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Another two week Pop #1 lining up with a Rap #1. Unlike Silk, whose sole R&B #1 was also this week’s pop #1, it’s the end of a era with the last #1 from Run-DMC. Run-DMC only had a single #1 Rap single, because they only released three albums after the Rap charts existed, and only one of them sold enough to be certified. Their best work was pre-Rap charts as we know. But they got to #1 with “Down With the King” which featured former #1s Pete Rock and CL Smooth, the title track off their sixth album. https://youtu.be/RUXpNMMqW1A By 1993, Run-DMC had been making records for 9 years. Their best selling album was 1986’s triple-Platinum Raising Hell which included classic Platinum singles “Walk This Way” and “It’s Tricky”. 1988’s follow-up, Tougher Than Leather, went Platinum, 1989’s Back from Hell hasn’t gotten certified. It did include the theme song from Ghostbusters II! The album Down With The King was their last big studio album, going Gold and was the #1 R&B album. They didn’t release another album until 2001, and Crown Royal only got to #22 R&B album. The only single didn’t chart. However, in 1998 they released their second greatest hits album, Together Forever: 1983-1998. Confusingly, in 1991 they released their first greatest hits, also called Together Forever (but this time subtitled 1983-1991). Technically, the 1998 is a remastered version, but it added two new tracks: these two new tracks were Run-DMC’s biggest hits outside the US. In 97 and 98, Jason Nevins remixed “It’s Tricky” and “It’s Like That”. Neither remix sold well in the US, “It’s Tricky” might not have gotten a release and “It’s Like That” hit #14 Dance but didn’t chart on the Pop or Rap chart. “It’s Like That” did end up being #1 in Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK, and six other countries. It was the third biggest single in the UK in 1998! I’m stealing someone’s thunder, but it’s five virtual years in the future. https://youtu.be/TLGWQfK-6DY In 1993, Run, Joseph Simmons, officially became Reverend Run. When they got back to recording music, Simmons wanted to go back to the harder sound as rap-rock was popular: Korn, Limp Bizkit, etc were popular. McDaniels wanted to go in a more introspective route. Crown Royal came out in 2001 and they toured with Aerosmith. By all accounts the tour was a success, and Aerosmith talked of adding dates, but Simmons quit the band after the last official date. In 2002, Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) was murdered in his recording studio in Queens. The murder was unsolved and cold until Ronald washington and Karl Jordan were arrested in August 2020. Federal prosecuters wanted to push for the death penalty, but as far as I can tell, the judge denied that on November 8, 2021 as the US has a long term moratiam on capital punishment and the trial is still on going. In 2009, Run-DMC was inducted into the Rock hall of fame. Run-DMC had the first rap album to hit #1, they were the second rap group to appear on American Bandstand (after Sugarhill Gang), the first to chart in the Top 40 more than once, the first group that had a top 10 album on the Hot 200, the first to make the cover of Rolling Stone, and had the first rap video shown on MTV.

I take the basic view: Parklife and The Great Escape are my favourite Blur albums. I might be able to decide if I really sat down and listened to them back to back.

It's a stretch though. It kinda works, but on January 20, 1992 MTV didn't show an episode of Yo! MTV Raps and Kim was 8 months pregnant. Other people think it was November 30, 1988. https://lahatiel.tumblr.com/post/16698555997/ice-cubes-good-day-really-november-30-1988

It might just be my age, but 1993 was the best year for rap. It has the highest concentration of Rap 10s at #1. Four months in and we've already had Nuthin's But A G Thang, It Was a Good Day, and Cool Like Dat. There's at least 4 more 10s through December.

Very happy that Tom and I agree on the Nuthin' But a G Thing-Smells Like Teen Spirit comparison :D

Finally, for the last week of Snow, I told you O’Shea Jackson would be back soon, and less than four months after his last #1, Ice Cube has his biggest, and most enduring, crossover hit. And momma cooked a breakfast with no hog. https://youtu.be/h4UqMyldS7Q Ice Cube’s biggest hit is still to come, as is most of his acting career, but this got all the way to Pop #15 and went Gold. It has endured. VH1 says it is the 77th greatest song of the 90s and 28th greatest hip hop song, it’s #36 on Rolling Stone’s greatest hip-hop list. The biggest sample is The Isley Brothers’ “Footsteps in the Dark”, a 1977 slow jam off their double Platinum Go for Your Guns album https://youtu.be/Dyq9zlYMw9g In 2014 Ice Cube agreed to a fundraiser where a group would donate $25,000 to a South Central LA charity if a Goodyear Blimp flew as displayed Ice Cube’s a pimp. Goodyear agreed, but wouldn’t display pimp on a blimp. Ice Cube will be back in a few virtual months.

