THE XNY GUIDE TO CLASSIC NEW YORK CITY CULTURE Presents: NY State Of Music Minds: The 5 Pillars
Since the advent of the internet age, hip-hop’s inherent regionality has eroded. Sounds and styles have blended, morphed, and evolved at a rapid pace because you no longer have to visit your cousin in Atlanta to find out what’s hot there. You don’t need the good fortune of being stationed at a military base with an LA native to find out what’s blaring out of speakers on Crenshaw Boulevard. We can share our music, culture, and experiences, and create brand new ones, in only a few clicks or swipes.
As beautiful as that is, we cannot forget where it all started: New York City. Yes, other regions have influenced some of the top acts coming out of NYC (see: A$AP Rocky, French Montana) but, historically, NYC hip-hop has influenced the rest of the world. That much is undeniable. Whether you want to admit it or not, New York is hip-hop’s mecca, and home of some the most impactful artists ever.
Today we discuss five legendary pillars of hip-hop. These great, hall of fame-level acts’ influence is evident in all who’ve followed since. Each has characteristics that stand out more than others. Each has something about them that no one can do better. Whether it’s their mastery of imagery or ability to be consistently at the top of their game for long periods of time, these artists’ DNA is imprinted on all of your favorite rappers, regardless of region, and will continue to inspire future generations.
Photos: Getty
The Queensbridge poet is a lyricist par excellence, and his greatest attribute is his skillful use of imagery. Since his debut in 1994, Nas has been hip-hop’s most visual emcee, and a master painter of photorealistic images of life in New York City.
Beginning with the opening salvo of his groundbreaking debut, Illmatic, Nas displayed an unusual ability to include seemingly minute details in his writing that add shading and depth to each line. Nas doesn’t just rap, he brings his verses to life. In just four bars of “NY State of Mind” you hear the sounds of the projects, you feel the stray bullets whiz by, you feel confined by the claustrophobia of densely populated public housing, and see how it’s not all that different from the prisons that hold many of a young Nas’ friends and associates.
In the P.J.’s, my blend tape plays, bullets are strays
Young bitches is grazed each block is like a maze
full of black rats trapped, plus the Island is packed
From what I hear in all the stories when my peoples come back
From his description of a neighborhood woman’s fading beauty in It Was Written’s Scorcese-eqsue “Shootouts” (“Fat a** dissolving, like cotton candy in a mouth that’s starving”) to the simple image of eating a slice of pizza (“At night New York eat a slice too hot/Use my tongue to tear the skin hanging from the roof of my mouth”) on his most recent album, Life Is Good, Nas has spent his whole career implanting scenes into listeners’ minds that transport them directly into the moment.
See: “NY State of Mind,” “Shootouts,” “You’re The Man,” “Verbal Intercourse,” “Loco-Motive”
The Notorious B.I.G. – Charisma
Biggie was the kid in the back of the class that cracked jokes funny enough to make the teacher stifle laughter as they shuttled him toward the principal’s office. The beloved Brooklyn king peppered self-deprecating humor into his rhymes and wielded an acute sense of perception that added warmth to even his darkest tales. Whether he was referring to himself as “black and ugly as ever” with the same nonchalance as him inviting your girl over for an early steak and cheese eggs breakfast, the guy’s personality was as magnetic on wax, as his loved ones say he was in real life.
Who else, in the midst of his biggest personal and professional challenge, would quip about his wife potentially cheating on him with his biggest rival and having twin babies? Who didn’t chuckle at his blasphemous banter with Lil’ Kim as “Get Money” faded out? (quote: “My nickname was Jesus in high school.”). Who didn’t want to be in the room as Biggie spun a tale about an unnamed New York Knick and his girlfriend? The late, great, Frank White was truly one of a kind.
