The Epitome of The "S" Word

This is the age where the word “Swagg” or “Swagger” is SO overused and misused. The notion of just having swagger is overrated because so many people have the idea that it replaces having talent. It’s really been embedded into the minds of newer Hip Generations that “Swagg” is the end all to be a successful rapper. I even heard a radio promo a while back where they were looking for new artists and the actually formed their mouth to say “Everybody knows that the industry is based on swag”! Just to let the uninformed know, it’s not a replacement but an enhancement and a quick fix for a more serious underlying issue – Whackness! I will check into rehab after this for saying the S word so much. It’s out of hand and must be stopped. All it really means is to have style and presence.

Camp Lo is still one of my favorite duos of all time and had the S word and rhymes to pass around three or four times. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t remember the song that put them on the map “Luchini – This is it”. That came out and it was so awkward because it didn’t fit the mold for anything that was going on at the time. There was Wu Tang, Death Row, Bad Boy, Master P, Redman and others that made Hip Hop balanced. What made it awkward was their delivery of their subject matter. It’s heavy on inference and metaphors. To really understand some of the things that were going on, it was mandatory to listen a few times. There were back stories and heavy references to diamond heists and other hustles and scams hence, the album title “Uptown Saturday Night” which was a 70’s movie starring Bill Cosby and Sidney Portier who had to outhustle the big time hustlers in the city.

Bronx bred MC’s Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suade shoot slick talk in its purest form. The wordplay these two cats have is superb and it’s matched with the swagger (in its intended meaning). It’s the kind of music you really want to listen to because there’s always a new jewel to find with every repeat. I listen to it and hear about weed selling, champagne popping, and endless women, but it’s presented in such a sophisticated way that you don’t sit back and think to yourself “I’m too old to be listening to this goofy isht”. It’s some cool isht. Beyond that, these cats spit hot fire like Dylan, Dylan, Dylan. I remember pulling up at a grocery store parking lot blasting this and the white guy who was parked next to me was getting into his car and just stopped. I got out and the first thing he said to me was, “It’s not just every day that you hear somebody ridin’ around bumpin’ Camp Lo”. I wasn’t surprised that he was white at all because of the four people that I’ve had a Camp Lo conversation with in the past few years, two of them were white. I was more surprised how random it was that somebody recognized it and made an extra effort to speak on it.

I don’t know the back story on the politics of their industry business dealings and why they have at least four studio albums that with the exception of “Uptown Saturday Night” received little to no mainstream buzz. A damn shame in my opinion because if we talk about Hip Hop duo’s of all time, they’re in the top 5 hands down if the criteria is based on solid material. They also released the “Short Eyes” EP in Japan that I heard about way after the fact. That’s how you get things done; send it overseas where people appreciate you. I say, when you get a chance look these cats up and YouTube them so you can get some spiritual enlightenment. All aspiring MC’s, take note and I’m not gonna tell you not to bite because I don’t think that this can be recreated, but I will say use this as how to guide to marry skill with the dreaded S word.

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