About two years ago, leading up to the 5th Anniversary of Rappers I Know, I asked a few friends to give me a list of their favourite Rappers I Know posts, choosing 5-10 of their favourite posts from each year. For some that proved too daunting, for Dart not so much. Here’s his list.
For those that have never been to Rappers I Know before, take this time to get caught up on some of the things that have been posted here that you might’ve missed. For those of you that haven’t been to Rappers I Know in a while, take a listen to some things you may have forgotten to in this fast paced rappity rap world.
Here’s the story. Back in 2005, I often frequented this site called Okayplayer (maybe you’ve heard of it?). On #thatsite there was another user named FWMJ who had a site called “Rappers I Know”. I asked myself “How many rappers could this cat possibly know?” and after that first month and a half of posts I never asked that damb question again.
In the 5 year history of Rappers I Know, FWMJ has put us on to a gang of emcees, crews, groups & producers from a wide variety of genres. He’s also touched on some watershed moments in recent memory. I originally selected 100 posts but I narrowed to down to 75 & finally 50 cuz I be choppin’ bitches up. Accept it. I’m family (Some of you won’t get that reference). Here are 50 classic Rappers I Know posts spanning 5 years. I often pondered making my own spinoff site called Rappers I Know That Don’t Know They Know Me but I was afraid Kevin Nottingham would steal it (shots fired!). Enjoy (or don’t…it’s a free country):
Day #1: K-otix “Gotsta Love It” Video
The first RIK post evar . Frank shouts out his peoples The Legendary K.O.. Who else does he know?
Day #12: Minus of Flow Factory “Faithful” featuring Michele Thibeaux b/w DJ House Shoes “Get Up” featuring Guilty Simpson and Lodown
Hol’ up? Homie knows Houseshoes and is up on Detroit Hip Hop? Sheeeit! EVERYONE in Detroit can rap (except for Bizarre & T-Baby)!
Day #24: Myone “Hands Up” featuring Kay, produced by Symbolyc One b/w The Legendary K.O. “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People” produced by Kanye West
A classic response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans . Add in S1 & Kay? Don’t mess with Texas…
Day #27: Jay Electronica produced by Nottz, Che Grand featuring Tanya Morgan, Trek Life produced by Evidence, Lower Life Form produced by The ARE
Frank was one of the people instrumental in turning me into a Lessondary Crew fan. He also put me on to this dude named Jay Electronica. I wonder whatever happened to that dude?
Von Pea Grand Vonye
Von Pea of Tanya Morgan is one of the nicest cats in the game. This mixtape told the digital world that the sleepers must awaken (no Dune).
Che Grand & DJ Low Key Limited Edition The Fixtape
Next up? This dude named Che Grand. He would later drop a ridiculous album titled “Everything’s Good Ugly” but that is another story (no Conan The Barbarian).
Jay Electronica Act 1 — Eternal Sunshine of A Spotless Mind: The Pledge
This was the jawn that finally made Jay Electronica the talk of the internet. Then I started seeing dude on magazine covers. I first saw his name on this site back in ‘05. Crazy…
Rob Viktum Progress: An Audio Tribute to the Cambodian People
Rob Viktum of the Beat Fanatic fam is best known for this masterpiece among many others (Hangar 18 remixes, Snack Packs, A’ight New Drink, etc). Don’t sleep on it…
The ARE featuring Dem Damb Jackson Instrumentals Bonus Tracks b/w featuring Dem Damb Jacksons Vocal Version
The ARE of K-Otix/The Legendary K.O. freaks some Jackson 5ive material with an all star lineup of emcees. I still play this jawn regularly.
Lupe’s Midnight Marauder Fiasco
This post inspired a companion piece on Poisonous Paragraphs regarding Lupe’s fiasco. Then he made an album called “L.A.S.E.R.S” that he submitted to Atlantic which is still currently U.N.R.E.L.E.A.S.E.D.
J Dilla Interviews conducted by The Dusbusters
Classic Dilla interview featured on Rappers I Know. The page was still bookmarked on my old laptop.
HISD Summer Sessions
If Hueston Independent Spit District wasn’t on your radar after this post then your name better be Hellen Keller…
Jay Electronica & Just Blaze Collabo
I wonder what will happen with this jawn?