See: “One More Chance,” “Big Poppa,” “Brooklyn’s Finest,” “Sky’s The Limit,” “I Got A Story To Tell”
Jay-Z – Flow
“If the beat is time, flow is what we do with that time, how we live through it. The beat is everywhere, but every life has to find its own flow.” Jay-Z, Decoded
Jay-Z is known for so much more than rapping these days that it is easy forget how great an emcee he is. As effortless as he makes it seem, Jay is an absolute technician when it comes to the art of rhyming. He’s bestowed several lofty titles upon himself over the years, some harder to agree with than others, but he’s earned at least one: “the worldwide heavyweight champion of flowers.”
Hov’s flow is as malleable as Play Doh. He can treat a beat as an empty vessel and fill it with lyrics until there’s no air, or he can dance around bass lines and snares, using pregnant pauses the way graphic designers use negative space. In the midst of their battle, Nas remarked that Jay-Z used to “rap like Fu-Schnickens.” Though intended as in insult, the statement underlines Jay’s early commitment to creativity and a willingness to play around with different flows and cadences.
On early tracks like his collaboration with Jaz-O, “The Originators” or his appearance on Original Flavor’s “Can I Get Open?” employed an everything but the kitchen sink approach. His rapid fire, stuttering delivery was indeed closer to Fu-Schnickens and Das EFX than the refined version we began to hear on his debut album. As Jay continued to grow over the years, his mastery of flow relied less on gimmicks, but instead treated his voice like another instrument working in harmony with his production.
See: “Jigga What,” “Jigga Who,” “Hovi Baby,” “D’Evils”
Wu-Tang Clan – Diversity
The RZA, the GZA, Ol Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon the Chef, U-God, Ghostface Killah and the Method Man. The 8 Diagrams of the Wu revolutionized music. Each member sounded nothing like anyone that came before them. The diversity of their subject matter and their revolutionary approach to music and business formed the blueprint for large crews to form like Voltron.
Though more recently there has been some dissent from the crew about the direction is taking Wu-Tang, RZA deserves a ton of credit for helping form a unified vision and sound for the disparate voices of the Clan. Science, religion, street life, poverty, decadence, materialism, drugs, and women could each be covered by a different emcee on the same song, but the clan never sounded like a random collection of voices. Instead each member complements the other.
As solo acts, each individual’s personality blossomed more and more, and resulted in some of the best albums in hip-hop history. From Method Man’s under appreciated Tical and Raekwon and Ghostface’s cinematic street narratives on Only Built For Cuban Linx to GZA’ meticulously crafted lyricism on Liquid Swords and Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s uniquely skewed approach on Return to the 36 Chambers, the Wu-Tang Clan created new watershed moment for hip-hop with nearly every new release. With nearly 40 albums, including group and solo ventures, and no sign of quitting, the Clan continues to make history.
LL Cool J – Longevity
It’s been 18 years since LL Cool J was a 10 year veteran bragging about having rhymes of the month in The Source for 20 years. He dropped a greatest hits album in 1996. The numbers count to LL. As he became an elder statesman, he embraced his veteran status and reached out to up and comers. He evolved, sometimes capitulating to trends, but he always understood the importance of history. No one did it as well as LL, on so many levels, for so long.
LL battled Kool Moe Dee as a 20-year-old kid and Canibus as a 30-year-old man. He invented the modern hip-hop love song on “I Need Love” then perfected it countless times throughout his career. He satisfied the streets and made radio hits. He suffered his first critical failure on his Walking With A Panther album, and made perhaps the greatest comeback in hip-hop history on the very next album. He has Billboard charting singles in the 80s and in the 2000s.
After 14 albums, two Grammys, millions of albums sold, and nomination for inclusion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, LL is the poster child for longevity in hip-hop. He’s proven time and time again that he’s never finished when we think he is. In a genre where youth rules and careers can end in the blink of an eye, LL Cool J, for better or for worst, is still here.
See: “I Need Love,” “4, 3, 2, 1,” “Mama Said Knock You Out”
