THE STORY BEHIND PUFF DADDY’S NO WAY OUT ALBUM

IS IT THE END??

With success comes drama and haters and Bad Boy Records from its rise in 1994 to this period has experienced plenty of it. The drama between Death Row Records and Bad Boy records sparked off what would be consider the media ignited “East Coast Vs West Coast”. Death Row Records took a major blow which they never recovered from when their main artist Tupac Shakur was murdered on September 13th 1996. This created the domino effect, Suge Knight was sentenced to 9 years in prison, Dr Dre had left, and Snoop was depressed trying save a sinking ship. The Death Row Dynasty was over with.

Bad Boy on the other hand was gearing up to take over late 1996 into 1997. Gold and Platinum albums from Total, 112, Faith Evans, kept the momentum afloat while working on Notorious BIG’s Life After Death album and Puff’s Debut titled “Hell Up in Harlem”. He also recruited young lions such as Ma$e, The LOX, Mark Curry, and Black Rob to assist with filling up the roster as well as help him with the writing processes. It could even be said that Puffy’s first single “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” as a victory lap over Death Row Records.

TRAGEDY STRIKES

What was considered to be possibly one of the biggest celebrations at the apex of Bad Boy Records turned into complete tragedy as on March 9th 1997 The labels Main artist/face/draw The Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in Los Angeles. Ironically enough 6 months after his rival Tupac Shakur. This truly was a dark time for hip hop and nobody knew where the label was gonna go afterwards. Their main star was cut short of his prime. Everything from the rollout, the singles, the videos, the businesses, all of the tangibles put in Biggie’s 2nd album was gone and plans had to be put to a halt.

BACK AGAINST THE WALL/MAKE OR BREAK AT BAD BOY

During the formation of “No Way Out” Puffy took his whole team to the Caribbean’s to work on the album. He wanted to focus strictly on the music and not the beefs thats going on or any outside distractions that were constantly looming him. He told his team “We gonna focus on making these hits” This was Puff’s formula of revenge to his critics and naysayers. The Production team(The Hitmen), The Lox, Mase, Black Rob, Biggie, Faith Evans, Carl Thomas all contributed to this project but little did that know that the release of it was gonna change every ones lives forever.

They worked on Puff’s album along with Biggie’s so they can set up 1997 to be a monstrous year. Despite Biggie being murdered, his sophomore release Life After Death was a huge success. The album solidified Biggie as possibly one of the greatest rappers to ever touch a microphone, it told a story, the production was sonically cleaner than ever and it had hits for days. It was also bittersweet as he wasn’t around to enjoy it, This was why Puff changed the name of his album title to “No Way Out”, He felt that there was really “No Way Out” out of the game.

NO WAY OUT SMASHES THE INDUSTRY

Puff held on his vision and No Way Out ended up possibly being one of the best albums of 1997. We all know Puff Daddy is no rapper, He even admitted it that “He don’t write rhymes, He writes checks”. He had some of the best writers in the game help him sound like the complete rapper to mesh with the production. Everyone from Mase, Jadakiss, Mark Curry, Sauce Money and maybe Biggie contributed to Puffy’s pen. Puffy understood the superstar effect of not looking like the average rapper so he turned his videos for the album into mini movies. “Victory”, “Been Around The World”, and All About the Benjamins were straight cinema.

KING ERIC’S THOUGHTS ON THE ALBUM

Impact wise I hated the over the top commercialism but I can’t deny how structured and sonically enhanced this album was. In the midst of 1997, Puffy may have saved hip hop from really going under as a genre because of the violence. He brought the big money factor back into hip hop, He wasn’t afraid of taking chances and spending millions to turn his videos into mini movies. It had too many dope records to where even you’re favorite backpack rapper couldn’t help but to bop to it. The highlights to me were Victory, Been Around the World, Benjamins, I Love You Baby, Is This the End, Young Gs and Pain. This album also helped elevate Mase, The LOX ,Black Rob as the newest Bad Boy lions to come take over the late 90s. Say what you want about Puffy, His back was against the wall and he believed in his roster, his vision and created a masterpiece.

