T.Q.D: T.Q.D's Corner

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of T.Q.D's Corner.  As the month of May winds down, we approach the birthday of Big L (the 30th).  If he were alive today, he'd be turning 37.  It's on this occasions.  He was killed in 1999 and the assumed reason most people accept is that his brother who was heavy in to illegal activities was on the run from rivals, and since he couldn't be found, Big L paid the cost instead.  While that is what everyone assumes, the case remains unsolved.
Big L was a member of the crew D.I.T.C. (stands for Diggin' In The Crates).  Other members of the crew were Showbiz, A.G., O.C., Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Buckwild, and Fat Joe.  Fat Joe is the only one to have any real commercial success over the years, but they're all put out critically acclaimed material.  Big L was also a part of a short lived group Children of the Corn with Cam'ron, Mase, and Cam'ron's cousin Bloodshed, who passed away in 1997.  [...]

Welcome to the latest issue of T.Q.D’s Corner.  This month, we tackle a the second installment of my series ‘Albums That Time Forgot”.  This month, we discuss an album by Onyx.
Onyx began as a quartet, but quickly became a trio due to legal problems with one of the members who quickly left the group.  They were discovered by Jam Master Jay and with his help were able to land a deal with Def Jam.  Their big hit “Slam” was a number one hit and helped their debut Bacdafucup (still not sure how they didn’t have to censor the title) go platinum.  The three members are Fredro Starr, Sonee Seeza, and Sticky Fingaz, who was commonly thought to be (and I’d agree) the standout of the group.
The sound of the group would be best described, as New York style street Hip Hop.  After releasing their successful debut of unapologetic gangsta tunes, it was time for a follow up.  That brings us to today’s topic: All We Got Iz [...]

Greetings everyone,
Welcome to a new edition of T.Q.D’s Corner.  For the uninitiated, this is where I wax philosophical about Hip Hop days gone by.  On this edition, I tackle one of the tougher lists to compile: top Hip Hop songs of the 1990s.  In my humble opinion, the 90s is easily the best decade in Hip Hop thus far.  I say that not just based on taste, but for the fact that it’s highly debatable what the best songs and albums where, more than the 80s and 00s.
As with any list, especially with such a highly debatable time in Hip Hop, there are plenty of snubs, but hey, not everyone can make the list.  The list must be cut off at some point.  After much deliberation, I have compiled my list of the top 20.  Before I describe my top 10 in detail, I’ll share my 11-20 in no particular order.
Black Star - “Thieves In The Night”
Jay-Z – “Regrets”
Aceyalone – “The Face”
Notorious B.I.G. [...]

In the 1990’s Midwestern Hip Hop was relatively unknown to the masses.  Acts like Insane Clown Posse, MC Breed (both from Michigan) and Bone Thugs (Ohio) made their splashes, but it wouldn’t be until the turn of the century that people really viewed the region beyond flyover country.  There were certainly good albums from the Midwest in the 90s, but many ended up flying under the radar.  I’m hear to discuss one such album.
In 1997, I remember reading the magazine Rap Pages and going straight to the review section first as I always did/do.  One album I came across was by a group called Mood from Cincinnati who had released their debut album ‘Doom’.  It only got a mid level review, but the description intrigued me, so I bought it next time once I had the money to do so.
Mood was a three member group with two emcees and a producer: Main Flow, Donte, and Jahson.  Half of the album was produced by Jahson and their other half by a feloow [...]

Hello everyone,
Welcome to this month’s edition of T.Q.D’s Corner.  Let me start of by saying that I’m currently working on a new full length, but would like to take a look back, now that some time has passed.  Usually I wax philosophical on Hip Hop days gone by, but since today is my birthday, I am going to get highly self-indulgent.  Consider yourself warned.
On April 4th of 2009, I released a solo album called Clench, Grit, Breathe.  That was a great day for me.  The release show went off without a hitch, but more importantly it was an opportunity to release what I felt was easily my best work.   The songs that make up the album were constructed between mid-2006 and November of 2008.  That was a major transition point in my life for many reasons that I won’t go in to at this point in time.  The album’s title was my way of describing the three stages going through issues.  Things are going wrong (clench).  [...]