HOT 5: What If’s

What if? It’s the eternal questions everybody has asked. What if I had been on time? What if I hadn’t come home early? What if the Portland Trailblazers had picked Michael Jordan instead of Chicago? It’s the question that makes you say Hmmmmm. Well, we asked that question and came up with five Grownhead brainteasers.

1. What if Eazy E had paid Dr. Dre and Ice Cube?

Real History:  After the phenomenal success of Straight Outta Compton and a successful summer tour, NWA was riding a wave of popularity. Everything was good in the hood. Well, almost everything. Ice Cube, who was doing the heavy lifting as far as rapping and writing for the group, was to first to take notice.

Despite high sales and the fame, Ice Cube said all he had was a “Suzuki cheap jeep and a gold rope,” while manager Jerry Heller and Eazy (who owned the label) had big houses in the Hills. “I was still stayin’ with my Mama,” Cube said in an interview years later. Cube called a group meeting to discuss, but nobody came. He got so disgusted he left the group to go solo. 

Several years later Dr. Dre, the producer and sound architect of the group, finally caught on, too. With a little help from a guy named Suge Knight, who according to urban legend shows up to the meeting with bats, pipes and big fellas, Dre persuaded Eazy to sign his release from Ruthless Records. Dre and Suge then started Death Row Records, launching a new epoch in hip-hop.

Alternate Reality: First off, the obvious ramifications. No Amerikkka’s Most Wanted (as we know it), no Death Row Records (as we know it), no Chronic (as we know it).  Ice Cube still does a solo project at Ruthless, and heck, even calls it Amerikkka’s Most Wanted. But instead of featuring classic production by the Bomb Squad (basically Public Enemy), it’s produced by Dre — and it’s pretty damn good. It’s angry, raw, and righteous, but missing the historical political bent that could only have been the product of many late night talks with Chuck.

MC Ren, NWA’s second-best rapper, has a real solo career with Dre on his beats, and goes on to lauded collaborations with the likes of Scarface and Kool G Rap. Warren G still gives Dre 213’s demo featuring Snoop Doggy Dog rapping and Nate Dogg singing, but now Snoop is on the Ruthless roster. Even more intriguing: when Dre’s sound morphs in the G-Funk era, the albums of Ice Cube, Ren, Bone Thugs and Harmony, and Above The Law all have those beats.

And since he’s making great money just producing, Dre never feels like he has to rap to eat, one of the reasons he put out a solo album. The Chronic is never released and hip-hop as we know it is totally different.

Suge Knight still starts Death Row Records, but without Dre behind the boards, he never becomes much of a player in the industry. You see how well Death Row did after Dre left — no offense, Suge. Since Suge never hits it big, he doesn’t clown at The Source Awards and the East Coast-West Coast beef never gets rolling. With no Death Row juice, Suge doesn’t have the money to get Tupac out of jail. Pac serves out his sentence, or somebody else (perhaps Puffy) gets him out. But since he’s not rolling with Death Row, he’s free to examine the spiritual lessons he learned behind bars in his rhymes, eschews the whole Thug Life and never gets shot. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.

2.What If The RZA’s 1st project blows up

Real History: In 1991, Tommy Boy signed an artist named Prince Rakeem and tried to market the rapper as a lover boy MC. Ohh, We Love You Rakeem is a flop, and Prince Rakeem is dropped by the label. Rakeem goes back to Staten Island to lick his wounds and retool his sound, and returns in ‘93 with a few friends: the GZA, Ol’ Dirty Bastard,  Inspektah Deck, Raekwon the Chef, Ghostface Killah and the M-E-T… you know the rest.

Alternate Reality:  Well it’s kind of obvious—if Prince Rakeem never failed, there would be no Wu-Tang Clan. It ain’t broke, he doesn’t fix it and the signature RZA sound is never born. The aforementioned members of the Wu remain his boys from the hood, running capers and slowly going under. Rakeem puts his cousin ODB on, but his wildin’ out side is too much for Tommy Boy. Without the stability of a group to hold him down, he’s dropped pretty quickly and never fucks Mariah. The group gets some shine dropping into the studio, but are relegated to underground status, with a couple promising B-side guest spots and maybe a legendary mixtape floating around. They certainly wouldn’t occupy their current place in hip-hop history. The RZA is proof-positive that sometimes before you succeed, you have to lose.

3. What if Scott La Rock doesn’t get shot

Real History: Formed in 1985, Boogie Down Productions first came to the public ear with the underground release Criminal Minded. The ranks have swelled and shrunk, but the original main crew consisted of KRS-1, DJ Scott La Rock and beat boxer D-Nice. Before NWA, before Ice T, before 50 Cent, BDP were putting out truly hardcore rhymes on wax. These weren’t just commentaries about the street life; they were active participants in all manner of illegalities (on record at least). Just as their buzz getting traction, Scott La Rock was shot in the neck and killed when he tried to intercede on the behalf of D-Nice in a neighborhood fight over a girl. 

From great pain came great art, and BDP did a 180-degree turn on their major label album By Any Means Necessary. Kris has said that he and Scott planned to be less violent and more responsible on their next release. He said that the violent imagery of the first album was a ruse to garner the ears of the audience they wanted to reach, kind of a musical “bait and switch.” Instead of killing folks with his 9mm, KRS was now espousing the virtues of stopping the violence and knowledge of self.

Released in 1988 with the lead single “My Philosophy,” the record today is a certified Hip-Hop Classic. Coupled with Public Enemy’s It takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, it was the 1-2 punch credited with blowing up political consciousness in rap. Black nationalism, positivity, and Five Percent lingo would be hip-hop touchstones for the next five years, until The Chronic blew onto the scene and started a sea of change in 1993.

