Lotus
05-31-2005, 02:33 AM
Yeah, sorry it's been so long. With graduating high school, finals, a run-in at the park, and a basketball league, TPWW has been low on the food chain as of late. But, I have returned to finish off the list. Anyways, we continue:
40. Eminem- Stan (Summer 2000): The first time I heard about this song was from Silent and Rukus. They both had just gotten the "Marshall Mathers LP" as soon as it came out and they kept on saying "That shit's just clowning dog". I thought that was funny, so I asked them where they got it from. And of course, it came from the line in Stan- "I say that shit's just clownin' dog/come on man, how fucked up is you?". But before I heard the song, I thought it was another one of Em's "comedy songs". Boy was I wrong. It came to be my anthem for August 2000 and was my #3 for my September 2001 Top 100 Countdown. What makes this song is, other than the fantastic lyrics, is Dido on the chorus. Her voice is great for the chorus, a perfect choice for a sample for a chorus. The song is a little lengthy (6:43), but it really couldn't be any shorter. It was constructed beautifully. That's the last of Em you will see on this countdown.
39. R Kelly- I Wish (Early 2001): The only thing I can say about this song is that it is classic. Instant classic. I knew this would be on my top 100 after about 2 or 3 listens, after I got over the fact that it was R Kelly who was singing. Regardless of his pissing on 12 year-old girls and recording it, the melody is great, the concept of the song is great, and the lyrics are great (surprisingly). Perhaps what enhanced this song's greatness for me was the fact that two of my very good friends (including Rukus, for those of you who remember him) were moving away from San Jose, so I was really bummed about that. And whenever I'd think of them, this song would always pop into my mind.
38. Westside Connection- Bow Down (May 1999): This is a song that starts with a bang. Ice Cube spits out "The world is mine, n*gga get back/ Don't fuck with my stack, the gage is racked" as soon as the song starts up. When I first heard this song in 6th grade, I thought this was the most hardcore song ever. I had never before heard a song that had so much cussing in it, and I thought it was so cool. Whenever I was pissed or just hyped up, I'd blast this fuckin' song. Shit, there's only a few songs I've ever heard where I'd get up and rap out the whole song while I was listening to it, this was one of them ("Stan" was another one). This used to be in the Top 30, but it's found a nice home in the high or low 30s (depending on how you look at it). On to the next song.
37. Bucketheads- The Bomb (1998): This was one of those house songs that literally took me years to find. And that's probably why this song is so high on the countdown. Because whenever I heard it on the radio, I would have a fucking eargasm because my listens of the song were so few and far between. When I did get it finally, it didn't disappoint. It has even moved up a few spots from the mid-40s or so. Though I've listened to this song hundreds of times, I still can't figure out what the vocal sample is saying. It sounds like "Beantown's swervin' through my back'' (but back is like baaaaaaaack), but I'm not sure. If anyone knows what it is saying, let me know. Maybe Gertner knows or something.And another tidbit: this is the first song I've listened to while I'm writing about it.
36. Warren G/Nate Dogg- Regulators (May 1999, but I'm sure I heard it before that): The reason I say I'm not sure is because I know I heard it on the radio before then, but I'm not sure on the date. So I went with the date that I first got the song from my friend. Anyways, this song has one of the most relaxed beats I have ever heard. I'm always a sucker for "kick-back" beats. It's great how Warren G and Nate Dogg take a stressful situation and make it sound like they were just chillin'. Classic written all over this one. Oh, I couldn't listen to this one while I was typing about it- not on my computer.
35. Juice- Key to the City (January 2002): Another song with a relaxed beat, at least that's how it sounds to me. Juice just rapes the shit out of this beat. He sounds SO FUCKING TIGHT over it. 2 24-bar verses of pure sickness. I'm pretty sure it's freestyle too. Juice is hands-down the best freestyler there is. He goes crazy on this song. You rap heads should really check this guy out and his "100% Juice" CD. He also has a couple of other CDs out, if you're interested. But enough advertising. This song has never lost its original glamour. While I've stopped listening to it often, it is still a song that I wouldn't mind listening to everyday. I just don't get around to it.
34. Mobb Deep- Quiet Storm (Summer 1999): Let me just start off by saying that the lyrics in this song probably make my list for "Top 10 Lyrics for an overall song of all-time". They don't say anything, but the wordplay and the way Prodigy flows over this song is just insane. I'm not really a fan of anything else they've put out ("It's Mine" with Nas is tight, and "Got It Twisted" isn't bad), but they really "brought it" on this song. Also, the video for this song is great. Prodigy and Havoc infiltrating some corporation and beating the shit out of everyone in there while the FBI is chasing them. Pretty sick. I don't care what Tupac or anybody else said about these guys and how one of them has sickle cell anemia. This song is just great. Beat, lyrics, chorus, the rain in the background, the whole 9 yards.
