Nasty rap

Phattest Nasty Group

49.5%	Wu-Tang Clan
19.4%	Dogg Pound
14.0%	Masta Ace INC
9.7%	2 Live Crew
2.1%	95 South
2.1%	SecondIINone
2.1%	69 Boyz
1.1%	The Dove Shack

You know, it's not that I think Wu-Tang doesn't deserve the honor that have won here, but I just realized that I don't really know what "nasty" means. Oh, well. Somebody must because they got a lot of votes (speaking of which, Digital Underground got a write-in vote).

Coming up second was none other than the Dogg Pound. Masta Ace wasn't too far behind, but the rest of the nominees lagged. This victory definitely belongs to Wu-Tang.

Phattest Nasty Male Rapper

31.2%	Ol' Dirty Bastard
15.2%	Too $hort
15.2%	Method Man
8.1%	Luke
8.1%	Ghost Face Killer
5.1%	Jemini The Gifted One
5.1%	Masta Ace
4.0%	Kurupt
4.0%	Bushwick Bill
4.0%	DJ Quik

Wu-Tang wins again, taking the majority of the vote, as well as having the first place spot. On the other hand, nasty favorite Too $hort managed a respectable second place along with Method Man. Luke even did okay this year.

Phattest Nasty Female Rapper

37.7%	Lil Kim
18.8%	Bo$$
15.3%	Smooth
14.1%	Lashaun
14.1%	Yo-Yo

Usually, this subcategory doesn't get much attention: many voters don't vote for any of the female nominees (and sometimes even make snide remarks); however, this year far fewer people than usual neglected our femme nasties. I suppose that's a good thing.

In any case, Lil Lim ran away with the title. Behind her, things were fairly evenly spread with Boss, Lashaun, Smooth and Yo-yo all doing about the same.

Phattest Nasty Rap Single

30.7%	"Don't You Know" by Ol' Dirty Bastard
28.6%	"Doin' It" by LL Cool J & Lashaun
17.6%	"Cocktales" by Too $hort
12.1%	"Hoochie Mama" by 2 Live Crew
11.0%	"Hand of the Dead Body" by Scarface w/Ice Cube

Hmmmm. This wasn't as close at it looks. ODB had this sewed up from the beginning. Things only began to even up toward the end. LL Cool J is this year's surprise heavyweight, with his duet with Lashaun taking second place. Jack, our intrepid counter, expressed surprise at this, noting that LL doesn't get many props from the New Jack Hip Hop Awards voters in general, and certainly not in the nasty categories.

Phattest Nasty Rap Album

41.1%	Return to the 36 Chambers by Ol' Dirty Bastard
31.6%	Ready To Die by Notorious BIG
13.7%	Cocktales by Too $hort
7.4%	Luke n the Nude by Luke
6.2%	Phantom of the Rapera by Bushwick Bill

Hmmm. I had my money on Biggie, but ODB just smacked him aside (no mean feat as Biggie is a big 'un) and took first place. Too $hort, our nasty mainstay is way down there along with whatshisname and Bushwick Bill.

Political Hip-Hop

'Nuff respect to that Jamaican knockin' out Ja-fakin's: mass@theory.lcs.mit.edu, without a doubt.

Phattest Political Group

32.0%	Goodie Mob
20.0%	Public Enemy
18.0%	Fugees
14.0%	The Coup
5.0%	Brand Nubian
4.0%	Channel Live
4.0%	Naughty By Nature
3.0%	Luniz

Oh my god! Is it real?

Goodie Mob comes out of nowhere to win a category that has been traditionally dominated by Public Enemy. In fact, they've won every single year but this one (although, it is interesting to note that their plurality has dropped slightly each year).

In any case, Goodie Mob led all the way. The interesting race here was between P.E., Fugees and The Coup for second place. Mark thought the Fugees would pull it out, but PE held them off.

Some might think that this signals the end of PE's reign as kings of political hiphop. Personally, I prefer to think of this as indicative of the proliferation of other quality socially conscious hip hop acts and--just as importantly--their increased exposure. Certainly, one can't go wrong with Fugees, PE or The Coup.

Phattest Political Male Rapper

65.3%	KRS-ONE
13.8%	Chuck D
10.9%	Ice Cube
5.0%	Paris
5.0%	RBX

No contest. KRS-ONE dominated from day one. And a serious majority win, too. Again PE took second, but really, you could have flipped a coin between Chuck and Ice. I'm a bit surprised by RBX's showing; he kept up with Paris and certainly even being in the same company as the rest of these guys is props enough.

