My 100 Favorite Songs of All-Time: 90-81

We continue on with 90-81. Let’s do it.

90. Xzibit- Paparazzi (genre: hip-hop… first listen: Summer 2003… spot on 2009 countdown: 82)

I could tell as soon as I heard this song for the first time on KSJS that it wasn’t the current Xzibit, because the 2003 Xzibit was too much of a commercial cat for my liking. I heard this song and I was like “this is some real ish”. First, the beat wasn’t the poppy sound I’d gotten accustomed to hear from X to the Z. Second, he says stuff like “that’s why Xzibit only roll with a chosen few/ you ain’t real, I can tell when I look at you” and “It’s a shame, dudes in the rap game, only for the money and the fame, paparazzi”. I was hooked. An immediate head-nodder. A year after hearing this cut, he dropped a very solid Weapons of Mass Destruction, but this is by for Xzibit’s best song; it’s not close. When people complain about rappers’ old stuff being their best stuff and everything else sucks in comparison, this is a pretty good example of that.

89. Junior Jack- My Feeling (genre: house… first listen: Summer 2001… spot on 2009 countdown: 95)

Finally, a song that has moved up in the standings from the previous list. To be quite honest, when I started making this list for 2012, I thought this song didn’t have much of a chance, but the melody and the phaser thingy that is applied to the vocals are this song’s saving grace. Straight up turn of the century house music right here, not too many things beat that.

Wild 94.9 used to play a TON of this kind of music, back when the station was awesome. Now Wild 94.9 might as well be Mix 106 or Z 95.7 (back in the day, not The Game (not the rapper Jayceon Taylor either)). I try not to commercial bash, but Wild really took a turn for the worst. I want The Doghouse back, not just JV; gimme Elvis, Hollywood, Ruthie, Rubber Chicken, Showbiz and Hammerin' Hank too. Can't forget Magic Mike, either. Straight forward.

88. The Roots- Clock with no Hands (genre: hip-hop… first listen: December 2006… spot on 2009 countdown: didn’t qualify)

Give this another countdown, and it will probably become my favorite Roots song of all-time (there’s one song in front of it right now). That beat… MAYNE! If you can’t tell by now, I’m a sucker for reflective/serious melodies. The theme of this song is just insane, and by insane, I mean insanely good. Talking about past friendships and ish- that just really doesn’t get talked about much. When you add the chorus in with those sweet female vocals, you have a recipe for greatness: I never said that you mean the world to me, maybe it’s best that you never know.

The one thing holding this song back- the musical melodic masturbation at the end of the cut that introduces some nixed beat The Roots couldn’t find room for anywhere else on the album. Otherwise, this would be a lot higher.

87. Mos Def ft. Pharaohe Monch & Nate Dogg- Oh No (genre: hip-hop… first listen: January 2001… spot on 2009 countdown: 58)

You couldn’t release this song as a single today for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a HUGE no-no in commercial rap to spit for more than 16 bars in a verse- the people just want to hear the chorus (supposedly)! Second, you can’t get TOO lyrical, lest the “dumbed-down masses” get confused. I swear, major labels think American people are retarded- how else can you explain a grown man singing “Eenie meenie miney mo” in a chorus (I’m surprised Yung Joc didn’t follow that gem up in the next line with “catch a tiger by the toe”).

We might not be the smartest people, but give us some credit. Anyone who appreciates good hip-hop loves this song. It is by far Pharaohe Monch’s best verse ("you're the next contestant on 'Catch a Beatdown!'"), and it’s one of Mos Def’s best as well. Plus you got Premo on the beat and Nate Dogg on the hook?! This song touched both coasts so seamlessly I didn't even think about it being an East Coast/West Coast combo joint until right now. The best part was it wasn’t about uniting East and West; it was about making damn good music.

86. Breeders- Cannonball (genre: rock… first listen: Fall 1993… spot on 2009 countdown: 48)

This was one of the first rock songs I remember hearing, right up there with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” which, sadly, is not on this countdown for the first time. I was watching MTV back when I was six because I was such an advanced dude, and I loved music videos. I remember there was a cannonball just rolling throughout this whole video, and that somehow translated into me liking it. I can’t imagine this song being on the 2014 list, but the fact that it’s such a momentous song in my music listening career has given it the staying power it has had. The bass line on this track is one of my favorites of all-time; that alone puts it in the Top 100.

85. Zion I- Soo Tall (genre: hip-hop… first listen: Summer 2005… spot on 2009 countdown: didn’t qualify)

This is song is so Zion I to me. Mind Over Matter not withstanding, I will listen to a Zion I album the first time around and think it’s wack. I’ll listen to it a second time around and think it’s okay. I’ll listen to it a third time around and think it’s pretty good. I’ll listen to it a fourth time around and realize it has a ton of awesome cuts. That’s the deal with “Soo Tall”- it wasn’t until three years after I copped True And Livin’ that I really got into this song. 

