1994 – I remember when Patra was on the up & up. Patra was one of the few reggae artists getting love back then. A year before, Patra broke into the scene with Shabba Ranks on “Family Affair”. A young Patra (shorten name of Cleopatra. Speaking of which, she is VERY short.) released under Epic’s 550 Music “Queen of the Pack”. She was, during that year, a voice in hip-hop and reggae. While she did release a follow up album (Scent of Attraction) the following year, her 15 minutes of fame was up shortly afterwards. While she did managed to bounce back from time to time in the early 2000s, only her first attempts were the most notable.
So, from the crates, I pulled out “Romantic Call”, one of the joints that I loved with Yo-Yo. The video was shot in the West Coast, so other than Yo-Yo (who survived the 90s, btw), you’ll see this video dripping with west coast staples: Motorcycles, bouncing cars… and Tupac Shakur.
Truth Hurts (Shari Watson) was basically (no pun intended) the Truth. In 2002, she was on the right label at the right time. They released her “Addictive” off her first album with a (no pun intended again) addictive beat. The type that makes women want to learn belly dancing. Sadly, DJ Quik (the producer of the song) did not cleared the sample. What follows would be a lesson of what “copyright” really means.
Aftermath was sued by Saregama India Ltd., the copyright holders from India literally months later. In addition to not even being original with the sample, Rakim and Truth basically said things that offended the Indian culture.
While Truth have nothing(?) to do with it, her career went down the drain before it even began. Truth tried to rebound with her second single fresh off the court case. Sadly, it was with R. Kelly… who was entering problems of his own back then.
Even thought she managed to release a second album, the fanfare died out.
in less than 24 hours, it will be April 29th. The day Estelle’s Shine finally drops. So, before her new album bless us with hip-hop soul from “across the pond”, let’s talk about a classic from her first album, The 18th Day. One of her first single and video is an ode to the 1980s… as a rapper. A fun, bouncy track nicely accompany Estelle as she rhymed about the decade she grew up in.
The video is warm, bringing back the fashion of those days. Estelle looking more tomboyish than her present self… and nothing wrong with that. Matter of fact, she gets kudos for that (Gotta love tomboys).
It was also a surprise to me that Estelle is also an MC. Goes to show you how much fact checking I do. Note to self: Check myself before I wreck myself.
Anyway (ways of any), here’s Estelle reppin’ the 80s.
Before Nas proclaimed Hip-Hop was dead, Common was trying to save H.E.R. Common, a cool ass brother, did a rhyme back in the day about how Hip-Hop grew up and became commercial. Describing Hip-Hop as a woman takes a lot of imagination and Common nailed it. So, here’s a Rewind joint for ya…
What’s old is new again. Seems like that’s the theme with singers like Amy Winehouse and the revival of Neo-Soul (along with Indian Jones coming back on the screen), we all can’t help but want to redo something old with our own style. Enters “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes. Mutya Buena, another London singer took the hit and did more than “cover” it, she made it her own. It’s updated with a hip-hop style and flow (”you know how we doooooo”) and pays tribute to the B-Boy… or tries REALLY hard to.
While B Boy Baby is a favorite and a must in a playlist of along with the 2008 favorites, the video was the song was anything but fulfilling. Gone is the woman behind the chorus and the video is just dark. Looks more like a last minute production. Lucky for me, I’m just playing it for the music.
So, for the second “Rewind/Cover”, I present to you the Ronettes and Mutya Buena.
