This edition of Notable Tracks carries a somber tone. I’ve selected two songs this week as a tribute to recently departed artists, as well as one song that reflects on Hip-Hop’s current landscape of beefs (which, I’m sure you’ll be able to distinguish). Let’s dive in.
R.I.P. Mister Cee. As the DJ who basically helped discover The Notorious B.I.G. (and executive produced his first album, Ready To Die), I felt it was only right to feature a track that I first heard on Mister Cee’s The Best Of Notorious B.I.G. mixtape, “Real Niggaz”.
I’ve been listening to “Real Niggaz” a lot for the past few days, and it may now be in my top 5 Biggie songs (Biggie over west coast classics still holds up today). Long live Biggie and Mister Cee.
R.I.P. Rico Wade. As a member of Organized Noize and an architect of Atlanta Hip-Hop, there were many songs I could have picked that the legendary producer had his hand in. I’ll go with a random pick: a song from a little-known group that Rico Wade was part of, “E.M.B.R.A.C.E.” by Society of Soul. Smooth R&B from 1995. Salute to Rico Wade.
This version of “Splash Brothers” is the song Rick Ross was talking about on “Champagne Moments” when he dissed Drake. Drizzy supposedly sent a cease and desist to French Montana to block his verse. A version of this song still appears on Mac & Cheese 5, just with Drake and a different verse from Rick Ross.