Alternate Reality: No diss to Kris, but as for all that “bait and switch” talk, WHATEVA MAN. If Scott were never shot, the logic probably would have gone like this:

“Hey! The shoot-‘em-up is getting a buzz—let’s really kill up some stuff on the next album!”

BDP then goes on a drug dealing, murderous rampage unheard of on wax before. Public Enemy still releases It Takes A Nation, but by itself it’s just an anomaly. A popular record, but without BDP’s synergy, the whole too black, too strong thing never catches on and hip-hop goes straight from party music to thugging, with no period of political or philosophical articulation. Sad hmmmmmmm.

4. What if Biggie doesn’t get shot

Real History: In 1997 the Notorious BIG was sitting on top of the world. He was hailed as the savior of East Coast Hip Hop, his debut album was (and still is) considered a classic, and his chief rival from the West Coast was dead, which many hoped would signal an end to the East Coast-West Coast beef. But on March 9, leaving a Vibe party for the Soul Train Music Awards, Biggie was shot and killed.

Once Biggie died, Puff Daddy’s next big release was his own record, which he had been recording before Biggie was shot. No Way Out becomes a hit with the heartfelt lead single “Missing You.” This launched Puffy, a flashy but behind-the-scenes record exec, into stardom, but he was never able to find another star as solid as Big to get behind and some questioned his star-making skills. Remember, all the folks who dropped immediately after Biggie over the next two years were signed to Bad Boy before Biggie died, and the majority of artists he signed after Biggie have been unspectacular (Loon, G. Deep, and The Lox) or downright terrible (Danity Kane).

For a couple of years following Big’s death, there was an enormous power vacuum left on the East Coast. Weak releases from established rappers and newcomers had most hip-hop fans frustrated and disgruntled. New York was dead. Then Jay-Z stepped onto the scene, proclaimed himself heir to the East Coast crown and puts a little spark back in the game, but not enough to prevent the East Coast from slowly succumbing to the rise of the South.

Alternate Reality: Jigga Who? Biggie recovers from the mishap to wax a young upstart trying to take his throne, but not before said upstart lands enough blows to gain a few fans. Jigga Man gets big, but never grabs the ring (NOTE: My brother and I discussed the “what would Biggie be doing now” thing once and he came to the conclusion that all the stuff Jay Z had accomplished probably would have been Biggie’s). However, Foxxy Brown, Jay’s protégé, grinds hard and forces Lil Kim, under Big’s tutelage, to up her game and put out a record that actually realizes her lyrical potential.

Meanwhile, Bad Boy records is putting out hits. Puff’s energy is put to good use, pushing his biggest star and his biggest paycheck. Diddy’s own eventual release is a minor deal, shined up by Biggie’s guest verses, but Diddy’s focus is more on being Sean Combs, record exec. He builds a lasting legacy of success at Bad Boy Records, and diddles with fashion design on the side. Hmmmmmmmmm… 

5. What if the Beastie Boys stay a punk band

Real History: In 1983 three wealthy Jewish kids from New York got together and picked the dumbest name they could think for a band, the Beastie Boys. Originally punk rockers, they made the move to the burgeoning hip-hop scene, signing to a small label named Def Jam and releasing Licensed to Ill in 1986. It was HUGE. The Beasties were the first white rap group and they were pretty good for the time. Up until that point, rap was entirely a “black thang” that white folks wouldn’t understand. It wasn’t that they weren’t allowed; they just didn’t know what was going on. MTV was all about rock back then, and had a strict white artist policy. MTV even initially refused to play Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” video—it took his record label threatening to pull ALL of their videos before MTV relented.

The Beasties’ first single “New Style” was a hit on black radio, but they didn’t make a video for it. The second single, “Fight For Your Right To Party,” was an across-the-board smash. Run-DMC had mixed rap and rock before, but there was a big difference with the Beastie Boys: they were white.  MTV put the video into heavy rotation and the Beastie Boys racked up the most sales for a rap record in the 80’s. 

License exposed a whole lotta kids, WHITE kids, to this “new thing” called rap and made them want more. Their portrayals of partying and drinking hit the demo square in the nose. Because of the Beastie Boys’ popularity, MTV was a bit more comfortable with the idea of rap by the time Run-DMC dropped Raising Hell later that year. So when Run-DMC’s collaboration with almost forgotten rock stalwarts Aerosmith was released, MTV played it again, again, and again. All these new fans bought Raising Hell. It was so big, the Grammy’s decided to add a rap category and MTV backed a show called Yo! MTV Raps. The first episode was hosted by none other than Run-DMC themselves. 

Alternate Reality: Beastie Boys as punk rockers make a little noise, and even get a video or two in rotation on MTV, but the music network never gets a taste of hip hop. White kids miss their first hip-hop heroes that they can identify with. When Raising Hell drops, MTV loosens up enough to give “Walk This Way” a little play, but the audience is a lot smaller since it’s such a brand-new sound. Although Run-DMC blows up, their crossover success is limited and there is no seminal rap show to bring hip-hop to the ‘burbs.

Hammer’s phenomenon is a little smaller and a lot more funky, and without a white rap group to give him some hope, maybe a guy from Detroit named Eminem doesn’t try his hand at this rap thing. Now, you might say these are mostly bad things but think about it: If hip-hop didn’t blow up, maybe it wouldn’t have gotten so commercial. It might be a little more authentic today. Hmmmmmmmm