I’d like to give a big shout out to my homie Kirk – aka “The Captain” – for hollering at me out of nowhere to recommend Celph Titled & Buckwild’s new album “Nineteen Ninety Now.” I almost didn’t download this shit, because I thought I had grown tired of nineties era throwback albums. But in reality, I guess I just grew tired of WACK nineties era throwback albums.

Celph Titled & Buckwild received the most plays in my iPod this week. In fact, this is pretty much all I listened to all week. Click the links below to check out some of their music:

1. Album of the Week: “Nineteen Ninety Now“
2. Video of the Week: Mad Ammo
3. Quotable of the Week: I Could Write A Rhyme
4. Track of the Week: Miss Those Days

I normally don’t post nostalgic hip-hop songs that talk about some past golden era of hip-hop. I guess I’ve just got tired of them, as it seems like every emcee these days makes a throwback track. But I made an exception for this week’s track of the week. Celph Titled & Buckwild’s Miss Those Days is an ode to hip-hop from the ’90s, and is a good example of the duo’s direction in their new throwback album “Nineteen Ninety Now.”

Something about this track just makes me feel relaxed, and the theme hits well for me this time of year, as everybody starts to reminisce about the end of the decade. Click below to listen to Celph Titled & Buckwild’s Miss Those Days:

[See post to listen to audio]

And proceed through the break to follow along with the lyrics.

[Chorus]
It’s like those days are still so fresh on my mind/
Seems like yesterday when I started writing my rhymes/
And I miss those days when look back over my life/
Though things done changed, I miss those good times/

[Verse 1]
Shit will never be the same/
I can picture it but never explain/
Memories stain every inch of my brain/
And pump through my veins/
How Grand Puba had the Tommy Hill locked down/
And how that Cool Water smelled, back then not now/
Backpacks and Starter caps, outfits didn’t match/
Which reminds me that the nineties was the aftermath of crack/
Girls had they name on they necklace, a gold cross/
Overalls folded at the ankles with stonewash/
Rza rocking all them beats, Sega with the Altered Beast/
Wasn’t safe to walk the streets with Jordan sneakers on your feet/
Rappers had you thinking white girls had no butt/
And white boys either rocked the mullet or bowl cut/
I’d give a motherfucking million dollars to go back/
To show with the soul clap, King Solo can’t hold back/
Magic admitted he had it/
But he ain’t an addict or faggot/
If you need ‘em I got crazy prophylactics/

[Chorus]
It’s like those days are still so fresh on my mind/
Seems like yesterday when I started writing my rhymes/
And I miss those days when look back over my life/
Though things done changed, I miss those good times/

[Verse 2]
Al Roker was fat, Ben Franklin’s face was small/
To many Florida felons, there came that three strikes law/
When Benz had the round lights, Lexus was the new whip/
Crews were rolling deep in Jeeps smoking on that Thai stick/
That chocolate lamb spread before they perfected hydro/
Five dollar bag gets you that skunk or that Cambo/
Kids bought CDs from Biohazard and Anthrax/
Supersized fast food; what the fuck was a Transfat?/
Pam Anderson, Anna Nicole, Carmen Electra/
Miss my people going off, I miss the G-Funk era/
Early to mid nineties was the greatest of all times/
Pac, Biggie, Big L, Eazy E and Pun were all alive/
It was either flavor or P-H-A-T/
Arsenio, the Wayans and Martin Lawrence was on TV/
These are oldies but goodies/
Difference of OGs and rookies/
Shit was good when Billy Clinton was getting Lewinsky pussy/

[Chorus]
It’s like those days are still so fresh on my mind/
Seems like yesterday when I started writing my rhymes/
And I miss those days when look back over my life/
Though things done changed, I miss those good times/

This week’s hip-hop quotable is I Could Write A Rhyme, a track from Celph Titled & Buckwild’s “Nineteen Ninety Now” – which has been bumping on my iPod all week. While there are several songs I could feature from this week’s album, I picked this track because I have a thing for well done autobiographical songs. I Could Write A Rhyme uses three dope verses to tell the story of Celph Titled’s beginnings in hip-hop, as well as his rise to his current position. Click below to listen to Celph Titled & Buckwild’s I Could Write A Rhyme:

[See post to listen to audio]

And proceed through the break to follow along with the lyrics.

