I fell in love with hip-hop in middle school. \”Planet Rock\” had been a staple at the skating rink, but my friend Richie was the first person to turn me onto \”Jam On It\” by Newcleus, which kind of blew my mind at the time. If I remember correctly, he wanted to go walk around the neighborhood, but I just wanted to hear that song again.
I don\’t know what it was about really funky beats back then, but man, they just grabbed me by the throat in a way that NOTHING else could. \”Stick \’Em\” by the Fat Boys, or even better — \”Roxanne Roxanne\” by UTFO — with that really sparse but heavy bass and snare just yanked on my ears and demanded a listen…goosebumps on goosebumps.
Probably comes as no surprise that I became a drummer during that time. I didn\’t know what a drum machine was, but I spent HOURS on my set trying to GROOVE like that. LL Cool J, RUN DMC, Eric B. and Rakim, DJ Kool, Rob Base — those beats were just ETCHED into my BRAIN.
But then in \’91, the Tribe flipped the script. I was in my buddy Andrew\’s car when I first heard \”Scenario.\” That bass and organ intro sounded ominous — a jazz song for the road? I had no idea what was coming.
And then the beat dropped.
Good Lord that beat dropped and I honestly didn\’t know what to do with myself. I wanted to bob my head and dance and jump out of the car and just go crazy. It was PURE ELATION. And then the rhymes! Phife had this sort of high, gruff voice, while Q-Tip came with this smooth, nasally thing that almost sounded fake. Then Busta Rhymes comes in sounding like some kind of tribal warrior thumping his chest — \”RAWR RAWR LIKE A DUNGEON DRAGON!\” I was absolutely hooked for life.
Little did I know what other sonic wonders awaited me on that album. \”Excursions\” with it\’s simple upright bass and the pop of that snare; \”Buggin\’ Out\” with Phife\’s \”Yo!\” bringing in this head-snapping beat, over which he raps, \”Microphone check, one two, what is this? The five-foot assassin with the roughneck business;\” \”Check the Rhime\” with those crazy horns; \”The Infamous Date Rape,\” urging young men to get permission before trying to be intimate (not a trending theme in rap songs at the time); and then \”Scenario,\” which frankly just SLAPS so hard to this very day.
\”The Low End Theory\” also really introduced me to the wonder of jazz and funk, genres into which I\’ve immersed myself for years and years since. It\’s the music I turn to when I just want to have fun, feel free and creative, and dance like nobody in the world is watching.
And I honestly can\’t think of an album with better beats and samples than this one. Period.