Intoxicated Demons of The Golden Era - Chris 'Preach' Smith

One of the mysteries that occurs these days when discussing hip-hop is, how 
the Latino influence seems limited in the accounts of a few writers and websites
above board. That is another discussion for a series of articles, for real. But,
considering that yesterday was the 20th anniversary of The Beatnuts’ debut EP,
‘Intoxicated Demons’, I felt it was only right to discuss how The Beatnuts and this
EP had a profound and subtle impact on the hip-hop culture with its release.

The Beatnuts’ debut EP made waves for a couple of reasons. First, the music. To
that, ‘Reign Of The Tec.’ The waves that single and its video created still linger 
today. Juju’s opening verse was similar to the rapid fire delivery of a submachine
gun and just as brutal in the lyrics. Follow that up with Psycho Les’ off-the-wall
lyrics and Sadat X of the Brand Nubians’ classic line from the ‘Punks Jump Up To
Get Beat Down’ remix on the hook? Killer. And then the video turned it up way
past ten on the dial. But this was the thing; in that time, networks were feeling
the increasing heat about overt violence from some rap artists. That was soon to
increase because of N.W.A. and Ice T especially, putting out ‘Cop Killer’ that same
year. So videos with an insane amount of violence weren’t going to make it past
censors for ‘Yo!MTV Raps’ or ‘Rap City’. Even ‘Video Music Box’ had to be careful.
Enter The Box. A channel where you called in, and ordered the videos that YOU
wanted to see? Ground-breaking. Sure, you’d have to endure viewer blocks that
made you scratch your head (to that person who ordered the BellBivDevoe ‘Do Me
Baby’ remix video to be played six times in a row, I hope your kids appreciate the
mood music for their conception) but you also got a chance to catch some great
videos. And in addition, you saw videos UNCUT. So the video for ‘Reign Of The Tec’
aired and it BLEW UP. If you watch it today, you’ll be amazed at how they could 
even sanitize the video for airplay. You’ve got them rhyming with pistols in hand,
with someone cutting up drugs with a playing card in the background. Guns are
letoff. The video is mostly black and white, chock full of shootings, ambushes and
even ending with some woman tied up in a corner.

 
For The Beatnuts, ‘Reign Of The Tec’ would be the only single off of the EP
that charted, but their foot was now in the door. The flip side was, it was 
counter-balanced by the other single to be released, ‘No Equal’. ‘No Equal’
is notable because it was a bit lighter overall but it also featured their 
third member, Fashion, who would go on to go solo as Al Tariq. The video
for that track made the airwaves too, but was so-so. (Look out for a young
Fat Joe in the background.) The Intoxicated Demons EP was the prelude
for the critically acclaimed album with the same name to be released the 
next year.

To a young cat from Queens, they were yet another source of pride to be
found in hip-hop, with Juju being from Corona and Psycho Les being from
Jackson Heights. I got better acquainted with both of those neighborhoods 
thanks to going to high school within a stones’ throw of them and that
almighty bus pass that let you roam until 7 P.M. They also made a mark 
due to both Juju and Les interspersing Spanish into their rhymes on the 
regular. The Beatnuts got a lot of love for that, and for their production skills
as well - they were both DJs who got into production with support from Afrika
Bambataa, who linked them with the Jungle Brothers. That meeting led to
them getting their current name as well as the distinction of being the only
Latino members of the Native Tongues family. From there, they went on to
produce tracks for various artists including Monie Love, Common, Supreme
NTM out of France, as well as doing Chi-Ali’s whole album. That led to them
getting signed up with Violator Management and Relativity Records, a move
that saw them work with Kurious and Fat Joe closely. Their success led to more
Latino MCs rising up on the East Coast in alignment with established West Coast
MCs like Kid Frost, Mellow Man Ace and Cypress Hill. This EP along with that
production work helped to fully define the sound of that era, soulful beats 
with some knock on the bassline and tinges of jazz and great samples. Look 
at ‘Reign Of The Tec’ for the Black Sabbath sample. They even got Sadat X to
be in the video to visually do the hook as a first of sorts since sampling artists
usually meant you caught a bad one via legal battles. It helps that they were
fellow Five Percenters.


