NO DANGEROUS DAME, NO CALVIN T: FAIL.
Just kidding… or am I? Nah. The Bay Area has produced such a wide and varied array of rap music over the years that listing “The 50 Greatest Bay Area Rap Songs” is a bit like doing the same for “The 50 Greatest New York Area Rap Songs” or “The 50 Greatest Rap Songs By Black Men.” But Nation Of Thizzlam’s @Bushwickwill has put together a very solid cross-section of that history, from Mob Music and Backpack rap to Hyphy and Based music. It’s comprehensive enough that it’s not going to piss off the Bay purists (at least not any more than these lists usually piss off purists: “Yo freaky tales shuld b at least #9 not 13!”) but it also serves as great primer for the uninitiated.
I enjoyed reading this list as well, and realize after doing one myself, that compiling one of these is NO easy task. I still stress myself out of forgetting Snypaz “Searchin” and Triple Darkness’ “Chop Up That Paper”, only including one Bump J song and so on. Oh well. It is what it is.
I’m a little salty there was no C-Bo or Brotha Lynch Hung, but what are you gonna do? The bay has one helluva catalog. And where was Click’s “Hurricane”, D’s “True Worldwide Players”, E’s “1 Luv”, “Rappers Ball”, Spice’s “Strap On The Side”, Short’s “In The Trunk” ,”Gettin’ It”, “Cocktales”, Ant’s “Parlayin”, B’s “Check It Out”, Dru’s “Can U Feel Me?”, Rich’s “Let’s Ride”. Seagram got treated as well.
They really could’ve done a hundred on this one. Either way, props to Nation of Thizzlam.