KOKANE talks Dr Kokanstine’s triple album, Eazy E, Tupac, The truth behind Streaming (full)

THE STORY BEHIND DEAD PREZ’S LETS BE FREE

THE HIP HOP CORPORATE TAKEOVER

Even though Hip Hop in the late 90s was generating high revenue, selling out arenas and artists going quadruple platinum, Hell even alot of the music was hitting in every region, I always felt during this period something was missing. We got the gritty music from DMX, Mobb Deep, CNN, We got the flash from JayZ, Rocafella and Cash Money, We got the lyrical Miracle shit from Mos Def, Talib, Pharaoh Monch, Black Thoughts and the NEO SOUL Squadarians. BUT I felt hip hop was missing THAT energy… That energy that bucked the system and made White America scared at one point. Wheres that pro black activism energy that didn’t sound “safe?” This is where I discovered Dead Prez.

ITS BIGGER THAN HIP HOP

Released on March 30th 1999, I remember hearing it on College Radio(ironically I discovered Screwball when they aired Who Shot Rudy around that same period) and I instantly fell in love with it. The Bassline was something I never heard before but yet it sounded like it could be a club banger, They also brought that militant energy that I was searching for in hip hop for a minute. They called out exploitive record labels with lines such as (These record labels slang our tapes like dope/ You can be next in line and signed and still be writing lines and broke). Then they addressed the killings of Biggie and Tupac and went as far to say they down with running up on Crackas down in City Hall. This was the moment where I said to myself.. These guys have potential to pick up with Public Enemy and Brand Nubian left off!

Plus their style of production was something I never heard before so they were very organic. The song ended up making a cultural impact which was later picked up as a intro for Dave Chapelle’s “The Chapelle Show”

WITH FREEDOM COMES SACRIFICE

With Freedom comes sacrifice to make great art. Dead Prez’s content of bucking the system and preaching black empowerment, The duo would also release visuals for “They Schools” which tackled the prejudice court and judicial system over dark but somber production by Stic- Man whom impressing contributes to the sound of the entire album.

Propaganda is another one of my favorite songs where the duo attack America’s hypocicrital and deceptive media cycle along Police State, Psychology, and Animal in Man where it showcases Stic Man’s brilliant storytelling with the concept being borrowed from the book “Animals Farm” from George Orwell. They also showed that they can make feel good music as well with “Happiness” and “Mind Sex” which was one of the best hip hop songs of 2000.

FOOD MIXED WITH THE MEDICINE

Overall this album was a game changer to me during the period it was released because it took hip hop back to its true roots. Somewhere amongst the way it became either too commercial or too much thuggery and there were no lane for people to express the struggle black people dealt with. Dead Prez tackled all of the issues that needed to be heard on this album. Everything from Poverty, Corrupt government, mental health, black empowerment, and pride. Salute to Stic and M1 for putting out this classic.

NORMAN STEELE TELLS HIS SIDE: Talks about Gangster Chronicles, Responds to critics(Full)

Norman Steele was recently on Off The Cuff Radio and he wanted to clear the air by responding to critics, Why Reggie Wright, Mob James and Alex Streets left the show, The business aspect of podcasting, and much more!

SOREN BAKER Talks Chronicles Of The Juice Man, Hip Hop Journalism, Unique Access(Full)

Big Shoutout to Soren Baker!

The Story behind Niggaz4Life

WITH SUCCESS COMES THE BULLSHYT

WITH THE SUCCESS COMES THE BULLSHYT

When N.W.A. stormed into the scene in the late 80s and changed the trajectory of the music industry, It was a storm that nobody really expected. The Group’s debut album “Straight Outta Compton” and Eazy E’s solo debut “Eazy Duz it” made the Group superstars. Business was booming. Money was being made, Ruthless Records were signing acts left and right going gold and platinum. The success of those albums opened up a new world for those kids from South Central and Compton. But like many, The ugliness of the business were gonna tear them apart.

FROM COMPTON TO NYC

Ice Cube shockingly left the group in 1989 due to a financial split with both Jerry Heller and Eazy E. Ice Cube felt that despite the groups success that his contributions to the group were under appreciated. Ice Cube explained on Camron’s and Mase’s podcast “It Is What it Is” Podcast on what led to the fallout between himself and Ruthless:

“I Left the Group because Heller lied, You know, I caught him in a lie ” Cube Said. “I was a young dude, a young emcee. “The whole business part I was kind of naïve to it. I started hanging with the publicists we had for NWA She ended up being my manager, “Pat Charbonnet… She was like “Make sure you look at your paper work. I got a lawyer if you want to talk to him named Michael Ashburn. Make sure everything is straight” I didn’t sign that contract because I didn’t know what was in it.

