GOD I miss the nineties..
Back in Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Eight, Will Smith had a huge hit with this song that sampled Sister Sledge’s ‘He’s the Greatest Dancer’. The song was co-written by Nas and this video is another typical one by Hype Williams. I had a girlfriend at the time who used to temp at a Benetton Store where they’d play this all day and then she’d come see me and I’d be playing this on single repeat in the hope of making like Mr. Smith.
Needless to say, we broke up.
Fuck. I miss the nineties. Back then at least you thought the angst, the uncertainty about the future and the directionlessness would all be over as soon as your teenage years ended.
Anyway, not all rap from back then was cheesy crap like this though. Nas’s ‘One Mic’ from his 2001 album ‘Stillmatic’ is below and it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Sometimes the best music is the simplest. No delicious sounding hooks and ripped-off samples. Just a guy rapping to a drum machine. Fuckin’ awesome.