After Dr Dre was the first #1 from a band named after a stone. Onyx was formed in 1988 by three friends at school in Jamaica, Queens. The band, not the stone - those are millions of years old silicate minerals. Fredo Starr, Sonny Seeza, and Big DS were all born in the early 70s and were 16-17 in 88. They recorded some demos with an E-Mu SP-12 and got a contract with Profile Records. In 1990 they released their first single that didn’t sell well. In 1991, their producer Big DS was killed while selling cocaine in Baltimore, and took all their recorded music with him. They hired Kirk Jones, aka Sticky Fingaz, as their new producer and made their debut album. The first single off the album went #1, but it’s not the single you think it is. https://youtu.be/mQmfzGf9904 “Throw Ya Gunz” was released in late November 1992. It was a very minor crossover hit, getting to #81 on the Hot 100. This single stayed at #1 for two weeks. Onyx will be back very soon with their biggest hit. For the week of April 17, 1993, Redman is back at #1 with his second single, “Time 4 Sum Aksion” https://youtu.be/NiZMqVXVZgA Right off the bat you’ve got a Cypress Hill sample and DJ Muggs has a songwriting credit. Quite a bit of longevity with this one with fighters. Mike Tyson used this as his introduction song after prison. It’s been used as the entrance song for 3 different UFC fighters at 4 different events. Dederick Tatum used it as intro music in episode 3 of season 8 of The Simpsons. Amazingly this is Redman’s last solo #1. He’s got a few more #1 albums but that’s it for Redman #1s! He’s gone on to release 7 more solo albums and 3 with Method Man. He’s shown up 7 video games. He’s been on 15 TV shows including voicing a character on The Fairly OddParents. He’s got 44 acting credits in total. He’s been nominated for two Grammys. He even has a future UK #1 with Christina Aguilera. Redman won’t be back, but there is nothing to feel sorry for in his trip to today.

Snow was Rap #1 for the last week of Whitney and Aladdin's week, but for Snow’s time as Pop #1, a couple more rap #1s. First one stalled behind Snow on the Pop chart and could be called the Smells Like Teen Spirit of rap. https://youtu.be/0F0CAEoF4XM Unique for Dre, Nothin But a G Thing isn’t built on a George Clinton sample. The main sample is from Leon Haywood’s biggest hit “I Want’a Do Something Freaky to You” https://youtu.be/BoeStB36dic Haywood started in R&B and Soul but got pretty funky by the mid 70s. 50 Cent and Redman later sampled the same Haywood song. Dre also sampled Congress Alley’s “Are You Looking” from 73 and Kid Dynamite’s “Uphill Peace of Mind” from 76. I don’t know if I’ve ever actually talked about Andre Young, but I think I have. This is his first #1 as the main performer but the 6th as a producer. Amazingly, this was the only #1 off The Chronic even though the album has sold at least 5.8 million copies in the US alone. It stayed at #1 for three weeks. Dre will be back.

As a resident of Worcester, Mass I've got to comment! Forrest supposedly ran across the country between 76 and 79. Harvey Ball designed the smiley face 13-16 years earlier in 1963 in Worcester for State Mutual Life Assurance Company. In 1971, two brothers that owned a Hallmark shop stole the design and wrote have a nice day beneath it.

I saw it sometime in the 90s, but not 92/93. It probably showed up on ABC at some point. Now I still prefer the original. Much like Beauty and the Beast, the original live action is better than the animated AND the CGI animated "live action". Aladdin is based on 1001 Nights, but heavily influenced by The Thief of Bagdad. https://youtu.be/TMiF67ggUOM Beauty and the Beast is based on the Beaumont book, but heavily influenced by La Belle et la Bete. https://youtu.be/IsXkv1mpRUk

Belly was one of the first half dozen tapes I ever bought with my own money. I rebought it on CD before I left for college in 96 too. Cause it's obviously important, the first tape I bought was NIN - The Downward Spiral

I saw Natalie Merchant solo in concert around the turn of the century. She was great. Tigerlily is great. 10,000 Maniacs on Unplugged were a great swansong - Merchant left after they recorded for MTV but before it was shown.