Cube’s departure was a huge blow to Ruthless but nevertheless Ruthless kept on rolling in the dough. Successful projects from Michel’e, D.O.C., Above The Law, and JJ Fad were putting plaques on the wall which lead to Ruthless making much more money than before. But what they didn’t expect was that Ice Cube himself exceeding beyond expectations without Dr Dre, Eazy E and the NWA banner with his groundbreaking debut “Amerikkkaz Most Wanted”:.

PRESSURE MOUNTS ON THE GROUP

Despite rumored friction between NWA and Ice Cube, Cube never addressed any type of friction or said anything about Jerry Heller, Eazy E, Dr Dre, MC Ren, DJ Yella or anybody associated with Ruthless Records on Amerikkkas Most Wanted. It wasn’t until “100 Miles and Runnin” where Dre threw a subtle shot at Cube for leaving the group which sparked the feud.

Also similar to Ice Cube, NWA faced a enormous amount of pressure in putting together Niggaz4Life. The questions were becoming a more focus point “Can they do it with out Ice Cube?” “Is this album gonna be better or harder than Amerikkas Most wanted?” Ice Cube played a very vocal role in the group as in balancing the street commentary mixing with activism. With him gone.. That left a huge void so they wanted to really moreso go a different route. This route was over the top shock value and instead of having the community behind them, Many were offended. You can tell by songs on their EP 100 Miles and Runnin that they were going a different route sonically and lyrically… Niggaz4Life was gonna be the real test.

DR DRE HITS CREATIVE APEX/MC REN STEPS UP AS LEAD MAN

Despite the very graphic and harsh content, Niggaz4Life would probably remain as possibly Dr Dre’s best produced album. The sounds ranging from sinister dark(Approach the Danger, Appetite for Destruction, Real Niggaz Don’t Die) to sonically advanced(Alwayz Into Something, Niggaz4 Life, ) showed Dr Dre’s true range as a producer along with Yella, Cold 187 giving him a assist on direction. MC Ren also steps up in Cube’s role and delivers possibly one of the best performances of his career. The Intro “Prelude”(Which is ironically our Off The Cuff Radio Intro) has Ren on show and prove mode.. He proved that he was ready to step to the plate. Eazy E provided the direction with the controversial sick satire and graphic direction which showed that he wasn’t afraid of crossing certain boundaries and pressing buttons.

THE CONTROVERSAL CONTENT LEAVING A MIXED FEELING

Niggaz4Life while it showcased MC Ren’s best lyrical performance and Dr Dre’s production at another top notch level will always be overshadowed by the outlandish disturbing content. The first half of the album had them not only dissing Ice Cube but also throwing the N word around like it was apart of regular conversation. Songs such as “Kill a Hooker Interlude” Findem F*ck em and Flee, “One Less Bitch”, and “She Swallowed It” would be considered probably disturbing as it seemed to glorify abuse to women.

Even if it was protected in forms of free speech and backhand satire storytelling, The 2nd half of this album The content while frightening you couldn’t help but to be also sonically addictive. I personally thought the 2nd half of the album was a bit too excessive in terms of women bashing and it seemed as if they took on the tounge and cheek disturbing comedic direction(As you can tell with the skits). The album ended up being a success and became one of the first albums to chart heavy during the soundscan era. But unfortunately egos and issues with finances plagued the rollout and Dr Dre ended up leaving later that year. Thus leading to a ugly feud between him and Eazy. But nevertheless this remains possibly as one of Dre’s best work sonically the date and showed the group could have done another without Cube.

K- DEE Talks Westside Connection Bow Down Album and Contributions to Ice Cube’s Career

Much love to K-DEE

J DEE( Da Lench Mob) talks Diar Lansky, Off The Cuff Radio, Staying inspired despite being locked up

We will be posting the full build this week!

THE STORY BEHIND THE DEDICATION 2

THE LAST MAN STANDING

The early 2000s(2002-2004) to be exact were years that Cash Money were going through a transition. A transition that would have ended many labels. Within that period, their biggest stars Juvenille and B.G. had left the label claiming Baby was cheating them out of their hard earnings. Mannie Fresh while supplying beats here and there was basically one foot in and one foot out Turk was locked up so Baby went through different territories to keep the banner afloat.

