Random Hip Hop Facts Part 4

_______________________________________________________________________________ 39.  Talib Kweli recalls first meeting Kanye West at a studio session that Mos Def was unable to attend at the last minute.  I said, “What songs did you do on Beanie Sigel’s album?” He told me “The Truth” and a couple of other songs, and I was like, “Man, those songs are the shit, can you play me some beats?” He played me “Good To You” and “Guerilla Monsoon Rap” and a couple of other beats in that session. I picked those two immediately, like, “Yo, this kid is incredible! Who is this guy?” ² _______________________________________________________________________________ 38.  50 Cent got his name from Kelvin “50 Cent” Martin, a criminal infamous for  robbing rappers.  The original 50 Cent can be seen kneeling in the right bottom corner on the back of Eric B. and Rakim’s Paid in Full album below. ³ _______________________________________________________________________________ 37.  Jay-Z doesn’t cut his hair when he’s recording an album. ⁴  _______________________________________________ 36.  Actor Dustin Hoffman joined Dr. Dre and Eminem during “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” dressed as a mummy on stage in 1999. ⁵ _______________________________________________________________________________ 35.  The Roots, Nas, Destiny’s Child, Alicia Keys, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest were all featured on the Men In Black soundtrack. _______________________________________________________________________________ 34.  Ice Cube was reluctant to play Doughboy in Boyz n the Hood.  Director John Singleton approached Ice Cube to play at various rap shows, and he eventually took the role.  Singleton also encouraged Ice Cube to write screenplays, and Friday came to fruition. ⁶ _______________________________________________________________________________ 33.  Nas originally delivered a nearly 60-bar run that he later broke up for the song “NY State of Mind.”  “He did the whole first verse in one take,” recalled DJ Premier, who produced the track. “He stopped and said, ‘Does that sound cool?’ And we were all like, ‘Oh, my God.’ ” ⁷ _______________________________________________________________________________ 32.  UGK‘s Ridin’ Dirty was greatly influenced by 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me. _______________________________________________________________________________ 31.  Though he is greatly associated with West Coast rap, Ice-T was born in Newark, New Jersey. ⁸ _______________________________________________________________________________ References: ^{1. [http://www.bonappetit.com/people/celebrities/article/we-ask-andre-3000-the-tough-questions-e-g-kale-or-collards]↩ 2. [Complex Magazine http://www.complex.com/music/2012/06/talib-kweli-breaks-down-his-25-most-essential-songs/talib-kweli-guerilla-monsoon-rap]↩ 3. [Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin_Martin]↩ 4. [MTV http://newsroom.mtv.com/2009/06/08/jay-zs-grows-hair-for-art-mystery-women/]↩ 5. [MTV http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1428638/eminem-dr-dre-joined-onstage-by-dustin-hoffman.jhtml]↩ 6. [IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101507/trivia?item=tr0625682 ]↩ 7. [Rolling Stone Magazine http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-50-greatest-hip-hop-songs-of-all-time-20121205/nas-n-y-state-of-mind-19691231]↩ 8. [Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice-T]↩}