Newfound Appreciation For Kool Keith

Back around 2002-03 i used to read the Source and XXL mags alot and i used to see this man's LP promos inside all the time. And the way it looked and LP title was kinda crazy and to me very corny. I was like who is Kool Keith? Why his LP covers look that crazy? And why does he have a Elvis toupe glued on his head? I was saying to myself this man is out there....way out there!! But this was before i had a chance to study up on my hip-hop knowledge and reading the manuscripts, and now in 2011 i wanna say i was really mistaken by this guy. Let the journey begin.

When i started on my path to Hip-Hop 101 i was listening to whole lot of old mixtapes from the late 80's and 90's. And a group stood out among the others that i thought had some great music and some thought into what they were doing. One of those groups was Ultramagnetic MC's, there style was really different and their beats were really tough. So i decided to study up more on them, i bought their Critical Beatdown LP and was blown away by it. The artist that blew me away was Kool Keith, his whole style and way of rhymin was just different to me. Biz Markie is different.....ODB is different......but Kool Keith is another kind of different. I was saying to myself this couldnt be the same guy with those crazy LP promos i seen years earlier.

Then on those 90's mixtapes there were 2 Ultramagnetic joints that i heard that had me amped, they were "Raise It Up" & "Poppa Large"! On these 2 joints Kool Keith went all the way in, like i said i just love the way he rhymes. He just says what he feels and its a steady flow and sometimes unsteady. So now im like ok Kool Keith got some skills, im definetly open on him and my Stretch & Bobbito journey havent began yet. So.......

Went i went on my personal S&B mission a few years ago i then realized that Kool Keith is a legitmate dope MC! He had a demo joint called "Time Is Now" when he just destroys the track over a dope hard beat. He did classic joints in a group called the Cenobites with him & Godfather Don, and the track "Kick A Dope Verse" was just classic with a rare rhyme from Bobbito! Then he had another dope joint called "Wanna Be A Star", when i 1st heard this joint a couple years ago i must have replayed this joint like 10x it was that ill!!! Then not to mention the many times he came up to S&B show and dropped really clevar freestyles.

And now over the past few years im still gathering joints Kool Keith done that i think was dope. So the lesson is dont judge a book by its cover. I thought Keith was wack, I thought Keith was corny, I thought Keith was a phony. But u all should know that Kool Keith is a dope MC who should be thought more as one of hip-hop's best mainstrean & undaground!! Dont let that Elvis glued on toupe fool u people!!

Who's Voice Been Sampled The Most: Biz, Biggie Or Nas?

I was thinking about this question the other day while listenin to some dope hip-hop tracks. Ive heard some classic joints during the golden era that featured Biz Markie, Nas Or Biggie vocal samples. All the 3 has brought certain things to game indiviually in their own right, but who knew that just their vocals alone will be good enough for other classic tracks!!

Biz as we all know is and was the clown prince of hip-hop. He was ill on the beatbox as well, but to me his rhymes was defintely on point and very overlooked. They wasnt ur typical rhyme pattern and thats what made him so unique. But who knew just his crazy adlibs will be great for other dope tracks to come. People like Erick Sermon & most def. Pete Rock took Biz's vocals and was able to craft classic records out of them. Pete Rock will tell u 1st hand that Biz's vocals just sounded so dope to him that he just find a way to use them for his beats and it sounded just right. Now we all know the reason why people cant sample for free anymore is because of Biz, but who knew he would give back by him being the culprit!

Nas exploded on the scene in '94 with illmatic. And on that LP Nas was spittin some of the best rhymes known to man in that time. I mean u could dissect what he was spittin and piece it together to sound how u want it. From '94-'95 every producer in the game was using Nas' vocals on hooks and so forth. I dont blame them for doing that at all cause look all the classics that came out of it. Prime example is Real Live's "Real Live Shit", listen how K-Def perfectly took a Nas' sample for the hook. Priceless. And im not gonna even mention Ski using Nas' vocal for Jay on Dead Presidents. Nas provided alot of hits during those days without actually spiitin a rhyme!

Now we all know what Biggie brought to the game. Its pretty explanatory. But it was his whole flow & rhyme pattern that we never heard before. He was sayin stuff that niggas wasnt even thinkin about. But all the smart producers out there knew if they could splice up what he was sayin u can make countless hits using him. Just the way Biggie sounded fit well with the track producers was makin. Prime example? Camron's "Sports, Drugs & Entertainment", "Niggas wanna escape the ghetto cause that shits hot, either they slangin crack rocks or they got a wicked jump shot". There u go right there, its gets no doper than that. Biggie's 2 LPs provided many hits for niggas that been in the game or just comin into it, he's just a gift that keeps on giving.

So who's voice has been sampled the most? Is it the Diabolical Biz Markie? Nas Escobar? or The Black Frank White Biggie Smalls? Lets ur thoughts be known!