"Tiempo de soleá"

Ojos de Brujo - "Tiempo de soleá " (2002)

Soleá is a traditional style of flamenco that only uses one guitar.



A blend of traditional Spanish flamenco and modern hip hop beats. It's an interesting fusion led by female lead vocalist Marina Abad who can transition between sweet sounding singing, sinister singing, and angry rap with ease. Spanish flamenco grew out of the Southern part of the county and therefore is a blend of local Romani dances, Arabic drumming and Spanish guitar work. You can hear the traditional tabla, cajón, and congas along with hand-clapping making up the basic percussion. There is also a more standard drum set with cymbals and then scratches from a turntable rounding out the hip-hop side. You can clearly hear the guitars, both soft and sweet; and loud and driving. The sound really is about vocals though. All flamenco emphasizes the vocals and the danceability of the song, and this one does not disappoint. The band themselves call their style 'jipjop flamenkillo' or hip-hop with a little flamenco.

"21 Seconds"

So Solid Crew - "21 Seconds" (2001)

The Winstanley Estate, a working class and public housing area in Battersea, London was the home of the majority of the So Solid Crew.



In November 1993 the Wu-Tang Clan released their classic debut album Enter the Wu-Tang(36 Chambers) to huge critical and commercial success. It introduced a nine person hip hop collective to the world, and it influenced the genre both lyrically and production wise. In 2001 So Solid Crew boiled all of that down to about five minutes introducing ten members of a enormous UK garage crew and helping to  influence the UK hip hop scene years after the single came out. This track owes the most to track #6 "Da Mystery of Chessboxin" from the Wu-Tang album. The Crew was very underground and this song broke them into the mainstream. The video is a cross between a Soul Train line and a Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome/WWE cage match.

The song title, and many of the lyrics deal with the fact that each of the members of the crew that take a verse gets about 21 seconds to shine in the spotlight. Each of the verses are very similar. Most of them introduce themselves, mention how they only have 21 seconds, discuss the Crew and how tough they are and then mention something about the area they live in also being tough. It's fairly formulaic but each of them takes a slightly different approach. Most of them employ a repetition of their own lines, which seems like an odd choice considering how fast their time goes by but it is internally consistent with the song itself being repetitive.

The music sounds like it could have been produced entirely on a 'My First Casio Keyboard', which is part of the early UK garage scene. The drum hits all sound electronic, the electronic piano and electronic bass sounds are clearly made by keyboards on very basic settings, not at all trying to sound like acoustic instruments and reveling in their digitized sound. The selling point of this song is definitely hearing all the different MCs. I particularly like Face's, whose verse begins "/Some a them are slippin a/Some a them a grudge me a/So Solid vampire/". And Harvey's which starts "/Every lyric I do/Every lyric I say/Every lyric I rock/Every lyric I play/. Each one is different and worth listening to. Many members of the Crew went on to successful UK celebrity, most in music, but at least one actor. Unfortunately, like all large groups, not everyone can have success. The violence surrounding the underground scene brought many of the members down, and at least one is serving very hard time for murder. 

"Brooklyn's Finest"

Jay-Z featuring The Notorious B.I.G.  - Brooklyn's Finest (1996)

No, not the movie staring Gere, Cheadle, Hawke and Snipes.



In the mid 1990s Jay-Z had been developing a following in his native New York as well as further afield, but had not yet attained a record deal. The summer of 1995 he had a single released by a small local record label, but conflict with the owners led Jay to believe he and his friend Damon Dash could do better starting their own label. Roc-A-Fella records, now with several subsidiaries, and worth a fortune started as Jay-Z, Damon Dash and a dream. For his first album, Jay-Z worked with several producers, had several singles that are still club bangers, and worked with several big names, including Mary J. Blige and Foxy Brown. But his biggest collaborator was also his riskiest. In 1994 the Notorious B.I.G. had released Ready to Die to huge critical and commercial success, by 1997 he was even bigger, releasing Life After Death so in 1996 he was easily considered to be the biggest name in East Cost rap, and even more specifically, he was Brooklyn as far as Hip-Hop was concerned. So when Jay-Z decided he wanted to do a competitive/collaborative track with Biggie on his debut album Reasonable Doubt I need you to understand that I am not overstating the analogy when I tell you it would be like for your debut collection of critical essays you decided to co-write a piece with Christopher Hitchens. It was like trying to get into comedy and deciding to open your set with a two man sketch featuring you and John Belushi, or attempt to direct one half of a film and hire Orson Wells to direct the other. It took guts. It worked though, he gained Biggie's respect, and the respect of the Hip-Hop media and community well beyond New York City.

