Take It Personal Podcast "Gone But Not Forgotten Episode"

Episode 82 of the Take It Personal Podcast is a homage to the fallen soldiers in hip-hop. "With overwhelming amount of new music and new artists, it’s easy to sometimes forget those who helped paved the way. Those who provided the soundtrack to our lives. Those who influenced us throughout the years. The pioneers, the legends and the young talent taken from us too soon. On Gone But Not Forgotten we play some of our favorites as well celebrate the life and music of these great artists," says the T.I.P. crew. RIP to the following artists featured on Episode 82: Double K, J Dila, Baatin, Sub-Roc, MF DOOM, MC Breed, Big L, Big Pun, 2Pac, Fatal Hussein, Nate Dogg, Big Skye, Nipsey Hussle, Prodigy, Roc Raida, Craig Mack, Heavy D, Kid Hood, Phife Dawg, Sean Price, Apache, Tim Dog, Eazy-E, MCA, Prince Markie Dee, The Human Beat Box, Jam Master Jay, Ecstasy, Mac Dre, The Jacka, Pimp C, Bushwick Bill, Eyedea, Too Poetic, Mac Miller, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Proof & Stretch from the Live Squad. And we gotta recognize the contributions of these following artists as well: Paul C., Tony D., Ted Demme, Scott LaRock, John Singleton, Pumpkinhead, Johnny J, Soulja Slim, Seagram, Scientifik, Charizma, Pop Smoke, Bad Azz, DJ Uncle AL, Cowboy, Big Moe, XXXTrentacion, Left-Eye, Capital STEEZ, DJ Screw, Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly, Fred the Godson, Juice WRLD, Stezo, Rappin’ Ron, Meen Green, Popa Wu, Professor X, MC Trouble, Mausberg, Lovebug Starski, Hostyle, Godfather & Ganxsta Ridd from Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., Ganjah K, Fresh Kid Ice, Fat Pat, DJ Shay, DJ Kaos, Camu Tao, A$AP Yams, Andre Harrell, Paten Locke and all the rappers wit Lil’ in their name. R.I.P.!

Happy Born Day, Common! (Playlist)

Common was born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. in Chicago's South Side on the 13th of March 1972. He is the son of educator Dr. Mahalia Ann Hines and former ABA basketball player turned youth counselor Lonnie Lynn. While a student at Luther High School South in Chicago, Common, with his childhood friends, record producer No I.D., and Corey Crawley formed a rap trio called C.D.R., that opened for acts that included N.W.A and Big Daddy Kane. Common attended Florida A&M University for two years under a scholarship and majored in business administration. After being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine, Common was signed to Relativity Records in December 1991. He debuted in 1992 with the single "Take It EZ", followed by the album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, under the stage name Common Sense. With the release of Resurrection in 1994, Common achieved a much larger degree of critical acclaim, which extended beyond Chicago natives. The album sold relatively well and received a strong positive reaction among alternative and underground hip hop fans at the time. Resurrection was Common's last album produced entirely by his long-time production partner, No I.D., who was also the then-mentor of a young Kanye West. This album was also the last album released under the stage name Common Sense because he was sued by an Orange County-based reggae band with the same name and he was forced to shorten his moniker to simply Common. Despite a few stretch marks in his catalog - mainly Universal Mic Control and some might say Electric Circus - Common has released other classics such as One Day It'll All Make Sense, Like Water For Chocolate and Be, as well as consistently solid albums like Finding Forever, The Dreamer/The Believer, Nobody's Smiling, and more; including a recent collaborative album with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins as August Greene. Whether its acting, battle-rapping, breaking or freestyling, Common has shown time and again that he's rooted in this culture. Below is a playlist to celebrate his born day and the many great records he's released over the years. Check it out...

