Music Influences the early years...

So Jake and I were sitting around tonight and I happened to be playing Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" and it got me to really thinking how music is such a large part of my life—one I used to be a lot more into...

The thing about me is that I am happy to learn and get into new music from those around me and with whom I meet. It has completely expanded my horizons in terms of styles and artists and for everyone I have ever borrowed from-Thank You.

You see in my early days, middle school and high school, I was just a wandering soul, not really focused on any one band or style. I can easily remember liking Tom Petty, Styx (Domo Origato), Devo (Whip It) and Prince. It was 9th grade when I was introduced to a few folks-Mr. Doug E. Fresh, Busy Bee, MC Shy D and the Fat Boys. 

The world changed. 

My entire high school career was spent collecting hip hop-everything from the East Coast classics-BDP, PE, Run DMC, LL, Stetsasonic, Shy D, Fresh Prince, Steady B, Cool C...

Big on my list were 3X Dope, Kwame, Larry Larr, Run DMC, Poor Righteous Teachers, Tribe Called Quest, Slick Rick...it was all east coast for a while until we were introduced to the West Coast.

 We had some early bits, Too Short of course, but the thing that took it to the next level was hearing Boys in the Hood for the first time. I missed who they were on the radio announcement and set about asking friends if they knew...nobody totally did, so me an the rest of the white boy crew (my brother, Jay Wooten) hunted it down. Hilltop Mall was the place to go and we found it all-including the NWA and The Posse tape with Boys in the Hood. From there it was pretty much all west coast all the time (threw in some X-Clan, more PE and some 2-Live)...we were hooked on Compton. King Tee, Breeze, Toddy Tee and the Rhyme Syndicate with THE man ICE-T. To this day, I can still remember almost word for word the entire Rhyme Pays album. Of course NWA was not to be messed with, but the Cube went solo! That led into all kinds of extra bits-DJ Quik, AMG, 2nd II None, Hi-C, CPO, MC Eiht...oh damn Sir Mix A Lot (Swass), Kid Sensation---almost forgot!

Then we caught onto The Click. Nobody could compare with E40, B-Legit, D-Shot, Little Bruce, Celly Cell...of course we shared allegiance with the north side too-Mac Dre, Mac Mall, Ray Luv...but the "Hillside" was where it was at for a long time...Tossed in some Spice 1, Ant Banks, MC Pooh, 4Tay, RBL, Cougnut and IMP and that was all you'd find in my CD case (you know the 100 disc cases we'd lug around)...Oh yeah and Boots and The Coup, Digital Underground...

Got back to the east coast, I was really into Biggie Smalls, but not Puffy. Way into Wu-Tang (CREAM), ODB and especially Method Man. It wasn't until later that my tastes switched to the RZA and GZA...De La was back in there after a hiatus on my discs...

College brought me into a new world, one where I faded away from hip-hop a little. I'm still into it, although I have to say the stuff out there today is pretty weak. Now I'll sound old, but the songs are nothing but weak hooks, recycled beats and too much BS...I would have to say the saving grace for me now is all the back-pack style stuff. Def Jux brought me around, EL-P, Aesop Rock, Vast Aire and Rob Sonic are saviours. Same goes for Outkast, Kanye, Jurassic, Illogic,  MURS, MF Doom, Modill, Atmosphere, Eminem, Mr. Lif, Pharoah Monch, Kool Keith, Mos Def,  Zion I...

what the hell is this post all about? Not much, mostly me rambling about music I like and how it shapes me...This little bit was the early years, Hip-Hop...I still have so far to go... college was a trip (literally) and opened my eyes to so much more...I'll tell you about it soon...