90's Era

Rap music has always been testosterone-fueled and male-driven.  That's a fact.  Rap music has always been lambasted for its misogynistic lyrics and the way it portrays women as second class (at best) citizens.  The female MC has always had to work twice as hard as her male counterparts to be taken seriously.  To be seen as more than the mouthpiece of the MC who "co-signed" her into the game.  Legends like MC Lyte, Monie Love, Yo-Yo, Queen Latifah, Boss, & Salt-N-Pepa spent parts of the late 80's & 90's carrying the flag for women in the rap game.  But, none of the aforementioned ever had the cultural impact that our Artist of the Week did from the moment she stepped on the scene. 

Lil Kim (aka Kimberly Jones) was a star from the first moment that you heard her voice.  Brought to our attention on the Junior Mafia debut single, "Players's Anthem," Lil' Kim was instantly the star of the show.  (No small feat when the track featured one of the greatest rappers of all time in The Notorious B.I.G.)  Kim was something different unafraid to be the hardest one on the track while at the same time being unapologetic about her sexuality.  Here was a young woman who was letting you know that she was just as grimy as the fellas but she was going to do it in designer heels.  

The Junior M.A.F.I.A. album was a success and the obvious standout of group was the Queen Bee, Lil Kim.  Record labels are anything but stupid and it was a no-brainer to let Lil Kim headline her own LP.  What followed was 1996's Hardcore a release that was predated by one of the most recognizable promo photos in the history of rap music.  To say that Hardcore was a success is an understatement. Hard Core debuted at number eleven on the U.S. Billboard 200, the highest debut for a female rap album at that time. In the United States, Hard Core was certified double platinum by the RIAA, and is considered by many a classic hip hop album.  The album spawned multiple top selling singles as well including Crush on You, No Time, and Not Tonight.

Lil Kim instantly became the go to female MC for features and collabos; a spot that had up to that point had largely held by her male counterparts.  She lent her voice to dozens of high profile records over the latter half of the decade.  Staying busy with highlight making moments with Mobb Deep, Mary J. Blige, Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliot, and Diddy.  Among her other accomplishments were the numerous endorsement deals that she garnered outside of the hip hop arena.  Modeling and touring for numerous fashion brands including Versace and Baby Phat as well as becoming a sought after entertainment personality.

Kim was perhaps the most influential female artist of the 90's even though she only released one album in the decade.  Over the following decade Kim would return to the studio and follow up the success of Hardcore with multiple platinum albums.  But, perhaps, the biggest milestone in what should easily be a Hall of Fame career came in 2005.  Lil Kim achieved and remains the only female artist to receive the prestigious "5 mics" award from The Source magazine for her album The Naked Truth.

Take some time this week and bow down to the Queen Bee of Hip Hop.  Lil Kim is our Artist of The Week.

 

 

The history of music is rife with artists leaving the comfort of a successful group and recording solo records.  Littered with successes and failures for every Michael Jackson there is a Pras Michel.  Often it has little to do with talent and everything to do with timing, promotion, and the ever changing whims of the musical landscape.  In 1993 a hip-hop collective burst upon the scene from the streets of New York's Staten Island with a brand of rugged hip hop and urban mystique that hadn't been seen before.  The Wu-Tang Clan were almost immediately successful and dominated the airwaves for much of the following years.

Uniquely the clan came into the rap game with a plan for all the members to go solo as well record as a collective and structured their deal so that each had an opportunity to express their own sound.  The first out of the official solo releases was Method Man and he was soon followed by the Old Dirty Bastard.  Both releases were commercial successes and critically acclaimed and the bar was raised for the next round of solo projects from the clan.

Enter Raekwon the Chef. Method Man and ODB had been standouts from the beginning. So, practically no one could have predicted the phenomenon that followed his stunning debut Only Built For Cuban Linx.  Raekwon instantly became one of the greatest rappers in the game and delivered not only a classic LP but something that that would influence rap music for the next decade. Cuban Linx showcased Raekwon's unique blend of seemingly simple rhyme scheme that hid very intricate wordplay. With ease The Chef could weave a tale of hustling in the hood so smoothly that it was easy to forget the harsh realities of life being exposed in his words.

Widely hailed as not only a classic but the best Wu-Tang solo album of all time, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, has garnered praise and critical acclaim over the last decade. With 5 out of 5 scores from such notable magazines as The Source and Rolling Stones; Raekwon easily became one of hip-hop's all-time greats. 

Raekwon is our 90's artist of the week, and if you think that his excellence ended in the last decade take a listen to his latest remixes of classic songs being released through Soundcloud over the last few weeks and months.

You could definitely argue that our latest artist to grace the 90's list had most of their work released in the mid-to-late 80's.  However we tend to fudge the lines a bit when their influence stretched into the fabric of the music of the 90's, and 00's.  Full Force started as family group but found stardom hard to come by, and turned to production to make their mark on the industry.  With hit production from Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam's debut classic album, it wasn't long before they were given the platform to release their own music.  What followed was the self-titled debut album Full Force  which featured the standout single "Alice, I Want You Just For Me!"

With one song Full Force would lay the groundwork for the New Jack Era that would come to be refined by later stalwarts such as Teddy Riley and Babyface.  Full Force would never become as recognized for the quality of music that they put out over the major parts of their career as they should have been.

As a production team Full Force would go on to the chart topping excellence.  Over the course of the 80s and 90s they would lend their hit making talents to artists from James Brown, N'Sync & The Backstreet Boys.  And showing the resilience to even moved into the early 2000's producing for Rihanna.  Full Force still continues to record and tour proving that they are indeed an unstoppable force (pun intended).

 Check out Full Force new website: www.fullforceworld.com

Everyone always thinks that the music they grew up on was the best. Everyone. It's a fact. Ask around. Your parents felt that way. Your grandparents felt that way. Your aunts and uncles, cousins and the old lady at work thinks the music that came out when she was 8-25 was better than anything that's out now. So we figured why fight it? We are declaring the 90s the best musical era of all time! Welcome to Brownstone Media's ongoing retrospective of the best music in our time!

Each week expect a profile on one of the greatest bands or artists of the best decade of music that ever was. We are not even going to pretend to be unbiased. If you've never heard this music then we are going to change your lives. And, if like us you remember the 90's fondly then get ready to run to iTunes or Spotify and pump the volume up as loud as possible.

So let's start with one of our favorites right out the box. One of the hardest things in the world to do musically is to take a song that was not only a hit but a classic and cover it. Its constantly tried and often the artists that does makes a fool of themselves. Songs that are widely accepted as classics live in our heads and we tend to hear them when we hear covers. Try it. Go to YouTube and search for your favorite song and then listen to one of the hundred covers. We guarantee that within 30 seconds you'll be hearing the original in your head and wondering why this person even tried.

Enter Detroit based R&B group Intro and their 90's classic cover of "Ribbon in the Sky." Intro had scored a pretty significant hit in 1993 with their first single "Come Inside," which had peaked at number 9 on the R&B Charts. But for true fans of the group if you ask what their favorite song from Intro was your going to come away with a very consistent answer. How good was Intro's version of Ribbon in the Sky? Stevie Wonder appeared in the video to cosign how good it was. Check that sentence again. The LEGENDARY ARTIST who wrote, produced, and sung the classic cosigned the cover!

Intro is this week's BMG 90's group of the week. Enjoy and don't blame us if you find yourself humming "Come Inside" all week.