For someone who considers themselves a serious hip-hop fan, there’s surprisingly little hip-hop on this Top 100 list. I think there’s maybe 8 rap songs on this list (now when I decide to do the Nineties list, that might be a different story). That said, the songs that did make it to this list are stone cold classics, and Doug E. Fresh and MC Ricky D.’s The Show certainly qualifies.
For a song with essentially no chorus, there are tons of hooks here. The scratched “oh my God”s, the dinky keyboard (allegedly played by a very young Teddy Riley of Guy and BLACKstreet fame) playing the “Inspector Gadget” theme, “six minutes, Doug E. Fresh, you’re on”. The kids who turned this song into a classic didn’t seem to mind the lack of a hook. I can clearly remember sitting on the school bus in Southfield, Michigan, reciting this song word for word with 25 other kids. I betcha the kids today can’t do that with a Lil’ Wayne song! (said in crochety old man voice)
While Slick Rick’s turned into a hip-hop legend (and was far more influential as an emcee than a lot of folks are willing to give him credit for), Doug E. Fresh has sort of turned into a hip-hop journeyman. He’s never released an album worthy of his talents, although a Greatest Hits album is looooooong overdue. He’s probably better known these days for his appearances on every VH-1 pop culture special known to man, as well as for being hip-hop’s only Scientologist (trying hard not to make a face here). Questionable religious practices aside, we’ll always have “The Show”, right?