Phattest Political Female Rapper

58.8%	Lauryn Hill
24.7%	Queen Latifah
9.3%	Nefertiti
4.1%	Yo-Yo
3.1%	Left Eye

Anotheer majority trouncing. Ms. Hill dominates. Her win coupled with the Fugees' showing in the group category might indicate that the Fugees are getting some well-deserved attention.

Phattest Political Rap Single

39.8%	"Cell Therapy" by Goodie Mob
22.4%	"Ah Yeah" by KRS-ONE
19.4%	"Free Mumia" by KRS-ONE and Channel Live
18.4%	"Freedom (Rap Version)" by Various from Panther

"Cell Therapy" led all the way but second through fourth was always fairly close. The two KRS-ONE songs combined did manage to garner more votes than "Cell Therapy"; however, it's not by a great margin. All in all, this is another impressive showing by Goodie Mob.

Phattest Political Rap Album

45.9%	KRS-ONE by KRS-ONE
36.7%	Soul Food by Goodie Mob
9.2%	Muse Sick N R Mess Age by Public Enemy
8.2%	Soundtrack from Panther by Various

Goodie Mob gave KRS-ONE a run for the money, but KRS-ONE is triumphant in the end. Still this bodes well for Soul Food. As Mark says: "Overall the story of this year in the political category is Goodie Mob. This new group out of Atlanta seems to be emerging as a new favorite of the political hip-hop cognoscente."

And, really, what else is there to say after you've used "cognoscente" in a sentence?

The Phat Stuff

Funniest Rap

41.7%	"I Wish" Skee Lo
26.0%	"WLIX" by Alkaholiks
20.8%	"Freek'N You (Mr Dalvin's Freek Mix)" (by Jodeci) with rap by Ghost Face Killer
11.5%	"Drink Away The Pain" by Mobb Deep

Yes. Well. That would be Skee Lo, then, I guess. No one else was much close.

Phattest Lyric

42.7%	"How High" by Redman and Method Man
28.2%	"MCs Act Like They Don't Know" by KRS-ONE
21.4%	"Mic Check" by Aceyalone
7.7%	"I Wish" by Skee Lo

Qyz observes that Skee Lo is very funny, but apparently not very phat otherwise. Qyz can be cruel sometimes, but I can't argue with him.

Most Slammin' Beat

28.6%	"Come Clean" Jeru Tha Damaja
28.6%	"All I Need (remix)" by Method Man and Mary J Blige
25.7%	"Danger" by Blahzay Blahzay
11.4%	"Natural Born Killaz" by Dr Dre and Ice Cube
5.7%	"Mic Check" by Aceyalone

Wow. A tie. Wow. How often does that happen? Well, not often. Jeru and MM with Mary, Mary were back and forth and in the end no one could beat the other.

Very close on their collective tale is none other than Blahzay, Blahzay with their very popular "Danger". Behind them are Dr Dre and Ice Cube's oddity "Natural Born Killers" and Aceyalone, late of Freestyle Fellowship.

Phattest Remix

29.7%	"One More Chance (remix)" by Notorious BIG
28.7%	"Proceed Pt2" by The Roots
23.8%	"Five On It (remix)" by Luniz with Shock G, E-40, etc, etc
17.8%	"Freek'n You (Mr Dalvin's Freek Mix)" by Jodeci with Ghost Face Killer

Another close race. Flip a coin someone. BIG just barely squeezed out The Roots first remix of "Proceed" (aren't there like five thousand of those out there?).

Phattest DJ

72.8%	DJ Premier
22.3%	Funkmaster Flex
4.9%	DJ Rob Swift

Well... damn. These guys aren't even on the same planet as Premier.

Phattest Producer(s)

47.5%	DJ Premier for, well, everything
43.6%	RZA, for, well, everything else
8.9%	Sean "Puffy" Combs, for Notorious BIG

Damn. Well, at least someone came close this time. No suprise it was RZA. Well, that's two years in a row for Premier. Will 1996 be three?

More Phat Stuff

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.

63.7%	Wu-Tang Clan and its members
31.4%	Do You Want More?! The Roots
4.9%	E. 1999 Eternal Bone Thugz-N-Harmony

Well, it's a Wu-Tang world. I suppose, no matter what one thinks of the Wu-Tang style, it can't be said that they aren't taking hip hop in their own special direction.

Next up is the unique jazz stylings of The Roots. And in the basement, well, you can see for yourself. Bone and friends just barely did better than Aceyalone, the write in.

