When I started high school in 1993 there were a few albums that came out and completely rocked my world. "Enta Da Stage" by Black Moon, "Enter the 36 Chambers" by Wu-Tang and "Doggystyle" by Snoop were amongst this great new hip hop. Around this time I discovered the college radio shows like Mr. Magic and Mr. Cee's show on 91.5 FM. I used to listen to this show every Thursday at around 10pm. Nothing would keep me from the radio when they started. It was on this show that I would learn about the latest dope hip hop that the major stations like Hot 97 didn't play yet. I discovered cats like Mic Geronimo, Camp Lo and The Alkaholiks. This is the hip hop that I just wasn't used to yet but came to love.
Mr. Cee and Magic would have contests for listeners to call in and receive things like promo single CDs and albums. I once got through on the call in, and won the Cella Dwellas debut album "Realms and Reality". I unfortunately never received that album and called Mr. Cee to tell him. He was very cordial even though I never got the album. Maybe it was lost in the mail. One prize however was received, and it was won by my MOTHER not me. She was listening to the show with me one night and was the winner of a Mary J Blige single. It was the first CD in my household ever.
I was limited on cassette tapes to record from the radio so I would be very careful with what I taped and what I didn't. Space was precious and wack songs along with idle talk had no place on my tapes. I now wish I had those discussions on tape as it was a precious time in my life. Mr. Magic is now deceased and many of the songs I heard back then are either rare or forgotten all together. Look out for part 2 as I discuss another show from that era.
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Peace Dashaun-kun,
ReplyDeletealthough my debut on hip hop was kinda late compared to most of people around me, my world turned upside down (opposite actually) when I found out wbai & the underground railroad... hip hop & politics in the mix!
i just wish that I could find about hip hop much earlier than I actually did, but it's better than never ;)
stay warm,
Keiko
You are correct Keiko San, better late than never. The underground railroad was always a dope show.
ReplyDeleteI feel you. I still have some Strictly Hip-Hop Morgan State radio shows from back in '98-'99 from 88.9 FM on cassette. Strictly Hip-Hop was one of the few places where you could hear new "underground" Hip-Hop in the D.C. area. But then again, that's what college radio prides itself on. That's where I got put on to Rawkus, Beat Junkies, and Def Jux.
ReplyDeleteCollege Radio is where it's at for that underground niche. 98-99 still had some good underground stuff but at that point folks were being underground just for the sake of, not really trying to make it big.
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