My Life Of Music Obsession: Old School Hip Hop.

In 1992 I started to transform into a hip hop fanatic which lasted through a majority of my teenage years. When I first heard Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Deep Cover" and Ice Cube's "Today Was A Good Day", in 1992 I took it upon myself to discover as much hip hop as possible.

What follows in this entry is what I discovered courtesy of K-Tel compilations, and tapes that relatives and friends made me. The years in this entry range from 1978 to 1990. This entry contains well over 80 songs, and covers what I consider to be the golden era of hip hop music.

I do want to forewarn my readers that a majority of this playlist contains explicit lyrics. I try to keep my blogs family friendly for the most part, but I don't feel I would being doing a blog entry about the golden era of hip hop justice by excluding any of the essential songs on this list.

I hope many of my readers will remember the magic of the first time you heard Rappers Delight, or Boyz N' The Hood, or The Message, or King Of Rock, or Fight The Power, or Paid In Full. If you are discovering many of these for the first time I hope they bring you as much joy as they brought me.

I really dove deep into the annals of hip hop as I do with every genre of music. In future entries I will fill in the gaps of other essentials in other genres that I discovered later in life.

Check out the companion playlist Spotify, YouTube, iTunes.

On to the playlist...

1. Sugarhill Gang  - Rappers Delight. - The first hip hop song to expose hip hop to the masses. I didn't hear this until I was 17 years old via a cover version done by members of EPMD. I used to subscribe to BMG music club and ended up ordering the compilation "Best of the Sugarhill Gang" in 1997. I much prefer the edited 6 minute cut to the full version which clocks in at well over 14 minutes long. The bass line and other instrumental parts of "Good Times" by the disco act Chic are sampled and used to compose the break beat used on this song.

2. Sugarhill Gang - Apache. - While not as big as "Rappers Delight", I feel this is also an essential hip hop song.

3. Toddy Tee - Batterram - This is a song that chronicles the story of the LAPD using tanks to barge into suspected Crack Houses in South Central Los Angeles in the early 1980's.

4. Mixmaster Spade And Compton Posse - Genius Is Back. -This is an unofficial sequel to "Genius Of Love" by the NYC post punk group The Tom Tom Club. I originally heard this on the priority records compilation "Compton's Greatest Rap" in 1992. At this time I was DJ'ing grade school dances and I would always throw this song into my set list. I find it awesome that most of the crowd would always sing along to the line "Whatcha Gonna Do When You Get Out Of Jail?" Mariah Carey sampled a great deal of this song in her 1995 single "Fantasy."

5. Toddy Tee Ft. Mixmaster Spade - Just Say No. - I feel the music of Mixmaster Spade is often overlooked when it comes to Hip Hop music, and that the west coast hip hop scene didn't really get exposure until N.W.A. but there is much to be discovered about early west coast hip hop. I feel Mixmaster Spade is a good start. I have heard many hip hop artists rip off Mixmaster Spade's singing while rapping style. It's sad to me that he never gets the credit for it.

6. Kurtis Blow - The Breaks. - Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, and Kurtis Blow are considered by many to be the pioneers of hip hop.

7. Kurtis Blow - Basketball.

8. Fat Boys - Can You Feel It. - A lot of modern pop music borrows heavily from the break beats of the second generation of hip hop (1982 - 1986). Everytime I hear Passion Pit, or Bruno Mars, or Taylor Swift, it reminds me of those second generation hip hop break beats. I feel a lot of journalists will dismiss The Fat Boys as a gimmick to sell records but I feel they are every bit as important to the story of Hip Hop's mainstream success as Run DMC or anyone else.

9. Grandmaster Flash - The Message. - "Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge. I'm trying not to lose my head." I think this may very well be the first reality rap song about life on the streets.

10. Run DMC - Hard Times.

11. Run DMC - Rock Box. - I think this might be the first hip hop song to utilize a rock guitar instrumental over a break beat. This is one of my favorite hip hop songs of all time.

12. Run DMC - Sucker MC's. - This song comes from the movie "Krush Groove." I feel if you are researching old school hip hop it's an essential movie you should watch because I believe it chronicles the rise of one of hip hops most important and influential record labels "Def Jam."

13. Run DMC - It's Like That.

14. Run DMC - King Of Rock. - One of my favorite and what I feel is the most essential line in hip hop music came from this song. I get thrilled every time I hear "I'm the king of rock. There is none higher. Sucker MC's should call me sire."

15. Run DMC - Can You Rock It Like This?

16. Run DMC - Peter Piper.

17. Run DMC - It's Tricky.

18. Run DMC - My Adidas - I feel if you're going to dress the part of the 1980's hip hop scene, you need a kangol hat, a gold chain, a white t-shirt, an adidas track suit, and adidas high tops with straight laces.

19. Run DMC - You Be Illin'.

20. Run DMC - Run's House.

21. Run DMC - Mary, Mary.

22. LL Cool J - I Can't Live Without My Radio.

23. LL Cool J - Rock The Bells. - This is my favorite LL Cool J song of all time.

24. LL Cool J - I Need Love. - I believe this is the very first Hip Hop love ballad or attempt at it anyway.

25. LL Cool J - I'm Bad.

26. LL Cool J - Going Back To Cali.

27. LL Cool J - Around The Way Girl.

28. Whodini - Freaks Come Out At Night. - My deep appreciation for this hip hop trio came in the early 2000's when I watched the movie "The Wood." and heard this song in it. To me they took hip hop to the next level. They were the first to create their own original synthesizer instrumentals that they used over break beats. It's a style that Dr. Dre and many would come to utilize to this day. I find it wrong that these guys don't get the credit for being the originators of this style of hip hop. I've heard countless artists rip them off.

