Other than Dayton, Ohio, the funk flows in the Bay Area like nowhere else. Nobody translated that Bay Area funk sound into the hip-hop genre like Ant Banks. In 1997, after a couple successful solo albums and producing tracks for any and everyone in the Bay, Banks dropped a compilation called Big Thangs. It featured the likes of Too Short, Ice Cube, Dr Dre, WC, Ice T, E-40, Spice 1, etc. “4 Tha Hustlas” featured Dangerous Crew General Too Short, legend 2pac, and the incomparable MC Breed. Otis & Shug, Oakland’s go to R&B duo, also provided some vocal assistance. I could talk all day about Banks and his influences in the genre, but I will not, I got stuff to do. Peace.
Short Dog’s In The House was the turning point for Todd Shaw or Too $hort as he’s become known to the world as. With tracks like “In The Ghetto”, “Short But Funky”, and “Ain’t Nothin But A Word To Me”, it marked a growth in his music. This is the second in a string of 6 straight platinum albums for Too $hort. Life Is…, Short Dog’s In The House, Shorty The Pimp, Get In Where You Fit In, Cocktales, and Gettin’ It, all sold over a million records. That’s some serious bragging rights for a rapper. Albums don’t even go wood anymore.
I got into a twittscussion the other day about the pitfalls of the movie Menace II Society. I’ve sat and chilled on it for a few days and I think I’m going to write something up on it. I feel pretty strongly about the views that were expressed, however, that doesn’t change the fact that the soundtrack was hot, son. From Spice 1’s “Trigga Gots No Heart”, DJ Quik’s House Of Pain diss, “Can’t F*** wit *****”, UGK, Brand Nubian, Guru & The Cutthroats, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, MC Eiht, BDP, and a slew of other artists. So here I’m doing my video of the day tribute to Menace II Society, which I will roast very shortly as well….enjoy…..The movie starred a gang of rappers MC Eiht, Too Short, Saafir (Caine’s cousin Harold), and Pooh-Man. However it’s the exclusion of one particular rapper that made the most noise, Tupac Shakur was originally slated to be in the movie as Sharif, however he was fired, which lead to an butt whooping and charges being filed against Pac. Anyway…here…..we….goooooooo
UGK – POCKET FULL OF STONES (PORT ARTHUR REMIX)
MC EIHT – STREIHT UP MENACE
DJ QUIK – CAN’T F*** WITH A *****
THE CUTTHROATS – STOP LOOKING AT ME [FEAT GURU]
PETE ROCK & CL SMOOTH – DEATH BECOMES YOU [FEAT THE Y.G.z]
KEYB2LOCK 