The next #1 after two weeks of Ice Cube was the sole #1 from Positive K, “I Got a Man” with a respectable 7 million plays on Spotify. https://youtu.be/VvYIpa1Ulvw Darryl Gibson was born in the Bronx in 1967 and spent a lot of time in Richman Park where Grandmaster Flash would hold block parties. He joined the Five-Percent Nation - they were the group Clarence 13X formed when he left the Nation of Islam - and joined a group called Almighty God Committee using the stage name Positive Knowledge Allah. After breaking up, he shortened his stage name to Positive K, sometimes just +K, and got a contract with Island. He released his first album in November 92 and “I Got a Man” was the 2nd single. He bounced around a lot, releasing at least 9 singles between 1995 and 2015. He ended up on the Bevis and Butt-Head Experiance album, he played an angry professor in “A Bronx Tale”. In 2017 he released his second album, this time with another former Rap #1, Greg Nice (half of Nice and Smooth). It’s great that he’s still going strong, but unless a miracle happens, this is the only entry for Positive K. Now we have the final two #1s during Whitney’s reign. Both are huge, probably the biggest two hits of this time frame - but Rump Shaker was pretty huge. https://youtu.be/cM4kqL13jGM Digable Planets “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” has 44.5 million Spotify plays and won the fourth Grammy for best Rap performance by a duo or group and was their first single. Seattle native Ishmael Butler met Silver Springs, MD native Mirana Vieira as students at Howard. Butler then met Craig Irving in Philadelphia in the late 80s while Bulter visited his grandmother as he was interning for Sleeping Bag Records in NYC. Sleeping Bag was out of business by 1993, but they had released early EPMD and Nice & Smooth. They got a contract with Pendulum Records and moved to Brooklyn and released Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) in 1993, with this lead single coming out November 1992. Their next album came out in 1994 and was denser, darker, and more political. It didn’t sell as well and they split up in 1995 due to creative differences. In 2005, they reunited and toured, have toured a few times, from 09-11, again in 12, and 15, and 16, and 17. They haven’t released new material since 1995, but a new live album did come out in 2017. A future pop #1 lands on Whitney’s last week and stays there for 2 weeks. When it hits Pop #1, there will be a new Rap #1. It’s got about as many plays on Spotify as 4 of the last 5 combined with 83 million plays! This Canadian reggae artist won’t return to Rap #1. Twice he hits #19, the most recent in 2019.

After a week of that Posse, something even more unique hit #1. It’s obscure, but about six times more popular than the last with 6 million plays on Spotify. Of course I’m talking about Jamaican Dancehall artist Mad Cobra with “Flex”. https://youtu.be/XAe3sIxcXw0 Downtempo compared to his normal dancehall, the lead single off his eighth album was his only track to ever chart on the Hot 100, reaching 13, and his only Rap #1. He wrote the song on the back of an airsick bag on a flight from NY to Kingston! Ewart Brown is a prolific dancehall musician, so far he’s released 21 albums! If you are wondering where he took his stage name, don’t worry, it was from GI Joe. In May 2010, Mad Cobra was shot three times after his vehicle shone it’s light on a group of guys. He was taken to the nearby hospital and fully recovered. I’m not sure if he’s released any albums since 2009. None are listed on Discogs but he has released a few singles and there are a whole lot of unknowns. Mad Cobra won’t be back. But he’s a harbinger of Reggae’s inroads in the 90s. Following Mad Cobra was the lead single off the #1 album in all the land. “Wicked” from Ice Cube. The Predator debut at #1 on the Hot 200, but only stayed there for a week in November, 1992. “Wicked” was #1 for two weeks in January 93. I couldn’t find Spotify plays for this one, it’s outside his top 10 songs. https://youtu.be/SsWsmH2d_Qg Yes, the two most noticeable white guys in the video are Flea and Anthony Kiedis. In addition to to album be a huge hit, “Wicked” was his first single that charted on the Hot 100, outside the top 40 at #55. “Wicked” sounds a whole lot more like a DJ Muggs/Cyprus Hill song than gangster rap/G-Funk, but the big sample still was “Funky Worm” by the Ohio Players, a foundational sample of G-Funk - Dr Dre sampled it for NWA’s “Gangsta Gangsta” and “Dopeman” and Snoop’s “Serial Killa”. It was also sampled by recent Pop and Rap #1 Kriss Kross in “Jump” and former #1 De La Soul’s “Me Myself and I”. Ice Cube also sampled Sly & the Family Stone, the drums from 1969’s “You Can Make It if You Try”. It wasn’t his first #1, nor his last, nor biggest hit, but was his first Gold single. His first album, the groundbreaking Amerikka’s Most Wanted, went Gold in 1990 and Platinum when Boyz II Men was #1. His second, Death Certificate, came out in October 1991 and went gold and platinum on December 20, 1991. The Predator outsold them both, it went Gold and Platinum two days before “Wicked” hit #1, but it went double Platinum in 2001. It’s still his best selling album. O’Shea Jackson will be back very, very soon, in fact with his next single released.

For arguably the most memorable Dolly Parton cover, there were only 6 Rap #1s unlike prior behemoth Boyz II Men’s 10. Not many are memorable except the first and last couple. First off is the second and final #1 for Wreckx-N-Effect. This was a monster hit and was the Christmas #2 behind Whitney and stayed there for 3 weeks! https://youtu.be/zdLvauICvPM This video was banned on MTV. “Rump Shaker”, with it’s current 31 million plays on Spotify, features a big sample right off the bat - the saxophone. That’s from Lafayette Afro Rock Band’s “Darkest Light”. The drums are from Manzel’s 1979 track “Midnight Theme”. “It’s Teddy” was Teddy Riley who co-wrote the song, but his verse wasn’t written by Teddy - it was written by a very young future #1, Pharrell Williams. Wreckx-N-Effect was made up of Aqil Davidson, Brandon Mitchell, and Teddy’s brother Markell. In 1990, Brandon was killed in a shooting and Davidson and Riley wanted to break up the group. Teddy and Michael Jackson convinced them to keep it up. They renamed from Wrecks to Wreckx and recorded 1992’s Hard or Smooth at Teddy’s studio in Virginia Beach. Hard or Smooth was their biggest hit record, going Platinum. They released three more singles off that album, each with diminishing returns. There was a 1996 album that very few people bought. Since then, they’ve been quiet. AllMusic calls them a one hit wonder even though 1989’s #1 hit “New Jack Swing” exists. They won’t be back, but we might hear from Teddy Riley and that kid Pharrell again. After three weeks of Wreckx, the most obscure hit hits #1. They only have 1 million plays on Spotify, a single paragraph on wikipedia as a band and the song doesn’t even have an entry. https://youtu.be/Kr4nAOCJgHE Double XX Posse’s “Not Gonna Be Able to Do it” is built off a Buster Williams bass giving a passing similarity to “Don’t Sweat the Technique”. Double XX (Quad X? XX XX?) released another album in 1995 to even less numbers. This single did end up in a Fresh Prince episode in March 1993 though!

