Black Rob question... how did he do it?

[Josh]

Black Rob - Like Whoa

This was pretty dope when it dropped; the first couple months or so thereafter anyway. Black Rob was never anything special throughout the duration of his career, but this track was bangin' and if you're on that backpacker shit like "fu[COLOR="Black"]c[/COLOR]k e-ga I never bumped this" then you a lie b/c being if you were of adequate age at the time you know damn well you nodded your head to this.

It's obviously the production more than anything and gritty voice of Black Rob that made this track such a success. It's amazing how one single song can have such grand success even when the artist themselves skill-wise is trash. Ace23 could even potentially make something of himself if he had the right beat and was creative enough to come up with a catchy enough hook to get dumb muthafu[COLOR="Black"]c[/COLOR]kas bumpin' their heads for a hot minute to where they're compelled enough to dish out ninety nine cents on the track or drop ten bucks for the actual album.

First of all though, that fu[COLOR="Black"]c[/COLOR]kin' idiot can't rhyme or flow well much less decent enough to save his own life to withstand two or three verses long enough to hold the fort down until the catchy hook comes in, so that thought is out the window, but I'm just sayin' the point is anyone could become a rap star almost overnight just as Black Rob did ... all you need is a mass appeal instrumental and a catchy hook to bait enough people to get a Gold or even Platinum single. I'm not sure if Black Rob is still eatin' off that one hit, and he's surely a superb definition of a "one-hit-wonder" but there's no doubt dude got paid off investing what had to be no more than 15 minutes to acquire his 15 minutes of fame.

So come on Ace, what the fu[COLOR="Black"]c[/COLOR]k you doin' being Black Rob's stunt double when you could be out there being the man all on your own? Time for you to blow up like whoa!

[9erempiree]

Great song. I think it is nostalgia and most songs are better as they age. That is human as we perceive music.

I remember the days when I thought Puffy and Mase were wack. They still are but they would have killed it today with their music.

It's the "they don't make music like they use to" syndrome.

[DonDadda59]

It's the "they don't make music like they use to" syndrome.

Nah, it's more like most of the shit being churned out nowadays is garbage. Nostalgia has nothing to do with it. I can put on any Master P track from '97 and still know it's pure ass. And in 15 years if I put on some chief keef I'll feel the same exact way.

There's good and then there's shit. Time has no bearing.

[Josh]

Great song. I think it is nostalgia and most songs are better as they age. That is human as we perceive music.

I remember the days when I thought Puffy and Mase were wack. They still are but they would have killed it today with their music.

It's the "they don't make music like they use to" syndrome.

To some degree I unfortunately agree with you. Not so much Diddy and Mase in particular, but the whole nostalgia thing, mos def. To give you an example - Black Rob's "Like Whoa" dropped in 2000, and there was a shit ton of both dope shit and whack shit released in that year; hip-hop was at an interesting time and we (the fans) were blessed (and cursed) with such good and bad quality of music. At that time, probably more bad than good, but just like any year within the hip-hop industry there's good and bad, and because I'm such a deep fan, I always say the very little outweighs the outrageously bad.

I love the rap game, and even the engulf'd horrific amount of for lack of a better word or term bad talent whack or whatnot the little that remains gives me hope we will survive. I still honestly believe there's another 2Pac or Biggie in the making. There's another "white boy" gold mine in the works; and it's sure as hell not Bubba Sparxxx, Paul Wall or Yellawolf - even though Yellawolf is decent, actually he's pretty damn good, just nothing on Em' level, even though Em himself signed him. I believe there's a white boy out there yet to be signed that will rock the rap game just as Em did and will blow up and evolve rap just as Em did and honestly be just as talented if not more ... in time there will be a whole sea of legit talented white emcees and of that mixture a handful will surface and will commercially change the rap game/industry just as Em did in the late 90's.

On point I was trying to get at though in my original post though is that the black ... boring, offering nothing special original or anything is Ace23 ... I mean WTF is he doing that is going to revolutionize the rape game? Maybe he can explain to us the plan. I'm sorry, I know I sound like an asshole, and if he's listening maybe this will compel him enough to step his own shit up enough to rock the industry ... *(he gets a spark in his head like "yeah ni[COLOR="Black"]g[/COLOR]ga yeah!)* and realistically I'm like ...



... he's all like ...

and I'm like cause it's truth ... and he knows it.

[ROCSteady]

'Whoa' still gets plays from me to this day. It is a 'starred' song on my extensive Spotify playlists.