The track is put together by producers Damon Dash and Clark Kent. Kent also sings-speaks the chorus. The primary sample is from "Ecstasy" a song by The Ohio Players, a Soul/Funk band from the 70s. the loop runs for most of the song. The other sample is much shorter and harder to catch. Sometimes when you hear someone yelling Brooklyn in the background it's actually Ol' Dirty Bastard, another Brooklyn native who was riding high in the mid nineties; from his track "Brooklyn's Zoo". Lyrically the song is back and forth four to five lines from each MC mostly talking about their previous and current criminal enterprises. They also discuss how good they are at rapping and somewhat playfully disrespect the other performer as to their skills. The chorus makes clear that because they have teamed up, all other rappers should beware. 

"Through the Wire"

Kanye West - Through the Wire (2003)

The hook is such a huge part of this song that the writers of that song get credit on this one.



Written in the wake of a near fatal car accident, Kanye actually performed this song with his jaw still wired shut. West was a Grammy nominated producer before being signed as a performer. Soon after he was announced as the newest member of the Roc-A-Fella label the accident put him in the hospital. This is the first single by the now dominant rap star.

The hook though the whole song is Chaka Khan's hit Through the Fire. West produced his own album, and the pitched higher/speed up old soul groove was his signature move for a while.He adds a bass line, and some percussion, including bongos and several people snapping their fingers together. The song is broken up at a few points to include a friend of Kanye's rapping about losing an arm, and Kanye and Jay Z at the concert where West was introduced as a performer for the label. I think that distracts from the song as a whole.

Lyrically the song is about the accident and the aftermath. The list of references to people, both real and fictional, that Kanye drops in this song is extensive. Biggie Smalls died in the hospital that he was brought to after the crash. The crash was so bad that people thought he was burnt up like Michael Jackson. His girlfriend was concerned that he was dead, or his face would be so messed up he would resemble murdered child Emmett Till. He even references Mr. Glass from M.night Shymalan's Unbreakable. My favorite rhyme is right near the beginning. He rhymes dessert, syrup and berserk in three straight lines. 

"Sabotage"

Beastie Boys - Sabotage (1994)

Is there a problem officer?




Handcrafted to get you up out of your seats. The song makes use of traditional rock instruments as well as turntables and a rapped vocal. It's often called rapcore, and yes, this is who you can blame for Limp Biscut. The bass and guitar are heavily distorted, the scratches are sent through echo effects, but the drums are clear, clean and straight ahead rock. Lyrically, my favorite line is /I'm Buddy Rich when I fly off the handle/. Buddy Rich was world class big band era drummer. He was also notorious for screaming and going crazy on people at the drop of a hat. Then right back to business. He had a real short temper, but never really stayed mad at anyone.

You've got to mention a video this important to the song. Almost unknown director Spike Jones came of age in 1994, directing videos for Weezer, Dinosaur Jr. and the Beastie Boys as well as others. He had directed The Breeders Cannonball the previous year, but most people point to the constant rotation of this video's 70's era cop show spoof on MTV as the reason he exploded into the pop culture consciousness.

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)"

Soulja Boy - Crank That (Soulja Boy) (2007)

/When I do that Soulja Boy/I lean to the left and crank that thing/Now you/



Following in the tradition of The Hokie Pokie, The Twist, The Pony, The Time Warp, The Macarena, and many more, this is nothing more than an updated version of a pop dance song where the singer teaches the listeners a new dance, and then performs a song designed to show it off. In this case this song, the dance is named after the performer. It incorporates other dance moves including the oft repeated "Superman" but the dance itself is explicitly called out as the"Soulja Boy" at the 22 second mark in the official video.

The instrumentation is simple. There is limited drum set, some heavy electrically "reverbed" bass drum, and some fast high hat, not at the same time, and often neither of them can be heard. There is liberal use of the orchestra hit effect on a keyboard. The most dominant instrument is the steel drum. Also called a Steelpan or Carnival drum, this instrument evokes a Caribbean Island playfulness in the tune.

Around two minutes in, Soulja Boy references being seen as the Rubberband Man. This could be a reference to T.I.'s single Rubberband Man five years prior, but that song is about how much money he has and therefore how many rubber bands he carries around to wrap up his money. I think he is referencing The Spinners hit The Rubberband Man which is about dancing and having a good time.

Soulja Boy has never replicated the success of this song, and love it or hate it, you have to respect the hard work and dedication it took to come together. He wrote performed and produced the track on his own, and released it to YouTube. It was remixed dozens and then hundreds of times, and instead of trying to fight it, he incorporated that into how he interacted with his fans. When he was signed and the song went on to become a huge hit he became the youngest artist to write produce and perform a song that hit number 1 on the Billboard hot 100 chart.

"Ms. Fat Booty"

Mos Def - Ms. Fat Booty (1999)

The first single of the first solo album by Mos Def.

