![]() ![]() His top five was a fairly predictable list, including Biggie, Nas, Jay Z, and Eminem. In 2004, when Kanye West was just beginning his quest to become one of the new millienium's defining voices, 'Ye listed his favorite rap artists for Rolling Stone. However, as a synthesist of Wayne and Kanye's late-'00s rap styles, he does point to an obvious reference point for Ma$e's continued relevence. Instead, Drake's affection for Ma$e feels more like his similar appreciation for Dada or Aaliyah-a signifier of late-'90s cool. Nor are his lyrics full of sly, self-effacing understatement. Drake, of course, has been quoting Ma$e of late, but his rap style has none of the Harlem MC's effortless, in-the-pocket rhythmic command. I've had trouble getting into Rockie Fresh's laconic monotone in the past, but with dynamic production like this-it should be noted that the drum programming seems to directly emulate the late '90s style of Puffy's Hitmen-his sleepy approach comes to life. Perhaps the most literal Ma$e debt owed outside of Pusha T's recent homage is newcomer Rockie Fresh's MMG single "What Ya Used To" with Hit-Boy. This lineage finds its most recent acolytes in a few different places. One of his landmark recordings was the Pumpkin-produced "Love Rap," in which he spends nearly six minutes sweet-talking ladies with the kind of "Who, me?" sprezzatura that no doubt made him a very convincing paramour. And naturally, he, like Ma$e, was from Harlem. Ma$e's melodic approach has a laid-back meter that is deftly reflected by his lyrics, which revel in casual understatement: "Can't a young man get money any more?" "I can't get mad 'cause you look at me/Cause on the real, look at me," "We was all at the Greek fest, it's hot and sandy/I rent scooters, I'm with my family/Tank top, flip-flop, really nothin' fancy." It was music about stunting and hollering at the ladies, but Ma$e's shrugging, self-effacing flow seems designed to make words like "stunting" and "hollering" sound woefully clumsy and gauche.īut before them all is Spoonie Gee, the laid-back grandfather of all slick-talking, nonchalant rap stars. So what was it? Take a listen, again, to "Lookin' At Me." The song is a master class in hip-hop nonchalance, of laconic, behind-the-beat style. Ma$e's style was not precise, intricate, nor aggressive. ![]() Attempts to make that stuff work in the club were less than successful, although often entertaining anyway. At the time, certain rap styles were more in vogue among critics and heads than others think Biggie's swaggering precision, or Nas's Kool G Rap-derived verbal density, or Ice Cube and Chuck D's confrontational bombast. Tangled up in the controversy over "jiggy" were questions about race, and what it meant to perform for the genre's ever-growing caucasian audience. While it's easy now to dismiss the critics as clueless fun-haters who didn't understand why hip-hop made for great club music, there's a more complicated history. II: Me Time, and earlier in the year, dropped some intricate bars on Young Scooter's "Made It Through the Struggle." This summer, Ma$e even reunited with Diddy for a performance at Drake's OVO Fest-no doubt one of those '90s fantasies Drake references on his new album. He had a standout verse on 2 Chainz's recent underrated B.O.A.T.S. He has, after all, popped up in a few places lately. In fact, Pusha's louche flow on "Let Me Love You" sounds so much like Ma$e's on "Lookin' At Me" that we're not entirely sure Ma$e didn't sneak on for a quick sixteen. That unflappable attitude is a refreshing throwback to more innocent times.īut more than a reference to earlier Clipse material, it was also a very obvious throwback to Ma$e's Neptunes-produced "Lookin' At Me," to which it bears a striking resemblence. ![]() And one of the album's highlights-if not its best song, point blank-is the The-Dream-produced "Let Me Love You." It is first notable because it finds Pusha-whose recent output tends to prioritize #BARS delivered with seething intensity-slipping back into a laconic flow reminscient of earlier Clipse singles. ![]() The long-awaited Pusha T full-length My Name Is My Name is now streaming, after several years sitting comfortably in the "Coming Soon" column. ![]()
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