DJ Enuff spins Black Milk “Give The Drummer Sum” on HOT 97
DJ Enuff comes to his damn senses and plays a Black Milk banger on the radio. I guess that means Enuff will just pick whatever song is hot and play it on the air without reservations or asking if it’s OK to first, huh? *Side eye*
Roger Riley & Teddy Troutman Death of Autotune
Classic post. Roger Riley & Teddy Troutman did all they could to kill AutoTune. The highlight? Hearing cats say ‘We might go to Hell for this!”in AutoTune as a Biggie instrumental played. Hilarious.
Questlove vs Jay Dee — The Little Brother Beat Story
Yet another classic swipe from Okayplayer that hit FWMJ ‘s site making it easier to read all at once. If you read this story and still can’t appreciate the genius that is James Yancey then I feel sorry for your mothers.
FWMJ & Jay Electronica present Scratches and Demo Tape Volume 1
More Jay Electronica. These demos are better than some finished albums I was forced to listen to and review over the past three years and change.
Jay Dee & The Notorious B.I.G.?
Yet another classic Dilla tale that crossed over from Okayplayer to Rappers I Know. Know your Hip Hop history. And the winner is? Not that thinner kid…(thanks DeePhunk for the clarification)
FWMJ & Jay Electronica present Scratches & Demo Tape Volume I “Swagger Jackson’s Revenge
Another song? *Faints*
Hassaan Mackey
Christmas 2008, I was introduced to an emcee named Hassan Mackey by none other than SlopFunkDust of Beat Fanatic. It turns out to Slop was the guy who replaced local DJ/producer Fakts Obe as he quit just after The Perceptionists LP was done. Slop was also in charge of the Rawkus 50 campaign. Slop was also known as T The Beat Specialist. Now I’m anticipating Hassan Mackey’s upcoming release with Apollo Brown. Crazy, right?
Danny Brown “Contra” featuring Elzhi produced by Apollo Brown
The first time I can say without any reservation that another rapper actually got Elzhi on record. Apollo Brown on the boards. Classic shit. CHECK! © Danny Brown
O, RLY?
I once wrote on Twitter that if Charles Hamilton was a video game character his special move would be to shoot himself in the foot repeatedly. Yeah, that…
Black Spade FTW
Black Spade>>>>>>>>Charles Hamilton. Fuck Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Dr. Robotnik, Dr. Light, Dr. Wiley, Rush, RockmanX & Charles Hamilton’s entire endocrine system. I really mean it! © Dipset
Elzhi “The Genesis” Snippet off Elmatic
Word? Elzhi’s doing a mixtape re-imaging Nas’ ‘Illmatic”? I can’t wait! I sure hope no other emcee pops up and drops an Illmatic tribute before he does.. *Pulls out a Snickers bar*
Noisemakers w/ Peter Rosenberg featuring Q-TIP
So wait…Busta Rhymes was also a member of A Tribe Called Quest? *Hyperventilates into a paper bag*
In Store Beat Session with Jaisu and S-Type
This video featuring two cats from Scotland who call themselves the Tartan Bullies alerted me to the existence of S-Type & Jaisu. Now both are featured prominently on Bloggerhouse’s Scrunchface Show podcasts. Saw ‘em here first.
J Bizness Reason: Beats & Pieces (Cruncy, Candy Instrumentals)
J. Bizness is a beast and veteran of the Red Tune Beat Battles. His first instrumental project was featured here.
New Vohnbeatz
Strange Fruit Project’s own Symbolyc One began posting up videos of his then 11 year old son VohnBeatz making his OWN slaps. I’m not a smiley dude but this shit makes me proud to see. I later featured him on Poisonous Paragraphs and even retagged his ‘New Kid On The Block” beat tape. He’s the future…
Snap Snappage Volume I Mixtape
Frank’s favorite emcee damn near became my favorite too after I heard this mixtape.
*sigh*
Facepalms fah e’erybody.
Jaisu on the boards with the HEAT!!!
This muhfucka named Jaisu making hot beats on video. Get. in. my. iPod! Now I have all of these beats on my hard drive and you don’t. Don’t you wish you were us? I do and I’M ALREADY ME!
Paten Locke aka DJ Therapy “Brava”
DJ Therapy or Paten Locke. Either name results in the same thing. Hot shit! If you never copped an Asamov, AB’s or Paten Locke release then the reason we’re having all of these natural disasters lately is YOUR fault. Fix it. Now.