The fact that both Juju and Psycho Les were longtime Five Percenters wasn’t
TOO surprising when you take into account how the culture developed
in cities across the United States. I was still a bit surprised though when
Common spoke on it in an interview, talking about how they chided him
for drinking 40 ounces and eating pork when they were on tour together.
It also explains how Fashion became a convert to Islam soon after their
first full debut, Street Level. Go through every track on that EP and note
how rich each beat is with samples. You also have to take into account 
that they gave another shade to the vein of rugged rap you found with the
rise of Nas, Black Moon, M.O.P. and others out of New York City. The Intoxicated
Demons album should serve as a touchstone to how the rising Latin presence
was firmly cemented in hip-hop and also as another example of just how
informed and nuanced producers were in those days. 

Kevin Ware & The Bad Break Turned Good - Chris "Preach" Smith

Easter Sunday is wrought with the story of the ultimate sacrifice and resurrection
in regards to Jesus Christ. But no one could’ve expected the resurrection story that
took place this week, with its origin on a basketball court in Indianapolis that saw 
probably the most gruesome sports injury in recent years take place during the 
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament game between The University of Louisville and
Duke University. Kevin Ware, a Louisville sophomore guard suffered that injury
and became the catalyst for the Cardinals’ blowout victory over the Blue Devils en
route to the Final Four in Atlanta. Ware’s injury was so horrific that CBS, in a move
questioned and praised, chose not to replay it for viewers who missed it. And now
Ware has had successful surgery and will travel to Atlanta to join his team there.
Resurrection. A bad break turned good for now.

I happened to catch the injury on video right after it happened, and no wonder 
CBS didn’t want to show a replay. The compound tibia fracture basically left Ware’s
broken bone exposed while he was in front of his own bench. There were reports
that a couple of his teammates vomited right there. It even brought his coach
Rick Pitino to tears. You don’t even really see that injury in football. Once I saw
it, I thought, he’s never gonna play again. And then I wondered about his athletic
scholarship. Injuries like this are why you see highly touted players become ‘one 
and done’. They do this because as NCAA student athletes, they won’t see a dime
of money their schools make through sports. And the NBA beckons with million 
dollar contracts and endorsment deals for the offing. If Ware wasn’t able to ever
play again, Louisville wasn’t entitled to uphold his scholarship, leaving the brunt
of his bills to his family. Despite what some pundits like Dick Vitale says about ‘the
credibility of the game’, it’s become apparent that colleges use student athletes 
to get over. And do so with corporate help; Louisville’s arena is known as the 
KFC Yum! Arena to go along with its football stadium named after Papa John’s 
Pizzeria. Even the coaches get over, despite recruiting student athletes with the
ideas of commitment. Look at the recent example of Steve Alford. He was the 
head coach of New Mexico’s basketball team who signed a 10 year contract worth
$20 million after the first game of the tourney and TEN DAYS LATER bolts for 
the open job at UCLA. Now he’s quibbling over paying New Mexico a million as
a buyout clause per his contract.


Remember the movie ‘The Program’, with the linebacker Alvin Mack riding
high until his injury? That final shot of him sitting at home with his leg in a
cast is haunting, and happens a lot. At this moment, Adidas and Louisville
have a t-shirt out entitled ‘Rise To The Occasion’ with Ware’s #5 on it. The
shirt goes for $24.99 retail and even though Louisville has waived royalties,
the school will still get money along with Adidas. Ware will see none of it. A
dirty shame since the feel-good story of Ware’s recovery from such an injury
is overshadowed because that injury doesn’t qualify him for the NCAA’s
Catastrophic Injury Insurance Policy. He’d have to have his leg amputated
or lose function in it for that to kick in. And that means all of the hospital costs
will be borne by Ware and his family, as Louisville reigns supreme as the
highest profitable college basketball team in the country for the second year
in a row nearing $29 million dollars. I’d like to think that with all this, there’d
be more of a push to pay these students athletes SOMETHING. College ball
has been racked with cheating scandals for decades. From Connie Hawkins
to the NYU team in the 1950’s to the Fab Five, these scandals came to bear
because colleges touted amateur integrity as their lockboxes filled up. The
sad thing is, it may take more injuries. Nerlens Noel was a star Kentucky
freshman whose own horrific knee injury knocked him out this season. The
difference between him and Ware is, Noel is still rated to be picked fourth in
the NBA Draft in June should he decide to leave early. Ware doesn’t have
that luxury.  

