Thursday 23 November 2023

Generic list post: fifty One Song Wonders™

Inspired by my recent post about Gemini's Me N Da Girlz, here's a celebration of fifty Martorialist favourite One Song Wonders™. One Song Wonders™ are not the same as One Hit Wonders© even though plenty of One Hit Wonders© happen to be One Song Wonders™ - it's irrelevant whether the one song in question was a hit or a flop, what matters is that the song in question jams, knocks, thumps, cranks or cracks. It's also irrelevant whether the One Song Wonder™ recorded a couple of songs or a sprawling catalogue of songs, what matters is that they have that one incredible song which bodies everything else they ever recorded. An all-Rap One Song Wonders™ list would be kinda boring for me to put together, so I've cast my net further afield. Warning: this list contains a trigger for fanboys of a certain lazy late 2000s rapper.

The Phantom - Love Me (1960)
The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird (1963)
The Jynx - How (1964)
Martin Slavin - Space Adventure Part 2 (1966)
The Attraction - She's A Girl (1966)
The Winstons - Amen Brother (1969)
Bad Bascomb - Black Grass (1973)
The Honey Drippers - Impeach The President (1973)
Miami - Chicken Yellow (1974)
The Flys - Love And A Molotov Cocktail (1978)
Mavis John - Use My Body (1980)
Glory - Let's Get Nice (7" edit) (1981)
Planet Patrol - Play At Your Own Risk (1982)
Extra T's - E.T Boogie (1982)
Disco Four - Throwdown (1983)
Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart (1983)
Z-3 MC's - Triple Threat (1985)
Robert Tepper - There's No Easy Way Out (1985)
The Showboys - Drag Rap (1986)
Sugar Bear - Don't Scandalize Mine (1988)
Lord Alabaski - Top Gun (1989)
Junei - Let's Ride (1989)
The Family Stand - Ghetto Heaven (Soul II Soul remix) (1990)
The Chimes - Heaven (1990)
Sounds Of Blackness - Optimistic (1991)
Aretha Daye ft. MC Chan - No More (Making Love) (1991)
U.K Apache ft. Shy FX - Original Nuttah (1994)
Skee-Lo - I Wish (1995)
Ghost Town DJ's - My Boo (1996)
The East Flatbush Project - Tried By 12 (1996)
Roy Davis Jr ft. Peven Everett - Gabriel (Live Garage Version) (1996)
Richie Thumbs ft. The LOX & Mo Money - Thumbs Up! (1997)
Reflection Eternal ft. Mos Def & Mr. Man - Fortified Live (1997)
Problem Child - When She Hears This Tape (1999)
Mr. Oizu - Flat Beat (1999)
Roots Manuva - Witness (1 Hope) (2001)
The Streets - Weak Become Heroes (2002)
DJ Webstar ft. Young B & The Voice Of Harlem - Chicken Noodle Soup (2006)
Rock D The Legend ft. Big Boi - DDT (That Hoe) (2007)
Jae Millz - Sober (2009)
Jay Electronica - Exhibit C (2009)
Red Cafe ft. Pete Rock - Heart & Soul Of New York City (2010)
Mysonne - In Jail (2011)
Ghost8800 - Sonic Boom (video mix) (2012)
Big Sean - Paradise (single version) (2014)
New Age Muzik - Da Beat (2016)
Team Toon ft. Ya Boi Big Choo - My Hot Girl (2016)
Ether Da Connect ft. Fivio Foreign & Mr. Swipey - WAKA (2019)
Benzz - Je M'appelle (2022)
Lady Ice - Up North (2022)

28 comments:

  1. That Martin Slavin track is definitely pertinent today. 👍

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  2. Best Doctor Who incidental musik ever IMHO.

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  3. was just talking yesterday with a friend about how big sean feels like a fever dream that no young person is going to believe ever happened 😭

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  4. 😂

    It was all a dream, I can't believe people used to think A$$ was a listenable choon.

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  5. ^ You live and you learn...

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  6. y'know, i never listened to A$$ by choice, but for bumping&grinding at a high school party it wasn't terrible

    "paradise" sounds better than it has any business being for how much the beat is basically a cross between tyler the creator's "yonkers" and kendrick's "humble" 🥴

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  7. Two disagreements: skee lo “come back to me” is as good as “I wish.” And Roy Davis jr has some jams … want to dig back through the catalog but “join his kingdom” was dope. Peven Everett has other good stuff too. Come to think of it the large joints rmx of “Gabriel” I like more than the original

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  8. In Red Cafes defense he has a few other good songs to his name.

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  9. Xanax - do not compare the Paradise beat to the Yonkers beat! The former is danceable whereas the latter is one of the most undanceable beats I've ever heard 🚫

    David, what is this madness you speak of where the Live Garage Version of Gabriel isn't the definitive mix?!? 🤔🧐

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  10. I'm glad to see nobody has tried to defend Jay Electronica by citing that Godawful Drumless song he did over the Eternal Sunshine Of The Whateveritscalled music.

