Hosts with the most

May 14, 2007

Hosts with the most · by Sach O

Celebrating show-stealing intros and interludes

The role of the host has been a key element to African-American music ever since the soul revues of the late 50’s and 60’s where anywhere from six to a dozen acts toured under their label’s banner. Nowadays, you’d be hard pressed to find a label roster deep or cohesive enough to successfully pull that off on a national scale but the role of the host is simply too ingrained into black music to die off. Entertainment is the name of the game and whether it’s an anonymous hypeman, a name drop on a mixtape or a fast-talking label head stealing shine from his artist on BET, shades of the revue host abound in today’s popular music. Notably, with emcees’ entourages ballooning to absurd proportions, there’s always a spot for a charismatic homie who’s willing to use his gift of gab to hype-up his cold-as-ice-drug-dealer-emcee on wax. Thing is, sometimes that homie is too charismatic and literally steals the show resulting in these hilariously entertaining moments…

Mannie Fresh – 400 Degreez Intro
It’s a shame that Mannie Fresh was paired up with the insufferable Baby for so many years since he was easily the funniest presence in early 00’s rap save maybe J-Zone. While Juvenile and the rest of the CMB’s took bragging about material riches to annoying heights, Mannie had fun with it boasting about ostrich feathers, alligator head dashboards and other eyebrow raising displays of wealth that fell squarely within Kool Keith territory. Even at his most restrained like this pimp-talk intro to Juvenile’s breakthrough 400 Degreez, Mannie’s infectious good humor and stoopid falsetto were perfect for setting it off. Oh and it also helps that he cranked out one hell of a beat.

Lord Superb – Teddy
In 2001, two crews of grimy New York rappers set up shop, repping their boroughs’ styles and aesthetics to the fullest. The Diplomats went on to sell a gajillion mixtapes, Theordore Unit never graduated from weed-carrier status. I can’t help but feel that the falling out between Ghost and his childhood homie Superb had something to do with that, although a case could be made that the Dips were simply better at marketing their product. Whether he was connecting you to a VCR or screaming on you to bring him some cognac, Superb was an entertaining presence on Ghost’s harder-edged material serving as a bootleg ODB during the years when the Wu’s X-factor was locked up. Still, nothing illustrated the chemistry between Ghost and Perb quite like this funky strung-out interlude where the duo reminisced on their childhood in Stapleton. The Unit is still standing, but it’s been a little “dry” since Ghost’s capo got locked up and subsequently got the boot.

Chris Rock – Recognize
Speaking of ODB, very few things can upstage the man. It’s hard to look back at his reign of terror without feeling at least a little guilty about it, but Russel Jones was a living breathing publicity stunt, innovating today’s arrest-heavy marketing plans without even trying. It’s not like the ODB planned to steal kicks, save a young girl, get shot and hang off a third story balcony in a month’s time: those things just happen when you’re a coked up 5%er with a gang of royalties coming in. So who or what could possibly upstage the man on the intro to his sophomore effort? How about an audibly drunk Chris Rock over a premium Neptunes beat? With Pharell delivering the assist with his Mayfield aping hook, Chris and Osirus sound like a couple of hobos who just broke into a Wildrose factory alternately dissing “commercial shit” and imitating Austin Powers. This is every bit as entertaining as you’d think it’d be.

MF Doom – Bistro
Technically this is cheating since Doom is hosting his own shit, but I’ll make an exception due to the sheer schizophrenic weirdness going on in the track. The polar opposite of ODB’s raving madness, Doom’s welcome to Mavillain’s ocean side café (WTF?) is delivered in such a calm and collected manner that you can’t help but wonder if the man’s being serious about the different people involved. Introducing Madvillain’s entire range of alter-egos (Viktor Vaughn, Quasimoto, King Geedorah, Madlib, Doom and Yesterday’s New Quintet for those keeping score) over a choice Altantic Starr loop, The Supervillain finds time to shoutout his homies from the Laundromat, give Madlib’s ESL-record dialogue samples time to breathe and generally boggle the mind of every backpacker who bought the record. Get the man back on drugs and away from modern cartoons already.

Dame Dash – I Am Dame Dash
When it comes to ego-tripping on wax, NO ONE could match Dame Dash in his prime. While a hell of a lot of people are glad the guy’s ventures are flopping, I could never hate on him for putting together State Property, signing the Dips or giving Kanye the opportunity to rap (well…maybe not that last one). Unlike Puffy, Dupri, Baby and even Irv Gotti who was set to release an album until 50 Cent mercifully aborted Murder Inc, Dash never hid the fact that he couldn’t rap for shit, sticking to trash talk and video appearances. But at the height of Rocafella’s dynasty, he somehow decided it was a good idea to have Cam’ron and Jim Jones narrate his rise to fame over a puzzling Just Blaze track that sounded like an outtake from Freeway’s album. Barely containing his enthusiasm, Dash lives out hustling dreams on wax in a hilariously corny 3 and a half minutes. It took Diddy 4 albums and a remix disc to do the same shit.

Comments for "Hosts with the most"

This post actually makes me fondly reminisce on Funkmaster Flex intros, which until now I never thought was possible. Still you’ve got to admit his “YKNAHMSAYING! FUNK FLEX, SIXTY MINUTES OF FUNK, VOLUME TWO!!!” was incredible hype even if he was largely hyping himself and not the MC’s who were ON his mix.

— DJ Flash May 15, 07:04 AM
I would have to say Diddy beats out Dash. I found him far more entertaining than most artist on the earlier Bad Boy mixtapes.

Although they were not necessarily hype-men, the Mad-Rapper and Pain in Da Ass intros, skits were classic.

Oh, thanks for the drop! (Scatch)

— Vee May 15, 01:30 PM
bobbito on rhymes like dimes is one of my favorites. “mash potatoes…apple sauce”

— kitman May 16, 10:36 AM