Much like any inner-city urban youth does when going through some adverse times, over this past weekend I went and cuddled up to my one true love…

…mah’ music.

I jacked that in paraphrasatory manner from The Steve Harvey Show from one of the many episodes where Regina played Steve like a space-aged banjo. Either way, there is some truth in that statement. For some reason, from Thursday night thru Sunday evening, the time that should have been spent doing my taxes was time that was spent going through my music stacks and going hogwild. In total, I must have spent well over 20 hours sitting in or around my computer doing music related things.

Ironically, very little of that time was spent online since Comcast has decided that despite my on-time monthly payments for cable-internet service, I should only receive it at their whim. Smurfers!

Well, this time with my first love (mah’ music) caused me to do a lot of random thinking and come to realizations and out of the benevolence of my heart, I’ve decided to share them with you. How kind of me.

- On Thursday night, at about midnight, my little sister called me because she was bored. Mind you, I had to be at work on Friday but that didn’t seem to bother her much. So we sat on the phone until about 130am EST. Well, at that point, I was no longer tired so I did what any other sane person would do at 130am. I got up and went and surfed my CD’s trying to pull every old school hip-hop album I had (which came to about 45) because as soon as my sister and I got off the phone, I began thinking about making an old school playlist of songs that are GUARANTEED to get any dance floor filled with people over 24 hype. At 130am.

Plus, I really wanted to hear Black Sheep’s “The Choice Is Your’s” remix. At 130am. I love my family.

- I realized that Cypress Hill’s self-titled debut album, of which I have owned on CD since 1991, might be one of the first CD’s I ever purchased. I think the first one was TLC’s Oooooooooh…On The TLC Tip but I really can’t remember which I got first. All I know is that the first time I heard “How I Could Just Kill A Man” when it was playing in the movie Juice in 1991, I had to have it. I was 12. So my dad got it for me and folks wonder why I curse so much now.

RAP MUSIC IS WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

-Anybody who really thinks that should be burned in a VW Jetta while Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” plays in the background at blaring levels. They should also have their toenails plucked with Bic pens.

- I no longer hate KRS-One. Despite my admission that he’s a good rapper, I have NEVER been a fan. I’ve never owned a KRS-One album nor have I ever really liked one of his songs THAT much. I recently purchased BDP’s “classic” (yeaaaaaaah…okay) album, Criminal Minded…and I don’t like it. I could so live without that album.

However, “Step Into A World”, “MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know”, and “Outta Here” are hot songs. Period. And KRS really was on his smurf on those joints. I’m not saying I’m a fan for real. I’m just saying that I don’t hate him any longer.

- On a similar note, I think I have finally realized that Rakim really is the greatest rapper of all time. I have been listening to the Paid In Full album non-stop all weekend. And son was really that nice. I used to argue with folks about this since Jay is clearly always able to claim that spot, but this weekend, I was converted into a Rakim fan. However, his stock has fallen off further than Enron, and I’d be okay if I never heard anything new from him ever again.

All that to say, Rakim at his peak, was the best in the game.

- “You Know I Got Soul” by Eric B. & Rakim is one of the best hiphop songs ever. You can disagree, but you will be wrong.

- “They Reminisce Over You” by Pete Rock & CL Smooth is my favorite hiphop song ever. This is purely subjective, but I think this is the best beat ever made. And I would be more than willing to argue about this all the live long day as I realize there are LOTS of songs out there that could vie for title of Best Beat.

-Have you ever heard a song that you know was sampled by a hiphop group but you can’t put your finger on what song used it? That’s happened a few times over the course of my life. Well that happened to me recently. I was at my boy’s house and he played Junior’s song “Mama Used To Say.” For those who don’t think they know that song, I assure you, you do. It is the song with the famous lyrics:

“take your time young man/don’t you rush to get old…”

Anyway, I was perplexed to high Hell listening to that song until it dawned on me what song I remember it from. And it was at this point, my ignorance points reached new levels.

Poison Clan’s “I Hate Hoes”.

Yes, a song by pre-”Whu Dat” JT Money, about his disdain for hoes. The first lines of the song?

“I fell in love with a bitch so I married one/but a nigga in love with a bitch, is very dumb”

The chorus?

“I hate hoes/hoes hate me/I hate hoes/hoes hate me”

I’m so proud. I love ignorance.

-I created an old school hiphop club album this weekend and I had TOTALLY forgotten how effin’ great “Peter Piper” by Run-DMC is. Damn shame they got LL Cool J for that beat though. I didn’t even know until I read it on allhiphop.com (though it makes SO much sense) that the original beat for “Rock The Bells” (which is another of my favorite hiphop songs) was the “Peter Piper” beat. Run-DMC is grimey for that son. But just like in death, seniority usually rules.

-If ever there is a Hip-Hop Hall of Fame, and Bob James doesn’t get in for his contributions to the hip-hop catalog, somethig is foul in the state of Denmark. Seriously, Bob James (and George Clinton and James Brown) has been sampled more times than chinese food in the mall.

-Phyllis Hyman is one of my favorite singers ever. Now. And of course, she’s dead. I think I have an affinity for dead singers or something. All of my favorite voices are folks who have tragically met an end from Donny Hathaway to Sam Cooke to Minnie Ripperton to Marvin Gaye and now to Phyllis Hyman. Word to the wise, if you have a favorite singer that you cherish, make sure I never know about them. It might end badly.

-I mentioned before that I create compilation CD’s in a series that I call, “my mama’s music”, whose original intent was for me to send the CDs to my mother as gifts since she doesn’t want to hear all that hippety hop non-sense. Well, this weekend, I created THREE new compilations in the series. I went from Volume 2 to Volume 5. And as anybody who has tried to do it knows, creating a compilation CD is a difficult undertaking. It seems like you’d just throw a bunch of songs together, right?

Nope. If you really care about what you’re doing, you will think and re-think about songs that make the cut in attempts to make the perfect compilation. It’s a grueling process. Not unlike making sausage. And totally not like it at all.

-Are you still reading?

-I went to my favorite crack dealer, CD Depot in College Park, MD, and had Big Daddy Kane’s first album, Long Live The Kane, IN MY HAND. And put it back because for some reason, I wasn’t convinced it was the first album. What in the HELL was I thinking??? I haven’t been this pissed at myself since…hmm…this is a story.

Have you ever thrown clothes in the washer and dryer and then realized upon pulling them out that you had a ball point pen in with the clothes? Yeah, that happened to me. Luckily, it didn’t open so my clothes were fine. Now, the genius in me had 2 options here. 1) Throw it away. or 2) Open up the pen knowing good and damn well that the ink will spill all over the floor since it didnt happen in the dryer. Clearly option 2 is the wrong way to go.

But I just had to make sure it was the wrong way to go. So I opened up the pen cap and yep…just like I thought, black ink all over the floor and my hand.

Education has nothing to do with being smart. Trust me.

Moral of the story. I had the album in my hands and put it back. Quel idiote.

-Speaking of crack, my iPod has become so important to me that I’m literally AFRAID to leave it at home now. I want it with me everywhere. I put the playlists for all my compilations, of which I have around 10 now, on my iPod. I spent all 20 of the hours this weekend playing with my music (in the non-Andre 3000) way, on iTunes arranging and re-arranging.

Apple’s iPod changed my life.