By Odeisel

The color of money. The root of all evil. The excess. It can’t buy you love but it can get a whole lot of like, and in this business that glitter is like pixie dust to impressionable children and salacious groupies et al, drawing them into the life.

Some can handle it, some can’t but that’s another story for another time. For now site back relax and  let’s get into the green of money

What would have happened to the Curtis album if they had only led with this single.  It ain’t the original however it’s the Billion Dollar remix.  It’s fantastic in its excess with, at the time, the top 3 earners in Hip-Hop according to the Forbe’s Magazine List of 2007. The beat is crazy, the “Top Billin'” sample is God-given and they lay it down.

From the party to the parking lot, Lloyd Banks and 50 Cent put some Southside gully in the mix. The sparse piano allows room for Banks to let you know how scarce that bread is on the streets and what the wolves are willing to do to get it. The quiet menace gives way to 50 slyly singing his way into the ring before crushing his verse. Banks closes up shop well and puts the bow on top. G-g-g-good music.

The glorious days are gone, and every body is doing bad. The aftermath of the 80’s and the crack led to a wave of really brilliant stories and before Wu hysteria was in full swing, this song was one of the major building blocks in the foundation of that legacy. The raspy Method Man on the chorus. The drunken wailing of despair on the chorus. The first real look at the crime rhyme brilliance that would become the Cuban Linx legacy were on full display.

B.I.G. was still on the rise and this time he brought backup: Lil Kim The Lieutenant. Back when she was the pretty brown girl from the Hardcore poster (I took the  cover right home to the bathroom), Kim burst out into the spotlight on this one and gave a glimpse of arguably the dominant female mainstream rapper of the following decade. Yes Biggie gave her a layup, but she clearly showed that she was the best rapper from Junior Mafia on this.

Perhaps better known for sex, Prince has some powerful sings and there is a level of morality possessed beneath all the sensuality. This song with the NPG is perfectly managed emotionally. Musically the ad libs are sung in a Bee Gee’s like cadence that lifts the song above the lesson he’s trying to teach. None of the over the top artistry that accompanies many of his singles. Beautifully done. Beautiful song.

Bad Boy at the height of all their unabashed decadence with Lil Kim banging out another iconic verse. I know, I know. You can’t “Cop Picassos” That’s not how you pronounce gondola and “spaghetti fettuccine and veal” is three entres not a three course meal. Get over that shit. Biggie posthumously added to the end to body bag it. It gets no better. Oh yeah, the beat is better than your life. You damn right it’s all bout the Benji’s.

One of the most instantly recognizable intros in all of music  brings in this classic song about the root of all evil and what people are willing to do to get their hands on it. This is the extended version so you appreciate all the musical elements that make this song great. New Jack City, garbage cans on fire with the O Jays singing as homeless dudes. Full circle set in the crack era. Don’t let money change you.

GREEN  IS ENVY

GREEN IS THE EARTH

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