Wholesome Of Mischief

Ugly Duckling - Fresh Mode
(From Fresh Mode EP; 1999)


How I learned to stop worrying and love this song: forget how annoying Ugly Duckling's fans were and enjoy the song for its wholesome backpack-and-forth between Andy Cooper & Dizzy Dustin. It's silly to let other people ruin an artist for you, but Ugly Duckling's fanboys tended to be 4 Elements fundamentalists or "I don't usually listen to Rap BUT..." guys, so that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it. A pity, though, because I coulda used Fresh Mode as a Nice & Squeaky-Clean detox from songs like Freddie Foxxx's Part Of My Life and Juvenile's U Understand back in 1999.

Mind you, I was absolutely right to hate Everybody C'mon back in '99. If that song were a person then it'd be Wicked22.

Gotta go, Coolio, meanin' it's gettin' Too Hot

Life's a biiiaaatch the way Coolio is remembered as a one hit wonder, especially when the one hit he's remembered for is #actually his third best hit. Get a calculator, do the math: Gangsta's Paradise gets in where it fits in at number three behind Fantastic Voyage and Coolio's hit single ne plus ultra Too Hot. Only a G-Funk backdrop and a J.T Taylor chorus could turn the topic of STD's into a Pop-Rap classic. Before Too $hort told the turf to Burn Rubber, Coolio implored the lads to wear one.

Coolio ft. J.T Taylor - Too Hot
(From Gangsta's Paradise album; 1995)


Gangsta's Paradise woulda been relegated to Coolio's fourth best hit if Tommy Boy had dropped the extended version of Aw Here It Goes as a single. It's a Hardy Boy mystery why the label never released that shit on 12", and a Nancy Drew mystery why it only exists on the European CD of Coolio's greatest hits.

Coolio - Aw Here It Goes (Kenan & Kel extended Theme)
(From TV show; 1996/Fantastic Voyage: The Greatest Hits album; 2001)


Any good late-career Coolio singles I should know about? If so, hold my hand and take me to the promised land.