As Remembered By Music Dude: Music was in flux, still. Mary J and groups, like Bell Biv Devoe, were forging ahead with R&B soaked in a lot of hip-hop; and the pendulum was swinging back East in hip-hop, with Wu-Tang, a solo KRS-One, Black Moon and Tribe dropping classic albums. But, ultimately, pop divas were still the faces and West Coast rap remained the voice of black music.
janet., Janet Jackson: Huge pop icons were still ruling R&B in 1993 and Janet went sorta buckwild before anyone could suspect that Whitney would turn to drugs and Mariah would start behaving like a real-life Betty Boop. The cover of the album -- the same one used by Rolling Stone magazine -- had her topless, with only Rene Elizondo's (her husband at the time) hands cupping her breasts. She was just about the hottest thing in the hood -- over a young Halle that was still getting her film stripes. Beyonce before Beyonce. In '93, Janet was that poster on a lot of prison walls.
But an album or magazine cover can't make something a soundtrack. janet pumped non-stop. The album produced six top ten hits, but it was the nature of the hits that made them so pervasive in '93 and it's their nature that sticks with you today. Janet asserted independence with Control and took to some social conscious with Rhythm Nation 1814. With janet, she let the sex drive roam and rage. "Anytime, Anyplace", "If", "You Want This", "That's The Way Love Goes": they were like coming out parties and they ran R&B radio for what seemed like forever. And the videos? Fuggedaboutit. They steamed like the songs, which is why the music channels showed them so often.
Ten years before lil' Justin Timberlake groped an attention-starved Janet, pulled off her leather bra and exposed her areola, there was this album: her personal "sex sells" epiphany that America heard and saw non-stop.
As Remembered By Music Dude:The Chronic, Dr. Dre: It wouldn't be going too far to call '93 the Year of Snoop. When Doggystyle dropped in November, it sold over 800,000 units in its first week. But the actual album that banged the hardest and most frequent throughout '93 was The Chronic -- Dre's masterpiece and Snoop's grand introduction. The album was released in December of '92, but "Dre Day" was still banging when the year changed, then they dropped "Nuttin' But A G Thang" a couple months later and all you heard on the radio, it seemed, was Dre and Snoop. Even "Let Me Ride" was a summer anthem for most.
Remember the videos? Remember the Easy-E parody in "Dre Day" or "G Thang" with the busty chick, playing volleyball, getting her bra stripped, then running after the dude with her jugs flopping? The visual memory of the album is almost as vivid as the sonic memory.
Even if you didn't do hop, or hated West Coast rap, or whatever; there's no way you got through 1993 without "Bow wow wow, yippy yo, yippy ye" playing over and over again in your head. It was torture or pleasure.
As Remembered By ANT-I-THESIS: Enta Da Stage, Black Moon: Here’s the context. In ’92 the only new emcee that both dropped an album and captured all of my attention was Redman. Besides Reggie Noble there wasn’t really any east coast emcee that was doing it for me. I mean I loved Don’t Sweat the Technique, (possibly the illest Eric B. and Rakim album when viewed in hindsight, please revisit) but Rah, although still extremely dope, was old news to me. Throughout my history I’ve always loved hip hop groups, but I form a special attachment to soloists. Soloists (Rah, Big Daddy, Moe Dee, Slick Rick, Cube, DOC, etc) are the ones that end up competing for G.O.A.T. status and that’s what hop has always truly been about in my eyes, especially my 13-14 year old eyes. But ‘92 seemed to be dominated by teams. The greatest hip-hop group up to that point dropped Business Never Personal. Das Efx was dope but the figgidy-fast rhyme-style was getting played. Brand Nubian had broken up, and, although I paid respect, I was never a huge Native Tongues fan. I was infatuated with L.O.T.U.G. and Here Come The Lords along with Whut Thee Album; and The Chronic banged in my headphones heading into ‘93. But there was one emcee that brought me some excitement before the year ended. Buck Shot Shorty and Blackmoon had dropped the single “Who Got the Props” and it was beyond bananas. Now, obviously he shared emcee billing with the 5ft Accelerator, but I was none the wiser because 5 wasn’t on this particular song. My ears were open in '92, but no Black Moon album dropped. So now its early ‘93 and im still kinda rocking the ‘92 gems previously mentioned. If memory serves me correct Sadat, Jamal, and Sincere dropped In God we Trust and the Geto Boys dropped Till Death Do Us Part (hello Big Michael). Both came pretty early in the year and were on blast in the home deck and in the walkman. The year is continuing and no word on that Black Moon product. Eighth grade graduation is coming up and the Music Dude submits "Who Got the Props" for our graduation song. I second the motion, but we end up singing the theme song to Aladdin.
We graduate, summer hits. I’m up late and def comedy jam has just gone off. HBO is still on and they introduce a new show “Society Ride”, executive produced by the one and only Rosie Perez. The show only stayed on air for like 2 weeks but the premise was a 30-minute weekly display of live hip hop shows. So I’m watching Snoop and Dre flip “Deep Cover” and enjoying every minute. Snoop steps off and then next up is, you guessed it, Black Moon performing their hit single, “WHO GOT THE PROPS.” I skeet my pants. These two 18 year old, 3 ft 4” cats rush the stage, equipped with backpacks, shades, DJ (Evil Dee, one of the best who ever did it) and microphones, and damage the show. To this day, Buck Shot is the illest live performer I have ever seen. Over Kris, Common, the Roots, whoever. (Random thought: In early ’99 me and Brolic skipped a scheduled night of accounting test cramming and bounced up to this gutter, sweaty, underground spot (Soul Camp) in northwest DC to witness the physical manifestation of Black Moon’s music in person. I have never been happier to fail an exam.)
Anywho, around mid-summer the classic amongst classic-singles “How Many Emcees” drops and anticipation for the LP cannot be higher. There was no dude that I came across that was not checking for this album. October hits and the rest is history.
Before the Wu, before Midnight Marauders, before Illmatic, before Ready To Die, the east coast had Enta Da Stage. Buck Shot, Evil D, and 5ft got the pendulum swinging back eastward. Thank you Black Moon.