Let's start lyrically. The song starts off with Mos trying to make time with a good looking woman at a club. She blows him off. A few days later at another club where Mos is in VIP she comes in and a mutual friend introduces them. They start to talk, have a good time, laugh about the earlier fumble and start dating. The song moves quickly, explaining that they enjoyed months of good times, late night talks and great sex. Mos becomes head over heals infatuated with the woman and finally at the 1 year mark he announces that he wants to make it official. She tells him commitment isn't her thing and by the next morning she is gone. The story abruptly ends with one of Mos' friends telling him that he saw the woman working a strip club dancing for another woman. He's got some great lines: "man I smashed it like an Idaho potato" "I need more than to knock it down I'm really tryin' to lock it down". He also references two love songs. He mentions The Sweetest Taboo by Sade and earlier sings that Ms. Fat Booty sings part of Gregory Isaacs' If I Don't Have You. These love songs in the air just set the mood to make it hurt more for the listener we she leaves Mos.

The song is held together by another old tune by Aretha Franklin before she made it big. It's called One Step Ahead. She doesn't really sound so much like herself here, more like any other early 60s African American soul singer; nothing too special. Producer Ayotollah Dorell uses the song as the hook, and during the verses as well. Interestingly, the Aretha song starts as a song about a woman telling herself and her man, that she is trying to get away from love, because it will surely only lead to heartbreak. By the end, she accepts that she will fail and will go back to the relationship that she knows and loves, even though she knows it's a mistake.

"How I Could Just Kill a Man"

Cypress Hill - How I Could Just Kill a Man (1991)

"All I wanted was a Pepsi"

Cypress Hill was, at the time, a DJ/Producer, and two MCs. Sen Dog is the lower pitched voice, who only gets half a verse on this track. It's a real fast half verse. B-Real is the one with the exaggerated nasal sound to his voice. He does two and a half verses and most of the chorus. Lyrically, the song is about weed and killing. Released over a year before The Chronic, this song, and the eponymous first album by Cypress Hill really paved the way for the weed+violence+great samples that were the hallmarks of early 90s West Coast Rap.

The samples include a guitar solo by Jimi Hendrix on Are You Experienced, the intro organ from Come On In by The Music Machine, drums from Midnight Theme by Manzel and a bass line from Lowell Fulsom's Tramp. Around 2:00 the just let the loop run for a while, and you think they are going to fade out. We get an sax solo for a while that really seems to seal the deal that the song is over. But instead, they start another loop entirely and B-Real begins his last verse over it. Then they swap back to the old loop to finish the song out. It does do the fade out we were expecting back around 2:25-2:40.

"Deep Cover"

Dr. Dre introducing Snoop Doggy Dogg - Deep Cover (1992)

'Cuz it's 187 on a undercover cop...

The first solo effort by Dr. Dre and he had already found Snoop. Snoop was an unknown twenty year old when this song was recorded; and Dre. was the 26 year old producer and rapper who had recently become the third member of N.W.A. to leave for a solo carer. The song features a heavy repetitive bass line, and drums sampled from the much loved Sing a Simple Song by Sly & The Family Stone. There are a lot of synthesizer effects sounds on the track as well; high pitched, minor chord driven organ like sounds. Underneath it all, there are a few saxophone riffs trying to be heard. This is G-funk. Dre is one of the pioneers of the sound, and this song is a template.

Lyrically the song is about finding an undercover cop hiding in your criminal organization. It was written as the title single for the Laurence Fishburne movie Deep Cover. Vocally this song is the introduction of the biggest sound in 90's rap. Gangta rap had a lot of players, many of whom were affiliated with N.W.A. but this team of Dre and Snoop had the biggest, most recognizable singles in the genre. Dre had the angry rough raspy voice, and Snoop was the syrupy sweet, laid back counterpoint. Still performing today both together and separately, this track was the first time the world heard them together.

"Breakdown"

Mariah Carey - Breakdown (1997)

Mariah Carey's prophetic hip-ballad.

OK, let's get this out of the way. The looped bird sounds through the entire song? Ruin it. It's hard to focus on anything else. It's like walking through a Disney rain forest exhibit in the 80s. Her vocal choices in the song obviously owe a lot to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony; two members of which are featured on this track. In fact, it's odd that they are not mentioned in the top. Most songs with this much collaboration would make use of the "featuring" credit. But this one does not. Or at least, the book doesn't think so. The internet seems to think the featuring credit is due. Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone, nice job.

High hat drum machine, really simple piano part (played on a synth, but on the piano setting as far as I can hear) and occasionally a bass comes through. Mostly the song is about the vocals of the three performers. Oh, and the damned bird sounds. Mariah Carey has an amazing voice on the straight sung parts, and she admirably handles the blended rap sung parts. The two members of Bone Thugs handle the short rap portion of the song keeping it tight. The producer chose to use all three of their voices throughout the sound as their own background singers and it works.

The song is about the trouble one goes through when your lover decides it's over. Mariah Carey always claimed it wasn't autobiographical. It's a darkly beautiful lyric and a great song. But I will never listen to it again until I can find a remix without the bird calls.

"Dear Mama"

2Pac - Dear Mama (1995)



Honesty, never flinching from the truth. Understated production that really lets the lyrics come through. It took a rapper with unassailable street cred to write a song about how he loved his mother, in spite of or maybe even because of her flaws. A really powerful piece.