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?

69.4%	Do You Want More?! The Roots
30.6%	Jazzmatazz II Guru

Well, it was a battle of jazz and jazz/r&b this year. The Roots win with a resounding victory. This was clear from the first vote cast.

Phattest Non-USA Artist

64.9%	MC Solaar
19.5%	Saukrates
15.6%	Ghetto Concept

Another majority victory for MC Solaar. Solaar, by the way, first fell into the scopes of most USA Headz with "Le Bien, Le Mal" a duet with Guru on his first Jazzmatazz album. That was 1993. He's won this category each year since then. Saukrates and Ghetto Concept, whom I'll bet you've never heard of, did give a try, though, so y'all should give them a listen next time you get a chance. You might also want to give the write-ins, Next Chapter (outta Holland) and The Osdorp Posse, a try.

Phattest Reggae Hip Hop artist

38.4%	Shaggy for Boombastic
34.3%	Mad Lion for Real Thing
24.2%	Buju Banton for Till Shiloh
3.1%	Bounty Killer

Shaggy stole this one from Mad Lion, who had a comfortable lead most of the way. Buju's newest also did fairly well.

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 phat samples. Who's provided the best stuff this year?

58.6%	Every Kung Fu movie ever made for all those great sounds that found their way into Wu Tang Clan songs
41.4%	Isley Brothers for "For The Love of You" used on about ten songs this year (trying its best to be the "Between The Sheets" of 1995)

Given the massive popularity of Wu Tang maybe this isn't all that surprising. Still this doesn't explain everything. After all:

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.

62.9%	Blahzay Blahzay for the Jeru-lifted "When the east is in the house", followed by "Oh My God!" and "Danger!"; Perfect juxtaposition (I knew I could use that in a sentence)
37.1%	RZA's great use of Kung Fu sound effects on Wu Tang stuff

Blahzay, Blahzay won this one with a clear mandate from the people. You gotta give them credit, they managed to produce one very funky single and the hook was perfectly executed.

Phat Videos and Other Stuff

Phattest Short Form Video
Award for the Phattest video.

36.2%	"Ice Cream" by Raekwon The Chef
23.4%	"I'll Be There For You" by Method Man and Mary J Blige
20.2%	"Shimmy Shimmy Ya" by Ol Dirty Bastard
20.2%	"Natural Born Killaz" by Dr Dre and Ice Cube

Raekwon pretty much had this from day one. There was an interesting race for second with Method Man and Mary J barely keeping ahead of the rest of the nominees. In the end, though, they managed it.

Phattest Long Form Video
Award for the Phattest long form video release.

100%	Murder Was The Case by Snoop Doggy Dogg

This one was already decided. Apparently not one person out there could think of another long form video released last year. Some were released, of course, but certainly none stick in the mind as much as Snoop's mega-hyped effort.

Phattest Hip Hop Video Show
Best show, syndicated or otherwise, about Hip Hop.

49.4%	Rap City on BET with Joe Clair and Big Les
38.8%	Yo! MTV Raps with Ed Lover and Dre & Fab Five Freddy
11.8%	Rap City Canada with Master T, Oliver and Traci

With Yo!'s problems with MTV, Rap City is again takes first place. This makes three years in a row for Rap City; sweet revenge after spending the first two always behind the Yo! dynasty. Alas, Yo!, we knew thee well.

Special props to Rap City Canada for comin' correct and representin' our headz to the north.

Best live performance/tour/live album
Live Hip Hop.

68.6%	The Roots 95 Tour
31.4%	Illstyle Tour '95 promo for Elektra featuring various artists

And the Roots take the jack for best tour. I'm pretty annoyed that I've never managed to check them out.

Best Comeback
Sometimes folks we had written off as dead, come back correct.

38.1%	"Real Hip Hop" by Das EFX
32.0%	"It's A Shame" by Kool G Rap
29.9%	Mr Smith by LL Cool J

It's Das EFX over Kool G Rap and LL Cool J. You know, I'll bet that if you ranked these three by dollars made on comeback, you'd get the reverse order.

Hmmm.

Hardest and Ugliest Dis'
Award for the hardest most diggum-smack dis of the year--the one that made you screw up your face and go "damn!"

69.0%	"No Rest for the Wicked" by Cypress Hill
31.0%	"AWOL" by RBX

No contest. Although the overall opinion of Cypress Hill's latest doesn't seem as positive as it was for their earlier efforts, it looks like their "wicked" diss was pretty well-received. RBX shouldn't feel too bad, though, he did pretty well given relative exposure. And I liked his album.