Releases such as “The Undisputed” Soundtrack, 500 Degreez, Baby’s debut album “Birdman” showed that Cash Money were going through the motions of rebuilding. Those albums weren’t smashes like their 1998 and 1999 albums. Cash Money was in the same rebuilding process many labels have went through in the past. Many never recovered(Death Row, Murder Inc, Ruthless) but luckly Lil Wayne was the last man standing and he possibly was Baby’s last shot to really help the label. Wayne had the work ethic, He was really finding himself and no longer wasn’t in the shadows of B.G. and Juvenille. He even had his own crew called “Squad Up” which was where Wayne was approaching the mixtape format that was set by 50 Cent(Whom was killing it at the time) The tools were there.. But Baby had to find a way to make Wayne happy because he had other Majors bidding for him.

THE CARTER CONNECTION

What alot of people don’t realize is that JayZ is VERY influential in Lil Wayne’s transformation from the “Wobble the Wobble” emcee to the clever and witty punchline savvy emcee that we hear even today. The two have alot of common. Both share the same last name, Both have came from the bottom and very cocky. They both have received their fair share of criticism for their content. Many blame these two for being “the downfall” of the culture. But nevertheless the aptitude can’t be denied and when you listen to Wayne’s later work (Dedication 1, The Carter 1, Squad up Tapes), It was clear that he was on a mission to become “The Best Rapper alive” as he would later trademark. But to become that, His business would need to be in order and thats where JayZ came in with the offer. Wayne admitted this on Dedication 1

“IM GONNA WATCH THIS LIL NIGGA FUCK THIS WHOLE RAP GAME UP!” BIRDMAN

I remember when Birdman did a interview with Hoodz DVD and he was very candid about the direction of Cash Money Records going into the mid 2000s. He gave clarity about his fragile relationships with B.G., Juvenile, Turk, and Mannie Fresh and when asked about Lil Wayne, He said I’m gonna sit back and watch Lil Wayne smash the game”

After the release of the Carter 1, Carter 2, and Dedication 1. Wayne stayed dedicated to the studio and jumping on features left and right. His Work Ethic was nothing short of amazing. He followed the format of that of 50 Cent who revolutionized the mixtape revolution during his rise in the early 2000s and it made the Industry pay attention. When the Dedication 2 dropped in the spring of 2006, It pretty much cemented Lil Wayne as a official player in this game. When you listening to the Cannon(which was Drama’s trademark Cypher beat). “Spit Your Game”, and “Tell Her What I Call”(Which he used Little Brother’s Lovin It instrumental) It told me that Wayne was serious about his craft and he was hungry.

GEORGIA BUSH

One of the issues that many hip hop pursuits have taken with LIl Wayne is that he doesn’t talk about anything with substance. That he only focuses on “Sex, Drugs, Violence, and how rich he is” The Song to me that made Lil Wayne transition to “nice rapper” to actual complete artist is when he released “Georgia Bush” which is actual diss record to then President George W Bush. The Bush Administration caught alot of flack for how they handled the Hurricane Katrina Crisis. Lil Wayne showcased hurt, anger, sadness, and pain throughout this whole track. When Ice T said that Wayne was one of those artists that wasn’t afraid to bleed on a track, He was definitely referring to this one.:

DEDICATION 2 MAKES LIL WAYNE A MADE MAN

This mixtape was the mixtape that really launched Lil Wayne into the discussion of greats. He would soon follow with “I Cant Feel My Face” with Juelz Santana, Da Drought 3(Which got him the mainstream look) and then releases “The Carter 3” which crossed him into the pop lane. Lil Wayne also introduces the world to Young Money Records which gave opportunity to what would be considered “Mega Stars” now Drake and Nicki Minaj. The Young Money Umbrella allowed Cash Money to reach different demographics that even exceeded their run in the late 90s. This was the mixtape that literally kickstarted a new era of dominance within Cash Money and it was one of them rare instances where lightening literally struck twice.

THE STORY BEHIND FLOCKAVELI BY KING ERIC

IS IT SHORT BUS SHORTY OR A TROLL JOB?

Waka Flocka Flame was introduced during a time where hip hop wasn’t trying to hear anything coming from the South. Yes the South had its spitters but the D4L’s, The Soulja Boys, OJ Da Juiceman’s Gucci Mane’s(at that time) were considered the Barrell of the bottom when it comes to legitimate emceeing. Waka Flocka Flame was introduced under Gucci Mane’s 1017 Bricksquad label and he fell victim as apart of that judgement. I remember his appearance on 106 and Park where Terrance and Roxxy asked him about voting and he publicly embarrassed himself.

This followed up with content creators making jokes and mockery of what was considered the dumbing down of hip hop. Flocka amongst many was placed on the very hilarious Cartoon “Short Bus Shawty” In response to the criticism, Flocka boldly boasted about “not being lyrical” and was seemingly proud of not being able to be known as a rapper being known for his lyrics. He faced tremendous backlash for this stance including from Method Man who took offense to Flocka’s statements.