Chris Rock "CB4" (March 12, 1993)

The blurb for 1993's CB4 says: "Saturday Night Live's Chris Rock stars in this hilarious spoof of rap stars and life in the hip-hop fast lane. Albert (Rock) starts off as nothing more than your basic L.A. middle-class kid dreaming of rap stardom, until a run-in with a real ghetto hood gives him an idea. Reborn as tough, gangsta-rapper MC Gusto -- along with his homeboys Dead Mike and Stab Master Arson -- Albert creates rap's hottest new act, CB4. Soon the trio is rocketing up the charts, partying in limos, collecting groupies and gaining notoriety for their macho, street-wise tunes. Unfortunately, the real hoods are hot on their trail -- and they're not looking for autographs! This outrageous comedy features a chart-topping soundtrack, surprise appearances by rap superstars ( Ice-T, Flavor Flav, and Easy E), and an outstanding cast including Chris Elliott, Phil Hartman, Allen Payne and Deezer D." While I felt like Chris Rock might've missed the mark with this film at the time, it does have its comedic moments and certainly feels like a wink-wink-moment looking at the posturing in music in recent years. That said, if you haven't seen Fear Of A Black Hat, it's a significantly more entertaining, albeit more low-budget, comedy! The CB4 soundtrack featured music from Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Fu-Schnickens, Daddy-O, DJ Hurricane, and more, but the standout (to me) was always MC Ren's "Mayday on the Front Line," which would later appear on his album, Shock Of The Hour, in November 1993. Revisit the official trailer for CB4 below...

Some publicity photos from CB4's Press Kit in 1993...

Wojavelli "Best of Godfather Don" (Mixtape, 2020)

Godfather Don is a New York City-based hip hop producer and rapper. Ever since his 1991 debut album, "Hazardous", he has been a creative force within New York City's underground hip-hop scene. In the mid-90s he released a host of 12" singles and instrumental pressings through Hydra Entertainment before releasing his sophomore effort, Diabolique, in 1998. You may have also heard him on The Cenombites EP, The Slave of New York EP or The Ill Funk Freaker EP, just to name a few. With blogs in full swing by the last 2000s, the underground kept his name and his music in circulation before labels began unearthing demos and other tracks to reissue. Godfather Don continues to release music and has found quite the niche in recent years. Wojavelli pays tribute to Godfather Don, one of NYC's underground legends and unheralded heroes, with the Best of Godfather Don mixtape. Listen to the mix below, and, of course, dig into the archives for lots more...

Rapper Big Pooh "What Was Lost Vol.2" (EP Stream)

Durham NC's Rapper Big Pooh follows up his February release of What Was Lost Vol.1 with the second installment in this fine EP series. The project consists of a collection of unreleased songs or tracks that were only unofficially released dating back to 2010-2019. The 6-track EP is produced by The Justice League, Swiff D, DJ Khalil, Famly Biz, Khrysis and Focus... What Was Lost Vol.2 also features fellow Little Brother MC, Phonte. Rapper Pooh has been consistently releasing music since the mid-2000s, many of those releases have been documented on this site. All that said, I recommend diggin' into the archives and also clicking through to his Bandcamp and supporting all the quality music he's put out. In the meantime, dig into this latest offering, What Was Lost Vol.2, below...

Happy Born Day, AZ! (Playlist)

Born in Brooklyn, New York, AZ is a Grammy-nominated rapper who first came to prominence by appearing on Nas' landmark album Illmatic on the song "Life's a Bitch" (1994)—he was the only guest emcee to appear on that album. After a bidding war, AZ signed with EMI, and soon released Doe Or Die (1995) to more critical acclaim than commercial sales. The album's lead single, "Sugar Hill", became AZ's only major commercial success as a solo artist, reaching the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and achieving Gold status. AZ's EMI contract was transferred to sister label Noo Trybe Records/Virgin Records when the EMI Label Group was shut down. AZ's fanbase grew considerably after he joined The Firm, a supergroup comprised of AZ, Nas, Foxy Brown, and Nature, with Dr. Dre and The Trackmasters producing. However, The Firm's only album, The Album, was regarded as critically disappointing. AZ has released over a dozen projects over the course of his career, maintaining a smooth, rhythmic cadence; multi-syllable rhyme schemes, internal rhymes, unconventional rhymes, and his vast vocabulary. While commercial success always eluded him, AZ will go down as one of the nicest MCs to emerge from the mid-90s. Below is a glimpse at some of my favorite tracks from AZ's extensive catalog - check it out, and wish him a Happy Born Day today! 

