New York’s
lyrical
assassins
bring the
noise
BY MATTHEW J.X.
MALADY
H
I > I >iSK| M'| t I .IU
the West, true
indeed' I rink ii
u> the I .im I he
i .tst is the seed.
I .uiren I itil ul the I tigers,
from 'N.ipp\ I leads remix
Hon t look now but the need
nuv be \prminn again NXc all
know it x licfii a VX exr t djm lb»gg*
Hogg world tor fhr past couple of
'cats \! I \ uni pop radio nude
heroes of | )f I )fc lit ( ubr and
Snoop but n«* rappel from taxi
of the Mississippi vus tnvsird to the
p.ufs I lip hop shifted awav from
us buthpbvc m Ness York <uv as
the media and the tevord busing
publn began to favor la/s I* funk
hear* over units ale Him, gangslas
o'ei jXK*!* and ( ttinpum over all
! hen, In some form of dome
hip hop intervention a vham teas
cion of sort* swept outward from the
rotten apple Ihc \X u | _mg t fan
dropped Protest Ya \cvk. \a\
showed ifiat the world was hiv, { taig
Mask blew up the -pot with Mas a
In \a I -it and the Notonou* H I i*
r
hrf^in his hjii
ron i hr i
BiMbourd
vhjirii hud f
drnlv, theic
wrfc wht&pm
throughout \
the nnluurv
■ibotil 4n I jst
t mM fcuiigctHC
Miinhiittiin
transfer
People on the 1 ju
i oau begin i*» realize that
they hid to ukr then muiu
to 4 different level, betaine j
lot of the stuff «jv geton
old. v4\s Kevin Puwdl. *taH
writer for \ ibr maga/in
i rung* haa to t rungr
\n«J they have In fast. change is
rvenw here
I he l avi is definitely hav k in
ihe ballpark.’ saw \\ u I ang s ( hel
Kirkwon \X c hiuu^hi it to a level
w licit vkitu ale esxfYthmg
Ni v\cr I avi < t»4vt anivcv arc
invoking an unyielding Urn, a I
viiert floss the kind of dense
word plav that cs hoc* a nine w hen
Kane wa> Big Dadd* Rakirn wav
king and I tu H wav president
But this uiuc around. the rapf**?*
an getting paid Details ta \X u l ang
am! Biggie Niiulh ***am.i f*ast tin- |*lu
mum nuik and fust effort* bs \av.
Mm14> l \xp Method Man. 1 >U Dim
Bastaid and Snnf n NX evsun all reached
Now VorM’m Wu-Tang Clan —
Obi Wan ham taught thorn wall.
“ There s people
straight talkin'
about murder as
acceptable and
degrading
women as
acceptable. Were
trying to move
away from that. "
Varum i) ot i m
litNM.U MOSS It KS
vak levels kwmcrh as brood hv only a
srici t few veterans »hi die I t \ wot
* hangi \ also tcgivfctmg on the
charts Singles U\ \* v* N«»rh artists
now frequently show up on the Bill
l*«»4fd top H* a I id New York tjijto
station Hot * NX Q| I 1 saw us iat
ings ■*ksri»vkc! when it switched to ..
predominantly I a\t ( <um fnp hop
format. Moti im]*ortantl\ the new
artists themselves .in busking past
trends ot vompetttton and rivalry in
ta\or ot s oopcrat ion and units
t mot 'jHtu on albums are mm nunc
vomiium titan ever, and tlierc seems
li» l»e a teal sense ot lomtttumtv
brewing as tappets realize the value
ot volUboratKin tor the musu s sake
l vcfvhody \ votnm together,
and there v not av mush (caiouw
envv and aiiimovitv saw I ck ot
Sind n NX ewun, one ot the mans
new groups that have been more
than willing to lend out then skills in
an chon to help their brethren Both
I ck anil hi* partner Steele rapped on
Blick Moon'* debut Hut a Da
Stajjc and
ihc cwo aUo
contribute a
\cr\c on a
povve cut for
the I ast
l oum all oar
album The
/ > rrofn t
! ihcvk broth
ci\ mil flu te like \/ \.is 4nd
Mohb l krp visa Rjekwon
ibo re nuking it more red
jnd you giHU (iut
1 ho tv|h* of vuriuradcnc
v%jv nowhere ct» In’ found j
to* vrjrs ago, but the new
breed of I j'.t C tuM jnivis
seem* to value the oppirttututv
to work with other talented tap
(W It v all one lave. ami we re a |vjrt
of that .iva Irk \\ t re *um doin'
«Kir ihuvg. old knrpm the rnusiv alive
Righteous brothers
Wav amvtv are also keeping tlic
I jsi t oast tradition ol hip hop imu>
vatum alive f ollowing m the loltv
footstep* of innovators like \ I t»l»c
t ailed Quest, l>c la Soul. and l hga
hie I’lanetv. U»th the Root* and the
lk«>g»cmonvtcfv arc taking the muvi
val form to new level* of ircativit*
Roth band* recently released
xidlar deinttv that have oitu\ and
true hip hop tanv drooling over the
welcome change of pace I he K«*ots
arc the first group to hive porch live
instrumentation and Ivrual dcuteritv
while retaining street crcdibihts
I he Boogicmonstcrs. who ictcr to
the Ktx>;s .is one of their "brother
groups, rclv heavily on spirituality
and an ever fluid style, which they
hope to use as j tool in changing
hip hop One ot their goals is to
bring the music ass as from rcpeti
non and drvncss thus, the ssatcr
imagery on their debut Ruitn of the
Storm J he ( ndftuwtrr Album
W hen we talk about ssatcr. it's
like vse want to take hip hop under
ssatcr tc»r a baptism. because a lot of it
is dirty right now, sjvs Yodarcd. one
of the four rnan Boogicnumstcr cress
We re trying to inspire a move
toward righteousness I here s a line
being drawn in hip-hop vsith two
definite sides the suie c»t the wicked
ni s' and tin idi .«t : ii:hfo>ii-.H( "«
1 here s people straight tulkin about
murder as acceptable and degrading
women as acceptable Were trying to
move aw as from rhat. and we know
not everyone is going us lolloss. but
wc re trying to set the pace so those
who scant to come out and sjx-ak right
coumess tan follow our lead
East Coast family
Hut will new I ast ( oast artists
follow the lead of the Boogicmon
siets W u ! ang ( Ian. Biggie and
the others: Mr vse seeing the open
mg stages of a long-term upswing in
l ast ( oast fop hop or iust being
blessed bs a vers tool false alarm'
Powell is not sim
I don i know it 1 d call what
we re seeing a resurgence, suss Povv
cli People aie realizing that they
have to change things up and that *
v«H>i. but l don t know it a tew groups
blow m up makes it a resuigcncc yet
Ml seeds need nine to gross let s
hope this is only ihc beginning
\tatti*eu f \ a ten $01 . ne
ut Sft,h fasf I He n UHti hm to : vie
(J / iP it* 'k>
Craig Mach —
tha Fore a la mtrong uvlth him.