TCM - Nas, De La Soul & "The Disaster Of Commercial Success"

[a_list]

Good drop...Yo, I was one of those that had both Stakes Is High and It Was Written....I could listen to Jeru going at Biggie and then listen to Big right after that..I wasnt one of those that got caught up in that divide..Never really got into the Soundbombing joints tho...

Watched my boy go through it though...Sun went from liking Nas, Wu, Mobb Deep etc to straight Mos, Kweli, Monch, Atmoshere and The High and Mighty or something like that...I remember one time, this had to be late 96 early 97 we talking rappers and homing says what about Emenim, yo we all looked at dude and was like who?!!!..lol

 

[THE_R_]

REALLY GOOD VIDEO...

I NEVER REALLY GAVE THIS SHIT THOUGHT...

B/C I WAS TRULY ENJOYING ALL THE RELEASES AT THE TIME...

PLUS I HAD CIRCLES THAT ENJOYED UG & MAINSTREAM...

BUT THIS REALLY HELPS PUT THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE...

 

[waterproof]

Stakes is High will go down as the warning before the Storm. A damn Great Album

 

[king hassan]

I clearly remember these. Times.

 

[Nechesh358]

i sided more with the underground shit during these times. puffy was really the leader of the shiny commericalized shit and jayz was following right along. i was done with jay for a minute after vol 3.

 

[Broddie]

i sided more with the underground shit during these times. puffy was really the leader of the shiny commericalized shit and jayz was following right along. i was done with jay for a minute after vol 3.

I was done with Jay after Vol. 2 until Blueprint and I only initially gave BP a chance cause we rode with it in the whip fall 2001.

But yeah that mafioso shit and sampling 80s pop tunes got ran into the ground quickly by the time of No Way Out.

I detested Bad Boy and their sonic and fashion influence by '97. Sorry ass shit like The Firm album was a byproduct of how far over the top Puff and them took the mafioso conceit to the point of parody.

Thank god for Wu-Tang Forever and When Disaster Strikes that year. Everything else was aping Puff someway. Even Wyclef. Thankfully Pun and DMX breathed some much needed fresh air back into the game by the next year. Hip hop was in a really sorry state when it first went aggressively commercial after Big and Pac got got.

At least the commercial afro centric or positive songs of the early 90s still kept some authenticity. Puff's style was blatant sell out shit.

 

[Nechesh358]

jay got me back with the dynasty. i didnt even wana hear it when it dropped but then my boy came thru n played it for me and i cud tell he was taking his sound in a different direction.

co sign wu pun and x doing there thing. gang starr came with some heat too in 98. but some cats lost their careers trying to sell out. remember mic geronimo? his debut album was fire but for his 2nd album he had puff n trackmasters all over it. shit was trash and pretty much ended his career.

 

[5 Grand]

i sided more with the underground shit during these times. puffy was really the leader of the shiny commericalized shit and jayz was following right along. i was done with jay for a minute after vol 3.

I was done with Jay after Vol. 2 until Blueprint and I only initially gave BP a chance cause we rode with it in the whip fall 2001.

But yeah that mafioso shit and sampling 80s pop tunes got ran into the ground quickly by the time of No Way Out.

I detested Bad Boy and their sonic and fashion influence by '97. Sorry ass shit like The Firm album was a byproduct of how far over the top Puff and them took the mafioso conceit to the point of parody.

Thank god for Wu-Tang Forever and When Disaster Strikes that year. Everything else was aping Puff someway. Even Wyclef. Thankfully Pun and DMX breathed some much needed fresh air back into the game by the next year. Hip hop was in a really sorry state when it first went aggressively commercial after Big and Pac got got.

At least the commercial afro centric or positive songs of the early 90s still kept some authenticity. Puff's style was blatant sell out shit.

You make some good points, but there was a mixtape scene in the mid/late 90s that was far from commercial. There was one tape in particular I had called Face Off by Doo Wop and FunkMaster Flex

DOO WOP & FUNKMASTER FLEX - FACE/OFF

Side A:

01. Intro

02. Rakim - It's Been A Long Time

03. Busta - Put Your Hands

04. Yvette Michelle - The Way I Feel

05. Fat Joe & Big Punisher - Deep Cover '97

06. Peter Gunz & Lord Tariq - Marmalade

07. Wu Tang Clan - Scary Hours

08. Don Black - Freestyle

09. Smif-N-Wesson - Won-On-Won

10. Ivory feat. Cru - Relax & Party (Remix)

11. Cru & Lox - Live At The Tunnel

12. Yvette Michelle - Something In The Way

13. New Big Daddy Kane Joint

14. SWV feat. Lil Cease - Love Like This

15. Davina feat. Raekwon - So Good

Side B:

01. Uneek, Doo Wop, Don Black & Noreaga - Above Water II

02. Cru - Rhythm Bluntz

03. Yvette Michelle - We Can Get Down

04. Tracey Lee - Who Shot LR

05. Puffy, Jay-Z & Notorious B.I.G. - Young G's

06. Puffy feat. Foxy Brown - Friend

07. Don Black - Freestyle

08. Wu Tang Clan - Duck Season

09. Da Mad Rapper/Producer Skit

10. Tracey Lee - Got To Give It Up (Remix)

11. Yvette Michelle - Crazy

12. Puff Interlude


^^^ I copped that tape circa July 1997.

