Hip-Hop Multiple Choice #1

Units of measurement: Stunts.

Who has more?

1) Evel Kenievel. *
2) Bruce Willis. **
3) My man Action Jackson. ***

Please leave your answers on my desk after class.

*see Das EFX's "If Only"
**see Gang Starr's "DWYCK"
***see Brand Nubian's "Slow Down"

Audio Two - "Top Billin"

[Sticking to the classics now, with a simple and timeless formula. A stripped-down beat and an MC who doesn't shut up for three minutes. The backing track is a weirdly off-step drum figure (created by Stetsasonic's Daddy-O when he mis-triggered a sample of The Honey Drippers' "Impeach The President"), there's a serious delay echo on the vocal... And that's it. Nothing more, nothing more needed. Perfect.]

(Check it out)
MC am I, people call me Milk
When I'm bustin' up a party I feel no guilt
Gizmo's cuttin' up for the
Suckers that's, down with me
The one of us, that's how I feel
To be down you must appeal
To The Two, we're rated R
We're gifted, and we're going far
Down the road, to the bank
While I'm here I'd like to thank
Mom and dad, they knew the time
Gizmo's scratching, Milk Dee's rhyming
Milk is chillin', Giz is chillin'
What more can I say? Top billin'
That's what we get, you got it, good
Since you understood, would you...

Stop scheming, and looking hard
I got a great big bodyguard
So step up if you wanna get hurt
Milk Dee's gonna pull this skirt
I get money, money I got
Stunts call me honey if they feel real hot
That's how it is, you can ask Giz
I stole your girl while you were in prison
Jail, for MC assault
You was jealous, it's all your fault
Milk is chillin', Giz is chillin'
What more can I say? Top billin'
That's what we get, you got it, good
And since you understood, would you...

Clap your hands, your hands you clap
If your girl's out of place it's your girl I slap
And if you're dumb, you'll ask why
I am from the Do-Or-Die
The Audio Two, the Two's Audio
I got a brother and his name's Gizmo
Milk is chillin', Gizmo's chillin'
What more can I say? Top billin'
That's what we get, got it good
And since you understood, would you...

Bite a rhyme, if you dare
I get the papers so I don't care
My contributions to this jam
Is confusing, because I am
Milk Dee, Milk Dee's dated all the way
The super easy mightiest MC okay
Yes I'm down, down by law
I get the girlies out on the floor
G is D, down is G
Two the at the top is where he'll be
That is us, call us odd
Girls come in, you won't be bored
Milk is chillin', Giz is chillin'
What more can I say? Top billin'
That's what we get, got it good
And since you understood, would you...

Do a dance, dance to Two
If you can dance it's easy to do
This dance is on and on and on
Dance until your breath is gone!

(Go Brooklyn! Go Brooklyn!)

Showbiz and A.G. - "Soul Clap (short version)"

[A quick repeating guitar riff and some hand claps set the tone, followed by four measures of chant, exhorting us to join the party. Then the beat drops, a descending bass sample kicks in, the lyrics start rolling, and there's no point in even trying to resist. This is how New York's D.I.T.C. crew introduced themselves to the world, and you'd be hard-pressed to imagine a stronger calling card: Diamond D. asists Showbiz on the production, Andre The Giant rips it on the mic, and the face of underground Hip-Hop is never the same again.]


Just clap your hands and beatbox!
Just clap your hands and beatbox!
Just clap your hands and beatbox!
Just clap your hands and beatbox!

The giant is greater, so step back
I know you were told, black
About the soul clap
And I'm a keep climbin' G, with beats that's fat
Cause that's Showbiz and Diamond D
Don't believe all the hearsay
Cause I'm a get the airplay while the fans say "Yeah 'Dre!"
And I'm on the lyrical tip
For you to whip the giant
That'll be a miracle whip
So everybody crowd around
And let's all get down, to the soul clap sound
So pump your fist, here we go
Showbiz & A.G., so act like you know
A combination of the new and the old rap
Me, Showbiz, and Diamond D, yeah we got the soul clap

Aiyyo, can I get a soul clap?
C'mon, can I get a soul clap?
C'mon, I said can I get a soul clap?
C'mon, can I get a soul clap?
C'mon! C'mon!