I remember hearing it for the first time in 6th grade and fckn with it sooo hawd.

That whole barrage, "Like dough, light dro, Nitro, might flow, nice clothes, like whoa" was so damn captivating when it first was gettin plays

[Josh]

Nah, it's more like most of the shit being churned out nowadays is garbage. Nostalgia has nothing to do with it. I can put on any Master P track from '97 and still know it's pure ass. And in 15 years if I put on some chief keef I'll feel the same exact way.

There's good and then there's shit. Time has no bearing.

That isn't entirely true. I do agree with you to a great extent. Most true great rap music is timeless as you're alluding to but yes, some of it is time sensitive. The music that is "in the moment" and is time sensitive isn't as good, but at the moment (like Black Rob's Like Whoa) is it. Today Like Whoa isn't that great, but admitting (even you) nodded your head to it, like most of us did. Shyne's Bad Boy. 50 Cent's In the Club. These are hits won't necessarily withstand the test of time but at one time they were bangers the vast majority accepted as dope sounds.

[DonDadda59]

That isn't entirely true. I do agree with you to a great extent. Most true great rap music is timeless as you're alluding to but yes, some of it is time sensitive. The music that is "in the moment" and is time sensitive isn't as good, but at the moment (like Black Rob's Like Whoa) is it. Today Like Whoa isn't that great, but admitting (even you) nodded your head to it, like most of us did. Shyne's Bad Boy. 50 Cent's In the Club. These are hits won't necessarily withstand the test of time but at one time they were bangers the vast majority accepted as dope sounds.

I think most people can tell the difference between 'hot' songs that bump in the club for like a month vs. a true bonafide classic. Don't think anyone (at least not me personally) thought Like Whoa or In Da Club were timeless hits. Bad Boyz is still the shit though

[Josh]

'Whoa' still gets plays from me to this day. It is a 'starred' song on my extensive Spotify playlists.

I remember hearing it for the first time in 6th grade and fckn with it sooo hawd.

That whole barrage, "Like dough, light dro, Nitro, might flow, nice clothes, like whoa" was so damn captivating when it first was gettin plays

Thank you ROC. So before the argument can be brought up it's not in its own sense to some degree timeless, it is. Years later, well past a decade the song is still banged and listened to, not on a religious level, but listened to like it's still fresh and at least worthy of some form of entertainment even almost 15 years later.

[Rake2204]

I was never particularly fond of the track, but the phrase "Like whoa" is still one I hear used with regularity. I say it from time to time and I don't even know why.

Coincidentally, I was watching a McDonald's High School All-American Dunk Contest from I thinnnk 2001 a few weeks ago, back when the contest was held inside a small high school gym, and "Like Whoa" came on and the entire crowd (seemingly comprised of locals) all began singing along. It was kind of sick actually, but then the announcers chimed in with their, "I don't know what kind of music this even is" banter and kind of ruined it.

Sidenote, Black Rob re-emerged on the hook of a track from the new Deltron album (amongst the better tracks on the album in my opinion): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2eCayYCh_4

[DonDadda59]

I was never particularly fond of the track, but the phrase "Like whoa" is still one I hear used with regularity. I say it from time to time and I don't even know why.

I spent some time in Mass. in the Boston area for a few years in the middle of the last decade. All the kids there were using 'like whoa' as slang. Something like 'Just saw Troy, that movie was crazy like whoa'.

Being from NYC I was like

And this was a few years after the song was out.

[Josh]

I think most people can tell the difference between 'hot' songs that bump in the club for like a month vs. a true bonafide classic. Don't think anyone (at least not me personally) thought Like Whoa or In Da Club were timeless hits. Bad Boyz is still the shit though

I see where you're coming from and like I said I agree with you more than I disagree with you. I'm just saying (going back to my original post) it isn't all that difficult to put out something the masses will "bump" or whatever you wanna call it - and it doesn't have to be something that is truly deserving to be timeless. I don't feel Like Whoa is deserving to be timeless but that's out of my control and perhaps it already is...

I know it sucks and isn't right but that's life...

Look at it like this... Black Star's Respiration is let's say commonly accepted as one of the rap game's top 100 greatest tracks of all time ... I'd say that's a pretty safe proclamation and knowing my level of knowledge, expertise, etc that's fairly accurate, but unfortunately Like Whoa could prove to be even more "timeless" just in general terms all circles considered. In like-minds of mines and yours it wouldn't be the case but just saying in general it's different.

