Monday 8 May 2023

Shabazzball

"Not tryna boast or brag
But my vocab will hit you like a Sugar Ray Leonard jab"


The 45 King ft. MC La Kim - We Got The Funk
(From The 45 King's Master Of The Game album; 1988)



Top 3 Lakim Shabazz song, thus it really should have been on his first album. Shabazz was a rapper of paradoxes: he looked like Kendrick Lamar's baby-brother but he possessed the voice of a Nation Of Islam bodyguard; he's pigeonholed as a 5% conscious rapper when much of his music is about obliterating emcees into molecules; he's loved by ageing Anglo-Saxons like me & Eminem despite the fact he was none too fond of us white folk; he had a penchant for rapping over horn samples when Kenny G was the world's most famous saxophonist.

6 comments:

  1. I recently read a piece that explained Lakim's 5% persona (and name, originally it was just 'lakim') was basically an invention by The 45 King and did not accurately reflect his real personality but served as a vehicle to navigate the waves of more afrocentric rap in late 80s/early 90s as well as make him stand out more (in name and in style) compared to Rakim.

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  2. Hah that's great. I wonder if he secretly hated all the Afrocentric clobber he used to wear?

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  3. Aaron Fuchs also wanted to push that angle to sell tapes to NOI prison inmates.

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  4. 😆 Got a link where they talk about this?

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  5. https://unkut.com/2015/05/aaron-fuchs-tuff-city-the-unkut-interview-part-two/

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  6. Cheers.

    Related: I've always wished Lakim had recorded a song over 45 King's Simply Dope Part 2 instrumental. The Grunt samples FTW forever ever.

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