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  11. honestly on first pass i missed that jay electronica was even on this list and thought "a trigger for fanboys of a certain lazy late 2000s rapper" must be in reference to mos def hahHaha

    were i to defend either of them i would be more inclined to cite their song together on the first Pilot Talk tbh

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  12. I almost put Mos Def's Universal Magnetic on here, but tbf to him I do like 2 or 3 of his other songs. I fuxwid Respiration by Black Star too, but I could sneak Fortified Live on here since its by Reflection Eternal.

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  13. I have a hot take......

    "2000 Seasons" is better than "Fortified Live"

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  14. tell me how i forgot reflection eternal even existed and was thinking black star 😅

    i like "black on both sides" but it's not a hill i am gonna die on / you've made your feelings clear lol

    tbh u were pretty merciful on 2010s rappers... i might add:
    pusha t (as a solo artist) - numbers on the board
    asap rocky - peso
    lil durk ft. chief keef - decline
    kendrick - cartoon & cereal (more a facet of this being a perfect song than any hating on his other stuff)

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  15. Paperboy - Ditty
    Xzibit - What You See Is what you get
    JT thebigga figga - game recognise game

    Lads none of these Mo's def or Talib kweli songs are as good as If you can huh you can hear

    Big Sean has a few tbh jncl Back Up Off Me

    V amused recently went tlaib said he listened to e-40 a lot in college, him and the game have made "making the worst of good influences" an art. lol just listened to it n I actually know 2000 seasons off by heart, he was way more palatable when he had that asking to borrow a pencil whisper flow

    Speaking of - The Game - Put You On The Game
    Has LLoyd Banks got any good solo songs? I've never remained conscious long enough to find out

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  16. C'mon mow - Game's best song is obviously Hate It Or Love It. My m8 Deezy loves Banks' first album. It does have some jams tbf.

    A$AP Rocky somehow has 2 legit choonz. Trilla is his true jewel because it sounds like summat from a 2003 Swisha House compilation.

    Pusha T's best solo song is by far Let Me Love You IMHO. Fake Ma$e flow + fake Neptunes beat FTW.

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  17. I think Postaboy's Jurassic Harlem is another, but I can't be certain because I've never heard another song by him.

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  18. Best Lloyd Banks tracks are on his mixtapes, like a lot of rappers from that era, especially the Cold Corners and Halloween Havoc series. His rapping can get kinda monotonous but for some reason it works for me on these.

    I’d say that JT Tha Bigga Figga is more of a one-album wonder because Playaz N Tha Game is stacked, but I’d have to admit that Game Recognize Game is the best song on there.

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  19. Possible controversial opinion: Peep Game is better than Game Recognize Game.

    Is Tony Yayo a one song wonder? I've never heard his album or his mixtapes, but I'd be surprised if any of them contain a song as good as Fake Love

    https://youtu.be/d_SDNfT3KJc?si=-X4yg5bJTkp1133l

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  20. Hate it or love it is a great 50 song that game almost drags down completely, i steel itout for his parts of it.

    JTs a way better producer/feature than a solo rapper, none of that shits as good as rappin 4 tay can you buck em like a gangsta or san quinn- shock the party or that mac dre intro he did. I do love the title song off his first album too tbh.

    Ill maybe check them banks tapes out someday lol. That yayo and danny brown tape was p good iirc, So High never left rotation for me. That tape also had a pre basedgodmania lil b verse lmao. Yayos easily the best non 50 g unit member.

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  21. “So seductive” is a classic come on

    Also I know he’s released a lot of samey shit lately but lil durk is nowhere near a “one song wonder” and Kendrick is not a serious suggestion

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  22. In my head I always think of So Seductive as a 50 Cent song featuring Tony Yayo.

    2 One Song Wonders from 2022:

    Young Jr - Bird Walk
    Westside Boogie ft. DRAM - AIGHT

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  23. D: good point about JT being better as a producer.

    Love the first Gunpowder Guru tape from Tony Yayo, listened to it for months when it came out and still jam it a couple times a year if I need some synth-heavy NY-gooncore. King Of The Pyrex is the ultimate jam on there but songs like Murder of Everywhere We Go never fail.

    I don’t come up with many hot takes but some day I feel like every G-Unit rapper has a better solo output than 50’s. Young Buck has 2 solid solo albums and loads of good tapes as well.

    Larry June is a one song wonder of its own: he made that one song that he then duplicated into 100 copies 😂

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  24. Ramones of Rap?

    Okay, I might check that Yayo album out.

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  25. Honestly was wondering when david was gonna come through to defend durk lol

    Buck has way better production than anyone, he’s definitely runner up to yayo. I cant remember if he put tapes out when he was with juvie. Jesus imagine if wacko n skip got with 50 instead and they got beats like shorty wanna ride.

    Only issue w Yayo is he has a way more entertaining interview personality that doesnt translate to his music but he has a podcast w his twin uncke murda now lolol, cos of course he does

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  26. Yayo's greatest moment might be his song-stealing verse on True Loyalty:

    https://youtu.be/fTU_X-TNNQ8?si=gWrB_a81tya90zKu

    "I got so many minks and so many leathers the crib is surrounded by animal protestors"

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  27. I just remembered a good Chicago entry in the One Song Wonder canon. A song we all fuxwid back in 2015:

    Lit by Patman.

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