[Verse 1]
Y’all got Celph Titled questions, I got Celph Titled answers/
On how I started, how I represent Tampa/
I know you’re used to hearing me on some wildin’ out shit/
Yelling out the top of my lungs how my nine gon’ spit/
But I got more styles and sick/
And I been doing this for Fahrenheit 813 since ninety-three/
I been making beats and writing rap sheets/
Mischievous teenager/
With a creative outlet to release anger/
Booty shake bass music I was into that/
Poison clan, 2 Live Crew, that’s what got me into rap/
Looping tracks with fast high hats and 808s/
Four track machine with the high speed cassette tape/
Now keep in mind I was a fan/
But as emcees we all are/
And very few of us become stars/
When from blasting Magic Mike to grabbing a mic/
Tried to sound like Spice 1 and not Rapper’s Delight/
From E40 to Ice Cube/
The West Coast had a lot to do with the type of beats I’d write to/
But still the Juice Crew was one of my faves/
Never discriminated whether New York or LA/
And around the mid nineties/
I became fascinated with the Lord Finesse style of slick rhyming/
The Redmans, the Big Ls the Das EFX/
Ras Kass and Chino XL type of records/
So guess what? Celph Titled emerged/
Bowling ball style running through pins author of murderous words/
And I was set to rip every verse I put down/
Seventeen years old and at rapping I’m pretty good now/

[Verse 2]
I’m from a city that don’t have much hip-hop roots/
So I felt compelled to form a hip-hop group/
See I was once on some go against the norm/
Flow fast and write rhymes in complex forms/
It was kinda ill at the time/
‘Cause really the only other choice was Puffy and Mase/
And the Big Willy club joints/
So I got my act together/
And eventually met two other emcees that rapped together/
We was all on that underground vibe/
Cella Dwellas, Kool Keith, Tribe and Organized/
I was kinda out of my mind – a weird guy/
Cut designs in my facial hair, fucked around with beard dye/
It was me, Majik and Dutch and we had a lot of fun/
Thought we was smart, named ourselves Equilibrium/
And had a label called Atomic/
With Walkman and Cramtronics laying down cuts on it/
I stayed poly and twenty-four-seven/
And in 1997 started recording our first record/
Then my phone rang, didn’t know who it was from/
Some guy that called himself Apathy the Alien Tongue/
Heard I had production, and I could rhyme too/
He was from up north, and knew some Jedi Mind dudes/
Plus he had a crew better than any squad/
A couple months later they was calling me a Demigod/
I started shopping my demo aggressively/
Landed on the desk of Buds Distribution NYC/
Next thing you know I got a single on wax/
And an offer for a job in New York, so my bags was packed/

[Verse 3]
Now I’m nineteen and a Floridian in New York/
White Cuban boy that says nigga and eats pork/
So you could call me foul/
But back then I didn’t care/
I would do whatever to catch a listener’s ear/
So I submerged myself in the local scene/
Nuyorican, Wetlands, Tramp, Speed, SOBs/
That guy Apathy, he’s from Connecticut/
So we would link up and write songs to make records with/
The label I was messing with, they was feeling it/
So then we had vinyl distribution at our fingertips/
The Demigodz onslaught was in full motion/
Twenty singles in 2000 with no promotion/
My name was everywhere for beats or for features/
But best believe I had a fuckload of nonbelievers/
Masterminded an underground persona/
Dirty mouth punchline wild animal down to bring the drama/
I made a lot of friends from Boston to Philly/
Never thought this many heads would say they really feeling me/
So you gotta respect that/
And when Vinnie Paz asked me to join the Army I was like, ‘Bet that’/
Then Jimmy Iovine’s assistant insisted/
That me and Apathy make a little visit for business/
The deal fell, but Atlantic picked Ap up/
We expanded the Godz in LA with more rappers/
Then Cage got smacked up/
I remember punching him/
I remember pressing up his diss songs and chumping him/
I remember having him so scared/
Chain smoking in the backroom at his show just cause I was there/
He was drugged up and panicked, couldn’t face me he was frantic/
Snuck behind with a bottle and then he ran quick/
That’s how a little man fights a giant/
Cowardly lion and god strike me down if I’m lying/
But I moved passed that, it’s all gravy/
I was on an album executively produced by Jay-Z/
Tours with Mike Shinoda/
Getting paper with Fort Minor/
My worldwide exposure is a sore reminder/
To those who think I’m gonna disappear/
But it’s pretty obvious that I ain’t going nowhere/
I am a haters worst nightmare that got fans/
And I gain more and more every time I drop jams/

This week’s hip-hop video of the week is Celph Titled & Buckwild’s Mad Ammo, a track from this week’s featured album “Nineteen Ninety Now.” Mad Ammo features FT and R.A. the Rugged Man.

