10 of QB’s Finest Tracks – The Bridge Ain’t Over

 •  Bloggers  •  by XXL Staff  •  40 Comments

What up, y’all! I’m sitting here anticipating some serious precipitation today on the East Coast. Hurricane some-shit-or-other is supposed cause the heavens to open up on NYC at some point today, so tonight’s plans may be PPD. Still, I’m hoping the waters don’t throw a monkey wrench in all my weekend plans.

Nevertheless, I had the iPod on a random shuffle today and came across an old favorite of mine, Nature’s “We Ain’t Friends.” The sing-songy cut about lost friendship was featured on Nature’s debut album, For All Seasons, in 2000. It’s one of my favorite albums. I would definitely say it’s a slept on piece of work.

Now, I’m a 100% Brooklyn dude all day, can’t even imagine being bred anywhere else, but, musically, I fucked with a lot of Queens rappers coming up, in particular Queensbridge rhyme slingers. I’ll admit, for a minute I was secretly leaning towards Team Nas in his epic clash with Jay-Z. Now that the war is over and the boroughs never came to hold any grudges over it, I can admit that without fear of disappointing my fellow Brooklynites.

I can proudly admit that I was a huge Mobb Deep fan. Aside from Black Moon, Mobb was my favorite rap group at the time. The Havoc and Prodigy’s early albums, The Infamous, Hell On Earth, Murda Muzik, were the soundtracks to my life during the mid to late ’90s. Counting the Mobb’s homicide raps, and Nas’ two classic albums, Illmatic and It Was Written, music from the Bridge really had an impact in shaping my rap ear. In fact, my fandom for QB even extended to Mobb Deep affiliates, Infamous Mobb and Big Noyd. I consider Noyd’s verse on “Give Up The Goods” one of the best verses ever, and I still regularly bump, Infamous Mobb’ Blood Thicker Than Water, Vol. 1.

Word up, dunn!

With that, on this Flashback Friday I want to pay homage to The Bridge. Here are 10 of my favorite joints from QB’s Finest. —Rondell Conway

MC Shan “The Bridge”

Roxanne Shante “Roxanne’s Revenge”

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  • http://www.twitter.com/Pierzy Pierzy

    I love that Nature track (and album) but you have to go with either “Shook Ones Pt. II” or “It Ain’t Hard To Tell.” I think Mobb wins.

  • Chilly Willy

    It’s gotta be Mobb. Though I’ll take Survival Of The Fittest first, in this case, Shook Ones ftw

  • shzz

    Really
    why did you put Oochie Wally in there?
    That song is Nas being mad niggerish
    Thats something late 90′s Jay would do
    and Jay was right, Nas did have the worst flow on the song
    QB deserves better than that

    • haha

      nigga u 4 real? joint by nasty nas was DOPE

      • W. J. Rice

        Oochie Wally is utter garbage.

  • http://xxl.com Funkadelikk

    Alright list,my thing is how can u not have atleast 1 TRAGEDY KHADAFI/INTELLIGENT HOODLUM track,nobody reps QB like him…shout out to coemega both legends.

    • http://xxl.com funkadelikk

      i mean cormega

      • Worley

        Excluding Tragedy is a glaring oversight. He birthed a lot of the QB n!ggas on this list.

  • Dinero

    I’m startin to like Rondell’s posts more and more each day…. They jus need to give this man a slot… He knows hip-hop (at least from what I can tell so far)…

  • Q461

    Mobb Deep’s shit is classic, shook ones. Don’t sleep on the war report by CNN though, another classic. Nas is probably my favorite rapper, but that Oochie Wally shit was trash. Shouts to Mega too, always underated.

  • illes1

    queens finest… what about “R U My Nigga?” by cormega… or what about “Queens Finest” from the Reunion with the Mobb and CNN. Just sayin.

  • http://www.bboycult.com $yk

    You didn’t like Craig G’s “Droppin’ Science”?

    Or Tragedy Khadafi’s “Arrest The President”?

  • brand-new

    an album that got really slept on was that 41st side compilation album by lake…i lost it years ago and i can’t find it for sale anywhere now.

  • Black Benji

    Kool G Rap – Tekilla Sunrise

  • Q461

    Damn son “Arrest the President” was a dope track! back when Tragedy was Intelligent Hoodlum surprised anyone else remembers that joint

  • Black Benji

    Anything from Kool G Rap

  • Bronxbomma

    Gotta say Shan. He’s the 1st cat to hold the bridge down.

