Last week we introduced the hip hop A to Z series with Sesame Street and were pleasantly joined by the Grouch. This week Big Bird is appropriately dropping in to help us go through some of the most important hip hop artists beginning with the letter B. To see last weeks click Hip Hop A to Z – Lesson 1 “A”.
Jacques: B is a pretty good letter in terms of hip hop and is applied to one of the four elements of rap in the B-Boy but less about that and more about the artists. My first choice and purely because I heard it so long ago is Biz Markie with his classic “Just a Friend”.
Big Bird: 
Good choice, and my first addition to the list would have to be Blackalicious with their famous Alphabet Aerobics.
Biz Markie – Just a Friend
Blackalicious – Alphabet Aerobics
Jacques: Yeah that Alphabet Aerobics is very fitting for this series, my next choice is a bit of an unsung hero in Brother Ali with an early release titled Forest Whitiker.
Big Bird: He has definitely been an important underground rap artist, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum my pick is Black Eyes Peas but with one of their earlier records “Joints and Jams” before they reached mainstream stardom, not that I can talk.
Brother Ali – Forest Whitiker
Black Eyes Peas – Joints & Jams
Jacques: Aha, going back there, I used to love BEP with their original line up too, had a more real sound back then and loved the Franky Valli reference too. When I think of Busta Rhymes I am spoit for choice in picking a record. Fire it Up was one of the first rap records I ever bought but I think in retrospect that Gimmie Some Mo’ has always made me go wild, intricate flows, complemented with a creepy beat using sampes from the Psych theme composed by Bernard Herrmann.
Big Bird: Word from the Bird! Talking of intricate flows my next track has to be the man Biggie Smalls himself with
Busta Rhymes – Gimmie Some Mo’
Biggie Smalls – Juicey
Jacques: Now you have gone and done it Bird, do you know how many big “Bigs” there are or more notably ere as the three most notable who went by the name have all passed. Being Biggie, Big Pun and Big L (RIP).
Big Bird: Amen
Big Punisher – It’s So Hard (featuring Donell Jones)
Big L – Put It On
Jacques: It has been a long time since I have listened to those two tracks so my next track is a track about reminiscing in Beanie Sigel’s Remember The Days.
Big Bird: My choice is going even further back with Beastie Boys and Sabotage.
Beanie Sigel – Remember The Days (Featuring EVE)
Beastie Boys – Sabotage
Jacques: Take two of the dopest MC’s ever to grace the microphone with a leftside style and put them together to make a double dope super group. Talib Kweli and Mos Def are… Blackstar!
Big Bird: Another dope group starting with Black are Black Sheep. They are somewhat unknown to the mainstream but speak to any true hip hop head and they will certify their greatness.
Blackstar – The Definition
Black Sheep – The Choice is Yours
Jacques: Big Boi of Outkast may not have had the same solo success as his Atlanta counterpart Andre 3000 who we mentioned last week however he is worth a notable mention and his track Reset from the speakerboxx album really reminded me of his influence on everything Outkast. An unusual somewhat eerie hip hop backing beat.
Big Bird: As we are back on the Big’s it would be rude not to mention Big Daddy Kane. Here he is with “Smooth Operator”.
Big Boi – Reset
Big Daddy Kane – Smooth Operator
Jacques: I think that just about rounds it up for another lesson, Id like to thank Big Bird for joining us and more importantly gracing us with his rap expertese and send you off with a track B Real from Cypress Hill did with Roni Size. Peace
Big Bird: Bye Everyone!
B Real & Roni Size – Child of the West
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