1. Check The Rhyme- A Tribe Called Quest

• "Back in the days on the boulevard of Linden." "Industry rule number four thousand and eighty, record company people are shady, so kids watch your back 'cause I think they smoke crack, I don't doubt it, look at how they act." This is one of the stand out songs from Tribe's "Low End Theory" album. "Check The Rhyme" features wonderful interplay between MCs Q-Tip and Phife Dawg. This song is also notable for the dis on MC Hammer. I can remember rapping this song with friends in college and deciding before we started who'd take which part (I was always partial to Q-Tip). I can also remember a friend of mine paying a DJ $10 in Clarendon (Arlington) VA to play this song- a worthy investment. If you were to download this song today it is labelled "Check the Rhime". My iPod gets the old spelling thanks to the fact I have it on CD. This of course is also thanks to the Grace Notes database, which is living on borrowed time.

2. Super Bon Bon- Soul Coughing

• "Move upside and let the man go through, let the man go through." "Too fat, fat you must cut lean, you got to take the elevator to the mezzanine." I think I first became aware of this song from the Y-100 Sonic Sessions Volume 1 CD (Y-100 being the modern/alt rock station in Philadelphia in a period known as the 90s). "Super Bon Bon" got airplay but couldn't be classified as a major hit. This song is mesmerizing. I have no idea what it's about, nor do I care to know. "Super Bon Bon" is driven by a bass grove and percussion- the guitar and steel drum parts provide color but nothing more. The lyrics are somehow hypnotic, delivered with such conviction that you get the feeling that something very real is happening here. This song defies the era it came from.

3. When Will They Shoot?- Ice Cube

• "Cuz I bust styles, new styles, standing. . .strong. . . while, others run a hundred miles."
  "When Will They Shoot" is the 1st song (minus the intro) for Ice Cube's "The Predator" album. Musically this song is based on the "stomp, stomp, clap" part of Queen's "We Will Rock You". Lyrically it is based on Ice Cube's ability to drop more profanities per verse than was once thought possible. I met a girl a few summers ago that put "The Predator" on her desert island top 5. On the surface it was pretty impressive (not even considering this was a white chick) but "The Predator" doesn't even come close to Ice Cube's "Death Certificate". On a personal note my 1st bicycle was a 1983 era black Schwinn Predator. O.G.