  • http://www.bboycult.com $yk Don mcCaine

    @ Q

    Yeah that’s that OG sh^t right there…had me zoning on youTube listening to “Strange Fruit”. Son tore that verse up.

  • El Tico Loco

    F.A.Y.B.A.N. by Screwball, The Rebel is here by Tragedy Khadafi.

  • katrenao@yahoo.com

    C-N-N- Live On Live Long
    C-N-N- Bloody Money
    Mobb Deep- Getaway

  • http://www.soundclick.com/pesproduksionz DaMadDominican

    Nice list!! But yeah I think there are some joints that should of made this list but 10 songs is just too little to really rep QB.
    I think some of the joints that would have to go on a “straight out of QB” mixtape joint would definitely have to be: (in no particular order of course)
    Tragedy Khadafi – Blood Type
    Tragedy Khadafi feat. Imam Thug – True Confessions
    Cormega – American Beauty
    Cormega – Fallen Soldiers
    Mobb Deep feat. Kool G Rap – The Realest (Kool G rap is Crazy “Bullets Ain’t Racial They Only Hate You”)
    Kool G Rap – On The Run
    Kool G Rap feat. Nas – Fast Life
    Kool G Rap – Take’em To War
    NORE – N.O.R.E.
    NORE feat. Kurupt – We Can Freak It Out
    NORE – Body In The Trunk
    NORE feat. Styles P – Come Thru
    Onyx – The Testament
    Onyx – Take That
    Onyx – Face Down
    Royal Flush – Worldwide
    Beatnuts – Find That
    Beatnuts – Do You Believe
    Beatnuts – Off The Hook
    Capone N Noreaga – Blood Money Pt.1,2 or 3 They’re All Dope!
    Tragedy, Nas & Nore – Calm Down
    And this crazy joint from Back in the days called “On The Real” but I’ve heard like 4 different versions of it and don’t know who the song belongs to but it usually has Tragedy, Screwball, Nas, Nore, and Cormega on it….
    I’ll stop here cuz this ain’t even including other relevant artists like Rakim or LL Cool J.
    Yeah this could be a big debate, lol!
    Wanna do Brooklyn next??!!
    Let me know, Peace!

  • cltrsck gack

    i dont care what the list is about, you need kool g rap on that ish

    • Rap Man

      you fools are forgetting about BCC, whuts with that?

  • Dick B.

    No Blaq Poet or Screwball? Oochie Wallie over the other eight songs on Illmatic? No Nas Is Like?

  • Hussle’s Way

    OOCHIE WALLY???? ARE YALL SERIOUS LOL

  • Wat Tha Hell

    Forgot about Kool G.???

  • Black Benji

    Most people sleep on Kool G Rap like many other godfathers of rap, and are quick to throw Eminem and Lil Wayne on the thrown and claim we are the inexperienced rap listeners.

  • Anonymous

    Word life on that.
    That Noyd verse is one of his best.
    Checked all that above-mentioned QB sh-t…
    Trag & Mega – the realest reppin it right.
    ‘They Forced My Hand’. Word

  • Anonymous

    Oh yeah, Mad Dominican, U missed out on ‘Look Around’ Dead Prez & Beatnuts…. That’s known as jewelry around my homies. Wordup

  • Money Mitch

    I agree mega’s r u my nigga should def be on this list! Or it ain’t where you from it’s where you at with g rap and prodigy! And isn’t onyx from jamaica queens not qb?

  • http://xxlmag jayruckNYC

    Why do people wanna include artist and songs by people that aren’t from Queensbridge? It’s a QB list. Meaning no songs N.O.R.E (Lefrak), Kool G Rap (Corona) or Onyx (Southside Jamaica) should be included. Royal Flush (Flushing) and the Beatnuts (Corona) are also not from QB. Droppin Science by Craig G should definitely be on the list. Take off T.O.N.Y.

    • El Tico Loco

      I thought so too. Craig G and Screwball rightfully belong on that list.

  • ff1one@yahoo.com

    QB held me down. mad resepct to the movement. To many egos…otherwise they coulda still been running the game.

  • oskamadison

    Snatch that damn Roxanne’s Revenge off there and TONY and replace with 2 (unbelievably)overlooked joints: MC Shan’s “I Pioneered This” (if he would have dropped this in ’95, ’96, he would have sonned the entire second wave of QB cats) and Tragedy’s “Live Motivator” (check the post on unkut.com from like July, “The Birth Of the Queensbridge Rhyme Style”. that joint was definitely the blueprint.)