Doo Wop had a couple of other tapes around the same time, Wopduizm and Wopduizm2

In fact, the whole premise of the clip in the T/S is void when you consider that mix tapes were like the internet in the mid 90s.

 

[5 Grand]

Here's Doo Wop's Summer 96 mixtape. If its true that Stakes Is High and It Was Written dropped on the same day, I think its reasonable to assert that this tape was out around the same time.

Full tracklisting after the jump

01. Doo Wop – Intro

02. Smoothe da Hustler & Trigga tha Gambler – Freestyle

03. Fab 5 – Freestyle

04. Busta Rhymes & Rampage – Freestyle

05. Lord Finesse – Freestyle

06. Sadat X – Freestyle

07. Ed Lover – Freestyle

08. Keith Murray & Smif n Wessun – Payin Dues

09. Nas – Street Dreams

10. Heltah Skeltah – Posses, Crews, Clicks & Clans

11. Doo Wop & Sun Dulfah – New York Love

12. SWV – You’re the One (Doo Wop RMX)

13. Uneek – Diamonds

14. Sadat X – Lump Lump

15. A+ – All I See

16. Trigga tha Gambler, Smoothe Da Hustler & DV Alias Khrist – My Crew Cant Go For That

17. Real Live – Real Live (Remix) (Feat. Ghostface, Cappadonna, Lord Tariq & Killa Sin)

18. Def Squad – Breaker 1, Breaker 2

19. Busta Rhymes – Do My Thing

20. Nas – If I Ruled The World

21. Smoothe Da Hustler – Dedication

22. Money Boss Players – Games

23. Nas – Freestyle

24. Nine & Uneek – Da Product

25. Biz Markie – Studder Step

26. Heather B & MOP – My Kinda Nigga

27. DJ Mister Cee – One Time For the East Coast
=269s

 

[Moore7s]

I like the theory. My biggest issue would be 9th saying prior to 96 everyone listened to everything and I'm calling bs. By 94 there was already a pretty big divide between working class black folk and the street element. You can hear it on a song like every day people by arrested development('92). Id say after native tongues movement slowed down you could feel the rift happening. Stakes is high might have just been a culmination of sorts.

 

[5 Grand]

I like the theory. My biggest issue would be 9th saying prior to 96 everyone listened to everything and I'm calling bs. By 94 there was already a pretty big divide between working class black folk and the street element. You can hear it on a song like every day people by arrested development('92). Id say after native tongues movement slowed down you could feel the rift happening. Stakes is high might have just been a culmination of sorts.

Cosign.

Eazy Duz It, Straight Outta Compton and Three Feet High & Rising came out within a few months of each other. Those albums were huge in my school and kids from both sides of the tracks liked them both.

But by the early 90s you had groups like Arrested Development, Digable Planets, A Tribe Called Quest, etc.

There was also a lot of stuff coming out of the West Coast like Too $hort, Ant Banks and Spice 1.

I think you can trace it back to 1988, but by 1996 each region had its own distinct sound. And New York was more versatile than other regions. Not saying they were better, just more versatile.

 

[Moore7s]

I like the theory. My biggest issue would be 9th saying prior to 96 everyone listened to everything and I'm calling bs. By 94 there was already a pretty big divide between working class black folk and the street element. You can hear it on a song like every day people by arrested development('92). Id say after native tongues movement slowed down you could feel the rift happening. Stakes is high might have just been a culmination of sorts.

Cosign.

Eazy Duz It, Straight Outta Compton and Three Feet High & Rising came out within a few months of each other. Those albums were huge in my school and kids from both sides of the tracks liked them both.

But by the early 90s you had groups like Arrested Development, Digable Planets, A Tribe Called Quest, etc.

There was also a lot of stuff coming out of the West Coast like Too $hort, Ant Banks and Spice 1.

I think you can trace it back to 1988, but by 1996 each region had its own distinct sound. And New York was more versatile than other regions. Not saying they were better, just more versatile.

I like ny from the 90s as much as anyone else but I wouldn't say it was the most diverse. The south and the west coast were actually putting musicianship back into the tracks while ny was sampling and scratching.

Let's try something new and stick to the o/p

 

[MallyG]

jay got me back with the dynasty. i didnt even wana hear it when it dropped but then my boy came thru n played it for me and i cud tell he was taking his sound in a different direction.

co sign wu pun and x doing there thing. gang starr came with some heat too in 98. but some cats lost their careers trying to sell out. remember mic geronimo? his debut album was fire but for his 2nd album he had puff n trackmasters all over it. shit was trash and pretty much ended his career.

"Still Don't Nothin' Move But The Money!" LoL

Crazy enough, I remember this like it was yesterday! It was a far cry from "Wherever You Are" and "It's Real".