Celph Titled & Buckwild “Nineteen Ninety Now” Album Review
Celph Titled & Buckwild’s “Nineteen Ninety Now” is the perfect album for this type of year. Since I spend the majority of the year covering serious hip-hop, I always find myself around December thirsting for some of that fun, battle-ish, masculine braggadocio type of shit I used to listen to back in high school. That type of hip-hop feeds into the nostalgia of the end of the year, and gives me party bumps to play during New Year’s Eve celebrations. Luckily, Celph Titled & Buckwild’s ’90s era throwback album “Nineteen Ninety Now” hit the top of my review stack right in time for this December mode I’m in.

Why I Like This Album?

1. Shit is mad funny – Probably ninety percent of Celph Titled & Buckwild’s “Nineteen Ninety Now” consists of battle raps. Some are serious diss tracks, while others are comedic compilations of hilarious punchlines and clever rhyme schemes. Half the shit Celph says on this album has me geeking out uncontrollably every morning on the train ride to work. Tracks like The Deal Maker, Swashbuckling, Mad Ammo, Tingin’, Step Correctly, and Where I Are are all funny ass songs that contain countless laughable quotables.

One good example is from the song F*ckmaster Sex, in which Celph Titled lays down the following verse that cracks me up every time I hear it:

Got a groupie on my jock, and she want me to bang it raw/
The tramp is a stankin whore/
She’ll give you a canker sore/
She give up ass often/
And it wasn’t a MySpace time stamp that she had the last log in/
Not an assumption, and it ain’t complicated man/
‘Cause she gon’ blow either way like an oscillating fan/
I’m like James Bond in a tricked out Viper/
And you’re just Pierce Brosnan in Mrs. Doubtfire/
Yeah I am fuckmaster sex, no split personalities here/
I go from pimpin’ to being weird like Outkast’s career/
Bitch I’ll stick the fork in it and won’t spoon later/
They will find the stains on Room Raiders/
I’m in the kitchen with a Ruben Studdard/
Reuben cutter abuse your mother won’t use a rubber/
The damn bitch is like a sandwich all stuffed and greasy/
Bust a nut in a hoagie and create a new subspecies/

2. The diss tracks are hard – While some battle tracks on “Nineteen Ninety Now” are funny, others are more hardcore diss tracks that are just plain mean. And you know what? I like that shit. I’m tired of the polite nature with which rappers battle each other nowadays. Back in the ’90s, there was none of that – and several songs on this album are reminiscent of that style of battling. Tracks like Eraserheads, Hardcore Data, There Will Be Blood, and Styles Ain’t Raw are all more serious and rude diss tracks that will have you battling your rear view mirror in the car with no regard for it’s feelings whatsoever.

One good example of this type of diss track is Wack Juice, an ode to the scores of shitty self-proclaimed Internet sensation rappers. The following verse by Celph Titled really hit home with me, because he seems to be talking about half the people that send me their music these days:

Motherfucker I came to set it off/
What you mad for?/
These amateurs destroyed the whole rap platform/
Think I’m wrong? Check the facts/
You’d be hard pressed to find a fan that’s just a fan that don’t rap/
Everybody got a song, everybody got a mixtape/
Bragging ’bout the verses that they purchased off of MySpace/
They ain’t buying records/
They working on their records/
And posting bulletins the make sure you heard their records/
I get fan mail, you write SPAM mail/
All about your CD that for some reason just can’t sell/
I wonder, ‘Why is that?’ Is your flow not hard?/
Lyrics ain’t on point, production not up to par?/
Or ah you don’t spit hot enough bars?/
Or ’cause you’re little Timmy and you’re just fucking soft?/
Your voice sound lame as hell/
You can’t command the track, plus you use the mic that came with your Dell/
Made an Internet music page, posted some songs up/
Beg people to check ‘em, but then they say they all suck/

3. Celph can rhyme conscious too – Despite the overly battle-ish vibe on this record, Celph Titled still manages to show his versatility as an emcee by including a couple serious tracks. Being a fan of conscious, lyrical, content-based hip-hop, it makes me look forward to the possibility of Celph ever dropping some sort of concept record that goes beyond battle rhymes and punchlines. Or even if he doesn’t, tracks like the autobiographical quotable of the week I Could Write A Rhyme or the nostalgic track of the week Miss Those Days prove to me that he is indeed capable.