What you've been waiting for: The Hall of Fame Awards

Most Unfairly Slept On Album
Ever year some artist comes off proper but is ignored by the community. Here we may remedy that.

25.8%	All Balls Don't Bounce by Aceyalone
25.8%	Labcabincalifornia by The Pharcyde
24.7%	Do You Want More?! by The Roots
23.7%	Soul Food by Goodie Mob

Well, there's a tie for first place here, but clearly this might as well be a four-way tie. No one ever really had a lead for any length of time. So, what's the lesson here? Simple: wake up and by all of these albums.

Well, I have three of these albums, so I guess I'm still down.

Phattest New Hip Hopster
The best New Jack to arrive on the scene this year.

38.3%	Soul Food by Goodie Mob
22.3%	The Infamous by Mobb Deep
19.1%	Doe Or Die by AZ
11.7%	"Danger" by Blahzay Blahzay
8.6%	Livin' Proof by Group Home

My, my, my, Atlanta's in the house. I try not to be too opinionated during these awards, but I have to agree with this one wholeheartedly. Goodie Mob definitely came correct--newjack or not--this year with one of 1995's best albums. In fact, I'd guess that they'll be in the running for 1996's best unless somebody comes out the studio with some stuff we've never, ever heard before.

The race for second was pretty interesting, too. Mobb Deep pulled out at the very last minute, taking second from AZ, who had it most of the time. That only leaves Blahzay Blahzay with their fan-favorite single and Group Home.

We also had two write-ins: Braggin' Rites by J-Live and Expect That by Mannish. Remember that, too, next time you're shopping.

Phattest Hip Hop Era To Date
The question is simple. At what time was hiphop at it's best (so far, of course; we know that hip hop has still got its best years ahead of it)?

Our nominees are:

1984 - 1988 The Old School Matures
1988 - 1991 Hip Hop As Social Commentary
1990 - 1993 The West Coast Rises
1993 - 1995 The House, The East In It and Wu Tang Clan

The results:

47.4%	1988 - 1991 Hip Hop As Social Commentary
25.3%	1984 - 1988 The Old School Matures
18.9%	1993 - 1995 The House, The East In It and Wu Tang Clan
8.4%	1990 - 1993 The West Coast Rises

No contest.

The Political Era 1988-1991 featured: It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, By Any Means Necessary, To The East Blackwards, The Devil Made Me Do It, OG Original Gangsta, Straight Outta Compton, and Amerikkka's Most Wanted as well as Strictly Business, 3 Feet High And Rising, The People's Instinctive Travels and so many others.

It was during these years that we first got to hear The Bomb Squad, Poor Righteous Teachers, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Public Enemy, EPMD, Ice Cube, Ice-T and, well, everybody else. Albums were instant classics instead of just instant hits.

The only other surprise was the sudden support for the more recent East Coast surge. For most of the race, the West Coast Rising Era held its own, but toward the end, Wu Tang fans arrived in droves.

The Headz have spoken.

Hall of Fame
Note: Public Enemy, Run-DMC, KRS-One/Boogie Down Productions, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, our 1991-1994 winners, were ineligible this year.

The nominees are:

Eric B & Rakim
EPMD
Eazy-E
A Tribe Called Quest
Slick Rick
Russell Simmons
N.W.A

The results:

26.8%	Eric B & Rakim
15.5%	A Tribe Called Quest
14.4%	EPMD
12.4%	Eazy-E
12.4%	Slick Rick
10.3%	Russell Simmons
8.2%	N.W.A

Well, last year's votes indicated a fight between Eric B & Rakim and ATCQ. That isn't quite what happened. It was Eric B and Rakim's from the first batch. And, why not? Eric B & Rakim are responsible for Paid In Full, one of those important albums from one of the most important times in Hip Hop. Furthermore, Rakim is widely regarded as one of the best lyricists to grace Hip Hop.

They got the props they deserve.

Still ATCQ did manage second place. If this means anything then we can expect a ATCQ-EPMD fight for next year.

Hmmm. By the way, this makes two years in a row that George Clintion and the P-Funk all-stars are nowhere to be seen....

Album Hall of Fame
Note: It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy our 1994 winner, was ineligible this year.

Our many nominees are:

Criminal Minded by BDP
Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
Enta The Wu Tang: 36 Chambers by Wu Tang Clan
Paid In Full by Eric B & Rakim
Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest
By Any Means Necessary by BDP
The Great Adventures of... by Slick Rick
3 Feet High And Rising by De La Soul

The results?

