“Yo, I had a… a muh’fuckin’ dream man…”
What, other than being on various ‘Greatest of All Time’ lists (like this one and that one), do Naughty By Nature and Black Sheep have in common? Well, come April 21st at Fortune Sound Club , they will both have performed live in front of me. In Vancouver. On the same bill as Anami Vice. Yes, the same Anami Vice who I drove around with as a teen, shotgun in the ‘5 O’Clock’ Shadow, listening to those very same artists, rapping along at full volume and ranking them and their albums, songs and lines on the aforementioned lists.
“Who’s the Black Sheep, What’s the Black Sheep?“
Black Sheep consists of an MC (Dres) and a DJ (”The Sugar Dick Daddy” Mista Lawnge) that are responsible for some of the cleverest shit ever put on wax. (Bonus Nuv-Fact: One of my few songs that I can still stand, from back when I used to have time to rap, is heavily Black Sheep-influenced.) Also, check out my favourite battle record ever, H.A.A. (Here’s Another Asshole), their scathing and side-splitting MC Hammer diss, featuring such golden punchlines as “If I was your dick, you still couldn’t fuck with me” and (in reference to Hammer’s childhood stint as a ball-boy for the Oakland Athletics) ”chasin’ my balls like I was the fuckin’ Oakland A’s.” Oh and, of course, “you and your Cousin It ain’t shit.” Priceless!
“And you can’t beat that with a bat!”
They also have (inarguably!) one of the Top Ten Hip Hop Albums of all time, the criminally slept-on and way ahead of it’s time, A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing. Wolf was alternately funny and just plain fun, and always immaculately rapped. Even the ad-libs at the ends of the songs were milk-out-the-nose hilarious. “Bitch, let me pee on you! LET me PEE on you!!” And the songs themselves?! Shee-it! Every song was bananas, from the gangster-est gangster rap satire ever spat, U Mean I’m Not, to Flavor of the Month, to the ode to nightclub ugly lights, Strobelite Honey, to the impossibly cool Similak Child, to the lead single, and one of the best songs in rap history, The Choice Is Yours! (I refer to, and prefer, the ‘Revisited’ version.) As soon as that opening bass line kicks in, no matter your whereabouts, a dude with a hoodie will magically appear, clutching his hoque (hat-toque) yelling, “OH SHIT! THIS?! before buggin’ out and rapping along to the “Here they come yo, here they come…” refrain. And, fair warning: when the song gets to the “Engine, Engine No. 9” part, you should quickly take cover. The whole place will get low and hushed, and begin the deliberate build to the frenzied, absolute shit-storm of “PICK IT UP, PICK IT UP, PICK IT UP! BACK ON THE SCENE…” Don’t get Hurt Locker-ed, sons!
“I got Brothers in the Jungle, Cousins on a Quest…”
And Anami? Well, what can I say… watching a guy I’ve known for more of my life than not, evolve into an Anthem-making machine (check out the syphilis-catchy Bye For Now, my early call for ‘The Song of Summer 2011,’ which has either nothing or everything to do with the fact that I’m in the video and vain, or that Jay is at his Haddow-est in it) AND setting impossibly high bars with each project only to surpass them AND sharing stages with the likes of Treach and “Dres, D, R, E, S” makes me… angry. ‘Cause I hate shit that’s awesome.
“Waitin’ for the motherfuckin’ school bus, aaaarrrrggghhhh!!!!”
So, to recap – Mark your calendars! Thursday April 21st (soon) at Fortune Sound Club (best speakers ever), live and direct, you get Black Sheep (living legends) and Anami Vice (friend-o), as well as Main Offenders, DJ Make Way, Jay Swing, Hedspin and Marlon J English! Don’t believe me? Check out the Facebook event page for more info, then! The choice is yours, pooh-butts: you can get with this – by buying tickets online from Clubzone or in person from DIPT, Beatstreet, Zulu Records, Sharks & Hammers, Eastside Urban Wear or Red Cat Records - OR… well, actually, there is no other option.
“Yo! I’ll see ya later, unless I see ya first…”
– Nuv
