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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Doug E Fresh

  • SonicClash’s Memorial Day Triple Play

    Hey folks, it’s the beginning of summer! Break out the sunglasses and shorts, because the warm weather is upon us! There’s no shortage of tunes to blast out of your boombox on those beach trips (do people still use boomboxes?), but here are a couple of my favorite songs that celebrate the season. Play them and enjoy the good vibes.

    If you like your summer songs spiked with a little bit of nostalgia, then NKOTB’s “Summertime” is for you.

    Next up is my man Doug E. Fresh with his own “Summertime” from 1990. This is by far the rarest of the three songs here, and the fact that embedding is disabled grinds my gears a little bit. Check out the hip-house influence in the song, and also check out a very brief cameo from Sean “Diddy” Combs at the beginning of the video.

    I think you can all guess what’s next. As I do every year, a summertime kickoff isn’t complete without DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Enjoy, and have a great Memorial Day weekend (we’ll still be here, so don’t forget to check in when you have a free sec!)

  • Infatueighties: #79: The Show

    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?

  • VH-1 Hip Hop Honors ‘07

    This year, VH-1 gives honors to Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliot, and A Tribe Called Quest. Two of those things is not like the other. I guess in order to get ATCQ honored, we have to sit through Snoop and Missy. Oh well, it’s worth it. Tracy Morgan is hosting. I wonder if he’ll dress up like Hustle Man, like when he was on Martin.

    • Does KRS-One really go by KRS-One Tha Teacha now?
    • I wonder is Missy Elliot is going to show up in that rubber balloon suit tonight? I can’t stand the rain, rain, rain.
    • Wait, they’re honoring Whodini and New Jack swing too? Does that mean we get some Teddy Riley up in here?
    • Isn’t Kerry Washington supposed to be blind? Wait, that’s just in Fantastic Four.
    • Missy says that she met Timbaland through Magoo. Can anyone throw Magoo a bone these days? Where is that dude?
    • At least we know Tweet is still alive.
    • Timbo decided to bring the guns to the gun show.
    • Eve and her hair decide to make an appearance. Wait, that’s probably not her hair.
    • Nelly Furtado and her ass decide to make an appearance.
    • Ciara and her Adam’s apple decide to make an appearance.
    • Is Diddy supposed to pronounce the H in homage?
    • Look at Waterbed Hev dancing in shorts.
    • I feel like a kid again listening to Guy.
    • Andre Harrell describes New Jack Swing as a merging of hip hop, R&B, and funk.
    • I wish I could be as cool as Doug E. Fresh.
    • Someone give T-Pain his synthesizer back. He needs it. He’s making me not want HER.
    • If Kool Moe Dee was this big when he rapped back in his day, they’d have called him Heavy Dee.
    • Ne-Yo is doing Remember The Time, which was produced by Teddy Riley and is new jack swing, but Eddie and Iman and her bird were nowhere to be found.
    • All I wanna do is zoom a zoom zoom zoom and a boom boom, just shake your rump. That might be the greatest lyric of all time.
    • Wait, is that Chauncey, who Kanye said was from Blackstreet and was as black as the street was? And if so, where’s Dave Hollister when you need him?
    • LL is out to talk about Wild Style and you know Timbo is in the back like, “My arms are bigger, and I can fit two microphones and a turntable on my arm.”
    • Rappers don’t age well, or at least you’re not used to seeing old men with shades on rockin’ the mic.
    • Well, except if you are KRS-One.
    • Grandmaster Caz just said, “Grandmaster Caz and Wild Style, greatest of all time.”
    • Who did Whodini piss off to have Nick Cannon, Nelly, and Don Chi Chi to represent them?
    • Pharrell seemed a little light in the ass to rap off Doggystyle compared to Ice T.
    • Common and Skateboard P actually did a great job with Scenario in setting up Busta Rhymes for his big spot, and the man just doesn’t have it anymore.
    • Tribe still has it. They need to put out an album immediately.