TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2009
It’s been several days, sorry I kept ya’ll. Don’t know if its how I claimed it the other day but June has really been hectic, on the productive tip though. Getting that outdoors, away from the computers and firewalled from the Matrix, face to face Spring time. Face to face with some of my fellow internets fam even, the cats that stay plugged in to plug you in 24/7. Took some time off to see whats happening in the real world, and with real life flesh and blood people. Whaddup Maya? The one dude that I should’a connected with but stays mad elusive is the homie Benhameen of Please Don’t Stare fame. That knicca stay keeping it busy, and moving too. That’s cool though, we’ll catch up soon enough, especially since me, him and my dude and official leader of the Internets Celebrity movement, Dallas Penn have been talking recently about joining forces to throw an Internets picnic possibly next month, possibly here in Brooklyn. It’s a movement for real. DP, Ben, I had to put it out there.
Then I’m running a Lyor Cohen piece with me and the original T.I. spitting out “fuck you’s” to each other and with no smiles, just straight ice grills and what not through my head, letting that one marinate just a while longer. Working on the new Daily-Math.com site too, with the help of my younger brother Blackneck. Blackneck is crazy nice with his tech IT skills. Nice with the keyboard too. Peep his work over at Barack’s Alter Ego. No nepotism. Anyways, I’m pimping my blog game up, just a bit. CJ can get wavy too. Peace to Max B.
But I’m straight lying when I’m talking that being cut off from the Internets speak. Twitter’s been keeping a Black man plugged in and present like a muh fucker. Straight around the clock like a crackhead in the summer streets plugged in. If you’re not yet jacked into the Twitter-verse, shame on you. You need to just grab two silk scarves and go David Carradine yerself, but with your socks on. [||].R.I.P. to Kwai Chang Caine.
So a coupla days ago, I’m processing all the brain candy that Twitter has to offer and I see a tweet from fam Robbie of Unkut. If you don’t know, Robbie is that white from Australia who’s a grand master historian with this Hip Hop thing. Dude stays uncovering rare historical data about cats and the movement from way way back. Kills it with his interview game too. If you haven’t done so yet, do yourself a favor and visit Unkut for straight edutainment.
So in this one Tweet, Robbie’s let’s fly how “M.O.P. are rap’s greatest duo….yeah I said it.” I check him to see if he meant that M.O.P. are rap’s greatest duo…only after the great EPMD. Only because I assumed it was common knowledge to anyone down with this rap jazz thing that EPMD was only Hip Hop’s greatest duo ever, especially a knowlegeable guy like Robbie. I really thought dude was joking, and that I was somehow not in on the joke. Robbie then hits me with how he’s all serious and how EPMD fell off on the fuckery tip and I’m like whoah, dude really believes that shit. Then this dude Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur chimes in and co-signs Robbie faulty claim. I never personally met Chuck other than through Twitter and he seems like a pretty smart and witty fellow, at least from what I pick up from his Tweet drops. Word on the streets even, is that he’s the guy that created some big time fancy web-site a few years ago called All Hip Hop. You might of heard of it.
Not wanting to get into a rant about the error of their ways, I offered Robbie the opportunity for him to validate his claim over on his site, like there’s some possible way he could, while I would continue to do what I do here when I drop that science. Plus I saw this as me doing the community service thing by letting Robbie know that on this one, he had to pump his breaks. No shots to my white, but ya’ll know how ya’ll do when ya’ll become way too knowledgeable on that cultural shit, eff around and start rewriting things, next thing you know, it’ll be common knowledge that Eminem discovered Hip Hop.
So for the next few paragraphs, please allow me to break down in nothing less than cold hard fact, how EPMD is not only greater than M.O.P. as a hip hop musical duo, but remain to this day, the greatest Hip Hop Duo Of All Time.
For simplicity’s sake, ignore the fact that RUN-DMC ever existed.