I'm exactly in line with Tom. I thought who? I read more, and thought why? I heard the first three notes, and I remembered the melody and chorus completely. It somehow was really big fall of 92...

After Monday’s giant list of #1s, we’re back to 1:1, with Chubb Rock’s final #1 lining up with The Heights #1. A little break until Friday… https://youtu.be/NA3S7Del1l0 “Lost In the Storm” was the lead off single off his fourth album I Gotta Get Mine Yo. The second and final single off that album came out in 93 and got to Rap #6. He released another album in 1997 but it didn’t sell as well as the prior 3. Chubb moved to radio. He hosted a daily radio show on WAMJ in Atlanta until October 2018 when he started a daily syndicated streaming radio show. Seems like he’s still doing great, and occasionally touring on the hip hop nostalgia circuit.

That bassist is Eldee Young. From 55 to 66 he played with Ramsey Lewis Trio. In 66, Eldee and Isaac Holt left Lewis and formed Young-Holt Unlimited - Lewis wanted to go more pop and Young and Holt wanted to stay more jazz. Lewis replaced Young with Cleveland Eaton and replaced Holt with Maurice White, but this isn't about Earth Wind & Fire. The bass Eric B & Rakim sampled was from Young-Holt Unlimited third to last album, 1971's Born Again, the track being Queen of the Nile. He dug deep in a crate for this one, but Ice-T sampled it in 93 too. https://youtu.be/54GCNL1g3r8 The horns are Kool & the Gang's "Give it Up" from their debut album.

Broken and Fixed are a great pair of EPs!

For Halloween, another former #1 Rap artist is back solo. Bushwick Bill was #1 for one week with “Ever So Clear”. https://youtu.be/VTn2fOAVHYM One third of Geto Boys, Bill also released six solo albums, his final in 2009, ten years before his death from pancreatic cancer. Finally, for the last week of Boyz II Men, Redman went #1 with his debut single “Blow Your Mind”. https://youtu.be/PpdMzy6kz3M Reginald Noble was born in April 1970 in Newark, NJ. As a 16 year old freshman at Montclair State University, Redman was expelled for poor academic performance and moved home where his mom eventually kicked him out for selling cocaine. Redman was going by DJ Kut-Killa and was DJing for future Rap #1 Lords of the Underground at Club Sensations in Newark and was “discovered” by Erick Sermon of EPMD. Redman moved in with Sermon and went on tour with EPMD, appearing on two tracks on their Business as Usual album (neither of which were their #1s). “Blow Your Mind” contains a lot of samples, and a lot of funk and reggae influences. There’s the ubiquitous James Brown “Payback” sample, along side “Outstanding” by The Gap Band, “Theme From the Black Hole” by Parliament, “Computer Love” from Zapp - the second Roger Troutman sample during Boyz II Men, and “Sing a Simple Song” from Sly & the Family Stone. Redman will be back, but not as often as you might expect. And that’s it! Ten different artists had Rap #1s during Boyz II Men’s time as Pop #1.

Next up was the debut single from Grand Puba, “360 Degrees (What Goes Around)”. https://youtu.be/cl2DFBlBmGM Maxwell Dixon was born in March 1966 in Westchester county, NY. He was also involved with Brand Nubian as one of their three MCs. Their debut album, 1990’s One for All, is one of the most acclaimed alternative hip hop albums on the 90s and launched two top 5 Rap singles. His solo album, Reel to Reel, sold well but not to the level of Brand Nubian’s even with a #1 single. He’s still making music with his most recent album released in 2016, and there was a Brand Nubian album in 2007. But he won’t be back to #1. Following a single week of Grand Puba was a single week of MC Serch with the double A side “Here it Comes”/”Back to the Grill”, his only solo singles. https://youtu.be/yqTbBCRxsME MC Serch was one third of former Rap #1 3rd Bass. MC Serch and 3rd Bass won’t have another #1. All of 3rd Bass retired from performing in 1992. Serch appeared in Spike Lee’s Bamboozled in 2000 and in 2003 began a radio career, hosting a morning show, Serch In the AM on WJLB in Detroit, becoming the first Jewish DJ at the station. Fired in 2006, he hosted a few VH1 shows and came back to another Detroit radio station.