Questlove flips Phillip Michael Thomas “She’s A Liar”
If you know producers (and I do) then you’d know that one thing they do when they get bored is try to challenge themselves by flipping or reworking records that are deemed unusable. Questo finds a way (no Ummah) to freak Phillip Michael Thomas’ “She’s A Liar”. A record Cynthia Horner of “Right On!” magazine fellated back in the days. She also said Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs’ album was hot so…. (I’m old by the way)
The ARE Iran
The ARE cooking up some more marvelous shit in honor of the Iran elections. My Twitter avatar was green during this time.
Slum Village “Actin’ Normal” Video Premiere
RIP Baatin. This should’ve been on the album and it should’ve had Frank’s cover on it but that is neither here nor there.
Crown Nation “Archie Whitewater”
This was the first time I saw Crown Nation on a blog other than my own outside of Detroit. Detroit Hip Hop runs shit…and I’m from BOSTON. Real recognize real.
Jay Electronica “Exhibit C” produced by Just Blaze Radio Rip
I wonder if this is gonna spark some kind of mania across the the internets where people are worked into a mad frenzy over getting a CDQ version of it? *Walks away whistling*
Slum Village Villa Manifesto EP Artwork
More excellent FWMJ graphic design work. I wonder if Frank actually met his deadline, though? *Silence*
BlackBerryJones King of Chop
I love seeing producers do live chops. It brings me back to the days where I had my entire in house production team working on beats that I’d have to eventually Ong Bak people before they got paid for them. This shit is sick. I still play this for heads from time to time.
My Brother DJ Enuff Asks Why Am I Not Playing Jay Electronica on HOT 97
Yeah. Enuff pissed me off with this one. You’re a damn DJ & a grown man. Play the fuckin’ record if you want to already! He made it the pick of the week later. The next day he posted up a blog asking the bloggersphere what winter coat should he rock before leaving the crib.
#WeAreTheWorld 2010 Sucks
Frank actually shut down the site to protest the overall suckfest that was “We Are The World 2010”. Is AutoTune dead yet? How close is ELMatic to being completed? When can we expect a Jay Electronica album? Tell me if isn’t really happening! *Spins totem to make sure this is the real world & NOT a dream*
FWMJ’s Rappers I Know presents Danny Brown Detroit State of Mind 4
Danny Brown makes yet another step toward becoming your favorite rapper.
Danny Brown The Hybrid
Slightly more than a week later, Danny Brown attempts to solidify his dominance over iPods & Zunes *side eye* across the globe. And succeeds…
Dela The Robert Glasper Beattape
Dela. Robert Glasper. Also search for The Niyat’s project as it just missed to cut. You won’t be disappointed.
Trek Life & J Bizness Rhymes Within Reason EP
J. Bizness. Trek Life. Shut yo’ ass up & download it already.
The Greatest Band You’ll Never Hear Again Part I
Frank introduced the internets & the bloggerverse to Neon Collars. Then he broke the sad news via Twitter that they’d just broke up. Should coulda woulda. AGAIN. Cop the EP from iTunes. Damn damn damn James! © Florida Evans
The Stuyvesants
This is an instrumental project that people will be discussing for years down the line. How can I guarantee that will be true? Because I’ll be doing it. Do the right thing.
Producers I Know presents: Ayepee Beat Library produced by ApaTight
Apatight is a member of the Producers I Know collective and has been featured prominently on Bloggerhouse & The Scrunchface Show. Hot shit.
The ARE & Brokn Englsh ARE x B.E. Album
The ARE once again makes some undeniable heat with Brokn Englsh. Bananas.
Slum Village Breakup Interviews
I’m one of the most cynical people you may ever meet but these sobering audio clips really make it painfully clear that Slum Village is no more. No more Little Brother. No more Slum Village. But DipSet is reunited! Shit makes me wanna do 5 straight shots of Drano.
There you go. 50 classic Rappers I Know posts. Some of your favorites may be missing. Like the one where Frank showed Miss info “2 Girls, 1 Cup”. Or the one where Frank was tryna grab up on Chilli talnbout “she smells so damb good!”. Or the one where Questo called Frank a hater. Or the OTHER Jay Electronica posts. Or all of those Drake posts homie from T.Dot posted up that Slop clowned. This has been one hell of a ride and one hell of a blog. If it wasn’t for Rappers I Know, imagine how much the bloggerverse would’ve sucked in general? Salute to the whole RIK crew.
One.