A good example of Celph’s ability to write deeper and more thought-provoking rhymes can be found on Time Travels On, when he drops the following verse about ceasing the day and appreciating your friends and loved ones:

As I get lost in a cloud of smoke/
I just started my day, but it ain’t your normal hours though/
Most of the time the mics rip/
I’m on the night shift/
Seems to be the only time I write shit/
Easier to say to cease the day/
They was here yesterday but now they gone away/
I hope it ain’t lights out/
I hope it’s something nice on the other side/
Even though I spit lyrics that make mothers cry/
Memories fade every minute that pass (by)/
But when I’m gone you’ll still hear my voice when the song blast (right)/
So make the best of your time here/
Let your loved ones know that you care/
‘Cause they ain’t always gonna be there/
Better plant seeds for your future to grow/
Don’t procrastinate, bullshit or move too slow/
I used to be depressed about this life of mine/
But now the clock is my medicine, I get better with time/
Time travels on/

4. The beats are dope – Despite the fact that I’ve spent this entire review talking about Celph Titled’s rhymes (what can I say, the site’s called Hip-Hop Linguistics), the thing that put this whole album together and made it work was Buckwild’s beats. Being a fan of ’90s era hip-hop myself, the production on this album really hit home with that nostalgic vibe of groovy samples, hard kicks and snares, and boom bap backdrops. When I found out that these were not new beats, but a bunch of leftovers Buck made back in the day, it made sense. Either way, pulling decade old beats out of the cellar for use on a new record turned out to be a great idea in this instance.

Overall, I highly recommend that you check out this album. Celph Titled & Buckwild’s “Nineteen Ninety Now” offers something for you whether or not you’re a fan of ’90s era hip-hop. And if you aren’t, maybe you’ll be after hearing this record. Peace.

Celph Titled & Buckwild “Nineteen Ninety Now” Track Listing:

1. The Deal Maker
2. Out To Lunch (feat. Treach | Naughty By Nature)
3. Eraserheads (feat. Vinnie Paz | Jedi Mind Tricks)
4. F*ckmaster Sex
5. Swashbuckling (feat. Apathy | Ryu & Esoteric)
6. I Could Write A Rhyme
7. Hardcore Data
8. Mad Ammo (feat. F.T. & R.A. The Rugged Man)
9. Tingin’
10. There Will Be Blood (feat. Sadat X | Grand Puba | AG | OC & Diamond D)
11. Miss Those Days
12. Step Correctly
13. Wack Juice
14. Styles Ain’t Raw (feat. Apathy & Chino XL)
15. Where I Are
16. Time Travels On (feat. Majik Most & Dutchmassive)

Living in NYC, I come across so many fair weather Jets fans who have jumped on the bandwagon since the team’s big playoff run last year. And it’s annoying as fuck. Two years ago, I could go to any bar in Brooklyn and catch my slowly up-and-coming Cleveland Browns (who sadly lost an overtime nail biter to the Jets a couple weeks back) on TV. Now every bar I go to is filled with a new wave of Jets fans, and the bartenders refuse to turn to the Browns game.

But being a fan of a struggling team myself, I can appreciate the die hard cats who have always stuck with their team like Strange Famous Records’ artist Prolyphic. This video is for his track NY Jets – a song about the anxiety involved in being a Jets fan in years past. Luckily the team has battled back from years of struggle, and is pretty much a lock for the Wild Card playoff spot this year. Congrats to the Jets, but watch out for my Browns next year!

If you like this track, you can download it for FREE here.

Eligh became one of my favorite members of the Living Legends crew a couple years back when they dropped the “Classic” album. That album dropped right after I started HHL, and it was back when I was transcribing all the lyrics from a record before reviewing it.

While I was listening to “Classic,” I wrote down all my favorite verses to feature in the album review. And when I went back to read through them all, I realized that Eligh had some of my favorite verses from that album – which is saying a lot, since “Classic” is definitely a classic album in my mind, receiving a five star rating back in ’05. Ever since, I have been an apt follower of Eligh and the rest of the Living Legends crew.