After three weeks of EMPD, Arrested Development had their second 10, “People Everyday”, reach the top of the Rap chart for three weeks. https://youtu.be/cGusP7aCCYc It also went to #8 pop, #2 in the UK, #1 on the Music & Media European Dance chart and #1 on the RPM Canadian Urban chart. This is Arrested Development’s last #1, but as everyone noted during “Tennessee” they are still out making music, their 15th and most recent album released in 2021. That takes us to October, 1992, and just past half way through Boyz II Men. Following Arrested Development was a bunch of single week #1s. Next up was the second #1 for Das EFX, also their second single, with “Mic Checka” and more made up lyrics. https://youtu.be/ZR_0cUaAy14 This is Das EFX’s final #1, but you can’t feel too bad about a duo whose first two releases were #1s. Dray and Skoob are still around but haven’t released new music since 2015. Das EFX won’t be back as a lead artist, but they will return to #1 as a featured artist.

Following Eric B & Rakim was Main Source’s second and final Rap #1 with “Fakin’ the Funk”. https://youtu.be/FMeqyLDs1u4 Fakin’ the Funk was off the second White Men Can’t Jump soundtrack. The main ingredient to this track was “Magic Shoes”, a 1971 song from The Main Ingredient. This was the final track produced for Main Source’s original producer. He left to go on to produce for former #1 artists Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Busta Rhymes, and Big Daddy Kane, A Tribe Called Quest, future #1s NAS, and Mobb Deep. The second and final Main Source album was produced by Mikey D. All of them are still around, but only Large Professor still producing music. After Main Source’s single week at #1, EPMD had their second and final Rap #1 with “Crossover”. In some synergy Main Source’s single was about selling out as is EPMD’s. For 4 weeks in a row, rap single buyers were worried. https://youtu.be/cjBzrtACgo8 Right from the start, they sampled the very noticeable talk box work of Roger Troutman’s “You Should Be Mine”. It stayed at #1 for 3 weeks. In late 1991 Parrish Smith’s house was robbed. One of the robbers said Erick Sermon paid them to do so. In 93, those tensions caused them to break up. But by 97, they reunited to make more music, releasing three albums between 97 and 2008. They had another album scheduled to be released in 2021, but it hasn’t come out yet. They also have released a number of non-album singles in 2019 and 2020, not selling great, but Rap has moved on since 1992.

Alright, here we go. Boyz II Men never had a Rap #1, but lots of R&B #1s. motownphilly is still my favourite of theirs. Starting back, um, behind Sir Mix-A-Lot, continuing during Madonna, and for Boyz II Men’s first week, Kris Kross was the Rap #1. Following for the week ending August 15 was, in my opinion, the best Rap #1 and top 5 so far, is Eric B & Rakim with “Don’t Sweat the Technique” https://youtu.be/6Y1Emb7Jyks Eric Barrier was born in East Elmhurst Queens in 1963 making him the eldest Rap #1 in a while, all the recent #1 artists have been born between 68 and 1979. At a young age Eric B started DJing at roller rinks. By 1985 he was working as a DJ at WBLS in NYC where he met Rakim. William Griffin Jr was born on Long Island in 68. Kool Moe Dee says he’s one of the greatest MCs of all time and MTV rated him as the 4th greatest MC. Together, Rolling Stone says Eric B & Rakim are the 5th greatest duos, not just Rap duos, but duos. Their top 5 are The Everly Brothers, Ike & Tina, Simon & Garfunkel, The Louvin Brothers and Eric B & Rakim. Their debut album, 1987’s Paid In Full, is Rolling Stone’s 61st greatest album of all time. It spawned 5 singles including “Eric B is President” and “Paid in Full”, which is often ranked as one of the 10 best Rap songs. Their second album, Follow the Leader, sold even better, Vibe says it’s the 12th best Rap album. Interesting to me the first single was “Lyrics of Fury” which Melody Maker said was the 11th best song of 1988. In 1996 Tricky covered the song on his second album Pre-Millennium Tension. Their third album, 90’s Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em, had it’s title track get all the way to #2 on the Rap chart. Paid in Full went Platinum and Follow the Leader and Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em both went Gold. Their fourth and final album was Don’t Sweat the Technique. It didn’t sell quite as good as the other three, the RIAA has not certified it. It was their biggest crossover hit though, getting to #22 Hot 200. The first two singles, “What’s on Your Mind” and “Know the Ledge”, showed up in House Party 2 and Juice respectively. The third single was the title track. It also hit #12 dance and #14 R&B but didn’t chart on the Pop chart. The only Eric B & Rakim song to chart on the Hot 100 was “Know the Ledge” which hit #96. Their contract expired with MCA, but Eric B refused to sign the label’s release contract. This led to court cases which split them up. Eric B later clarified that the monetary problems came from labels like Island claiming ownership of the masters, not between Eric B and Rakim. They split their revenue evenly. Eric B released a solo album in 95 and Rakim released two, one in 97 and another in 99. Rakim signed with Aftermath records in 2000, eventually releasing an album in 2009. He has guested on a number of tracks, none of which have hit #1 but there’s still time. He was on a track in 2021. Eric B and Rakim were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011 and reunited in 2016, not to make any new music, but have toured and remastered their albums. The masters were destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. Eric B has also been on TV, staring in Blue Bloods since 2019. That was a lot for a single week #1, and I didn’t even really get into the song itself! The rest should be quicker, but there are a lot of them!

