1994
What is the New Jack Hip Hop Awards?
A few years ago, everyone on alt.rap and the funky-music mailing list was bitchin' about how lame the Grammy's were in general, and especially how weak they were when it came to rap and hiphop.
Thus was born the New Jack Hip Hop Awards.
You decide on the categories. You nominate. You vote. All we do is count and give out the Jacks. You can't blame us.
Got it? Good. Let's begin, shall we?
As nasty as he wants to be is our counter, Tenderloin Waxx.
Phattest Nasty Group
| 36.2% | Gravediggaz |
| 24.7% | Outkast |
| 22.9% | Dogg Pound |
| 16.2% | 2 Live Crew |
Hmmm. Gravediggas take the first Jack of the day with little fuss. Way behind them are Outkast and The Dogg Pound who duked it out in a very close race for second.
Phattest Nasty Male Rapper
| 44.9% | Too $hort |
| 40.8% | Snoop Doggy Dogg |
| 14.3% | Luke |
After being the second place prince for the last two years--first losing to Ice Cube(!) and then Snoop Doggy Dogg--Too $hort finally returns to his nasty throne. He had it most of the way, but Snoop was slowing catching up.
Luke finishes the list near the bottom, only outdoing Red Hot Love Tone's write-in vote.
Phattest Nasty Female Rapper
| 44.4% | Rage |
| 32.2% | Bo$$ |
| 23.3% | Yo-Yo |
No contest. Rage had it all the way.
And it's worth mentioning that far more folks voted for this award than usual. So, nasty female MCs are finally getting their due... which may or may not be a good thing depending upon how you think about it.
Hmmmm.
Phattest Nasty Rap Single
| 60.9% | "Me and my Bitch" by The Notorious BIG (Biggie Smalls) |
| 39.1% | "Toostie Roll" by 69 Boyz |
And BIG wins. And with a sensitive title like that, he deserves it. The 69 Boyz never had a chance (and no, technically, this doesn't count as our first majority win since there were only two folks running).
Phattest Nasty Rap Album
| 38.5% | Doggystyle by Snoop Doggy Dogg |
| 29.8% | 6 Feet Deep by Gravediggaz |
| 24.0% | Non-Fiction by Black Sheep |
| 7.7% | Freak for Life by Luke |
And Snoop takes home the nasty Jack. The Gravediggas keep a respectable lead over Black Sheep while Luke, once again, is left at the bottom.
It was fletch1@mit.edu who counted these.
Phattest Crossover Group
| 47.4% | Digable Planets |
| 29.3% | Beastie Boys |
| 17.2% | Ill Al Scratch |
| 6.1% | Spearhead |
And Digables take. it with no effort whatsoever. Although better loved by eMpTV, the Beastie Boys end up at (a very solid) second. Ill Al Scratch takes third over Michael Franti's Spearhead.
Phattest Crossover Male Rapper
| 27.5% | Heavy D |
| 19.3% | MCA (of The Beastie Boys) |
| 18.3% | Common Sense |
| 14.7% | Keith Murray |
| 11.9% | CL Smooth |
| 8.3% | Michael Franti (from Spearhead) |
And after a huge fall from grace in last year's awards (a dismal fourth place that left him barely ahead of Father MC), it looks like Heavy D has come back in full swing. MCA and Common Sense tried desperately to make up the gap in the end but as you can see, it was too little, too late.
And my main man Franti rounds out the list at the bottom. Doesn't look like the move from Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy has done him well, at least as far as the awards go.
Phattest Crossover Female Rapper
| 54.7% | Queen Latifah |
| 25.5% | Me'Shell NdegeOcello |
| 19.8% | MC Lyte |
And Queen Latifah takes the first majority win of the day by absolutely trouncing the competition. Last year's first place winner, MC Lyte, is at the bottom, not really even a threat to the soulful, funky tunes of Me'Shell.
Phattest Crossover Rap Single
| 21.6% | "Vocab" by The Fugees |
| 20.7% | "I Used to Love Her" by Common Sense |
| 20.7% | "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys |
| 17.2% | "I Remember" by Coolio |
| 12.9% | "Breakfast At Denny's" by Buckshot LeFonque |
| 6.9% | "Where My Homies" by Ill Al Scratch |
And this one was decided on the last day. First place was a back-and-forth thing for the whole race. Really, too close to call, but the contract says we got to call it, so The Fugees win.
Common Sense and The Beastie Boys tie for second. Coolio manages to stay in shouting distance but The Branford/Premier mix and the Ill Al Scratch crew come in waaaay behind (Ill Al also got a write-in, btw, for "I'll Take Her").
Phattest Crossover Rap Album
| 22.9% | Blowout Comb by Digable Planets |
| 22.0% | Ill Communication by The Beastie Boys |
| 21.2% | Do You Want More? by The Roots |
| 20.3% | The Main Ingredinet by Pete Rock & CL Smooth |
| 11.9% | Buckshot LeFonque by Buckshot LeFonque |
| 1.7% | Home by Spearhead |
Now this really is too close to call. The Digables managed to pull it out over the BBs again--this time at the last second--but it's essentially a four-way tie for first.
