The Wildstyle Story #24-Song Breakdown: What Dope Is
I mentioned in the Song Breakdown: You Want A Style Like This (Come Get It…) story that song was the only actual Hip House song that Wildstyle did, but I suppose this is track might like to have a word on that. This definitely is pretty close, if not right on the nose of being Hip House.
This song’s original title is “Techno House”, which is admittedly uninspiring. After I was (arguably rightfully) invited off of “Techno Dance” (which I renamed “Exploits of the Lyrical Legend” on this album), Maxx came to me with this instrumental. It is my understanding that he also collaborated with BaddMixx on this track, but I’m not sure how collaborative it was. I do remember being bugged out about the beat, specifically the intro, and how it sounded. I learned that he hooked up a guitar pedal that had sampling/looping functionality directly to the 808 and that’s how he got the unique sound. When I interviewed Maxx, I asked him where he got the idea for using the guitar pedal that way, and told me that he was at a studio with the Chicago-based Rap group, T.A.P (Together A Posse), or perhaps it was only their DJ, Pumpin’ Pete in the studio at the time. Whatever the case, Pete had a guitar pedal hooked up to a drum machine. He said it wasn’t and 808, but didn’t remember what type of drum machine it was, but regardless, that’s where he got the idea. From there, I followed up with Pumpin’ Pete to see if he remembered this, and he told me that at some point he had a pedal hooked to his MPC in Wax Trax studios, but he thinks it’s likely that Max saw this when he was working at Mark Imperial’s studio in Naperville, in the T.A.P days, when they had a pedal hooked up to a Roland 909, and that fits better to the story that Maxx was telling me, and would have to be some time around late ’89 or really early ‘90.
As for the lyrics, at this time, I was now feeling a bit like an outsider in Wildstyle, as well as not even knowing if we were still going to be a group. However, while I certainly have my flaws, and even more abundantly back then, I have always tried to take difficult and/or humbling experiences and focus on what I can learn from them, rather than dwelling on any frustration I may be feeling. In essence, I went into writing and recording this song trying to prove my worth to Madd Maxx and to a lesser degree, also BaddMixx, both artistically and personally, at least in some ways. As an MC, I wanted to try to be as clear and concise with my delivery as possible, being that was one of the critiques I had been given by the group and second-hand by BaddMixx. As a result, this is the only Wildstyle song where I have two completely different vocal takes. The other version is a more hyped vocal version, which is actually more fitting for the song, but the delivery isn’t as crisp. Not that this version is an example of great delivery, as the delivery is fairly dry, I simply think it is better overall in that regard than that alternate version. So, even though there was a part of me trying to prove myself, there was also a part of me that was uninspired to fully put in the effort to showcase that when it actually came down to it. Instead, I focused on trying to be no nonsense in my approach and clear with articulation…at the cost of any feeling.
I don’t remember which of the two takes we recorded first, but in the other version I change one lyric. Instead of saying, “And when I rhyme to the dope tracks/produced by the DJs BaddMixx and Madd Maxx”, for the second part, I take out BaddMixx’s name. So, that makes me think that the version included here was the first one, which makes sense because it sounds like the sort of practice vocals I would do some times, reading the lyrics, so I could listen back and get a feel for the song before doing a final version. And, I’m pretty sure that before that other version was recorded, Madd Maxx and BaddMixx weren’t collaborating anymore, hence the removal of his name.
Speaking of not remembering things, this is the only song on this project that I can’t remember where it was recorded. It’s definitely a home 4-track recording, but I can’t figure out where. Logic would dictate that it was recorded at our Foxcrest apartment, but my memories defy that logic. The reason I suggest that it “should” have been recorded there is because on the last verse, the extra voice saying “Yeah, right”, is Choice and he was only in town between November ’89 till February ’90, and we were living in Foxcrest the whole time. However, I have a vision of working on this song with Maxx in a particular place, and I can visualize parts of the environment, but it doesn’t look like any place I can remember, but I have a short and semi-vivid memory of working on it while sitting in the middle of a living room with the equipment on the floor. One possible theory is that this was recorded at Maxx’s dad’s place, and that’s a real wild(style) guess… In the end, I really don’t know.
This is one of the songs that I feel has some decently interesting elements, but ultimately isn’t a great example of where Maxx was as a producer or me as an MC at that time. It’s also true that some of the elements of the production, and use of the guitar pedal, are also great on their own, but I don’t think it best captures what he could do, although that is best demonstrated in the intro to the song. Lyrically, it’s not terrible, but there’s absolutely nothing special about it. This song was made pretty much in the final days of Wildstyle, but while I still had some lingering hopes that we were going to revive the magic, and I think that feeling of waning hope is clearly evident in how this song came together. It’s my second least favorite Wildstyle era song, only because of the poorly executed concept of “Life Is Like A Party (Start Livin’ It…)” earns the first spot.
And that my friends is my sales pitch to make you want to run out and listen to this one… 😐