Here's the American-friendly youtube link, not that anyone doesn't know what this song is :D https://youtu.be/-zg-MhEXb4c

I hear ya! There are NINE Rap #1s for Monday and seven for next Friday.

Rhythm is a Dance is a 10. It's also built on a sample from a niche Old School hip hop/electro NYC band Newcleus's song "Automan" https://youtu.be/1iF7eZO_Xqk

Yet another rap song that was Pop #1 that didn’t become Rap #1 today! Baby Got Back only got up to #7 on the Rap chart. Mix-a-Lot’s highest charting Rap single was 1989’s Beepers, it got to #2 behind Heavy D & The Boyz. For his five weeks atop to pop chart, there were a few different Rap #1s. First up was the last two weeks of Pete Rock & CL Smooth. On July 18, Gang Star had their only Rap #1 with “Take it Personal”, their first track off their third album. https://youtu.be/kLIoldHh53Q Originally Gang Starr was made up of Boston natives Guru, Big Shug, and Suave D. The three of them grew up in Mattapan, the neighborhood in Boston next to Dorchester (where New Edition and NKOTB grew up). However, Gang Starr was formed when Guru and Big Shug were students at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Suave D was Big Shug’s brother, but he ended up in prison and left the band. Guru and Big Shug made some demos and three singles on Wild Pitch Records in 87 and 88. In 89, they met DJ Premier and he joined the band. They released their first full length album in 1990 and on the sales of that they went from Wild Pitch to Chrysalis. Their second album came out in 91 and third in 92. After this hit, they continued making music as a band up until 2002. They released two more albums and worked on fellow Morehouse alum Spike Lee’s Mo Better Blues soundtrack and later 8 Mile. In 2006, Guru called an end to Gang Starr. Unbeknownst to the public, in 2000 Guru was diagnosed with myeloma, a blood cell cancer. Later, in 2010, Guru fell into a coma from a heart attack and died in April of 2010. He was 48. The episodes of the first season of Luke Cage on Netflix are all named Gang Starr songs. Take It Personal was the 10th episode. In some chart synergy, the second season were all named after songs from the group Gang Starr replaced, Pete Rock & CL Smooth. They Reminisce Over You was the series finale. Replacing Gang Starr was a former Pop and Rap #1, also with a tragic ending. Kris Kross’s follow up to Jump, “Warm It Up” went Rap #1. Tom used up all the Kris Kross stories last week, so here’s the video. https://youtu.be/tAhp17Mp7Xs Kris Kross will be back! Hopefully they won’t break the cardinal sin of wearing both UNC and Duke uniforms in the same video. The biggest line item in this video’s budget has to be Starter jerseys.

All the talk of Unplugged and no mention of the best thing that came out of the show, this time a Bowie cover: https://youtu.be/fregObNcHC8 Nirvana's Unplugged only went 8x Platinum, probably pushed there as a posthumous release, but the show was recorded in November 93 and aired in December 93.

For Mariah’s two weeks, there are two Rap #1s. For her first week Nice & Smooth had their sole #1 with “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow” https://youtu.be/dkl_Vq1SWKg Greg Nice, Smooth B and DJ Teddy Tedd were a trio from the Bronx that came together in 87 and appeared on “Pimping Ain’t Easy” from Big Daddy Kane in 89. Their first album, 89’s Nice & Smooth”, sold well, #26 Rap album, but didn’t crossover at all, not charting on the Hot 200. Their second album, Ain’t a Damn Thing Changed, came out in September 1991 and didn’t chart quite as well on the Rap chart, 29th, but made it onto the Hot 200 at #141. The fourth single off the album is “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow”. It ended up being their only #1 and biggest crossover single, reaching #44 Pop. In 94 they released their next album, Jewel of the Nile, which sold even better (13 Rap, 66 Hot 200) but the singles didn’t sell as well, one getting to #6 Rap, #59 Pop. They released their fourth and final, so far, album, IV: Blazing Hot, in 1997 and it was their worst selling album. In 94 they guested on a C+C Music Factory dance #1, “Do You Wanna Get Funky”. They took some kind of break but have released a few singles between 2009 and 2021. Following Nice & Smooth, Pete Rock & CL Smooth had their first Rap #1 with “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y)”, a tribute track for former Rap #1 T. Roy of Heavy D & The Boyz. https://youtu.be/k6mdRv0ZdR8 Peter Phillips and Corey Penn grew up in Mount Vernon, NY, just over the Westchester County border from the Bronx. Their lead single off their debut album was “T.R.O.Y.”. It’s built on just three samples: James Brown’s drums off “Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud”, a large chunk of “When She Made Me Promise” by The Beginning of the End and bass and sax from Tom Scott’s cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “Today”. Pete Rock & CL Smooth will be back.

