Friend: Have you tried the Cheetos cheese puffs?
Me: Yes! I like the OG Cheetos better, but they’re both tasty.
Friend: All these years I’ve been like what is OG.

And that’s how I ended up spending the next hour or two bombarding her with classic hip-hop videos, reliving the days when I would come home from school, make a snack, and spend the afternoon watching Yo! MTV Raps and Rap City, flipping back and forth to see which was playing the better song. I sent her Ice-T’s “OG (Original Gangster)” and mentioned “High Rollers.” The parade of gold rope chains and Kangol hats had begun.

And then there was the time that a bunch of east coast rappers got together and did their version of We Are The World, an anti-gang anthem called “Self Destruction.” Not to be outdone, the west coast followed soon after with “We’re All in the Same Gang.”

I also sent her a personal favorite, Kool Moe Dee’s “I Go To Work,” a classic example of east coast rappers coming from the tradition of being hypemen for DJs. It’s a short skip from Coke La Rock hyping DJ Kool Herc to Kool Moe Dee bragging “you want to know my occupation? I get paid to rock the nation.” (Honorable mention here to Eric B and Rakim’s “Paid in Full,” which features a sample of Ofra Haza’s goth friendly “Im Nin Alu.”)

We skipped forward to Kwame’s “Ownlee Eue,” not his best song but one of his few videos, and definitely something I have rapped with friends in a school bus on the way to a Quiz Bowl competition, silently mouthing the few curse words so we wouldn’t get in trouble.

We were now solidly into when rap was topping charts all over the place. When records stores started using SoundScan devices in 1991, Billboard charts became a true reflection of record sales, and not just what record stores were self-reporting. Overnight, rap filled the hot 100 and the face of pop music changed. The data finally showed what everyone already knew: people, all kinds of people, were buying rap records, and lots of them. Pop music would change forever. Chris Molanphy’s “Hit Parade” podcast did an episode on this, and why “U Cant Touch This” didn’t go to #1, and I cannot recommend it to you strongly enough. Molanphy knows his stuff and it is a joy to listen to him nerd out about it.

Speaking of Hammer, I was also reminded of his video for “2 Legit To Quit.” I am embedding this below because you must, must, must watch this, particularly the interview portion at the beginning, which functions as a bizarre time capsule of 1991: pre-acting career Mark Wahlberg! Freedom Williams! Henry Winkler wearing the world’s biggest shoulder pads! Ralph Tresvant showing that someone should have given him an acting career! Also, I would be doing you a disservice if I did not also link you to Hammer’s “Pumps In a Bump” video, in which he wears a Speedo that is, how do you say, informative. (To his credit, at least he is as scantily-clad as the women…?)

If you have enjoyed any of this, I highly recommend you checking out the Mogul podcast (shout out to my friend Jason for suggesting this to me!). In season 1, they cover the life of Chris Lighty, which goes down a surprisingly heartfelt road when Fat Joe discusses his battle with depression. Season 2 talks about the impact of Miami, specifically 2 Two Live Crew, on hip-hop. Both are excellent and highly recommended.

One last thing, from Ice-T’s “High Rollers:”
You’ll never get caught cause you’ve got nerves of ice
And you’re much smarter than the crooks on Miami Vice…right?

Such sass. I love it.