So that only leaves the Marsalis/Premier mixture and the Michael Franti effort. They kinda lost.
Who counted it? Marcell Gabriel, of course. Don't ask silly questions.
Phattest Braggadocio Group
| 57.4% | Wu-Tang Clan |
| 25.0% | Alcoholics |
| 17.6% | Organized Konfusion |
Wow. I guess Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothin' to fb>b>* wit.
A rare majority win here, boys and girls. And it was never even a contest.
Phattest Braggadocio Male Rapper
| 33.1% | Nas |
| 20.4% | The Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls) |
| 18.3% | Craig Mack |
| 12.7% | Casual |
| 10.6% | Guru |
| 4.9% | Jeru The Damaja |
And the rookies pretty much dominate the category. Poor old Guru only managed to squeak by Jeru (who only barely just a new jack... but then neither is anyone else up there really).
Nas took a big lead early on and it was just impossible for BIG and Craig Mack to ever catch up. And Casual wasn't even tryin'.
Phattest Braggadocio Female Rapper
| 48.2% | MC Lyte |
| 29.3% | Yo Yo |
| 22.6% | Bahamadia |
Must have been those Janet Jackson and Brandy remixes that put MC Lyte over the top 'cause, uh, what else has she done? Not even close. Name recognition?
Phattest Braggadocio Rap Single
| 47.4% | "Flava In Your Ear" by Craig Mack |
| 37.2% | "Come Clean" by Jeru The Damaja |
| 15.3% | "How Many MCs" by Black Moon |
And another easy win. This time it's Craig Mack's megahit stompin' all over the competition. He came from a distant second towards the end to make the victory even sweeter.
Phattest Braggadocio Rap Album
| 31.4% | 36 Chambers by Wu Tang Clan |
| 23.7% | Illmatic by Nas |
| 14.1% | Ready To Die by The Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls) |
| 9.6% | The Sun Rises In The East by Jeru The Damaja |
| 8.3% | Fear Itself by Casual |
| 7.1% | Between A Rock and A Hard Place by The Artifacts |
| 5.8% | Stress: The Extinction Agenda by Organized Konfusion |
And Wu-Tang takes it again... with authority. The well-hyped Illmatic comes in secong with this year's larger-than-life MC, BIG, doing third. After this point, it's more of a toss-up.
This set was counted by my homeslice, qyz (that's like "quiz" as in The Quizmaster Rapper).
Funniest Rap
Award for the funniest rap
| 51.1% | "Freestylin' at the Fortune 500" by The Coup |
| 48.9% | "Ice Froggy Frog" by Ice Froggy Frog (Fear of a Black Hat) |
Too close to call, really, but well, we gotta call it. The Coup, our ever-so-serious crew from Oakland managed to make at least a few folks laugh with their take off on Rockefeller, Getty and Trump.
And while we're here, let me put a word in for our second prize winner by giving the nod to Fear of a Black Hat... a great movie. If you slept on it, go rent it now. Now. All Hip Hop fans must see this film.
Go on.
Phattest Lyric
Phattest lyrics... slammin' beat not required.
| 27.9% | "One Love" by Nas |
| 25.2% | "I Used to Love H.E.R." by Common Sense |
| 23.4% | "Come Clean" by Jeru the Damaja |
| 14.4% | "Time's Up" by O.C. |
| 9.1% | "Mental Stamina" by Jeru the Damaja |
Jeru had this one for quite a while, but he lost some steam. Nas and Common Sense (who will duke it out later as well) come up from behind to take first and second. Another close call. Maybe if Jeru hadn't had the votes split... but who can say?
Most Slammin' Beat
Make my head bop. I need no wordz.
| 27.7% | "Come Clean" by Jeru |
| 20.2% | "Natural Born Killaz" by Dr Dre and Ice Cube |
| 14.3% | "9th Wonder" by Digable Planets |
| 12.6% | "The World is Yours" by Nas |
| 10.1% | "Code of the Streets" by Gangstarr |
| 8.4% | "Recognized Thresholds" by Boogie Monsters |
| 4.2% | "Stress" by Organized Konfusion |
| 2.5% | "Herb Is Pumpin'" by Keith Murray |
Votes went every which a way. In the end, Jeru manages to beat out the competition to emerge at the top with Ice Cube and Dr Dre pulling in a definite second place. After that it gets a bit murkier with Digables actually beating Nas and Gangstarr by a point or two. It is Keith lookin' none too beautiful in the basement.
Phattest Remix
Now, this is a fine art.
| 38.5% | "Flava in Ya Ear" by Craig Mack |
| 20.5% | "Nappy Heads" by Fugees |
| 17.2% | "I Got Cha Opin" by Black Moon |
| 12.3% | "What Can I Do?" by Ice Cube |
| 8.2% | "Oh My God" by A Tribe Called Quest |
| 3.3% | "Stress" by Organized Konfusion |
No big surprise, I guess, that Craig Mack's remix--featuring help from everyone from BIG to LL Cool J--manages to come out on top. Still he manages a nice solid lead--so he gets extra props.
