The late Black Rob was always great, but around the time that he released his second album, The Black Rob Report, he really hit his stride and recorded two tracks that I still listen every chance I get. ‘Jeans and Sneakers’ was originally an unholy alliance between a heavily-edited promo rap for Biggie’s planned Brooklyn Mint clothing line and two stellar B.R verses, set to a D.Dot beat. Since the B.I.G. parts are so fractured that’s annoying to the ears of all except the most dedicated Black Frank White fan, I’ve removed both uses of his verse and left Rob’s part to shine alone.
Jeans and Sneakers [CRC Edit]
Elsewhere, ‘Questions & Answers’ with DJ Kay Slay was likely intended for the second album but may have been another victim of sample clearance…either that or Puff didn’t appreciate the joke at his expense here. It’s a shame though, as Rob sways over the Charlemange beat in such a breezy, effortless manner that a case could be made that he was the best rapper on the planet for at least a couple of weeks.
Questions & Answers
I asked him about the song in the first of my two not particularly successful attempts at an interview:
Robbie: My favorite unreleased song of yours would have to be ‘Questions and Answers’ with Charlemagne. What can you tell me about that track?
Black Rob: Oh man, that was during the Bad Boy era. I think he was dealing with Puffy and them at the time. The record was an afterthought until he brought the beat to me. I saw what kind of beat it was and that’s when I really tried to get down to it. But as a lot of stuff at Bad Boy, it just fell apart. He disappeared, I was in jail – I don’t know what it was, but the record just slid under the rug after that, man. But it’s always a classic in my tape deck when I wanna listen to it on the low. The beat is bananas! It’s something that I feel today, for sure.
Is there really a version of ‘Fire In The Hole’ with Busta?
Yeah, there’s a version of “Fire In The Hole” with Busta Rhymes that never came out. Shit, we might just throw it out there on the mixtape. Why Busta wanna act all funny? Zulu, gruff-ass nigga!
There’s an original version of Questions & Answers with D Dot asking the questions. Rob’s version is better tho.
@TM: Is it over the same beat? Never heard that one.
Yeah, exact same beat but with D Dot asking the questions in his Madd Rapper voice. Song works way better with Rob’s inner monologue voice asking the questions.
LOL at the Busta diss tho