It's weeks like this one that demonstrate why I do OSM on Mondays. Like most working stiffs, Sunday night finds me trying to shake off the effects of the weekend (having kids now makes that more like shake off the crumbs from the weekend), and get prepared to drag my carcass into work the next morning. Hence, prepping a post on Sunday night isn't something I'm always looking forward too, and some Sundays when I have nothing immediately coming to mind, I don't feel like doing one at all. But then I think of some song I used to love in 1991, and bam, we're off to the races.

That was the case this week, as my OSM landscape was barren, so I was going back through last week's posts, and whilst re-reading my review for D-Sisive's great new album Jonestown, the answer became pretty obvious: Juice. If you read the review, the reasons are obvious, but I shall explain anyway (un-necessary explanations are how we roll). On Jonestown's Boom Baba Boom, D makes mention of Biggie smiling as he watches Bishop (Tupac) falling off the roof at the end of Juice, he then goes on to break down the whole reference - why it would make Big smile, etc. So that would be enough, as Juice should easily be in anyone's "top 5 hip hop movies" list, but D also uses the line "I got the juice now, so you catch the taste", which is a ref to a much-loved Robbie Alomar juice commercial that was on Canadian TV in the early 90's. If that doesn't beg for a Juice-related OSM, I don't know what would.

Seriously, if you have never seen this Omar Epps starring, Tupac scene-stealing (his multi-level fade alone was killer) 1992 film, I suggest you do so. It has easily one of the best hip hop soundtracks ever put out, which, I know, isn't saying too much as most of them were disappointments, but it also deserves credit for appearing to have some songs written expressly for the soundtrack. Even if it's just for the 4 songs below, this one is one of the best in my humble.

I think people sleep on Naughty By Nature, but Uptown Anthem is excellent, Treach at his barely-coherent, speed-flow best. If anyone is skeptical about the excellent of Ra or BDK, just check Juice (Know The Ledge) and Nuff' Respect to be set straight. And EPMD's It's Going Down was always a sludgey favorite of mine. I should also, somewhat sheepishly, mention that the new-jack swing style R&B jams (Is It Good To You & Don't Be Afraid) were also much-loved back in the day. Enjoy!

MP3:: Naughty By Nature - Uptown Anthem

MP3:: Eric B. & Rakim - Juice (Know The Ledge)

MP3:: Big Daddy Kane - Nuff' Respect

MP3:: EPMD - It's Going Down

Big Daddy Kane - Nuff' Respect

Labels: Big, EPMD, Eric B. and Rakim, Hip Hop, Old School Mondays, Tupac

Due to the busy-ness of the last couple weeks, this post is rather delayed, and I know that a few articles to this effect showed up after Patrick Swayze's death a couple weeks ago, but when I heard about it, I immiediatly thought of OSM. And clearly I'm not the only one, which is impressive, because you'd be hard pressed to find a dude that was less hip hop than Patrick Swayze, yet his name became a commonly used part of hip hop vernacular in the 90's. So, you know where this OSM is going by now, today we've got 5 songs that feature "Swayze".

If you're still reading this, then I likely don't need to tell you this, but the most common use of "Swayze" was as a shorthand way of saying "I'm Ghost", not because it rhymed with "crazy" as some British paper tried to claim. I'm not sure who used it first, but it was big in the EPMD camp, and when I think of the phrase, it's within the context of an EPMD song. So it only makes sense to that we lead off with a couple of EPMD songs, Boon Dox and It's Going Down - I think PMD uses Swayze in both songs, and if you're looking for a textbook usage, I'd look no further than EPMD.

But, the Swayze goodness doesn't end at EPMD -The Symphony Pt.2 features a brief Swayze usage from G. Rap, but this one is just mainly here because it's a fun listen. A rare E-Swift intro verse contains the Swayze ref on The Alkaholiks Can't Tell Me Shit, which is good, because I'll take any reason I can get to post songs from 21 & Over. Ever heard of this Method Man? I hear he's kind of popular. Well he also uses Swayze on his rather excellent Bring The Pain.

So, R.I.P. to Patrick Swayze, but go ahead and enjoy a rather unexpected part of his legacy with these songs.

MP3:: EPMD - Boon Dox

MP3:: EPMD - It's Going Down

MP3:: Marley Marl - The Symphony Pt.2 f. Master Ace, Craig G, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, Little Daddy Shane

MP3:: The Alkaholiks - Can't Tell Me Shit

MP3:: Method Man - Bring The Pain

Video:: Marley Marl Presents Juice Crew - The Symphony (Part 2)

Video:: Method Man - Bring The Pain

Labels: EPMD, Hip Hop, Method Man, Old School Mondays, Swayze