Soul Fixin'

Paying Homage To Black Moses

VH1 decided to not only honor Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Slick Rick & Too $hort, the network also paid homage to a man who created music that directly influenced hip hop and Southern rap in particular, at the Annual Hip Hop Honors show. Chuck D, Mos Def, Cee Lo, Scarface, and Estelle all took part in the musical tribute, performing songs that sampled the everlasting music of Black Moses. Scarface took to the stage at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom and kicked his verse from the Geto Boys 'Mind Playing Tricks On Me,' which sampled Hayes' 'Hung Up On My Baby,' Chuck D concluded the tribute with 'Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos,' which samples 'Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic.' The show, hosted by Tracey Morgan, airs tonight at 10, following the finale of I Want To Work For Diddy. You'd be a fool to miss it.

Soul Fixin'

VH1 Crowns 'Fight The Power' # 1
VH1 wrapped up its' countdown of the '100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs' Friday night. Public Enemy's militant anthem 'Fight The Power' proudly claimed the number one spot. If you were able to catch all five episodes of the countdown, I'm sure you were proud to see that many of hip hop's pioneers have not fallen by the wayside and are doing quite well. Wasn't it surprising to hear that Roxanne Shante is now Dr. Roxanne Shante? Yes, Roxanne Shante is a psychologist, with her own practice in Queens, NY. I'm sure no one was shocked to see that Biz Markie is still silly as hell.  I'm sure we were all quite satisfied with the Top 10, but I'm sure we were all surprised with some of the other songs that made the list. My side eye was in full time jack mode at times. While Lil John & The Eastside Boyz club banger 'Get Low' sounded great in the club, is it really worthy of being on the list?. What the hell was VH1 thinking when they included Camron's 'Oh Boy,' L'Trimm's  'Cars With The Boom, 'and Three 6 Mafia's 'Hard Out Here For A Pimp' on the list. Are these people serious? Tupac made an appearance on the list, 'I Get Around' ranked in at #14. Am I the only person that knows that 'Brenda's Got A Baby,' 'Dear Mama,' and 'Keep Your Head', to name a few, are far greater than 'I Get Around.' Kanye's 'Gold Digger', Missy's 'Get Ur Freak On' and 50's 'In Da Club' were all in the Top 20. WTF?? Did the girls from Rock of Love have a hand in making this list? When it was all said and done, I stared at television in disbelief when I realized that Southern rap music pioneer and every rappers' favorite rapper, Scarface, was absent from the list. I give VH1 credit for including 'Mind Playing Tricks On Me' but my hip hop side eye was in full effect. VH1 owes 'Face an apology and his own reality show. Hopefully, my side eye won't rear its ugly head tonight while watching VH1's Annual Hip Hop Honors show.

Soul Tracks

Scarface is far removed from the rap world of today. Scarface is a grown ass man who is capable of bringing an entire lifetime of experiences to every recording session. He sits with a class of rappers that include Common, Nas, Jay-Z, Bun B, and Talib Kweli. Scarface, one of the pioneers of Southern rap, has remained relevant in the rap game for twenty years on his own terms. You won't find 'Face following the latest hip-hop trends or prancing around in videos with a shiny suit on. In 2002, the Houston born MC released his critically acclaimed seventh studio endeavor The Fix. The album reads like a gangsters journal, reflecting on the cold blooded nature of the streets and the search for salvation. 'Face fans are well aware that Scarface has no problem acknowledging a higher power and the afterlife in his rhymes. Faith Evans lends her gospel bred vocals to the emotional Neptunes produced track 'Someday.' Kirk Franklin he is not. However, he lays his burdens down like no rapper before him.