’90’s hip-hop raised me…Part 1

I’m a true ’90’s kid to the bone. As much of a history buff as I am…there’s no other era that I would’ve wanted to come of age in. The ’90s were such a fun time. The fashion, the music, the movies, TV shows…just everything going on spoke fun. Hanging out at Northland and City Center Malls, going to the skating rink, hanging out at the little pop-up teenage clubs that would never last, or just hanging around the neighborhood (which is what we did the most). Now..everything wasn’t perfect, but we had nowhere near the issues that kids in the years after us have had. Besides hanging out in the neighborhood with my friends and playing basketball…my favorite things to do were write, listen to music and watch music videos. Many of us can remember a time when music channels existed and actually played music videos all day long. I was one who would sit up and watch these music videos all day long over and over again. I would fall asleep watching videos and wake up watching them. I listened to all types of music (still do), but my favorite music in the ’90s was without a doubt was hip-hop. ’90’s hip-hop and R&B stay in my constant rotation still to this day. We had some bangers and this is not up for debate! Hip-hop in the ’90s was still in it’s prime, but you wouldn’t know it by the way it had taken over the music scene. Hip-hop was everywhere and everyone was listening to it. The thing about hip-hop during this era was that it had so much variety. Now, when I think back to many of those songs…I didn’t realize how many songs truly influenced me. So many songs not only gave us something to vibe to but also educated us at the same time. If you were someone who actually listened to the lyrics, these songs stayed in your head, but may not have realized the influence until years late. I personally didn’t realize until recently that many of these songs were schooling me and not only that…they were raising me. I decided one day just to compile a list of 31 songs and share with you all for 31 days how each of these songs which have influenced me over the years. (I thought it was only 30, but I didn’t count the first song. The list is in no particular order. I just posted these songs as I thought about them. I hope that I was able to bring back some memories with many of these songs and possibly made you think if they influenced you any. Here’s the first of three parts. Enjoy:

“Ain’t No Future In Yo Frontin” – MC Breed (1991) – This was probably one of the first true hip-hop songs that I memorized from beginning to end. I played this song OUT! Little did I know that this song was teaching me that you don’t have to front for anybody out here. Frontin and lying don’t get you anywhere. This song taught me to keep it real. Maybe a little too real! The beat mixed with MC Breed’s laid back style draws you in, but the lyrics are what hits it home.

“Check Yo Self” (Remix) – Ice Cube (1993) – The follow-up song/video to Cube’s iconic song “Today Was a Good Day” taught me that you can be on a high one minute with everything going so smooth, but if you don’t keep yourself in check…things can go left real quick. The biggest message from this song is to STAY HUMBLE!