I've been in a Aaliyah mood ever since I made this post earlier this week.
One of the most underrated things about 90s Hip Hop is the rappers giving us luxury raps. Most of them were speaking about things they didn't know about, didn't experience, or couldn't afford. But who cares? The shit sounded fly. It was really manifestation raps, if we're keepin' it a bean. And it inspired fans like myself to want a taste of the designer clothes, foreign cars, and vacation trips to places we've never heard of.
There's an old video of 112 playing Anywhere for Diddy and the record label executives at the Bad Boy office. Everybody's vibin' to the song, but if you pay close attention to Diddy, you can see he's prepping to do a bump of coke. The camera pans away as he raised it to his nose, and nobody in the meeting room bats an eye. And during the middle of the chorus, Diddy gets up and yells "It's outta here!" because he knows 112 got themselves a hit record for their second album.
I've never done coke and I will never do it. But in that specific moment, I understood Diddy (sounds insane to say out loud) because Anywhere sounds fucking amazing and nothing like we've ever heard before and after it's release. The production needs to be consumed with non-sober ears. It's a vibe. 😂
And lastly, since I'm on R&B, I orignally thought the nasty man in Chicago written and produced Gots Ta Be for B2K like he did for half of their hits. But to my surprise, it was actually written by Steve Russell of Troop. I didn't know someone from their group where doing behind the scenes work after their run. But his pen was very potent on this hit and the production was knockin'. Arguably B2K's best single.
