Friday, July 28, 2006

Underneath the Underside of Underachieving

In the history of hip-hop, Black Sheep may be no more than a footnote, the stepchildren of the Native Tongues, a one hit wonder whose hit, "The Choice Is Yours" featured a memorable refrain ("You can get with this, or you can get with that") and an innovative video. That refrain, and that video, are still being copied today.

Those who bought the first Black Sheep album A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing probably did so (like me) for the single. It appeared there in two versions, plus there were some skits, an unmemorable guest spot by Q-Tip, and repeated boasts about soliciting prostitutes and the size of the DJ's penis.

The track that stood out from all that was Black with NV (No Vision), in which Dres calmly and eloquently dismantles the notion of equal opportunity in education and employment. Heady stuff from a rap group that made a point of being apolitical.

Bust my ass in school to be a certified fool
Now intellect of curb is my only tool
But street games are so uncouth;
I took the SAT, and that's the Sad Ass Truth.
I'm not gliding, but I'm striving
Hanging on by a thread, and it's called surviving...

5 Comments:

At 8/01/2006 12:16 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

great record, man. just listening to this the other day, in fact. love "similak child."

 
At 8/01/2006 3:47 PM , Blogger jonder said...

Are the other Black Sheep albums any good?

 
At 12/19/2006 6:37 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

non-fiction is good, but not as good as this. they just came out with a new album (8wm) but mr. lawnge (the DJ) didn't produce all the tracks, so not all of them have great beats. worth checking out though. all of native tounges is.

 
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