Freestyle Monstas

Frestylin is defined as raps performed with no previously composed lyrics. The most commonly used slang term is "spittin off the top of the dome."  Originally, in the 1980s, the term ‘freestyle’ referred to a pre-written rap verse that was not on any particular subject matter, but instead was written for the purpose of demonstrating skill. Since the early ‘90s onwards, with the popularization of improvisational rapping from groups/artists such as Freestyle Fellowship and Souls of Mischief. The term "freestyle" has become used as a  term for rap lyrics which are improvised on the spot.

Below are a some MC's who I call freestyle monsta's, meaning they can spit ridiculous verses off the top of the dome...nothing written. There's allot of catz who claim it, but only a few could do it. Supernatural, Juice, and Big L (R.I.P) are three MC's who could spit verses so effortlessly it sounds like they're written. Check the clips.

Female MC's

Hip-Hop has changed allot over the years and one of the most noticeable changes is the disappearance of female MC's. Back in the 90's there were allot more female MC's with talent in the game. Now there seems to be only one or two with real talent and allot of copycats of those two being promoted by their label. 

Artists like Queen Latifah, Bahamadia, MC Lyte, Rah Digga, Sonya Blade, Heather B, Lil Kim, and Lady of Rage are just a few artists that used to spit fiya. Below I put a few tracks from these emcees as a tribute to the dying genre. Don't get it twisted there's allot of female talent out there, but major labels seem to have lost their interest. This could be for many reasons but I'm assuming it has more to do with album sales than talent. 

Check out the clips below and if u like the tunes, tell a friend to tell a friend.

5 Classic Remixes

In the spirit of the best remix contest below are 5 classic remixes that still get airplay on my MP3 player. Notice that in the 90's when producers made a remix they not only added new verses, but in some cases added a new beat. The reason Murder Inc, Bad Boy and other labels at the time stopped doing this. Is the way to track a records success is thru BDS (broadcast data systems) spins and if they change the beat of a record the BDS system doesn't recognize the record anymore and starts counting spins again from zero. 

Instead of having one record sell 20,000 copies and the remix selling 30,000 copies to make the total of 50,000, which would be somewhat successful. Labels had one successful record and one unsuccessful. So to capitalize off remixing a record they stopped changing the beat. 
 

Return of Black Sheep

One of my favorite 90's Hip-Hop groups has re-united and is doing a show in Amsterdam on June 11th. Black Sheep was one of the founding members of the iconic Native Tongues collective which started the whole conscious rap movement. The Native Tongues were a super group consisting of  The Jungle Brothers, Black Sheep, A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, and De La Soul. Black Sheep debut album  A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, released in 1991 which gained them praise and recognition in the hip-hop community for the album’s unique rhythms and intelligent lyrics. That album produced 3 Billboard singles  "The Choice is Yours," "Work We Do," and "Strobe Light Honey," which propelled the group towards stardom.


They released a second album Non-Fiction in 1994 but it wasn't as successful do to poor album promotion and label support. Since then the group members Dres, and Mr. Long separated and worked on solo projects until re-uniting in 2008. There show is in Amsterdam at the Bitterzoet night club on June 11th. I posted their clip "The Choice is Yours," below and if you're in the Amsterdam on the 11th come to the show.

Peace