In my opinion and to my knowledge, the greatest Hip Hop duo currently in existence, with no doubt, is M.O.P. Comprised of members Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame and properly repping the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, the “Mash Out Posse” have been masters of that underground hardcore bang sound since 1993 when they dropped their first single “How About Some Hardcore?” The song struck a nerve amongst the rap fans that were fiending for that gritty classic New York boom bap sound. Did you know that the video for “How About Some Hardcore?” was directed by then unknown video director Hype Williams?
16 years in the game, M.O.P. have been in it and fighting tooth and nail to gain the reputation of being the true kings of gully NY that they so much deserve. Endorsed by several of the genre’s legends, including DJ Premier and Jay-Z, the closest the group came to receiving both critical and commercial success was with their 2000 release of “Warriorz”, a classic cd containing two of their biggest hits “Ante Up” and “Cold As Ice”, two joints that banged hard in the gulliest of clubs near you as well as receiving radio airplay. M.O.P. does hold the title in having recorded the hardest rap song ever made. It’s been proven by the World’s Council of Scientists that “Ante Up” is the hardest song known to man. Really. Heh.
Signed to Loud Records/Sony/Columbia when ‘Warriorz’ dropped and poised to blow, M.O.P. got caught up in office politics when the label unexpectedly folded, instantly killing all chances of further marketing and maximizing in the capitalization of such a classic of an album. Stranded and left without a home, M.O.P. was soon signed to Roc-a-fella Records, then helmed by Jay-Z and Damon Dash. The group continued to show how much of a winning streak they weren’t on when Roc-a-fella Records founding partners split, leaving a huge question mark over the future of M.O.P. as recording artists.
Right after the Roc-a-fella split, things looked kinda bright for M.O.P. when they were signed to 50 Cent’s new G-Unit label, along-side Mobb Deep. 50 wasn’t playing with M.O.P. either, had them knicca’s in the gym doing straight push-ups and calisthenics and what not. That must have been an effin sight to see. But for some reason, the union wouldn’t last and the group left the label last year citing “creative differences”. They managed to keep the internets buzzing recently, behind the fact that they’ve been steady working on their new album “Foundation” which is scheduled for commercial release later this year on E1 Records, formerly known as Koch Records. “Foundation” promises to feature joints produced by DJ Premier, Alchemist, Statik Selektak and Jake One. Expect some guest appearances from Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss and Heltah Skeltah. Little known fact, did you know that their second album “Firing Squad” held the title of being the most stolen cd from the HMV music stores in New York City back in 1998? That’s really true. And really another example of how gully this group is.
I so want M.O.P. to win. Ever since “Warriorz”, I’ve been praying to the rap gods to bless them dudes with rap star fortune. I’ve always seen M.O.P. as having the potential of becoming rap’s next Run-DMC. They are the ZZ Top of Hip Hop. All they ever needed was for someone like a Rick Rubin to get behind them creatively and marketing wise, give them the right touch to their sound, produce the right videos that would edge them into being recognized by the masses as being the true rock stars that they are. Hopefully they’ll be able to pull it off with their next album. Trust when I say I’m keeping my fingers crossed for their win. Not only do they have songs for days, but will murk it dead and bloody with their lives shows. Seasoned veterans that they are, no one is doing that straight up scrunch your face up music as I’m punching your man dead in his face for scuffing my kicks in the mosh pit. Word to Brianna Latrise. They remain the greatest rap duo out today.
But they ain’t EPMD. Can’t even hold a candle to them cats. And that’s no way a shot fired. Just is, like how water is wet.
NEXT: Incontrovertible proof of EPMD being the Greatest Hip Hop Duo Of All Time
Robbie must be smoking that meth, which I hear is all the rage down in Australia these days. You can peep his argument for M.O.P. here.
UPDATE: That dude , Chuck Creekmur that I mentioned hit me with the tweet: “For the record I never said M.O.P. > EPMD.” I stand corrected.