33. Juice- Cryogenic (December 2001): This song comes right after "Key to the City" on the 100% Juice CD, and it really couldn't have been mixed in better. The CD is like one big mix of Juice freestyles (and other people who do guest appearances). So the beats of all the songs get mixed together, they're different, but the flow well. Enough of the mixing shit. There is one part of the beat in this song that gets played in 3 different parts that is just, well, out of this world. I literally feel like I'm walking on the moon when this part of the beat plays. It's so good; I wish the whole song was like that, but the other part of the beat is pretty tight. There's other guys on this song too; in fact, Juice only puts down 16 bars on this one, but I'm too lazy to type out there names. Oh fine, here's the other guys (no-one you've probably heard of, and no-one I've heard of on any other song except for one of those guys, O-Type Star): O-Type Star, Mr. Greenleaves, Akbar, and some other motherfucker.
32. The Spooks- Things I've Seen (Summer 2000): This is one of those songs that sounds tighter in an airplane at dusk. Well, I guess a lot of songs would fall into that category for me, but whenever I was on a night flight back home or somewhere else, I always used to pop this one in the ol' portable CD player. The beat isn't fantastic, the lyrics aren't orgasmic, but the way it is put together that makes this song so great. The singing is great in this one as well. I've been meaning to see "Once In the Life" because this song is on its soundtrack, and if this song is any indicator of how good the song is, the movie should rule.
31. Jurassic 5- Concrete Schoolyard (April 2002): I'm not the hugest fan of J5, but this song is too great to ignore. I mean, I like a lot of their stuff, and for a while, they were my favorite group, but they aren't fantastic. Anyways, the beat is great; it makes me think back or reminisce (sp?), even get damn near teary-eyed at times. In addition to the beat, the way these guys can pick up where the other one left off is pretty amazing. Their chemistry on this one, as well as other ones, is fantastic. The only reason this song isn't higher is because the final verse kinda kills the song. I mean, it's tight and all, but the beat changes up and doesn't have the piano that makes the beat so perfect.
So yeah, you can expect the next installment sometime this.... summer....
40. Eminem- Stan (Summer 2000): The first time I heard about this song was from Silent and Rukus. They both had just gotten the "Marshall Mathers LP" as soon as it came out and they kept on saying "That shit's just clowning dog". I thought that was funny, so I asked them where they got it from. And of course, it came from the line in Stan- "I say that shit's just clownin' dog/come on man, how fucked up is you?". But before I heard the song, I thought it was another one of Em's "comedy songs". Boy was I wrong. It came to be my anthem for August 2000 and was my #3 for my September 2001 Top 100 Countdown. What makes this song is, other than the fantastic lyrics, is Dido on the chorus. Her voice is great for the chorus, a perfect choice for a sample for a chorus. The song is a little lengthy (6:43), but it really couldn't be any shorter. It was constructed beautifully. That's the last of Em you will see on this countdown.
39. R Kelly- I Wish (Early 2001): The only thing I can say about this song is that it is classic. Instant classic. I knew this would be on my top 100 after about 2 or 3 listens, after I got over the fact that it was R Kelly who was singing. Regardless of his pissing on 12 year-old girls and recording it, the melody is great, the concept of the song is great, and the lyrics are great (surprisingly). Perhaps what enhanced this song's greatness for me was the fact that two of my very good friends (including Rukus, for those of you who remember him) were moving away from San Jose, so I was really bummed about that. And whenever I'd think of them, this song would always pop into my mind.
38. Westside Connection- Bow Down (May 1999): This is a song that starts with a bang. Ice Cube spits out "The world is mine, n*gga get back/ Don't fuck with my stack, the gage is racked" as soon as the song starts up. When I first heard this song in 6th grade, I thought this was the most hardcore song ever. I had never before heard a song that had so much cussing in it, and I thought it was so cool. Whenever I was pissed or just hyped up, I'd blast this fuckin' song. Shit, there's only a few songs I've ever heard where I'd get up and rap out the whole song while I was listening to it, this was one of them ("Stan" was another one). This used to be in the Top 30, but it's found a nice home in the high or low 30s (depending on how you look at it). On to the next song.
