The History Of Jop Part 20 aka Check it out now the funk soul brother

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

After a short delay, here's the 1998 poll - 25 singles, NINE big picks.


[Poll #866558]


1997: Joptimism In The Wind

1. Your Woman (42 votes)
2. Around The World (37 votes)
3. The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) (34 votes)
4=. Song 2 (31)
4=. Wannabe (31)
6=. Mmmbop (29)
6=. Firestarter (29)
8. Da Funk (27)
9. Brimful Of Asha (26)
10. Block Rockin Beats (25)

Comments

Re: Hrrrm Aaliyah is getting diddled

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, I'd never heard this song (until now) before either!

(Just found it on youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCsYF9OYogI )

I knew of it by reputation of course.

It's a 'happy baby gurgling' beat rather than crying baby beat, an important distinction. It's a good song, yes.

Re: Hrrrm Aaliyah is getting diddled

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

This is true.

I love A's opening line: "Boy, I been watching you - like the hawk in the sky that flies - and you are my prey."

Re: Hrrrm Aaliyah is getting diddled

[koganbot]

Ditto on the greatness of "Somebody" and "Can I Get A..." (though it took me a while to recognize the value of "Are You That Somebody?" - and I'm still miffed that equally good r&b songs on my MTV Party To Go 2000 CD from that era seem all but forgotten: Monica's "First Night," Before Dark's "Come Connect," 702's "Where My Girls At?"). "Can I Get A..." is the most disco Jay-Z's ever gotten (produced by Irv Gotti), and I love Amil's languorous sex appeal on it. (I remember that on the Jay-Z vs. Nas Throwdown thread all those hip-hop guys agreed that Amil was terrible except for one fellow who ventured that he liked her, but then later retracted, and was complimented on his honesty in rethinking his position.) I'm guessing that neither "Can I Get A..." or "Are You That Somebody?" hit big in Britain or else they'd be pulling more votes here.

Re: Hrrrm Aaliyah is getting diddled

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it may be a false impression but my memory is that hip-hop and r&b didn't become POP in the UK until...Kelis and Pink? '99? I certainly don't remember either 'Somebody' or 'Can I Get A' from the time - BUT I was just watching both videos on youtube (neither of which I'd seen before) and my Canadian flatmate, who knows close to zero about pop music, immediately pricked up her ears for both of them and said she hadn't heard them in ages.

Amil is definitely brilliant on CIGA! She reminds me of Rasheeda. What else did she do?

I haven't heard ANY of the forgotten songs you mention...

Re: Hrrrm Aaliyah is getting diddled

[raw-patrick.livejournal.com]

"Are You That Somebody" got to eleven which is odd cos I don't remember it at all from the time. "We Need a Resolution" which I remember much more only got to twenty.

"Can I Get A" got to twenty four. There was certainly pop hip-hop before '99 though, even if the entirety of 'mainstream' (whatevs) hip-hop wasn't seen as pop as it maybe is now.

Re: Hrrrm Aaliyah is getting diddled

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

"No Scrubs" and The Writing's On The Wall were big R&B consciousness-raisers.

Re: Hrrrm Aaliyah is getting diddled

[koganbot]

Amil had an album on Roc-A-Fella called All Money Is Legal, generally not as effective as her guest shots with Jay-Z but has interesting stuff. First track is an undisguised death wish ("Is it a blessing 2 live or a blessing 2 die?/Let me finish out this hell with no questions why"), best track is "Girlfriend," a nursery-style chant where she goes "See, I'm gon tell your girlfriend/That you been doin more than flirtin/Where you at when you say you're workin/Yeah I'm gon tell your girlfriend." Most adventurous is "Get Down," which builds itself around a sample of Ivan Julian's twisting/jittering guitar intro to Richard Hell's "Blank Generation."