FLOCKA TAKES THE HIGH ROAD/ GAINS RESPECT

Waka Flocka during this time period did the unthinkable. He could have disrespected Method Man’s whole career but instead he not only took the high road but he also acknowledged how Onyx and Wu Tang inspired his generation to do their style of “Crunk Music”. He was a classy move and Method Man later on apologized for it and it was water under the bridge:

I remember watching this transpire and thought to myself, “Flocka is more smarter” than he’s leading on. He was the original “Blueface” of his time. As a did more research about him, Its surprising to find out that he’s not originally from Atlanta but originally from Southside Jamaica Queens New York. The Accent was definitely prevalent in this video. He’s also managed by his mother Debra Antney formally known as “Aunt Deb” whom represents a strong list of clients such as Gucci Mane, Nicki Minaj, French Montana, and OJ Da Juiceman. So She understood how to maintain relationships and didn’t want Flocka to jump out of bounds like Soulja Boy did to Ice T.

After gaining momentum on the streets with his Gucci Cosign and tapes such as “Salute or Shoot Me”. Flocka was grinding his way from being a regional success to becoming a star. He found the ultimate formula. He mixed trap music trademark sound of “Lex Luger” and “ZayToven” with his gruff East coast delivery and energetics performance like that of Lil Jon, Three 6 Mafia, and at times 50 Cent. It was his first major hit “O Lets Do It” is where things started to change for Flocka. The record was simple, it was hype, and had a simple addictive course. Seeing the record was scorching hot later on, Heavyweights such as P-Diddy, Rick Ross, Jeezy, Lil Kim, Ludacris, Lil Wayne and Trae The Truth jumped on for the ride. If you look at the visuals of “O Lets Do it” It was clearly inspired by DMX’s Get At Me Dog.

WITH SUCCESS COMES ENVY

As Flocka was climbing amongst the ranks in hip hop, Envy would soon follow. On January 10th 2010, Flocka was shot and robbed outside of a car wash in Charlotte NC. In what would considered to be a pivotal moment in his career. Flocka was lucky to have survived the shooting. But what it also did was create more mystique around his music. It could also be said that the shooting inspired the title of his debut album titled “Flockaveli” which was clearly inspired by Tupac Shakur’s “Makaveli”. Flocka went back to work after surviving the shooting. He linked up with Virginia/Atlanta’s own Lex Luger whom was having a legendary run working with Juicy J. The album’s 2nd single “Hard N The Paint” became one of the hardest single to hit the Streets that Spring and he followed up with “No Hands” which featured Wale and Roscoe Dash. These hit records proved that Waka Flocka was no fluke.

FLOCKAVELI HITS THE STREETS/GIVES BIRTH TO A NEW GENRE IN HIP HOP

October 10th 2010 was the release of Waka Flocka’s debut album and it not only was a smash but many could say that it gave birth to what would be considered a new genre “Drill Rap”. Clearly listening to this album, You can definitely tell that Chief Keef, Fredo Santana, RondoNumbaNine, and the whole Chicago Drill rap Scene were inspired from it. The song range balance from Trap, Prime 808s drills, Crunk, were provided with intense velocity with Flocka and his crew(BrickSquad) providing the aggression. You can tell that Flocka’s brush with death were very prominent in creating this album as songs such as “Live By The Gun” Trained to Go” and Fuck The Industry were influenced by Tupac’s theme of Paranoia, Revenge, and Survival.

DOES FLOCKAVELI HOLD UP TODAY?

Many Hip Hop Pursuits may look at the lyrical content and even Flocka’s performance as a black eye to hip hop. Flocka interesting enough would prove later on that he really can rap in the later years. He released a mixtape years later titled “I Can’t Rap” which was Flocka showing his critics that if he really wanted too, He can definitely rap. But with “Flockaveli” He had too much in his bag to be written off as a comedy act. Especially when songs such as “O Lets Do It” “No Hands” Grove Street Party” and Hard in the Paint are still holding up today. If you play any of those records at a party atmosphere, Its guaranteed to be rocked out and people will go nuts. As proven on his recent performance at J Cole’s Dreamville Festival ” Due to conflict with contractual differences with Gucci Mane and even his mother, Flocka would later release one more album titled “Triple F” and would just focus on other business ventures. While his reign was short lived, He no questionably made a undeniable impact.