The rhyme scheme on this song is dope and tough to do for a whole song, but my favorite thing about this song is how uplifting it is. This song randomly came on my iPod one day as I was getting up early to go work an individual workout for the basketball team, and I was hating life for a ton of different reasons, but all of them surrounding basketball. I heard this song and I immediately connected with it- not the “black and proud” part, but the “one day we’ll be so tall” part. Yanno, like how all the hard work is going to pay off and all? Yeah, this song was speaking to me.

84. Little Brother- Life of the Party (Remix Ft. Skillz and Carlitta Durand) (genre: hip-hop… first listen: December 2008… spot on 2009 countdown: didn’t qualify)

This song is my philosophy on life to some extent. It’s not about being famous or looking for the gig that will get you the most glamour and publicity; it’s about doing you and making money doing you. The first verse on this song is one of my favorite verses of all-time: Some dudes spend they lifetime trying to headline, but it’s so much better being your opening act! What a freakin’ line!

This song also has one of the rare beats that would get me on some sort of dance floor, but the chances of this song coming on in a club or a house party not thrown by the Dannaman are worse than Mississippi Valley State winning the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The vocal sample that is used to drive the beat is simply unbelievably good. All verses are on point, but like I said, it’s that first verse that does it for me. My only wish is that this song didn’t end so abruptly after Skillz’ verse, or that they found a way to put another hook in there. I guess the song ends the only way it can end, but that hook and the synth that drops when the hook comes is way too good to only play twice throughout the cut. 

83. A Tribe Called Quest- Electric Relaxation (genre: hip-hop… first listen: Summer 2005… spot on 2009 countdown: didn’t qualify)

That “first listen” stat is another one to be ashamed of for me. Needless to say, I was just a little behind on this song, but thanks to MTV Jams, I got caught up. The sample in this song is an absolute classic and has been used to perfection in a couple of other songs I’m in love with, one of them coming later in this countdown.

For years, I associated Q-Tip with his lame single “Vivrant Thing”, so I really didn’t give him much respect, if any. Then I went back to some Quest stuff, and then this gem. By far their best work in my opinion. I didn't even realize it was about sexin' a chick for a good few listens because I was just vibing with the beat so hard.

82. Canibus- Genabis (genre: hip-hop… first listen: November 14, 2003… spot on 2009 countdown: didn’t qualify)

This whole album is amazing- Rip The Jacker is a top-ten hip-hop album of all-time. If you disagree, you don’t respect life and all of God’s creations (and yes, I do believe in evolution; it's just a phrase so stop it). This is the first track off the album, and the first verse- short but very sweet- is so good I just had to read it at a poetry reading assembly at my high school for Black History Month. I intro’d the verse by saying it was from Germaine Williams, because saying his MC name probably would have drawn some chuckles.

This song and album as a whole showed the world the potential Canibus had to be the best MC to ever do it. All he needed was a producer who was either a) worth a damn or b) understood where dude was coming from. In Stoupe, Canibus found someone who filled both a and b. This is one of my favorite beats of all-time- it’s another one of those where you hear the melody and instantaneously feel enlightened. And when you hear rhymes like these:

Solar deflectors, incinerate you whole in a second
Flow is untested those that I've threatened fold under pressure
At 120 Beta cycles, high volts ignite your eyeballs
Until you see the fire in front of you
Optic cone rods, melt one at a time till you realize you in hell
Rip the Jacker's not done with you

You know you’re in for a treat. Either that or you think the guy has lost his mind.

81. Canibus- Showtime at the Gallows (genre: hip-hop… first listen: November 14, 2003… spot on 2009 countdown: 81)

This song stayed put; I just realized that. More on Canibus- for a few years starting with my first listen to Mic Club: The Curriculum, Canibus was my favorite MC to ever do it. That has changed a little bit since his last couple of albums were pretty weak (mainly because he’s allowed these horrid rappers to share the mic with him), but that doesn’t change the fact that in 2003 and 2004, Canibus was my life soundtrack.

The second verse on this song is my favorite Canibus verse of all-time, not including songs where he goes on for one long 100-plus bar verse. Arab-bashing aside (“eyes open wit the scope on the terrorist/
Tell him to go to hell in Arabic/ put a bullet through his narrow neck/ Watch the wall behind him get wet”), it’s Canibus in his most elevated state, besides the one long verse he does on a song to be named later. 

This is also off Rip The Jacker, further evidence that this is a classic album and you should really buy it.

80-71 to come later this week…