Back in the days… or why hip hop didn’t actually suck in ’96

It all started a few weeks back when Take was in town. I can’t quite remember how but one evening the discussion drifted towards a ‘golden era’ of hip hop, from between 96 and 98, and more particularly a whole heap of New York City ‘unknown’ rappers who’d dropped one release and seemingly disappeared forever. Take was telling me just how dope that era of hip hop was to him, and how it was amazing how there were so many forgotten, ‘one-time wonder’ acts and that it would make for a great mix. I’m hoping he comes through with that.

Fast forward a few weeks and while catching up with him on gmail chat he forwards me a link to rips of DJ Premier’s ‘Crooklyn Cuts’ mixtapes, which he’d mentioned as one of the key tapes to really encompass the rawness of that entire era. And I was amazed to realise that I actually recognised the cover and that we’d also got copies of those in France, I’m pretty sure via Passe-Passe, a company that used to distribute the Tape Kingz releases in the country.

And so this morning I grabbed all four tapes and started a reminiscing session. Less than halfway through the first tape, East Flatbush Project’s ‘Tried by 12′ comes on. An absolute classic from that era, a 12″ that has become a staple of any self-respecting hip hop DJ collection and which fits quite nicely with Take’s description as East Flatbush Project never really did anything else of much interest to anyone as far as I know (a quick look on discogs shows a few releases post ‘Tried by 12′ but nothing of note by the looks of it).

edit: As rightfully poined by 563 in the comments and exemplified in this link, East Flatbush Project was actually not the ‘unknown’ act I kinda made it to be at first. By that I mean that the producer behind the project, Spencer Bellamy, is actually not that ‘unknown’ having been responsible for the EFBP project and productions for various big name rappers. However all the rappers featured on the releases for his label and under the EFBP name were all unknown at the time, such as Des who features on ‘Tried by 12′, fitting the above mentioned description from Take. So yeah if you don’t know about EFBP I recommend you check the release linked above and apologies for not being clear first time round!

The joy of hearing that track again prompted me to start tweeting random thoughts about the tracks as they came, and that’s the point at which it all started to tumble and before I knew it I’d spent part of the day reminiscing about 96 era hip hop with various friends on both Twitter and Facebook. By 6pm everyone had chipped in with their own favourite from that year and I’d come to realise that, as Wrongtom put it early on, 96 was actually a pretty amazing year for hip hop.

So I’ve decided to sort of compile all the tracks mentioned during this spread out, extended conversation via different social networks as I think it makes for a pretty interesting selection as well as further proof that 96 was indeed a good year when it comes to hip hop.

A sidenote on the title – if you don’t know, DJ Shadow’s seminal ‘Entroducing’ album, released in 1996, features a track called ‘Why Hip Hop Sucks in 96′. The track is short, more like a skit, and features a male vocal going ‘it’s the money…’ on it. A statement of intent if I’ve ever heard any. My friend Steve pointed it out during the day’s conversation, and it made me smile considering how I was collecting everyone’s favourite from that year. In hindsight Shadow wasn’t to know, and he did have a point. But as time has shown, while hip hop did suck in 96 because of the money (and let’s face it that was barely the beginning of that ‘sucking’ phase) it also was pretty amazing, mainly at the underground level, no doubt a reaction to the move towards money and the corporate world.

So in roughly chronological order of posting, here’s the selection of 96 hip hop tracks that people favourited during the day, youtubed where possible.

Oh actually before we start, make sure you grab Premier’s ‘Crooklyn Cuts’ vol 3 tapes A to D right here – it doesn’t get much better than that.

Wrongtom sees my claim that ‘Tried by 12′ was possibly better than anything else in 96 and counters with this:

I put it to the rest of the twitterverse, and Alex Chase points out this gem might just take it for him:

Meanwhile on Facebook, someone counters my question to choose between the above 3 with yet another classic, one I’d forgotten was even from 96:

At which point it becomes clear that one man’s ‘favourite’ is another’s ‘played out’. 563 jumps in the fray on Facebook with yet another 96 classic and possibly one of the most explicit hip hop songs ever:

To which Clockwork raises this joint alongside Lord Finesse ‘Check The Method’:

The debate heats up on Facebook, Holik drops this one rightfully pointing out that it might be played out but it’s still amazing:

Matt Dust jumps in the fray with two worthy contenders:

His mention of Octagon prompts me to consider that Blue Flowers might be 96. A quick discogs check later and it is indeed, the whole remix EP released by Mo’ Wax is 96, another definite favourite from that year which gets a few approvals on twitter too. That’s when Freshcuts from Spain chips in with this:

Then Honna tweets this one:

At this point The Nextmen, who were mentioned early on by Tom, somehow get ropped into the discussion on Twitter, and settle on the G Rap & Nas remix mentioned shortly before or Roots Manuva’s classic ‘Blessed Be The Manner’ for the UK side of things (unfortunately no youtube of that one seems to be knocking about, nor a Last FM stream).

And that’s when Steve sent through Shadow’s ‘Why Hip Hop Sucks in 96′ and the discussion started dying down along with the end of the day approaching.

In the end there isn’t a favourite as such, and to be honest there never really was for me especially considering that quite a few of the ones mentioned actually would make favourite on any given day depending on the mood. What did become clear though, early on and as the day continued, is that 96 really was a special era for hip hop, especially NYC hip hop.

So if you were too young at the time, or not around or not into hip hop and your curiosity has been picked by the discussion than I suggest you hunt down every track mentioned here and download Premier’s tapes for a good grounding and education on why hip hop didn’t actually suck that much in 96.

If I ever find time I might actually do a mix to further prove the point. For now though I’ll let the music do the talking.

As for anyone reading this, what’s your 1996 favourite?