This is the risk student athletes, no matter the sport, take. Colleges have 
become corporate entities with athletic departments as development programs.
Sneaker companies rule. But for every superstar there’s about 20 who don’t
make that cut. And when graduation rates for athletes of color haven’t seen
much uptick according to studies, there are serious problems. It’s funny; when
you look at Ware’s official bio for Louisville, he states that Omar Epps would be
the choice to play him in a movie. Who was a major star of ‘The Program’?
Omar Epps. We can say that this is a bad break turned good for Ware.  For the
time being though, it may have turned out better for Louisville in the long run.
And we can only hope Ware won’t be the sadder part of the story. 

Pieces Of A Man, Pieces Of Ourselves - Chris "Preach" Smith

Sometimes, when an artist gives out pieces of themselves, you have to understand
that it’s not always just pieces of themselves, but of you as well. Pieces that you didn’t
know fit within your life.

It’s something I’ve learned time and time again, but one of the key providers of that
lesson for me and many others around the globe was the late, great Gil Scott Heron.
Today would have been his 64th birthday. And while getting ready to write this, it 
dawned on me how his artistry inserted itself into my life like puzzle pieces I needed.
One of my earliest childhood memories was first hearing ‘The Bottle’ while sitting in
the expanse of the back seat of my dad’s baby blue Cadillac Sedan De Ville coasting
on the way up to visit relatives up by Gun Hill Road in The Bronx. I found out then 
that it was one of my mom’s favorite songs. Getting into my teen years, I not only 
dove into hip-hop further but jazz and soul as well to compose the soundtrack of that
time. ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ was the gem of his 1970 debut album,
Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, but the album on a whole for its time was monumental.
And even now, it still blows the truth. I finally heard the album in full thanks to one
dude in my junior year of high school who was a jazz head and made me a tape of
it. It was great music, but I wasn’t fully ready for the seeds it was trying to plant.

College became the place where I saw those seeds for what they were. I took an 
introduction to jazz course, and one of the selections the professor chose to play was
from Gil. It turned out to be ‘Beginnings’, from his third album with Brian Jackson
as a main feautre & his sixth album overall, From South Africa To South Carolina.
Hearing that song put me on the road to being put together the way I needed to be,
I still rememberall of us sitting in a silent cloud a few minutes after hearing that track.
I wound up copping that CD at a record store right down the block from Cafe Reggio
in Greenwich Village soon after on one of my rambles there not knowing it was the
first time it was ever released in the format. Working in the library in those years, I
also stumbled upon his two published novels, The Vulture and The Nigger Factory,
written during a break from his studies at Lincoln University. I bugged out because 
my dream was to be a successful, published writer and it was almost like this brother
was giving me a blueprint! I devoured them along with works by Audre Lorde and 
Bob Kaufman and others, and began to hone my poetry even more. I started doing 
shows, hitting open mics. All the while slowly digesting all of Gil’s discography however
I could, and seeing just how his work paved the way for hip-hop to even BE. He was
called the ‘Godfather Of Rap’, and to some degree he was. Because his music was a
cornerstone of the culture; how many MCs have you heard quote from The Revolution
Will Not Be Televised’? ‘We Almost Lost Detroit’ can be heard in FIVE songs alone, from
Grand Puba’s ‘Keep On’, Black Star’s ‘Brown Skin Lady’ and Common’s ‘The People’ 
to name most of them. Kanye West was so inspired by Gil in his production that it 
led to the two working together on ‘Who Will Survive In America?’ from West’s My
Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. And Gil sampled Kanye for his last album, I’m New
Here. Another link to the hip-hop world that hit home for me? Mr.Cheeks of the Lost
Boyz out of Southside, Jamaica, Queens is his nephew. Part of the reason I bought
Blackalicious’ second album, Blazing Arrow, was because of Gil’s turn on ‘First In Flight.’


