Music That Defines Our Memories
"Don't buy The Black Album, I'm sorry." With those deeply apologetic words, Prince attempted to erase a year's worth of dark, humorous, overtly sexual funk jams intended as an olive branch to his hardcore fans. Or possibly a middle finger to his detractors. Communicated via hidden message in the "Alphabet St." video, it was clear. … Continue reading Prince – The Black Album (1987/1994)
My cassette singles...no reason to get rid of them after 27 years. Continuing chronologically through my hip-hop cassette single rewind, I now find myself in 1992. At this time, I was almost exclusively purchasing hip-hop or R&B/Pop (e.g. Prince, Mary J. Blige) cassettes and CDs. I was listening to other music beyond these genres but … Continue reading Classic Hip-Hop Cassette Single Rewind – Part 2
After spending the previous couple of years either clearing out the vault or creating new tracks designed to fit the narrative of feature films (Batman, Graffiti Bridge), Prince was likely ready to MOVE ON. Not a simple, "Alright, let's get in the studio and create a new song" type of MOVE ON. I mean the … Continue reading Prince – Diamonds & Pearls (1991)
My actual cassette singles that are the subject of this post, pulled out of storage, and performing together for one night only. The introduction of MP3s and music streaming services have made it unquestionably easier for consumers to hear their favorite songs whenever they want. Billboard even tracks song streams as a metric for determining … Continue reading Classic Hip-Hop Cassette Single Rewind – Part 1
"6 'n the mornin' police at my door. Fresh Adidas squeak across the bathroom floor." N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton gets a lot of credit for pushing gangsta rap to the mainstream but anyone who followed west coast hip-hop in the late 80s knows that Ice-T's 1-2 punch of Rhyme Pays along with his title song … Continue reading Ice-T – Rhyme Pays (1987)
"The future of the group is in doubt." For the hip-hop group Public Enemy, the summer of 1989 brought controversy ("controversy in the rap world"), unwanted publicity, and public apologies. It also saw the group dismiss one of its original members, the minister of information, Professor Griff. Griff served as a public mouthpiece for P.E. … Continue reading Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet (1990)