  • The Decatur Dictator

    Can’t y’all, see that he’s fake, the rap version of TD Jakes
    Prophesying on your CD’s and tapes
    Won’t break you a crumb of the little bit that he makes
    And this is with whom you want to place your faith?
    I put dollars on mine, ask Columbine
    When the Twin Towers dropped, I was the first in line
    Donating proceeds off every ticket sold
    When I was out on the road, that’s how you judge Hov, no?
    Ain’t I supposed to be absorbed myself?
    Every time there’s a tragedy, I’m the first one to help
    They call me this misogynist, but they don’t call me the dude
    To take his dollars to give gifts at the projects
    These dudes is all politics, depositing checks
    they put in they pocket, all you get in return is a lot of lip
    And y’all buy the shit, caught up in the hype
    Cause the nigga wear a coofie, it don’t mean that he bright
    Cause you don’t understand him, it don’t mean that he nice
    It just means you don’t understand all the bullshit that he write
    Is it “Oochie Wally Wally” or is it “One Mic”?
    Is it “Black Girl Lost” or shorty owe you for ice?
    I’ve been real all my life, they confuse it with conceit
    Since I will not lose, they try to help him cheat
    But I will not lose, for even in defeat
    There’s a valuable lesson learned, so it evens up for me
    When the grass is cut, the snakes will show
    I gotta thank the little homie Nas for that though
    Saving me the hassle of speaking to half of these assholes
    And I’ma let karma catch up to Jaz-O, whoa
    I’m back before you had a chance to miss me
    My mama can’t save you this time, niggas is history
    Who you know flow vicious as me?
    Yet so religiously, that’s why they call me Hov
    I get the spoils cause the victor is me (me, nigga)
    You’re an actor, you’re not who you’re depicted to be
    The street dreamin, all y’all niggas living through me
    I gave you life when niggas was forgetting you emcee
    I’m a legend, you should take a picture with me
    You should be happy to be in my presence, I should charge you a fee
    I’m Big Dog, Glenn Rob, listen God you a flea
    And the little homey Jungle is a garden to me
    What’s the problem B? You not as hard as me
    Nigga hard as we, nigga R O C, nigga
    That’s why they follow me, they feel my pain and my agony, nigga
    I won’t rest till you on one knee
    You want war then it’s war’s gonna be, nigga
    Until you on one knee, you want war then it’s war’s gonna be, nigga

  • Da Boy 2 Watch

    I say, the bridge is over, the bridge is over, biddy-bye-bye!
    The bridge is over, the bridge is over, hey, hey!
    The bridge is over, the bridge is over, biddy-bye-bye!
    The bridge is over, the bridge is over

    You see me come in any dance wid de spliff of sensei
    Down with the sound called BDP
    If you want to join the crew well you must see me
    Ya can’t sound like Shan or the one Marley
    Because Shan and Marley Marl dem-a-rhymin like they gay
    Pickin up the mic, mon, dem don’t know what to say
    Sayin that hip-hop started out in Queensbridge
    Sayin lies like that, mon, you know dem can’t live
    So I, tell them again, me come to tell them again, gwan!
    Tell them again, me come to tell them agaaain
    Tell them again, me come to tell them again, gwan!
    Tell them again, me come to te-ell them
    Manhattan keeps on makin it, Brooklyn keeps on takin it
    Bronx keeps creatin it, and Queens keeps on fakin it

  • that nigga

    Cormega’s “A Beautiful Mind”. There are tooo many Nas songs to list. And half these niggas aint from QB? Who the fuck blogged this article? Dumb asses never do there homework. And postin’ lyrics against the QB’s Finest? Wow,thats corny.

  • MARS

    That Cormega joint is questionable….Replace that with CNN-Blood Money. Ehh…10 is too smalla number anyway…QB was killing shit all-together back then. I’m a Philly/Jersey dude but I miss that era something terrible.. Cormega, Nas, Ali Vegas, Nature, CNN etc….Them niggas had style.

  • Pingback: XXLmag.com - » “One Love” or “One Mic” - Chose One is Your Favorite Nas Track

  • leutrim rexhaj

    this list was bad, roxanne shante, mc shan, and oochie wally shouldnt be here and the infamous mobb song isnt a classic like the rest
    i would say:

    ny state of mind
    symphony
    shook ones pt. 2
    t.o.n.y
    loyalty
    the true meaning
    thun & kicko
    give up the goods
    right back at you
    i gave you power