999 and for a bonus, here's Anya Taylor-Joy singing slowed down Downtown 58 years in the future https://youtu.be/k6E6zZy0B5M

Something I missed on Monday: hitting #1 Dance in the UK on 3/21/92 in just it's third week was Liquid's heavy sampling of CeCe Roger's "Someday" into the early breakbeat hardcore track "Sweet Harmony" https://youtu.be/RW4YfSxBeAw

I really enjoy that version of Please Don't Go

I’m writing this up Monday at lunchtime so I don’t know what Tom’s going to write about the second Pop #1 that also was a Rap #1, and the first one by Black artists, and discovered by a teenage Jermaine Dupri. All I know is I love it. A 9. But as Daddy Mac was making all the white people jump, they were only #1 for 5 weeks on the Rap charts and were replaced by a certified 10. https://youtu.be/6VCdJyOAQYM Speech, aka Todd Thomas, was born in 1968 in Milwaukee and grew up splitting time between Milwaukee and Ripley, Tennessee until he moved to Atlanta in 1987 to attend the Art Institute of Atlanta where he met Timothy Barnwell, aka Headliner. Together they created Arrested Development. Their debut album was 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of… released on March 24, 1992. 11 days earlier, they released the lead off single “Tennessee”. Tennessee relies heavily on an uncleared sample of Prince’s Alphabet St. Prince’s legal team waited for the song to sell and charged them a flat $100,000 for use. Tennessee only stayed #1 for a single week, but it also hit R&B #1, Popo #6, Dance #16, and #3 in Canada. The Village Voice voted 3 Years as the best album of 1992. They received a Grammy for Best New Artist and were the first Rap group to do so. 3 Years… won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Unfortunately, that’s the only time Arrested Development had a #1 song. Their next single, “People Everyday” is also great, but only got to #2 Rap. Their third single, “Mr Wendal”, topped the Dance chart, but only got to #6 Rap and Pop. They were approached by Spike Lee and got a song onto the Malcom X soundtrack. Their second album was an episode of MTV Unplugged, and their next real album didn’t sell well. They broke up in 1996. But in 2000, Speech brought back everyone but Aerle Taree, who couldn’t sing anymore, and Headliner who started a production house. The new Arrested Development, after suing Fox, have released a dozen albums since 2000, including one in 2021. Anyway, that only takes care of May 23rd! For May 30 and the next 3 weeks DAS EFX’s debut single went to #1. https://youtu.be/1PU22-fsGA0 Dray, aka Andre Weston, and Skoob, aka Willie Hines, were both born in 1970, Dray in Teaneck, NJ and Skoob in Brooklyn. However they met at Virginia State University in 1988. Their debut album, Dead Serious, was released on April 7, 1992, but “They want EFX” came out March 2. They didn’t have near the crossover appeal as the last two #1s, only getting to #25 pop, and were much more sample heavy. The main sample was James Brown’s “Blind Man Can See It” off the Black Caesar soundtrack and they work in a lot from Malcolm McLaren’s “Buffalo Gals”. DAS EFX will be back very soon.

This was Ms. Williams’ last R&B #1 of three as well, but not a Rap #1. For her first week, MC Brains was still #1. For March 28th Public Enemy had their very last #1 with “Shut ‘Em Down”. https://youtu.be/LXCrkY5WNA0 The fourth single off their fourth album was the fourth #1. In 1995 they got up to #5 but no other top 10s, and in 1992 they headlined the Reading Festival’s second day, one of the first rap groups to perform there. So what happened to Public Enemy? I alluded to it during Terminator X’s #1, but before they released their next album, Terminator X got in a motorcycle accident and shattered his leg. He spent at least a month in the hospital then moved out of NY to a 15 acre farm in North Carolina. By 1998, he retired from music to raise African Ostriches in NC. The rest of Public Enemy has released 10 albums since 1999, most not charting at all. Chuck D has released a few solo albums and showed up on TV time to time. Flavor Flav has guested on a few other albums, but might be best known now (or 10 years ago at least) for his shows on VH1, The Surreal Life, Strange Love, and Flavor of Love. Public Enemy was only #1 for one week, for April 4, Shabba Ranks had his sole Rap #1 with “The Jam”, featuring KRS-One. https://youtu.be/LgzwS-q1fkw Shabba Ranks is a future Grammy winning Jamaican Dancehall musician (1992 and 1993 for best Reggae Album) and was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the late 80s and early 90s. KRS-One is KRS-One, but this was only the second #1 he was part of - he also headed up the very first Rap #1. Shabba Ranks was born in 1966 in St Ann, Jamaica - the same parish Bob Marley was born 21 years earlier. He later ends up getting a #3 in the UK with “Mr. Loverman”, which also was a US R&B and Dance #2. Shabba Ranks also was only #1 for one week. On April 11, Leaders of the New School had their first Rap #1 with “The International Zone Coaster” https://youtu.be/ocM3PnWZ8lI Leaders of the New School were four guys from Long Island, and joined Native Tongues. Charlie Brown and Dinco D were from Uniondale, Cut Monitor Milo was from North Amityville, and Busta Rhymes was born in Brooklyn but moved to Uniondale at 12 years old. Leaders of the New School will be back. Busta Rhymes will be back. In what was a pattern, Leaders of the New School were also a single week #1. For the last week of Ms. Williams, a single was #1 for five weeks, but Tom will be writing about them Wednesday.