More props to the Fugees who manage a solid second over the popular Black Moon.
Phattest DJ
Another fine--and not lost--art.
| 47.2% | DJ Premier for Hard to Earn |
| 24.4% | Pete Rock for The Main Ingredient |
| 18.6% | Terminator X for Superbad and Muse Sick N Hour Mess Age |
| 9.8% | Pam The Funkstress for Genocide and Juice |
Well, damn. Premier manages to do this again this year (if not by as big a margin as last time). A solid victory. What to say?
Phattest Producer(s)
Award for those producing people
| 50.8% | DJ Premier for, well, everything |
| 18.5% | Dr. Dre for Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle |
| 16.9% | Rza for Wu Tang Clan, Method Man and others |
| 8.5% | Beatnuts |
| 5.3% | Pete Rock for The Main Ingredient |
Well, damn, again. Unlike last year, DJ Premiere manages to take this category... and with serious authority. Too much for me. The rest of the votes went to Dr Dre and Rza with Beatnuts beating out(!) my man Pete Rock by a hair or two.
Leaders of the New School
Award for the most innovative rapper/group this year. Doesn't have
to be someone new, might be an old dog learning and teaching some
new tricks. In any case, should take hip hop in a new direction.
The folks starting the new subgenres.
| 33.6% | Illmatic by Nas |
| 12.1% | The Sun Rises in the East by Jeru the Damaja |
| 10.3% | Genocide and Juice by The Coup |
| 10.3% | Blunted on Reality by The Fugees |
| 10.3% | From the Ground Up by The Roots |
| 9.5% | Resurrection by Common Sense |
| 6.0% | Boxcar Sessions by Saafir |
| 4.4% | Stress: The Extinction Agenda by Organized Konfusion |
| 3.5% | Hiphopera by Volume 10 |
A lot of nominees in this category and Nas takes it handily. Jeru just barely takes second, escaping the three-way tie for third place. After that, it's really only Common Sense as the rest have only token votes.
Best fusion of Hip-Hop with non-Hip-Hop
Being the experimenters that they are, Hip-Hop artists are often
trying to merge their styles with stuff from other genres, be it
heay metal, jazz or country. Who did the best thing this year?
| 41.7% | Ill Communication by The Beastie Boys |
| 31.7% | From the Ground Up and others by The Roots |
| 26.6% | Red Hot and Cool by Various |
And with Digables on their heels, the ever-present Beasties finally take a solid first place... followed by the jazz stylings of The Roots. Last year, the hard-rock-and-rap fusion didn't fare very well, but this time it's on top (still, the jazz-fusion takes 58.3% of the votes, so maybe it was just split voting).
Phattest Non-USA Artist
Often, Hip Hop Heads in the USA never get exposure to the phat
ones outside the border.
| 66.7% | Prose Combat by MC Solaar |
| 20.2% | Subliminal Simulation by The Dream Warriors |
| 13.1% | Rascalz |
Without Us3 to siphon off votes, MC "I've got more name recognition that you" Solaar takes it to the hoop this year and wins with severe authority.
The Dream Warriors, Canadian's finest, from whom we haven't heard since, man, And Now The Legacy Begins, manage second place.
Phattest Reggae Hip Hop artist
'Nuff respect to all dancehall massive and crew.
| 37.3% | "Take it Easy" by Mad Lion |
| 31.4% | "Romantic Call" by Patra with Yo Yo |
| 12.7% | "Destinaton Brooklyn (Nika)" by Vicious |
| 10.8% | Kids from Foreign by Born Jamericans |
| 7.8% | "Make My Day" by Buju Banton |
Patra had the race locked up early on, but it is Mad Lion who wins the day. After those two, it was pretty much a crap shoot with everyone making a respectable showing.
Provider of Phattest Samples
Everyone from James Brown to The Gap Band to Chick Corea have been
so kind as to provide hip hop with dope samples. Who's provided the
best stuff *this year*?
| 37.3% | Parliament/Funkadelic/George Clinton (for examples, see every song released this year) |
| 29.7% | The Isley Brothers for "Between the Sheets" (for examples, see every other song released this year) |
| 18.6% | Slick Rick in "La Di Da Di" (used in a couple of places this year) |
| 14.4% | Michael Jackson for "Human Nature" (see "IT Ain't Hard To Tell") |
We've done this before: The P-funk dominates again, as they have the last two years. Can this keep going?
The number two spot is held by the Isley brothers, among the most oversampled group of 1994.
Most Innovative Use of a Sample
Award for the artist who used a sample (be it music, voice or
whatever) in the most innovative or unexpected way to great
effect.
| 51.5% | Craig Mack for using the Days Of Our Lives theme in "Real Raw" |
| 48.5% | Pete Rock for KRS-One's "woop, woop" in "The Main Ingredient" |
Not a lot of nominees this year, but Craig Mack just barely gets the props on this one anyway. I guess I'll have to listen to "Real Raw" again.
Whew. Time for bed. See ya tomorrow.