By shelz.
When you think about music, certain cities come to mind. You can’t consider jazz without Kansas City. There would be no R&B without Detroit and there is no way to track Hip Hop back to its roots without finding yourself on a collision course with New York City. However, there is one city that may not come to mind, but has made huge contributions to all of the above genres without the accolade those other places have received. And that city is Philadelphia.
Brotherly love? Yes. The Liberty Bell? Of course. Greasy cheesy steak sandwiches? Yup. But Philly doesn’t conjure thoughts of near spiritual jazz sessions, or hours in the studio crafting the perfect hook and that’s a shame because it should.
Philly is the home of Marion Anderson, the first black singer to perform at The Met and John Coltrane, the man responsible for possibly the most lauded Jazz album of all time, A Love Supreme. It is the birth place of Patti Labelle and Frankie Beverly. The blue-eyed soul of Hall and Oates and Teddy Pendergrass’ one of a kind sumptuous sonic sexuality all hail from the city that’s nestled in between the political deals of DC and the gargantuan business of the Big Apple.
Even in Hip Hop’s legendary beginning, they were there, helping to lay the foundation of what would become the youngest and most powerful genre on the planet. Don’t know Cool C or Steady B? The Tuff Crew and 3 Times Dope escape your memory? Then look no further because in honor of Philadelphia’s founder’s day (which is today by the way) Planet Ill is going to share some Hip Hop artists from the past as well as some of the artists who are carrying Philly Hip-Hop torch today.
First up… Schoolly D.
He did gangsta rap before there was gangsta rap. He worked with KRS before being conscious was cool and his music garnered some of the best placement in King of New York. Now he scores for Aqua Teen Hunger Force and tours with his own band. However, his biggest contribution to the 80’s was making it cool to have a Gucci watch.
Schoolly D – “Gucci Time”
Its never cool to hear that dudes who were trying to use Hip-Hop as a vehicle to stay out of trouble ended up getting into trouble anyway. Such is the story of Cool C and Steady B. After a botched bank robbery and a slain cop, the pair ended up locked up. Cool C received the death penalty. However, when they were on top, Cool C and Steady B were unstoppable.
Cool C – “Glamorous Life”
Steady B – “Bring The Beat Back”
Tuff Crew was just that back on the mid-80’s, tough. They had an incredibly talented dude behind the wheels of steel in DJ Too Tuff and the emcees dropping rhymes to his cuts were just as great. I don’t know what Monty G, Ice Dog, LA Kid and Tone Love are doing now, but in the mid-80’s they were putting Philly on the map.
Tuff Crew – “Got To Be Funky”
It was hard not to notice Three Times Dope, primarily because the lone emcee, EST – The Overlord of Fresh, stayed rocking a wild ass haircut. However, beyond trendy aesthetics, Three Times Dope was a good group and their best album, Original Stylin’ is a classic. They never quite recaptured the hype of the first album, but EST has been entrenched in the business since then, most notably penning Cater 2 U for Destiny’s Child.
Three Times Dope – “Funky Dividends”
04-three_times_dope-funky_dividends-rfl
She writes her own rhymes and shes also a DJ. She was the only lady representer ever in Vinny Paz’ Army of Pharaohs and talented enough to pull production from Guru on her first studio project, Kollage. She is Bahamadia and to many in the Hip-Hop realm, the baddest femcee of all time and yeah, shes from Philly too.
Bahamadia – “Youknowhowedu”
[pro-player width=’455′ height=’344′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyGUesyG7bU[/pro-player]
DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince were responsible for a handful of Hip Hop classics before they split up, including the television show that showcased their talent as actors. Since then Will Smith has gone on to become the biggest box office draw in the galaxy and Jeff has had his hands on the music of almost every artist worth listening to in the past two decades. Before all of that though, there was one hot weather anthem. “Summertime” is one of the most recognizable Hip-Hop songs ever made and one of the dopest too.
[pro-player width=’455′ height=’344′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2pttxa0DM4&feature=fvsr[/pro-player]
Stay Tuned For Part 2!
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