I have one distinct memory from these three weeks. I was at some kind of boy scout event where we spent the weekend at a waterpark and hotel - hey, it's February in the midwest. We had retreated to rooms after dinner and was watching what ever Top 40 music video show was on at the time. I don't remember anything before #2, but we were all either excided or let about RSF being #2 and Mr Big at #1. Some of my friends were big fans of this, others LOVED RSF. This is my ONLY top 40 memory :D

Black Sheep only got to be with you for one of these three weeks. For my 14th birthday, MC Lyte had her second solo Rap #1 with “Poor Georgie” https://youtu.be/hSTzr2V4KMw A straight story song about a dude named George. Of all things, MC Lyte built this single off three samples from Toto! Georgy Porgy from their first album in 1978 came three distinct samples (pianos, “Kiss the girls and make them cry”, and guitars). She also sampled early Michael Jackson, 1972’s I wanna Be where You Are (Can it be I stayed away too long is MJ), 1966 Supremes, and some 303 tinkling that Jimmy Spicer recorded in 1982. It’s also notable at 36 seconds an eagle eyed viewer could catch 16 year old Lauryn Hill in the denim jacket and blue ball cap. The year prior, Ms. Hill got her break in MCLyte’s off-Broadway hip hop production of Twelfth Night and by the end of 1991 she was appearing in As the world Turns. After showing up in this video, she’ll go on to be in Sister Act 2, the Fugees, and Tom will be writing about her. She’s also got a solo Rap #1 for the same song, so I will too. The Fugees technically predate her work with MC Lyte, in about 1990, high school freshman Lauryn and friend Prakazrel Michel started making music as Translator Crew, they soon added Pras’ cousin Wyclef Jean and became The Fugees. Tom will also be writing about Wyclef as a featured artist. MC Lyte isn’t finished either, but only stayed #1 for a single week. For the last Big week and the first of many Rap #1s during Monday’s #1, MC Brains debut single was his only #1. James DeShannon Davis was from Cleveland and discovered by former New Edition, current Biv, and future manager Michael Bivins. That scored him a Motown contract and he released his first album, Lovers Lane, in 1992 with “Oochie Coochie” as the lead single. https://youtu.be/19w0VZh4Pg0 Two great, if oversampled, James Brown samples: Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved, and Get Up Offa That Thing. The ubiquitous early 90s sample of UFO by ESG. It was a pretty big crossover hit too, getting to #21 pop. The cameo by Boys II Men sure helped. MC Brains released two more singles off his first album, but neither were as big of hits. I don’t know what happened after that, maybe he had a single record deal or maybe Motown dropped him when PolyGram bought them from MCA, but his second album came out in 96 on Ichiban and didn’t chart. From what I can tell, MC Brains, or MC Brainz as his second album named him, is still around the Cleveland hip hop scene. By his instagram, he’s a big Browns fan too. But he won’t have another #1 single unless something drastic happens: guys approaching 50 don’t score Rap #1s.

Mortal Kombat!!! https://youtu.be/aidem5-kheE Officially "The Immortals" were the creators of the Mortal Kombat game soundtrack that went to become the movie theme song. The Immortals were Praga Khan and Olivier Adams. We just discussed Khan and Adams a few weeks ago - they are also Lords of Acid!

#4 was almost as tough as #3 was easy!

Cypress Hill has been number one for 5 weeks, but their reign ended the last week of Right Said Fred. For their last week and the first week of Friday’s number 1, Black Sheep had their only Rap #1 with “The Choice is Yours (Revisited)”. https://youtu.be/K9F5xcpjDMU Black Sheep was Dres and Mista Lawnge, two guys who were born in Queens, grew up in North Carolina, and formed a duo in Queens. Their first appearance was on De La Soul’s second album, De La Soul is Dead, and they stayed in Natives Tongues. You might have noticed immediately that Norman Cook later sampled the chorus for “Weapon of Choice”. Here’s that song with the Christopher Walken video. https://youtu.be/wCDIYvFmgW8 Black Sheep had another distinction - they were the first rap group on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show on June 24, 1992, Leno’s 24th episode, Tim Burton was the main guest - I’d guess promoting Batman Returns that had just come out on June 19th. They released their second album in 1994, but it only got to #24 on the Rap album chart. They broke up shortly after.