I love hip-hop, not rock and roll
Yeah I'm a giant, and I got lots of soul
I've been a giant since I was a kid
They always thought I was big from the damage that I did
I roll up rappers like a DT
And don't worry yo, because the brothers can't see me
Light-skinned curly hair, I keep dwellin'
I don't care about my hair, my records are sellin'
A.G., my right hand man is Kay Gee
Kenny Dope you know, Marley Marl is my little bro
Infinite, he's in effect
Big Ty is snappin' necks, better yet he's packin' tecs
Yeah they sleep, they can't quite tell
They know that I'm short, but do they know that I fight well?
Those who diss me, that's okay
Because my jam is gonna slam and I don't care what you say
A giant in the mental, yeah you know that
And I'm hangin' with this new one
And it's called the soul clap

I do work, at any goddamn concert
And if you said that I didn't, then I got jerked
You musta axed the wrong people
'Cause when I make my stand, every man knows that I'm lethal
Never back down, my crew's in the background
I get hyped when Showbiz lays the tracks down
When I'm finished, you'll say he's the mack
'Cause I'm raw and my goddamn beats are fat
Yeah I'm a giant, that's what you better say
You don't believe me then go check my resume
I done killed more suckers than a world war
And even more, after a world tour
From state to state, sea to sea
On every continent
I'm a g-i-a-n-t
I'm A.G., yeah, the one you can't hold back
You want your party to pump?
Then throw on the soul clap...

Brand Nubian - "All For One"

[It's a tried-and-true formula: a few guys spitting rhymes over a funky little James Brown riff... And yet somehow, "All For One" sounds totally unique. The offbeat loop (the middle of a measure from a fairly overlooked Godfather jam, 1971's "Can Mind") with the chopped organ BLEEP in the middle, the vinyl crackle adding atmosphere, the extra drum sample placed at the end of the occasional measure, and three MCs at the top of their game taking a verse apiece; it all adds up to a classic and distinctive party jam. Throw it on the PA, pump the volume, and watch the heads start bobbing.]

I hit a beat and swing a note as if my name was David Ruffin
Quick to toast an MC, just like an english muffin
Don't worry about a thing because the Puba's never bluffin'
I gets headaches from the wack, so then I take a Bufferin and I max
I wait until the opp'tune time and then I tax
But should I max?
Now they say sinning is for sinners so I guess I'm not a sinner
Beginnin's for beginners so I guess I'm no beginner
This is how I spark it, puts money in my pocket
When it comes to having pressure I gets hard as a rocket
MC Grand Pu, coming through all the residue
The songs remain classic, dating back to the Babalu
My boys I call 'em hot, the phones all of them jock
And I can think of many episodes I swung in Lincoln Park
No I'm not a phony and I got a tenderoni
Love the way she is, not too fat, not too bony
Don't drink Sanka, won't sink like a tanker
Knock the boots of a skirt in Casablanca and I thank her
Some rappers stink, like Engelbert Humperdinck
Better yet Dick Cavett, I got a bad habit
Similar to the girl on She's Gotta Have It
I think with the brain and I whip behind the zipper
I'm living kinda good similar to Jack Tripper
A landlord named Roper did a show at the Copa
When I finish with this, I'll be paid like Oprah
So if honey wants to act fly
I'll just play like Guy and I'm (Saying bye bye)
(Dumb bitch)
Stick out your thumb and hitch
'Cause you've been cut off like a lightswitch
See I'm programmed to slam with the summer, spring, and fall
Before I do a show I get some kicks out the mall
Then I get my gear and I give Trev a call
'Cause he works in the barbershop, right behind the mall
Other rappers tried to rob me but you know they got did
To put it blunt, honey I smoked the kids
So hookers back off, break North, here comes the regulator
Betcha that ya find none greater

(One for all) Brand Nubian!
(Is all for one) Brand Nubian!

