Outkast - Da Art of Storytellin' (Part 1) - 1998

Lots of people with tell you that Andre 3000 is one of the greatest rappers of all time, despite never having released a full solo album.  It's songs like Da Art of Storytellin' (Part 1) that place him comfortably in this bracket.

Big Boi opens up the song (that some of you may recognise from the J. Cole song that sampled it and slapped it in the face) with a decent enough storytelling verse about a girl that is... let's say "well known" around town that calls him up for a bit of fun. Big Boi clearly has very little respect for this woman, Suzy Screw, but that's not gonna stop him from meeting up with her.  She gives him head in the parking lot and he goes about his ways.  So far, pretty good song right?

Turns out that Big Boi was just laying the groundwork for what was about to happen as 3 Stacks delivers one of the best verses in the whole of Hip Hop, telling the story of Suzy's friend, Sasha Thumper.  It's one of the only verses that gives me goosebumps every time I hear it thanks to a mixture of the lyrics and the intense delivery.  It's incredible and you really just have to hear it for yourself but I'm just gonna leave you with THE standout timeless line that any self respecting hip hop fan should recognise immediately:

Talkin' bout what we gonna be when we grow up
 I said "What you wanna be?"  She said "Alive"

Chills.

Cypress Hill - Dr. Greenthumb (1998)

I saw a gardening truck down the street from me today with "Greenthumb" pasted on the side and it reminded me of this classic track.

You can probably guess that Cypress Hill aren't rapping about gardening and you can also probably guess what they are rapping about, but regardless this song is brilliant. Classic Cypress Hill bouncy Muggs beat, classic Cypress Hill infectious hook, classic good fun Cypress Hill verses...it's just classic Cypress Hill from their underrated album Cypress Hill IV.

That's six times I've written Cypress Hill now. Seven.

Happy Sunday.

DMX - Damien Trilogy (1998-2001)

Dark Man X has plenty of tracks that could fit the bill for Halloween week, but I felt that his classic tale of him making a deal with the devil was the best choice.

The first verse opens with DMX lamenting his bad choices as a struggling rapper and wondering where his guardian angel is.  It's this point that the titular character pops up, promising him the world in return for some loyalty.  At this point X's desperation to succeed mixed with naivety sees him jump at the chance without thinking about it.  As the second verse goes on we hear Damien buttering DMX up nicely with cars, women and glory to the point that he's willingly pledging himself to Damien:

Got me pushing whips, taking trips across seas

Pockets stay laced, nigga I floss Gs

For that nigga I would bleed, give him my right hand

Now that I think about it, Yo, that's my man!

By the final verse, Damien starts calling in his favours, starting with X killing a few guys that Damien is beefing with... then some more... then some more.  DMX is ready to chill for a while but Damien isn't having it and keeps giving him more people to off, culminating in him telling X to kill one of his own friends

Aight fuck it, I'ma do it, who is it this time?

   Ayo remember that kid Sean you used to be with in '89

Naw that's my man

   I thought I was your man

But yo, that's my nigga!

  Hey, who's your biggest fan

  Either do it, or give me your right hand that's what you said

I see now, ain't nothin' but trouble ahead

X has eventually realised what he's got himself in for, but at this point it's too late and there's no way out and it's only gonna get worse.  

The song works brilliantly as a standalone song and it's a chilling story, but things get even darker in the sequels as Damien twists the knife even further and catches X in a vicious cycle of killing for him and then using those killings as leverage to make him do even more.

The Omen with Marilyn Manson is a particular standout for me and the instrumental on it is enough to give you bad dreams.  Easily the darkest of the three, here we see X determined to escape Damien's clutches but he keeps getting dragged back in by bad situations that probably wouldn't have occurred if he'd never met him in the first place.

By the third entry in the trilogy their relationship has become one of true hatred and is basically a back and forth showdown between the two leading to X turning to God to try and find a way out.

The story works on another level as a parallel to the typical gangster story we've seen in many movies, young guys getting dragged into the lifestyle for the promise of the glory without realising what they're sacrificing until it's much too late.  The more they try to escape, the worse it gets.

Method Man - Perfect World/Judgement Day (1998)

Starting off Halloween week with a double dose of Method Man, with the album opener and the apocalyptic title track off his second solo album, Tical 2000: Judgement Day.

The album was released in late 1998 and played heavily off the many theories going around that the world was going to end as we knew it as we joined the next millennium. The album intro has a new year's countdown that ends with an explosion to set the tone for what follows.

Perfect World is the first proper track on the album and Meth lays out the scene for us all to see over a creepy RZA beat. The picture he paints is horrible even though Meth's character sounds right at home. 

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the track is that the more you examine the lyrics, the more you realise that he's not necessarily describing a far off land but that much of what he's talking about us going on in the streets today.

The intro to the title track which acts as a closer to the album is about a minute long and has the Ticallion Stallion growling some warnings of how civilisation collapsed with some disturbing groans in the background before he descends into horrible screams of "I like the death, I like the misery, I LIKE THIS WOOOOOORRRRLLLD!"
As the song kicks in proper with a futuristic instrumental co produced by Method Man & 4th Disciple, Meth lays out just how fragile society is and how easily it could fall into a nightmare scenario following a catastrophic event.

The video is available below and also well worth checking out for the apocalyptic imagery and Meth looking creepy as fuck!