21.5%	Criminal Minded by Boogie Down Productions
17.3%	Paid In Full by Eric B & Rakim
15.3%	Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
15.3%	Enta The Wu Tang: 36 Chambers by Wu Tang Clan
15.3%	Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest
6.1%	3 Feet High And Rising by De La Soul
5.1%	The Great Adventures of... by Slick Rick
4.1%	By Any Means Necessary by BDP

Is anyone surprised? Well, if you are you shouldn't be. Criminal Minded, the first release by Boogie Down Productions and KRS-ONE, gave us "The Bridge is Over," "South Bronx" and "9mm Goes Bang." It's what we refer to as a classic. And, yep, I still listen to it.

The race for second was interesting as well. Eric B & Rakim, N.W.A, Wu Tang and ATCQ all had second at one time or another. This wasn't too surprising, I guess, although I really expected De La Soul to do better. Maybe, next year.

Phattest Rap Single
The Phattest single to drop this year. Period.

Our nominees:

"MCs Act Like They Don't Know" by KRS-ONE
"One More Chance" by Notorious BIG
"How High" by Redman and Method Man
"Ice Cream" by Raekwon
"Shook Ones pt II" by Mobb Deep
"Cold World" by GZA

The results:

27.0%	"MCs Act Like They Don't Know" by KRS-ONE
21.0%	"One More Chance" by Notorious BIG
17.0%	"How High" by Redman and Method Man
15.0%	"Shook Ones pt II" by Mobb Deep
13.0%	"Ice Cream" by Raekwon
7.0%	"Cold World" by GZA

One of the other nice things about Criminal Minded, of course, was that it introduced us to KRS-ONE. My man is still with us almost a decade later and droppin' phat stuff. This year he takes the best single. It wasn't quite as close as it seems. He had it from day one.

Notorious BIG made a strong show for second. He came from behind to take it from Redman and Method Man's big hit.

Phattest Rap Album
The Phattest album to drop this year. Period.

The nominees:

E. 1999 Eternal by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
Do You Want More?! by The Roots
KRS-ONE by KRS-ONE
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx by Raekwon The Chef
Soul Food by Goodie Mob
The Infamous by Mobb Deep

The results:

32.2%	Only Built 4 Cuban Linx by Raekwon The Chef
24.0%	Do You Want More?! by The Roots
18.8%	KRS-ONE by KRS-ONE
9.4%	Soul Food by Goodie Mob
8.3%	The Infamous by Mobb Deep
7.3%	E. 1999 Eternal by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

More Wu-Tang winnings. Still, the Roots gave it a serious run for the money for a while there. Goodie Mob did well, all things considered, and they will definitely be eligible next year.

Goodie Mob, of course, is one of the big stories of the 1995 New Jack Hip Hop Awards. GM, along with Outkast from last year, may be an indication that Atlanta is about to make some loud noises in a voice all its own.

There are other stories as well. For example, the Fugees seem to be ready to make themselves known to a wider audience.

Both groups, by the way, are not what you'd call gangsta. GM has a hard-edged flava, but as we can see, they're more of a political group than a gangsta one. Of course, the Fugees are just about anything but gangsta. Add in the strong showing by the Roots and KRS-ONE (again) and maybe we've got something interesting to say.

Like what? Well, for the last two years, it's looked like the West Coast Gangsta style was on its way down, at least as far as the New Jack Hip Hop Awards was concerned.

Now, for the first time in a long time, West Coast gangstas aren't really represented at all in the really big awards. Now that is not to say the gangsta-ism is at all dead. That hardcore influence is certainly in the mix here, depending upon how you feel about the Wu-Tang style and, say, Mobb Deep.

Still, if you look at the albums and singles that were nominated and how they fared, well, the gangsta stranglehold of old just isn't there... at least as we might define the west-coast-dominated style of gangsta sounds from 1992 or so.

Of course, only time will tell. 2Pac has a new one and Dre is supposed to be seriously runnin' things in 1996. Ain't too much more gangsta than that. Plus, Ice-T is supposed to be on the return tip. On the other hand, we got ATCQ maybe doing something, the ghost of Common Sense's hit from last year still startin' arguments, up-and-comers Goodie Mob and the Fugees, and groups like The Coup still in the mix.

Hmmm, it looks that 1996 may be an interesting year.

Hey, I can live with that.

Anyway, I gots to go to the record store. I'm outta here like last year. I'll see ya in the usual place: