Hopefully everyone had a good weeekend, and since that Vh1 special on Sierra Leone aired again yesterday, I hope that some more of you had the chance to watch it. But as we always do, we’re going to start the week off on a positive note with another West Coast Classic.
Now in hip hop when people mention the West Coast, 95% of the time, they’re talking about California. It’s not so much a generalization, as it is observation; most of the rap that’s come from this side of the map has come Cali, just as most of the hip hop albums to come from the East have been from the state of New York (and even more specifically, from New York City.)
But there was at least one rapper to make some big waves from a state other than California, and today we’re gonna give him some shine. His name was Sir Mix-A-Lot, and he came out reppin’ Seattle, Washington.
Although he became a household name when “Baby Got Back†dropped in 1991 (and I’m sure he’s still getting fat ass royalty checks from that song), Mix-A-Lot actually had quite a few decent songs before and after that, and a couple of those songs garnered some moderate success as singles. Just about anyone who’s ever been to a strip club has heard “Put ‘Em On the Glass,†and pretty much everybody over the age of 21 has heard “My Hooptie†at some point or another- even “Buttermilk Bisquits†blew up a little bit. But the runner-up to “Baby Got Back†in terms of radio play and general success has got to be 1988’s “Posse On Broadway.â€
Unfortunately, Mix-A-Lot all but disappeared not long after he dropped , although it wasn’t for lack of trying to stay in the game. When all was said and done, he dropped six full lengths (with the most recent being Daddy’s Home in 2003), an EP and a best-of album. He also recently popped up on the awful West Coast remix of Nas’ “Where Are They Now.â€