You see kinda what I'm sayin' here? I agree with you 100% if it's just me and you talkin' but when we incorporate everyone we include those who would say Like Whoa or Bad Boy (the Shyne song) > than Respiration even though we know it's not, just the general consensus says it is.

[Josh]

I was never particularly fond of the track, but the phrase "Like whoa" is still one I hear used with regularity. I say it from time to time and I don't even know why.

Coincidentally, I was watching a McDonald's High School All-American Dunk Contest from I thinnnk 2001 a few weeks ago, back when the contest was held inside a small high school gym, and "Like Whoa" came on and the entire crowd (seemingly comprised of locals) all began singing along. It was kind of sick actually, but then the announcers chimed in with their, "I don't know what kind of music this even is" banter and kind of ruined it.

Sidenote, Black Rob re-emerged on the hook of a track from the new Deltron album (amongst the better tracks on the album in my opinion): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2eCayYCh_4

It's been a cultural staple since it came out. One reason why it's somewhat "timeless"

[Josh]

I spent some time in Mass. in the Boston area for a few years in the middle of the last decade. All the kids there were using 'like whoa' as slang. Something like 'Just saw Troy, that movie was crazy like whoa'.

Being from NYC I was like

And this was a few years after the song was out.

Troy ... the movie ... you mean the one with Brad Pitt right? Yeah well, that movie was dope as shit ... like whoa, even.

[DonDadda59]

I see where you're coming from and like I said I agree with you more than I disagree with you. I'm just saying (going back to my original post) it isn't all that difficult to put out something the masses will "bump" or whatever you wanna call it - and it doesn't have to be something that is truly deserving to be timeless. I don't feel Like Whoa is deserving to be timeless but that's out of my control and perhaps it already is...

I know it sucks and isn't right but that's life...

Look at it like this... Black Star's Respiration is let's say commonly accepted as one of the rap game's top 100 greatest tracks of all time ... I'd say that's a pretty safe proclamation and knowing my level of knowledge, expertise, etc that's fairly accurate, but unfortunately Like Whoa could prove to be even more "timeless" just in general terms all circles considered. In like-minds of mines and yours it wouldn't be the case but just saying in general it's different.

You see kinda what I'm sayin' here? I agree with you 100% if it's just me and you talkin' but when we incorporate everyone we include those who would say Like Whoa or Bad Boy (the Shyne song) > than Respiration even though we know it's not, just the general consensus says it is.

I get what you're saying. But not trying to sound elitist or anything... simpler things that appeal to the lowest common denominator, to the masses will be more known and remembered by more people than something more upper level and really esoteric like Respiration. But people who really listen will remember that track, as well as the ones that 'bump'. It's the same with any other art form really. You'll probably find a ton of people who think 'Titanic' is a timeless masterpiece, but ask them about say 'Midnight Cowboy' and they'll be like

So in the end I think it depends on who you're talking to.

Troy ... the movie ... you mean the one with Brad Pitt right? Yeah well, that movie was dope as shit ... like whoa, even.

Yup, that's around the time I first got to the Boston area, when that movie came out.

[Josh]

I get what you're saying. But not trying to sound elitist or anything... simpler things that appeal to the lowest common denominator, to the masses will be more known and remembered by more people than something more upper level and really esoteric like Respiration. But people who really listen will remember that track, as well as the ones that 'bump'. It's the same with any other art form really. You'll probably find a ton of people who think 'Titanic' is a timeless masterpiece, but ask them about say 'Midnight Cowboy' and they'll be like

So in the end I think it depends on who you're talking to.



Yup, that's around the time I first got to the Boston area, when that movie came out.

You're exactly right. It comes down to the "average listener" ... and unfortunately that "average listener" brought down by industry pressure can destroy what could have been a great album. Industry pressure on artists (in not just rap but all genres of music) has been the "secret ingredient" or murdering truly great music as a mean of appeasing the vastly less intelligent. LOL, I know that sounds incredibly shallow minded but it's so true to some extent.

What sounds good > what really IS good... from a timeless perspective.

Guys like Beethoven didn't have a record label executive or A&R over their heads telling them to switch it up or else...



Just imagine how creative and even better true music would be today without upper-management interfering - and like I said not just rap but all genres. It's almost like they're purposely trying to dumb-down us on purpose. There's no telling how much originality is forced to be changed before released.