Remember when rap or hip hop wasn't about killing people, doing drugs and sleeping with numerous amounts of women? It's been a while since this kind of hip hop was popular. 1989 to be specific. Shortly after that, groups like NWA and Public Enemy become global phenomenon's and changed the rap game forever.
Now, let me introduce you to the clown prince of hip hop. The Diabolical Biz Markie. The Biz was born in April 1964 in New Jersey. Most well known for the track "Just A Friend", Biz Markie is also known for his collaborations with The Beastie Boys and Big Daddy Kane. Although his music career began to cool off in the early nineties, he has made a name for himself acting in movies like Men In Black 2, and doing voice over work for video games and television shows. In 2008 Biz Markie toured with Chris Rock, acting as an opener for the No Apologies tour. Apparently, The Biz Never Sleeps.
The album opens up with "Dedications", which is fairly self explanatory. The dedications range from God to family, friends and agents etc. The track kinda drags on considering it's really just a list put to a slow beat.
Track number two is the track I decided to record and post here. It just seems so odd by comparison to what you're used to hearing today. Not only does he tell kids to stay in school, but he also advises them to avoid drugs and drug dealers. It just seems so odd. Come to think of it, he only uses profanity once throughout the entire album.
The next two songs are out of the ordinary as well. "The Dragon" simply refers to bad hygiene. Biz goes over what you should do to avoid smelling bad, as well as how to inform your friends that they smell bad. It's actually kind of a low point on the album considering the talent that Biz Markie has."Spring Again" follows the exploits of various characters finding love at the end of winter. All while warning both sexes not to fall into traps by the opposite sex.
"Just A Friend" is Biz Markie's biggest hit. In 2008 VH1 ranked it as number 100 on a list of the top 100 hip hop songs of all time. The main theme is simply "don't trust a girl who says she only has a friend" as opposed to a boyfriend. Besides being a wonderful song, the music video is probably one of the funniest videos not made by Weird Al. Some of the "Your Mama" jokes at the start still make me laugh. Watch it here: Biz Markie - Just A Friend
After "Just A Friend", there are only three other tracks that stand out to me. "Mudd Foot" is kind of a rap version of "The Twist". Biz Markie says that he isn't going to rhyme over the track so that you can dance to it and then he lets the DJ get to work. The problem is that he never actually describes how to do the Mudd Foot. So just do whatever you want to do I guess. "A Thing Named Kim" is a pretty brave song considering when the album was released. It follows Biz Markie going to a club and picking up a girl to take home. To his horror he finds out that the "girl" he takes home is a transvestite. The exact quote is "she's a he and her's a him." It made me laugh. "My Man Rich" is a dedication to a friend who ends up in jail for dealing drugs on Long Island. He describes Rich as an honourable guy who provided for his family, girlfriend and friends. A guy that just wants to make sure his family comfortable. A wonderful song.
It's really hard to rate this album because it sounds so different from everything else that's on the radio today. I think the main problem with the album that the strength of the tracks on this album are weak in comparison to his other albums. That being said, the good songs are really good and fun to listen too. I think I may have to give it a 75/100. Unfortunately, the lows on the album make it seem kind of average, instead of being amazing.
Still, buy it here:
http://www.amazon.ca/Biz-Never-Sleeps-Markie/dp/B0000010EL
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