So it was no surprise to me that the most played hip-hop album on my iPod this week was Eligh’s “Grey Crow.” Click the links below to check out some of Eligh’s music:

1. Album of the Week: “Grey Crow“
2. Video of the Week: Miss Busdriver (Rachel)
3. Quotable of the Week: When I’m A Dad
4. Track of the Week: Love Ov My Life

This week’s underground hip-hop video of the week is Eligh’s Miss Busdriver (Rachel), a track from this week’s featured album “Grey Crow.”

It was very difficult picking out just one featured quotable from Eligh’s “Grey Crow” – as the album was filled with dope lyrical and quotable tracks. But I picked this one because it is a song about future intentions, which I found very creative. When I’m A Dad is a song about things Eligh plans to teach his children when he becomes a father. The track touches on things that happened to Eligh as a child, and how they will influence the type of father he will be. Click below to listen to Eligh’s When I’m A Dad:

[See post to listen to audio]

And proceed through the break to follow along with the lyrics.

[Verse 1]
I could try to say that I was never one to run/
But I was never one to stay/
My daddy never taught me how/
To knock a motherfucker out/
I lay in bed and dred the day/
Ahead, a scrawny kind of kid/
Talking on his back/
I never told my friends that I was tortured by the fact/
That I was in the minority, ’cause where my school was at/
South Central Los Angeles/
Wouldn’t trade it for the world/
Adams and 32nd/
More to this man you mention/
In it’s essence evolved music, so how can I forget that/
In the first grade, I met that, fell in love and made that mine/
I never regret that when I think about the times/
When fat boys wanted to kick my ass for nothing in my mind/
Was stressed daily; now it’s funny, but then/
I learned to pray to god because I couldn’t tell my friends/
That I was bullied on the block, psychologically getting punked/
I never really got once or jacked for my lunch money/
But on the yard like a jailor kept my eyes peeled/
Fifth grade on the battlefield, man that shit was real/
But on the yard like a jailor kept my eyes peeled/
Fifth grade on the battlefield, man that shit was real/

[Chorus]
I will never run again and when I am a dad/
Put my kids on everything that I could never grab/
Teach them how to fight because the world is going mad/
Teach then how to love because that’s all we really have/
Love is number one to give my kids when I’m a dad/
Music number two because that’s what I’m all about/
I kiss them on the forehead when they sit there looking sad/
Shout out loud I will be there on the bow/

I will never run again and when I am a dad/
Put my kids on everything that I could never grab/
Teach them how to fight because the world is going mad/
Teach then how to love because that’s all we really have/
Love is number one to give my kids when I’m a dad/
Music number two because that’s what I’m all about/
I kiss them on the forehead when they sit there looking sad/
Shout out loud I will be there on the bow/

[Verse 2]
The children are the future always have and always will be/
Mine will be protected til the ending if it kills me/
They will know that daddy loved them with a passion/
And put nothing above them even when the world was crashing/
Around us in the end and some would say that’s coming closer/
I put my daughter on my shoulders, lover her til it’s over/
A change in consciousness could be the end of what we know now/
Not earthquakes, tidal waves, and nuclear meltdowns/
Try to be positive in the way I live to generate light/
So if I bring that life into this world to witness daylight/
The love will carry over from killing off all my selfish acts/
Help one other human being a day to get my bass out of hell/
Well runs dry daily, gotta reimburse/
Good beats come first/
I’m crazy in love with my unborn child/
Teach them to care then let them run wild/

[Chorus]
I will never run again and when I am a dad/
Put my kids on everything that I could never grab/
Teach them how to fight because the world is going mad/
Teach then how to love because that’s all we really have/
Love is number one to give my kids when I’m a dad/
Music number two because that’s what I’m all about/
I kiss them on the forehead when they sit there looking sad/
Shout out loud I will be there on the bow/

I will never run again and when I am a dad/
Put my kids on everything that I could never grab/
Teach them how to fight because the world is going mad/
Teach then how to love because that’s all we really have/
Love is number one to give my kids when I’m a dad/
Music number two because that’s what I’m all about/
I kiss them on the forehead when they sit there looking sad/
Shout out loud I will be there on the bow/

This week’s underground hip-hop track of the week is Eligh’s Love Ov My Life, one of my favorite tracks from his new album “Grey Crow.” While it’s a little cliche these days to talk about hip-hop as a woman you’re in love with, this track really hits for me both musically and lyrically – and is one of many relaxing tracks on the new album. Love Ov My Life features verses by fellow Living Legend Luckyiam, and vocals by Paris Hayes. Click below to listen to Eligh’s Love Ov My Life:

[See post to listen to audio]