As my life moved on, I began to see all of the pieces Gil Scott-Heron gave me merge
and take the form of a truth he lived as only he could. I was pleased to find out that
his father, Gil ‘The Black Arrow’ Heron was not only the first Black player for the
Glasgow Celtic soccer team of Scotland, he was also Jamaican. Yardies know we are
quick to claim ANYBODY. Imagine my family’s glee. What also rung with me was
that he and his son didn’t meet again until Scott-Heron was 26. And where did his
dad spend his last years? Detroit, Michigan. As I grew, his music took on fuller meaning
even as his life seemed to fray at the seams. There were a few years where if you 
heard Gil’s name, you got sighs and ‘if onlys’. Gil fell into drugs, and even did jail
time. In some respects, you have to understand that those moments mirrored those
by others who were powerful voices for the people back in the 60’s and 70’s like
James Brown for example. When times change and you see things aren’t moving as
fast for you or the people, it eats at you. The art isn’t enough to ease the pain, and
you look for other ways. Gil gave a lot of himself to us, because he was us. And we 
knew it. I recall the standing ovation he got when Yaasin Bey brought him onstage
at his Carnegie Hall concert in 2009. When he passed, I remember the absolute shock.
Not just because it was sudden, it was also because he was back in the forefront, for a
new generation to get pieces of themselves through his music. Today, on his birthday,
I hope that others take the time to find them in his music and hip-hop like me and 
many others did.

 

Big L and a Lifestyle Deferred - Chris "Preach" Smith

Hearing that today was the day the late Big L had his first album release, Lifestylez Ov 
Da Poor & Dangerous set off a whirlwind of memories for me. I still have that album on
original cassette somwhere in an old Nike box. And I still remember riding up to Jamaica
Avenue in my boy Kyle’s Dodge Raider on that mission to get the album. For all of us
on the block and everywhere else in New York City on this day in 1995, this was when
Big L was set to further cement his name not just as a great MC, but possibly one of
the best. Ever. This was another must-have album in those years. Listening to it now
give us a time capsule of a lyricist whose potential hip-hop lifestyle was deferred with his
murder in 1999.

Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous is one of those albums that once you hear it, you 
immediately appreciate Big L’s wordplay. I mean, this dude threw out a few classic 
punchilines here: “I’m lookin nuthin like ya poppa/I wouldn’t give a chick 10 cent to put
cheese on a Whopper” and “A tech nine is my utensil/Fillin’ n****s with so much lead
they can use they d**k for a pencil”. He was showing off the edgy style that made him
a sensation and a member of the Diggin In The Crates crew. The production by Buckwild,
Lord Finesse, Showbiz & Craig Boogie serve as a decent frame for his rhymes. I’ve heard
opinions that production should have been better, but I think Big L wanted it that way.
What has to be understood is that he made his bones as a dedicated lyricist, and didn’t
want to lose the grittiness of his music by watering down the boom-bap heavy production
the streets respected with too much radio-friendly sounds and R&B styled hooks. This
album is made for the heads cruising down streets, hanging out on park benches or
on milk crates around a folding table of cards. The only real tinges of R&B you might get
would be on the first single, ‘Put It On’ which was the most popular one chart-wise.
But that didn’t translate into sales.

