Wednesday, July 9, 2008

I Make Fresh Posts Daily, You Burn Me? Really?



Now I can add cinematographer to the resume.

Special Ed's performance at the Crooklyn Dodger reunion show in Prospect Park 2 weekends ago. And he brought it back with dancers on the stage doing the tandem thing. Pardon the rudimentary photo skills but I was busy doing the running man and jumping over my leg while trying to keep the camera focused. In that case I deserve an oscar.

Seeing this live was the main reason I went to the show. Don't get me wrong- the roster of artists was some hip hop dream team steez, but seeing Special Ed perform "I Got It Made" was on my list of artists and tracks to witness live. I've been fortunate to see a lot of great shows, so this was one of the main items to check off. Seeing Big was on the list, but I doubt that will ever happen. It almost did though- I went to a show in Albany where he was slated to perform, but he got locked up the night before for hitting a fan with a bat outside of Nell's on 14th Street. That's better than falling down a flight of stairs and breaking a leg. At least more gangsta.

"I Got It Made" has remained timeless over the years. I was introduced to the song via Video Music Box after school- it must have been played every day for a year. That Ripples sample sounds fresher and fresher as time goes on. This track will be 20 years old next year and still demands a 1 am play at a party. Prime time. And lyrically, you'll be hard pressed to find a more braggadocio track. He had 20 cars, 74 Honda Scooters, an island of his very own, a frog, a dog with a solid gold bone, a spot in the shade, and alligator souflee. Just talk that shit. In 8th grade- Ms. Sasso's class- I incorporated the entire first verse in a poem we were assigned to do regarding ourselves. Everything was word for word aside from the "I'm not a Puerto Rican But I'm speaking so that you know". I had to switch it up a bit. You know the kid got an A. Thanks Ed. I owe you one.

1 comment:

buckemdown said...

That's like the hip-hop version of stealing a quote from a Hallmark card for your girl - I love it.

And it looks like I got one up on you How - I saw BIG perform somewhere in CT back in '96. Hands down, greatest show ever. I completely remember that bat-down in front of The Paladium too - as a matter of fact, I feel like we may have even driven by that right after it happened that night, although somebody with a memory will have to confirm that.