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

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Blackalicious – Alphabet Aerobics

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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

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Black Eyes Peas – Joints & Jams

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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 spoilt 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’

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Biggie Smalls – Juicey

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Jacques: Now you have gone and done it Bird, do you know how many big “Bigs” there are. Here are the three most notable who went by the name and all have passed. Being Biggie, Big Pun and Big L (RIP).

Big Bird: Amen

Big Punisher – It’s So Hard (featuring Donell Jones)

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Big L – Put It On

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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)

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Beastie Boys – Sabotage

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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

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Black Sheep – The Choice is Yours

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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

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Big Daddy Kane – Smooth Operator

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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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So my participation on GBC mag has been somewhat lacklustre of late, however I have a million bullshit excuses you don’t wanna hear so I shall move speedily along and get to the goods.

Not long ago it was the 40th aniversary of Sesame Street yes that’s 40th I was shocked too but I took a moment to appreciate how it taught me things as a young lad, most notably the alphabet.  My idea was to reignite some peoples interest in Hip Hop and Rap music and do a Hip Hop A to Z co-presented with a character from Sesame Street once a week.

There’s no better place to begin than at the start, so today I am joined by Oscar the Grouch who is here to kick this hip hopathon off with the letter A.

Jacques: Hi Oscar, thanks for joining us today. So you like Hip Hop?

Oscar: Yes I doooo, but not as much as I love trash of course.

Jacques: Yeah, so you still havent gotten over that little trash fetish of yours huh?

Oscar: Sure Havent. I am actually considering doing a remix of my famous hit “I Love Trash”  with Easy E.

Jacques: You know Easy E is dead right?

Oscar: What?? You gotta be kidding me.

Jacques: Sorry to be the one to break it to you but yeah! Anyway E isnt the letter of the day is it Oscar so give us our first rap artist that begins with an A.

Oscar: Okay the first rap artist were going to play today that begins with the letter A is Aesop Rock with Daylight.

Jacques: Good choice.

Aesop Rock – Daylight

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Jacques: Nice my first choice has to be A Tribe Called Quest with Electric Relaxation.

Oscar: I’m down with Tribe bro.

A Tribe Called Quest – Electric Relaxation

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Oscar: Yeah that brings back memories man, speaking of memories my next pick is “Back In The Days” by Ahmed.

Ahmed – Back In The Days

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Jacques: Here’s another guy from way back that has really stood the test of time in the rap game. AZ with The Game of Life.

AZ – The Game of Life

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Oscar: A rapper that is dope as hell with lyrical impeccability is Andre 3000 though he is often known these days for his “singy” songs this guy cant be faulted for his uber original style.

Andre 3000 – A Day in The Life of Benjamin Andre

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Jacques: Yeah he kills it in Jazzy Belle with Outkast. A lot of people think hip hop has to include rapping, therefore heres an example of how hip hop takes on many forms. Here’s a British hip hop producer by the name of Aim with a track called Pier 57, notice his attention to detail and ability to take you through different soundscapes throughout production. Top Boy!

Aim – Pier 57

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Oscar: A hip hop producer that has been killing the game for longer than I care to remember is The Alchemist. Here is one of his best productions performed by Dilated Peoples.

Dilated Peoples Feat B Real – Back Again (Produced by The Alchemist)

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Jacques:  Next up is Akrobatik I havent listened to this guys whole catalog but I’m feeling his lyrics and enthusiasm.

Akrobatik – A to the K

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Oscar: A cool rapper that I like to listen to while eating trash is Atmosphere. Heres a track by him from 2007.

Atmosphere – Sunshine

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Jacques: Another British entry here with Akala and his track Shakespear I’m not sure how well this guy has been internationally received but the guys got lyrics and flow.

Akala – Shakespeare

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Oscar: To finish up heres Aceyalone with his cannabis inspired “High Lights” did you know he once put a joint out on my lid? how cool is that?

Jacques: Pretty cool Grouchy.

Aceyalone – High Lights

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Oscar: Can I have that shoe?

Jacques: Iv already told you Oscar, No!, Anyway that’s it for this week. I would like to thank Oscar the Grouch for taking time out of his hektic filming schedule to be here and thank you for learning about the letter A. Next week Big Bird will be joining me to teach you all about the letter B of course. Peace out til then and enjoy this last track from the A’s by Arrested Development an old favourite of mine.

Oscar: Thanks for having me guys I look forward to reading next weeks lesson in the Hip Hop Alphabet.

Arrested Development – Mr Wendal

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