Which brings me to this: it’s a shame that this album WAS NOT promoted properly by 
Columbia as it should have been. Perhaps if it was, more would’ve bought it but as it
stands at last count, it hasn’t gone gold as far as record sales figures show. Another
factor to consider with that is, Big L’s album didn’t have four tracks originally intended
for it. Columbia opted to release those as a promo tape. That tape contained ‘Devil’s
Son’ which was a track that got him a lot of buzz because he took that classic Nas
line from his stint on Main Source’s “Live At the BBQ” and got even MORE foul with
it. Big L with this album should be mentioned in the same breath as Gravediggaz for
being in the same horrorcore vein, way before Eminem’s rise. Another element to
this album is the fact that you get a young Camron on ‘8 Iz Enuff’ who was part of
the same Children of The Corn group that featured Mase and Cam’s cousin Bloodshed
before his death in a car accident. And on ‘Da Graveyard’, Jay-Z has one of his earlier
guest appearances. I don’t think there’s any doubt Big L’s lyrical prowess influenced
Jay to push himself as an MC, evidenced by their ‘98 Freestyle’. They were even on 
the verge of signing as a group with Herb McGruff and C-Town in 1998 to Rocafella.


Lifestyles Ov Da Poor & Dangerous is going to always be a part of the ‘what if’ cloud
that surrounds the legacy of Lamont ‘Big L’ Coleman. But what has to be appreciated
is that it gave the hip-hop world its first complete look at an MC who, had he lived,
might have changed a few discussions and a few lists. Not to mention possibly stifling
a few rappers’ careers. With that, I’m going to put this album on and grab a Beck’s
for Big L. 

Remembering A Man Of The People - Chris "Preach" Smith

Chinua Achebe.

This past Friday morning, I was preparing to head up to Harlem to attend my
aunt’s homegoing service. I scrolled through my Twitter feed and emails and 
saw the news that the legendary Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe, passed away.
As I read all of the articles celebrating his life and work, I began to reflect on
how he had a looming influence in my own life and in ways one couldn’t really
expect.

For anyone coming up in New York City high schools in the early 1990’s, you
were guaranteed a set amount of books that you were to read as part of your
English requirements. And one of them was Achebe’s first and most heralded
book, Things Fall Apart. I had heard of him before, through my mom’s work in
the United Nations and because my family was full of hardcore readers on both
sides. But getting the chance to read of Okonkwo the yam farmer who struggled
against colonizers in 1890’s Nigeria was inspiring in a subtle way. It connected
with me and a lot of others in my class because we in some ways felt just like
Okonkwo. We were finding out about a world that was bigger than us and also
finding out we had to change to be assured of a place in it. The year I read 
Things Fall Apart, I remember a couple of showdowns between kids from Bayside
and Corona that started with racial slurs. Fights, cutting classes, more fights,
copping beers; rebellion without purpose. Achebe’s writing put all of that under
a microscope, and went well with the other authors I was reading at the time
like Chester Himes and Toni Cade Bambara. Another thing that stood out to me
at that time was just how big of an impact his people had in Southeast Queens;
to this day there’s an Igbo Community Center on Linden Boulevard in St. Albans,
which has been there for decades.

Achebe’s influence hung out in the background of life as I went to college and
found myself in a heated discussion because I objected to how Africans were
depicted in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. I will always have love for the
professor who not only encouraged the discussion(one where I had to ice-grill
this one dude who said ‘Africans ARE savage; look what they do to each other
in Somalia and other places’ for a whole week after), but brought in Achebe’s
writing’s on his view of racism in Conrad’s work and dedicated the next class
session to it. As I got involved in political activism, A Man Of The People was a
godsend to me and a reminder to maintain perspective always in a shifting
struggle. I still read that more than Things Fall Apart. And through his writing
I got the chance to read more works from other Nigerian authors like Wole 
Soyinka and the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, and other African authors of note. A
much needed lifeline those days studying in the heart of Nassau County to 
go along with parties, women and hip-hop.

As far as hip-hop, Chinua Achebe made his mark there as well. He’s been
referenced by MC’s like Black Thought, and The Roots even named their 1999
album after his first novel. He even made headlines when 50 Cent made him
a million dollar offer to use the title for one of his projects back in 2003. The
author flatly refused. The struggles Achebe depicted, struggles of holding on
to one’s own culture in the face of white culture, Christianity and all of those
intersecting conversations on race and class exist in the beat of other artists
today like Nneka, Blitz The Ambassador, K’Naan and other artists from the
continent. Chinua Achebe truly was a man of the people. And for that, we
all owe him our sincere gratitude for creating another space for our voices.

Rest in power, teacher.