29. Whodini - Escape (I Need A Break).

30. Whodini - Friends.

31. Whodini - One Love. - Everyone from Nas to A Tribe Called Quest have sampled portions of this song.

32. Whodini - I'm A Ho.

33. Public Enemy - Sophisticated Bitch.

34. Public Enemy - Public Enemy No. 1.

35. Public Enemy - Night Of The Living Baseheads. - This is my favorite Public Enemy song. It talks about the dangers of using Crack.

36. Public Enemy - Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos.

37. Public Enemy - Rebel Without A Pause.

38. Public Enemy - 911 Is A Joke.

39. Public Enemy - Fight The Power. - A song about standing up to The Man.

40. Public Enemy - Don't Believe The Hype.

41. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton. - This is one of the most important hip hop songs of all time. This isn't where Gangsta Rap had started but it was the first Gangsta Rap record to be exposed to the masses.

42. N.W.A. - F*** Tha Police. - They got a cease and desist letter from the FBI for this song. They were accused of invoking brutality against police.

43. N.W.A - Gangsta, Gangsta.

44. N.W.A. - 8 Ball Remix.

45. N.W.A. - Express Yourself. - The First N.W.A. song to feature vocals primarily by Dr. Dre.

46. N.W.A. - Dopeman.

47. Luke Featuring The 2 Live Crew - Face Down, A** Up. - This song is very vulgar but most 2 Live Crew songs are. It has a catchy sing a long part that's too infectious to ignore no matter how conservative you may be. "That's The Way (I Like It) by KC and The Sunshine band is sampled over top of that heavy BPM 808 drum sound that most Dirty South Hip Hop became known for.

48. 2 Live Crew - Me So Horny.

49. 2 Live Crew - Pop That Coochie.

50. Big Daddy Kane - Ain't No Half Steppin'.

51. Ice T - 6 'N The Morning. - Before Ice T became known for his acting role on "Law and Order" he was making classic Hip Hop records like this one. In my opinion this is the first Gangsta Rap song.

52. Ice T - I'm Your Pusher. - This is a song that warns kids about the dangers of doing drugs. It samples the Curtis Mayfield classic of the same name.

53. Ice T - Colors.

54. Ice Cube - The N**** Ya Love To Hate. - Ice Cube had left N.W.A. due to unpaid royalties by the groups then manager Jerry Heller and put out his own solo album by teaming up with members of Public Enemy. His first solo effort is his best in my opinion. Even though Ice Cube is from the west coast, his first album has a very east coast sound.

55.  Ice Cube - Once Upon A Time In The Projects.

56. Eazy E - Boyz 'N The Hood (remix). - This is my favorite Hip Hop song of all time, It's timeless.

57. Eazy E - Eazy Duz It.

58. Eazy E - We Want Eazy.

59. The D.O.C. - It's Funky Enough. - This is one of those timeless Dr. Dre Produced classics.

60. The D.O.C. - The Formula.

61. Boogie Down Productions - South Bronx. - It may be a battle rap but it's also an essential hip hop song.

62. MC Shan - The Bridge. 

63. Geto Boys - Scarface. - The Geto Boys put Houston, Texas on the Hip Hop Map. Scarface, one of the trio's members wrote what I feel is the best hip hop album of the 2000's "The Fix." I've heard Jay Z copy a lot of what Scarface did a decade earlier.

64. Geto Boys - Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta. - I remember a friend in grade school dubbed me a copy of the compilation "Uncut Dope" which has this song on it. It was neat to hear it years later in the movie "Office Space."

65. Eric B And Rakim - I Ain't No Joke. - I feel that Rakim is the greatest MC of all time. His flow is still unmatched to this day. The only other rapper's who have come close are Eminem, and The Notorious B.I.G.

66. Eric B And Rakim - I Know You Got Soul.

67. Eric B And Rakim - Paid In Full. - The line "Thinking of a master plan 'cause aint nothing but sweat inside my hand" is so iconic.

68. Eric B And Rakim - Microphone Fiend.

69. Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies. - Many music critics hail the Beastie Boys second album "Paul's Boutique" as their best and I've never understood why. It certainly isn't anywhere near as great as "Licensed To Ill" but it does have some good songs like this one.

70. Beastie Boys - Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun.

71. Salt N' Pepa - Push It.

72. A Tribe Called Quest - I Left My Wallet In El Segundo. - These guys were the first to profess their love of Jazz and Break Beats through their music. While DJ Jazzy Jeff may have been the first to combine these two styles of music, these guys made it known that they were both Jazz and Hip Hop Fanatics.

73. A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It?

74.  De La Soul - Me, Myself and I. - This song is just pure fun.

75. EPMD - I'm Housin'.

76. EPMD - You Gots To Chill.

77. EPMD - So Wat Cha Sayin' - I didn't really get sold on EPMD until their later works in the 1990's which featured Redman, but I did like this song.

78. Compton's Most Wanted - This Is Compton.

79. Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock - It Takes Two. - No essential hip hop list is complete without this song.

80. Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock - Joy And Pain.

81. Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh - La Di Da Di.

82. Slick Rick - Children's Story.

83. Slick Rick - Teenage Love. - This is my favorite hip hop love ballad.

84. Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force - Planet Rock.

Coming Soon...My Life Of Music Obsession: 1992

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