's for good use of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious
Five's "The Message" in "Check Yo Self" off _The
Predator_
25.2% Wu Tang Clan for interesting use of Shaolin/Wu-Tang sword
stuff
15.4% Jeru the Damaja for the water sample on "Come Clean"
12.2% The Coup for "I love playing the drums..." sample from "I
Ain't The Nigga" on _Kill My Landlord_.
Ice Cube won. He just... won. The race for second was more
interesting. Jeru and Wu Tang were neck-and-neck until 3/4 of the way
thru when Wu Tang just pimp slapped Jeru and took a solid second. My
favorite sample for the year comes in last. Oh, well.
And that's it for today. See ya tommorrow children.
--
Peace.
"Those who make non-violent revolution impossible
make violent revolution inevitable."
-Dr Martin Luther King, Jr
-\--/-
Don't just adopt opinions | \/ | Some of you are homeboys
develop them. | /\ | but only I am The Homeboy From hell
-/--\-
Enuma Olanrewaju Ogunyemi
> Phattest Crossover Rap Single
>67.2% "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" Digable Planets
>
>32.8% "Le Bien, La Mal" Guru with MC Solaar
>
>single has yet to be released from the _Jazzmatazz_ album and may not
>have been heard by many of the voters. It certainly hasn't benefited
>from the major airplay of the Digables' first single. Considering
>that, it did pretty well.
Actually it has been released. "Le Bien, le mal" was released at
least a month and a half ago. It just seems that nothing from the
Jazzmatazz album was really marketed strongly (with the possible
exception of "Loungin'").
Great Job with the Awards though!!!
Selector Dudu Black.
K-Mello, SGP '94
>Charles Isbell wrote:
>>32.8% "Le Bien, La Mal" Guru with MC Solaar
>>
>>In defense of Guru, I *should* point out that the English and French
>>single has yet to be released from the _Jazzmatazz_ album and may not
>>have been heard by many of the voters. It certainly hasn't benefited
>>from the major airplay of the Digables' first single. Considering
>>that, it did pretty well.
>
> Actually it has been released. "Le Bien, le mal" was released at
>least a month and a half ago. It just seems that nothing from the
>Jazzmatazz album was really marketed strongly (with the possible
>exception of "Loungin'").
Supposedly, none of the albums song were supposed to be released as singles,
except for limited pressing DJ copies. Supposedly the album was composed to be
listened to in its entirety, not just the singles, but how do you promote an
album? Singles.
> Great Job with the Awards though!!!
>
>Selector Dudu Black.
K-Mello
SHYGUY Productions
Charles L Isbell
Hmmmmm. I thought "Trsut Me" had been released around that time....
| Great Job with the Awards though!!!
Thank you. Lord knows it's time-comsuming (I hear all the vote
counters going "hell yeah!" in the background now)....
--
Peace.
"Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain"
- Lily Tomlin
st92...@pip.cc.brandeis.edu
either "Genius of Rap" by Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde or "It's Nasty" by
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (they had the Tack-head boys,
Doug Weimbish and Skip McDonald replay it.)
Just setting the record straight....or rather, giving credit where
credit is due.
Peace,
Pitch
Peter Jebsen
>I am sure that that beat was first used in
>'Genius Of Love'
>Can't remember the band
Tom Tom Club
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------
pje...@onenation.gun.de | Peter Jebsen | Without humps,
pje...@well.sf.ca.us | NEW FUNK TIMES | there's no
CompuServe 100021,1314 | Funkateers Int'l| getting over!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
HANDING, PÅL ARNE
> Charles L Isbell (isb...@ai.mit.edu) wrote:
> : What is the New Jack Hip Hop Awards?
>
>
> : Most Innovative Use of a Sample
> : Award for the artist who used a sample (be it music, voice or
> : whatever) in the most innovative, unexpected or phattest way
>
> : 47.2% Ice Cube's for good use of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious
> : Five's "The Message" in "Check Yo Self" off _The
> : Predator_
>
> I am sure that that beat was first used in
> 'Genius Of Love'
>
> Can't remember the band
>
> It was a pop/R&B tune
>
> SO i think they should be credited with the beat and not Flash
>
> --
> .sig says 'I could be wrong so sue me'
"Genius Of Love" is by a group called the Tom Tom Club, but Ice Cube didn't
sample that. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five did, however, in their
song "It's Nasty" back in 81 (or 82 ?).
Paal Handing
Joe Stevens
In article <2km1j6$8...@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>, ekun...@athena.mit.edu (Enuma Olanrewaju Ogunyemi) writes:
> In article <2kkial$4...@mercury.king.ac.uk>, me_...@king.ac.uk (-=+NUBIAN+=-) writes:
> |> Charles L Isbell (isb...@ai.mit.edu) wrote:
> |> : Five's "The Message" in "Check Yo Self" off _The
> |> : Predator_
> |>
> |> 'Genius Of Love'
> |> Can't remember the band
> |> It was a pop/R&B tune
> |> |> SO i think they should be credited with the beat and not Flash
> |>
>
> "The Message." Sure they use similar instruments and sounds but then again they
> were both recorded in the 80s...
Actually, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (I think in 1983)
used the background of the "Genius of Love" for their track "It's Nasty"
> Now Almighty RSO used the "Genius of Love"the "Genius of Love" sample in "Bad Boys" (on the
> flip side of the First Flava unit group single).
> Let's give credit where its due.
>
Also, I still think Ice Cube did a nice job with "Check Yo Self". Considering
that the background was "The Message", he did an excellent job of delivering a
positive message.
____________________________________________
| "Experience is what causes a person to |
Joe Stevens | make new mistakes instead of old ones." |
_________________________________|____________________________________________|
///// //// /////> //// Goddard Space Flight Center |
// // // // // // // Network Control Systems Barnch, Code 532.1 |
// // ////// ///// ////// Greenbelt, MD 20771 - VOICE: (301) 286-1557 |
// // // // // // // email: ste...@strfleet.gsfc.nasa.gov |
// // // // <///// // // gsfcmail: jste...@gsfcmail.gsfc.nasa.gov |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
--
st92...@pip.cc.brandeis.edu
usage of the Genius of Love sample...although as I have mentioned
before, I think Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde used it on a song called
"Genius of Rap" and I don't know which came first (I would guess
GMF&FF)....
Hope this helps,
Pitch
Enuma Olanrewaju Ogunyemi
Now YOU are all confused. Go back and read the original post and my
response. Nobody said RSO used "Genius of love" first. Somebody did say that
the beat from "The Message" was actually sampled (or first used in) "Genius of
love."
Who's smokin'? ;-)
Mr. Black
"Paranoia, paranoia" - Nice and Smooth