Jamaican MCs: a better class of rapper?

What a natural-sounding pun. Sorry for the lack of updates over the past week. I’m sitting on pure posts but what with one thing and another I ain’t had time to put into words the genius thoughts in my head.

Thought for the day number one: are those ashtrays the most tacky things ever made? Thought for the day two: are MCs of Jamaican heritage automatically awesome rappers? The case for:

Chubb Rock. Born in Kingston, one of my favourite ever rappers. Sometimes drops into a little ragga flow like on this freestyle verse on the last ever Yo! MTV Raps. In at 2:52.

You may have noticed KRS-One on that clip as well if you rewind a tad. He’s well known for dropping bits of patois into his raps. Let’s pick one at random, errr…GO!

Another one is Heavy D who tells us that he was “born in Jamaica, Mt. Vernon I grew”

Busta Rhymes has two Jamaican parents and rips it up in a pretty unique way

That video used to get heavy rotation on MTV Base back in the day.
Finally, perhaps only a Jamaican MC such as the master Douglas E. Frehsington could come up with lyrics like this. Yeah it’s a duet piece, wannafightaboudit?

Woman: ‘scuse me Doug E. Fresh some one to see you named Bob

Doug: Bob?

Woman: Yes, Bob.

Doug: Who drives that old white Saab? Tell him to wait I’m eating lunch I’m having corn on the cob.

[sarcastic trumpet riff]

Pour out a little liquor – Heavy D passes away aged 44

Seems like I’m reading news like this too often these days. The BBC says that Get Fresh Hev was found unconcsious at his home and died later in hospital.

Let’s remember the good times.

Heavy D – The Overweight Lovers In The House, from the killer LP, Livin’ Large.

While we’re lamenting things, they need to bring back peppy hip-hop dancing like this. I saw Soul II Soul earlier this year and their backing singers still rock moves. Maybe they could spearhead some kind of revival movement, cowled in irony.