by John Bear
Daily Lobo
I spent a great deal of my high school days loitering around a local arcade/den of iniquity which I had the pleasure of watching burn down a few Thanksgivings ago.
It was in this smoky, urine-drenched cesspool that my early opinion of what constitutes good rap music formed. My opinions have since changed, my prejudices regarding certain styles having largely disappeared.
The hallowed halls of the pinball spot/meth lab were populated by two groups: the bandanna-clad members and associates of the Rollin' 40s and my friends, most of whom pulled up one pant leg over their Timberland boots and scrawled various four-letter monikers on everything. We were the epitome of dumb-ass teenage white boys. In my defense I kept the "Yo-I'm-from-Newark-Son" talk to a minimum.
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Anyway, the gangsters spoke highly of a cat named E-40, a fast-talking Bay-area rapper. His big hit at the time was "Sprinkle Me." My super hip-hop friends and I scoffed mercilessly at our thuggy counterparts for bassing out on such silly West Coast nonsense. We preferred the more serious and far less rhythmic musings of East Coast hooligans, such as Mobb Deep and Boot Camp Clik. If we had to get silly, Redman was our blunt-smoking couplet spitter of choice.
The war of musical taste waged on for years. Many feelings were hurt.
Now most of the gangster kids are dead, in jail or working at Foot Locker. A healthy majority of my super hip-hop friends joined the military and now proudly, and ironically, wave their KKK membership cards in the air like they just don't care - racist sellouts.
And me? I love E-40.
I finally arrived at this conclusion when I listened to his latest effort My Ghetto Report Card, which I give an A.
This dude is an undeniable talent who has long been overlooked by almost everyone except street gang members - and people from Oakland, I assume.
And while most hip-hop heads are quick to bestow mucho props unto Kool Keith, aka Dr. Octagon - an MC who constantly accuses everyone of ripping him off - the truth of the matter is Kool Keith swipes a large amount of his style from E-40. Keith even gives respect to him on "Plastic World" off of his Sex Style album.
If you have never given E-40 a listen, now is the time.