On file is a style, that's why you caught a clip
My suitcases is packed and I'm going on a trip
To Mic-a-delphia
I go for self and still be slamming
The school bell is ringing and I caught somebody cramming for the test
Oh yes, my study guide was thick
I cut you with my verbal, didn't hurt you just a nick
Off your face, don't play possum
Watch me and I'll blossom like a rose
And get some new clothes and a fresh fade from Rob
Jump on the phone and dial the Now Rule Mob
Now come one, come all, we about to get hectic
If my crew don't get in, then the X makes an exit to the rear
I'm outta here, don't front on my brothers
I take care of them before I take care of others
Now wood bats is doomed, in the 90s it's aluminum
Step to the stage with a mic and I'm doing him something awful
I'm a citizen, I'm lawful
I go to hunt in the fall, rip the policeman's ball
I got the power to make a car stall
I get some drinks, from blackens, and when the crowd slackens
I stop drinking, and then I start thinking
About days in the past when Derek X was last
But now I'm on the top, damn, news travels fast
'Cause I'm like that
They can't see this
Read my book, it contains many pieces of verses
I took the time to delete all the curses
So moms reach deep in your purses
And buy me, take me home and try me and do me well

Well, while I reign rhymes pour
You suck it up like a straw and jump on the dancefloor
'Cause every time I step in a jam
I make like a door and slam
But then girls try to turn my knob 'cause I'm a heartthrob
I guess it's just a hazard that comes with the job
'Cause everytime I rock a rhyme that shows Jamar is intellectual
Girls want to get sexual
Well I guess I have to cope with being so dope
You want to be me, but can't see me with a telescope
You seek and search but still you can't find
You're weak and it hurts to be deaf dumb and blind
A supreme mind, will take you out of your paralysis
I grip the mic so tight I get calluses
And your analysis, is that the Lord
Rips rhymes into shape with a mic cord
I do it good cause I'm a postive black man
Eating up suckers as if I was Pac-Man
Not a Dapper Dan fan, stay casual
To rock like the J it comes gradual
You got to know the ledge of wise and dumb
And understand your culture of freedom
Power equally with the Gods
So you can build and form your cipher
All your life you must teach true
Of the true and living God, not a mystery spook
And when you do that, pursue that goal
Which made the student enroll
And only then you'll prosper

Kanye West featuring Daft Punk - "Stronger"

[And now for a slight change of pace. Rather than a classic "middle school" (AKA "Golden Age") hip-hop tune, a brand new one. One that has, as of this writing, not even been officially released. It first leaked as a one-minute snippet on a Kanye West mixtape (pictured above), and within a week had appeared around the internet in complete form. A few days later it was being heard in clubs and from the windows of passing cars across New York City. Built from a loop of Daft Punk's classic dance tune "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (which was, in turn, created around a sample from an Edwin Birdsong disco track), it's a beat made for absolute sex on the dancefloor. Add some synth stabs, slightly off-kilter breakdowns, inexplicable echo-stutter on the vocals at the end of certain lines, and giant swells of music into every chorus. Then, let Kanye rip the best lyrics he's yet conceived, spraying pop references as he proclaims his invincibilty and presents his case for going home with you. It's co-produced by Kanye and the Daft Punk boys themselves, and it's f***ing 1000% awesome.]

Na-na-now that that don't kill me
Can only make me stronger
I need you to hurry up now
'Cause I can't wait much longer
I know I got to be right now
'Cause I cant get much wronger
Man I've been waitin' all night now
That's how long I've been on ya

(I need you right now
I need you right now)

Let's get lost tonight
You could be my black Kate Moss tonight
Play secretary on the boss tonight
And you don't give a f*** what they all say right?
Awesome, the Christian and Kristen Dior
Damn, they don't make 'em like this anymore
I ask, 'cause I'm not sure
Do anybody make real shit anymore?
Bow in the presence of greatness
'Cause right now thou has forsaken us
You should be honored by my lateness
That I would even show up to this fake shit
So go ahead, go nuts, go apeshit
Specially in my pastel on my Bape sh*t
Act like you can't tell who made this
New gospel homey, take six, and take this, haters

(Me likey...)

I don't know if you got a man or not
If you made plans or not
God put me in the plans or not
I'm trippin', this drink got me sayin' a lot
But I know that god put you in front of me
So how the hell could you front on me?
There's a thousand you's, there's only one of me
I'm trippin', I'm caught up in the moment, right?
This is Louis Vuitton dime night
So we gon' do everything that Kan like
Heard they'd do anything for a Klondike
Well I'd do anything for a blonde dyke
And she'll do anything for the limelight
And we'll do anything when the time's right
Unh, baby you're makin' it
(Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger)


You know how long I've been on ya?
Since Prince was on Apollonia
Since O.J. had Isotoners
Don't act like I never told ya

Baby you're making it (Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger)