Monday, January 12, 2009

Top 100 Hip Hop Songs: Better Late than Never

I don't know how we missed this the 1st time around, but apparently back in September VH1 constructed a list of the Top 100 Hip Hop Songs of all time. Even though we missed it the 1st time around, I suppose it could still use a few comments here. In general, I understand the problems w/ picking 100 songs & the problematic nature of then prioritizing them from 100-1, so I will leave the majority of the picks alone. For instance, I was never a fan of "Baby Got Back," but I suppose it has its historical significance, besides, neither the beans nor the rice miss me very often either. That said, here are my observations:
* Some of the picks seem to be there as a way for VH1 to plug their other shows. The fact that Warren G & Yo Yo feature on the VH1 shows doesn't necessarily mean their songs deserve a spot in the top 100... "Regulate" is pretty cool, but in the Top 100? I don't think so.
* I was surprised by the number of newer songs w/ which I was familiar. I assumed I knew nothing about rap post-The Chronic, but as it turns out, I recognized a few of them. Albeit, my familiarity w/ "Ridin" by Chamillionaire ft. Krayzie Bone is based on my familiarity w/ Weird Al's parody "White & Nerdy."
* If I were to make a similar list, I imagine it would be more 1988-1992centeric so I guess I'm a bit biased against the newer stuff, & even though Biggie was almost 15 years ago now (& hence not really "newer), I never understood his mass-appeal.
* I like 71-70, "Freaks Come Out at Night" > "Pop Goes the Weasel." Whodini always cracked me up... what was w/ that one dude's hat? And then, I always get excited when people give 3rd Bass the props they deserve.
* Big Punisher ft. Joe @ #76? Who the hell are they & how can a rapper be called Joe? He needs a better name like Lil Joe or Mixmaster Joe or even just LL Cool Joe.
* Lil' Kim ft. Lil' Cease @ 75... I don't know the song (or who this Lil Cease person is), but Lil Kim should be higher on the list based solely on her tits... as shown here w/ Diana Ross.
* Jungle Brothers, Nas & De La Soul should be higher on the list... especially since Puff Daddy, Roxanne Shante & Tone Loc are higher than them.
* As far as the Top 10 goes, I don't have many problems other than these:
** LL Cool J should be in the Top 10 rather than Biggie.
** "Rapper's Delight," while historically important, isn't really that great of a song... I can understand its place in the Top 10, but #2 is pushing it.
** Public Enemy @ #1 is obvious, but their blatant absence from the rest of the list is strange. Their best is the greatest Hip Hop song ever, but their 2nd best isn't even in the Top 100? I don't but it. "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos," "Bring the Noise," "Welcome to the Terrordome," "Leave this off Your Fucking Charts," "Terminator X to the Edge of Panic," "Prophets of Rage," & "Rebel w/o a Pause" could all easily make that list.Overall, it was fun to watch it last night while flipping back & forth w/ Jedi. What we saw of Jedi brought about a few new issues I never thought about before too, but I may save them for a different post. Here's a hint though... CGI Ewoks & some logic in the floor plan of Palpatine's Thrown Room might help the film. And speaking of the Thrown Room scene, I just found this fun little overview of the extent of Vader's injuries as explained by some random fan-boy.

6 comments:

Stephanie said...

What about my new concern with wookies? Yikes.

Anonymous said...

That is bullshit that P.E. only has that one song in there. Which song was it anyway?
I could be wrong, but I don't think that Joe guy is a rapper per say. I think he's more of an R&B singer guy.
You're loving LL Cool J way too much for any white man.

Andre said...

"Fight the Power."

An obvious choice, but certainly not my fav. I'm not loving him too much; I'm just demanding the respect he deserves. In fact, I wouldn't say he should have more songs on the list, just different ones or at least "I Need Love" should be higherr than "I Can't Live w/o My Radio."

I forgot about the Wookiee issue. How come we can't see his junk? Is it just that small?

Anonymous said...

Wookies are growers, not showers.
Their boners are huge, but when flaccid it looks like a tiny grub in a shrub.

Stephanie said...

LOL! Seriously, I laughed out loud at that!!

Anonymous said...

First of all, its not 'Thrown' room. Its Throne room.

I agree with Duerr for once. LL Cool J is a little too...comercialized or something. I'm suprised your giving him so much love.