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This brings back some memories… these charts went in! Chuck D‘s ‘Crazy Alternative Top Hip-Hop 15’ is a winner, as are the contributions from Harry Allen, J. The Sultan and Funken-Klein (R.I.P.). Considering how young I was when this issue dropped, there were a lot of records that I sought-out on the strength of their inclusion on these lists.
Too Short worst of a decade? I’m not into Bay stuff much either, but Short had a solid 10 year run of good records at one point . . .
Shante prolly shouldn’t be there either. I’m also going to go out on a limb and say Fat Boys do not belong there — at least if you forget that horrible shit they did toward the end. “Stickem” and “Can You Feel It” are classics.
those were the days…
What issue was this??? I have most of the old Source mags from ’89-’99 or so…
But yeah, Too $hort was one of the worst of the decade (meaning the 80’s)? That’s pretty crazy… I disagree. I’m from here in the Bay Area and first heard of $hort in ’86 or ’87.
Funkenklein always had a great taste, he had a good ear for raw talent. Too bad this guy passed on way too early. RIP!
I agree with Funken-Klein, Too Short is straight wack.
Too $hort and the Fat Boys don’t belong on a “worst” list.
Wow this is a flashback! I remember using the “old school” list to jumpstart the expansion of my record collection and it also led to my crate diggin addiction.
Yeah, I’m from Boston and I remember when The Source was just getting started. I used to listen to their radio show on 95.3 WHRB. It was Go Go Dave (Dave Mays) and JJ The Sultan of Rap (Jon Schecter). I used to call in and request songs and they would ask for your name and address for a newsletter they were putting together. That newsletter would later become The Source.
At first, The Source was a 4 page newsletter. Then it gradually grew into a quarterly, Black and White magazine (about 16 pages). They would send them to my house for free at first. When it became a full fledged magazine they stopped sending them to me.
But yeah, at first they had a serious East Coast bias, which was understandable. Cats on the East Coast couldn’t stand Too Short or 2 Live Crew, but they were getting play on Yo! MTV Raps and Rap City.
But when The Source went nationwide around 1990 or 1991, they started changing their ratings and reviews to be more coastal friendly (for lack of a better term). I can remember around the spring of 1991 when Gang Starr’s Step into the Arena LP got 3.5 mics and there was some West Coast artist at the time (I don’t remember who but it may have been Too Short, Ant Banks or E-40) also got 3.5 mics. Me and my friends used to sit around the lunchtable at school and complain that The Source sold out and they used to keep it real. This was around 1991.
I mean, I’ve never been into Too Short but I respect the man because he has a whole coast riding with him. If you asked me in 1990 or 91 I would have agreed that he was one of the worst, but now that I am older and have a lil more understanding of Hip Hop I gotta disagree. he’s not my cup of tea but I can’t call him “the worst”.
As far as the Fat Boys go, their first LP was classic (even though it only had 7 songs). Their 2nd LP was decent. I never bought the 3rd or 4th album because quite frankly they fell off something terrible. I wouldn’t call the Fat Boys the worst of the decade, there’s far worse groups. But you could say they fell off the hardest. I mean they went from being one of the best rap groups in 84/85 to being one of the wackest by 87/88.
But if I was going to make a 3 volume best of the 80s CD set, I’d probably include 1 song from the Fat Boys and another song from Too Short just on principle.
wtf? Planet Patrol isnt even a rap group…ha ha
Is Mentally Mad by Ultra really that good? I might say every song off of Critical Beatdown is better.
Yes, Mentally Mad is that good!
looks like theirs no Eric B & Rakim anywhere on there, wow
if you’re too young u might not remember that the big three were Run DMC, Fat Boys, and Whodini, then probably UTFO. Until Sex Machine, Wipeout, and the Twist (holy f*ck), they were legit.