Back For The First Time

Okay. Even Stevie Wonder could see it. This Curtis project didn’t exactly come out the gate like gangbusters. “Mmm mmm kissin’”; “Lots of activities fun things to do”; “Ha-ha-ha-ha.” Well, you can say, we expected and wanted more. And over the weekend it might have came with “I Get Money.” In case, you haven’t heard the Southside champ’s business pedigree is Trump tight. (V.W.R.E.A.M.—you figure it out) Supposedly this is a “Straight To The Bank” remix but it’s more like a whole new song. The hook is a familiar refrain from one of hip-hop’s most underrated MCs Milk Dee of the Audio Two.

The Black nasal rhyme champ was always a personal fav of your boy YN. I even copped the solo shit he did on Rick Rubin’s Def American label the first day it dropped. Anyone remember his dandy duet with Ad Rock from the Beastie Men, “Spam”? Nevermind, I’m just talkin’ to you, I’m just talkin’ through you.

Anyway you sure as hell as know this one. “I get money/Money I got/Stunts call me honey if they feel real hot/That’s how it is/You can ask Giz/I stole your girl while you were in prison/Jail, for MC assault/You was jealous it’s all your fault/Milk is chillin’, Giz is chillin’/What more can I say?/Top billin’.” It’s a certified rap classic, you bastards. Named the number one track of 1987 in the only hip-hop book that matters, et’s BORL (pat myself on back), this stupendously simplistic smash has been sampled and interpolated so many times I’ve lost count (Just ask Lil Flip, who used it on his last CD. I’m sure he’ll be throwing out some swagger jack allegations in a hot NY minute. UPDATE: Who's Jimmie Hoffa?). Nat’s boys’ creation with its Daddy-O-approved drum programming mishap just might be the finest hip-hop ever recorded. Ever. Forever ever. Forever ever.

It’s amazing that this song came out 20 fuckin’ years ago. Just like “The Bridge Is Over.” I feel like fuckin’ KRS and Marley Marl. This was my shit in High School when you fuckers were still nestled in your Daddy’s… a lil’ graphic, sorry. At this point in his career Curtis is goin’ back to the classics to make sure he doesn’t fall off the top of the mountain (you know the nigga ain’t really feeling high heights). And shit if this fails, he’s still got some crooning crackers (JT Tha Bigga Figga and Robbie Romance) to get the paler side to ride. Plus who’s hotter to today’s black folk, than those wonderful White gentlemen?

Still I’d rather bump my old Audio Two on a manic Monday. It’s the timeless tunes that keep YN doin’ this shit. I would share the always-forgotten remix of “Top Billin’” where Milk and his more famous sis, MC Lyte play pass the mic. But then again my illiterate ass has been posting too much audio, right yo? Word to Sickamore, I’m sick of all of y’all.

Sidebar: What if 50 just said fuck Interscope and got Coke to put the album out. Or better yet he quits rap, and becomes a real president: Curtis Jackson, VP of Coke. From selling coke to running Coke. Eat your heart out, Hovi.