Below are a couple promo items, hit the archives for more...

IceRocks "Crossing The Rubicon" (Album Stream)

IceRocks is a producer out of Queens, NY... he's made a name for himself working with artists like Meyhem Lauren, Madhattan, XP The Marxman, Benny The Butcher, ElCamino, Flee Lord and more. He's now released his own production album entitled Crossing The Rubicon. When I first heard the single, "Red Presidents" featuring Meyhem Lauren and Benny The Butcher, I knew I'd enjoy this project - that track is very DOPE! The project also features Flee Lord, Madhattan, Ren Thomas, UFO Fev, Rome Streetz, Heem, Skrewtape and ElCamino. Not much else to say - it's hard beats and rhymes; a winning combination to say the very least. Dig into Crossing The Rubicon streaming below...

The Notorious B.I.G. "I Got A Story To Tell" (Documentary, Trailer)

Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace was one of the most talented, influential rappers of all time, with pristine abilities on the mic, a glowing sense of humor, and a fly sense of fashion. And since his life was cut so short after his murder in 1997 at 24 years old, there have been multiple films, books, and posthumous records, all focused on attempting to either preserve his musical legacy or to make sense of his senseless death. I Got A Story To Tell, released this month on Netflix, does neither of those things. Instead, it tells an origin story as Big’s lifelong friend Damion “D-Roc” Butler for the first time reveals reams of personal footage shot in hotel rooms and backstage at shows, showing a vulnerable side of the rap legend rarely witnessed outside of his inner circle. Director Emmett Malloy dives deep into the people and places that created Christopher Wallace: from his visits to his mother’s family in Jamaica, to the lesser known loved ones in the several-block radius that formed his Brooklyn stomping grounds. Along with Sean “Diddy” Combs, Butler, and Biggie’s mother Voletta Wallace, the film includes his Jamaican uncle and grandmother, jazz musician and neighbor Donald Harrison, and other childhood friends. And instead of dwelling on the (still infuriating) murder, the film focuses on just how fragile his success was in the first place: on how many times he could have lost his chance at stardom altogether, and how he overcame it. “His story doesn't have to be a tragic ending,” says Puffy in the film. - GQ. You can watch the trailer for the documentary below...

Today marks 24 years since the death of The Notorious B.I.G. Biggie has now been dead for as long as he was alive, yet he left behind a musical legacy as one of the greatest MCs of all-time! In the archives are numerous tribute mixes, albums, reviews, interviews, promotional items, press kits and a ton more from The Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records... I highly recommend clicking through and remembering our fallen legend. Me... I remember the day he passed. I was a freshman at Hofstra University at the time. I was hanging out in my room when I got the call... I ran to a friend's room on the floor, knocked oncce and busted through, interrupting him with the news. He was as big a fan as I was, and it rocked us! I was traveling back and forth to Queens on the weekends, and I remember getting an advanced copy of Life After Death from Numbers Records in Ridgewood ... it was everything! It's hard to imagine that with such a limited catalog, you can still look to Life After Death and see the many styles and looks he gave us at his raw talent on that 2LP. It's all there, whether you love it or not. It also makes me smile thinking back that my first copies of Ready To Die on cassette and CD (before I got the vinyl) were both stolen... one from an uneven trade that I'd never returned and the other from a house party. I had to have that album by any means necessary! The music has stayed with me, as have the memories, which inspired the art below... R.I.P.