37. Bucketheads- The Bomb (1998): This was one of those house songs that literally took me years to find. And that's probably why this song is so high on the countdown. Because whenever I heard it on the radio, I would have a fucking eargasm because my listens of the song were so few and far between. When I did get it finally, it didn't disappoint. It has even moved up a few spots from the mid-40s or so. Though I've listened to this song hundreds of times, I still can't figure out what the vocal sample is saying. It sounds like "Beantown's swervin' through my back'' (but back is like baaaaaaaack), but I'm not sure. If anyone knows what it is saying, let me know. Maybe Gertner knows or something.And another tidbit: this is the first song I've listened to while I'm writing about it.
36. Warren G/Nate Dogg- Regulators (May 1999, but I'm sure I heard it before that): The reason I say I'm not sure is because I know I heard it on the radio before then, but I'm not sure on the date. So I went with the date that I first got the song from my friend. Anyways, this song has one of the most relaxed beats I have ever heard. I'm always a sucker for "kick-back" beats. It's great how Warren G and Nate Dogg take a stressful situation and make it sound like they were just chillin'. Classic written all over this one. Oh, I couldn't listen to this one while I was typing about it- not on my computer.
35. Juice- Key to the City (January 2002): Another song with a relaxed beat, at least that's how it sounds to me. Juice just rapes the shit out of this beat. He sounds SO FUCKING TIGHT over it. 2 24-bar verses of pure sickness. I'm pretty sure it's freestyle too. Juice is hands-down the best freestyler there is. He goes crazy on this song. You rap heads should really check this guy out and his "100% Juice" CD. He also has a couple of other CDs out, if you're interested. But enough advertising. This song has never lost its original glamour. While I've stopped listening to it often, it is still a song that I wouldn't mind listening to everyday. I just don't get around to it.
34. Mobb Deep- Quiet Storm (Summer 1999): Let me just start off by saying that the lyrics in this song probably make my list for "Top 10 Lyrics for an overall song of all-time". They don't say anything, but the wordplay and the way Prodigy flows over this song is just insane. I'm not really a fan of anything else they've put out ("It's Mine" with Nas is tight, and "Got It Twisted" isn't bad), but they really "brought it" on this song. Also, the video for this song is great. Prodigy and Havoc infiltrating some corporation and beating the shit out of everyone in there while the FBI is chasing them. Pretty sick. I don't care what Tupac or anybody else said about these guys and how one of them has sickle cell anemia. This song is just great. Beat, lyrics, chorus, the rain in the background, the whole 9 yards.
33. Juice- Cryogenic (December 2001): This song comes right after "Key to the City" on the 100% Juice CD, and it really couldn't have been mixed in better. The CD is like one big mix of Juice freestyles (and other people who do guest appearances). So the beats of all the songs get mixed together, they're different, but the flow well. Enough of the mixing shit. There is one part of the beat in this song that gets played in 3 different parts that is just, well, out of this world. I literally feel like I'm walking on the moon when this part of the beat plays. It's so good; I wish the whole song was like that, but the other part of the beat is pretty tight. There's other guys on this song too; in fact, Juice only puts down 16 bars on this one, but I'm too lazy to type out there names. Oh fine, here's the other guys (no-one you've probably heard of, and no-one I've heard of on any other song except for one of those guys, O-Type Star): O-Type Star, Mr. Greenleaves, Akbar, and some other motherfucker.
32. The Spooks- Things I've Seen (Summer 2000): This is one of those songs that sounds tighter in an airplane at dusk. Well, I guess a lot of songs would fall into that category for me, but whenever I was on a night flight back home or somewhere else, I always used to pop this one in the ol' portable CD player. The beat isn't fantastic, the lyrics aren't orgasmic, but the way it is put together that makes this song so great. The singing is great in this one as well. I've been meaning to see "Once In the Life" because this song is on its soundtrack, and if this song is any indicator of how good the song is, the movie should rule.
31. Jurassic 5- Concrete Schoolyard (April 2002): I'm not the hugest fan of J5, but this song is too great to ignore. I mean, I like a lot of their stuff, and for a while, they were my favorite group, but they aren't fantastic. Anyways, the beat is great; it makes me think back or reminisce (sp?), even get damn near teary-eyed at times. In addition to the beat, the way these guys can pick up where the other one left off is pretty amazing. Their chemistry on this one, as well as other ones, is fantastic. The only reason this song isn't higher is because the final verse kinda kills the song. I mean, it's tight and all, but the beat changes up and doesn't have the piano that makes the beat so perfect.
So yeah, you can expect the next installment sometime this.... summer....