Once upon a time in hip-hop there was a magical era. This era was filled with funky samples that didn’t get people sued into oblivion, grooves that only the best of the creative producers could chop together into a reimagined rearranged track, playful cyphers that tested the skill and perseverance of those that rocked the mic, and beefs that ended the minute you put the mic down and didn’t escalate into shootings and subsequent deaths. Most of all, it was hip-hop with a message, hip-hop with an empowering vibe, a nerdish hip-hop that didn’t care if you weren’t the hardest person in the room. In this magical kingdom towards the end of that era I was a kid teetering on the verge of being a tween, soaking up all the songs and sounds that Coke Top Nine at Nine on WGCI-FM could give me on my then dying My First Sony. Within the musical chaos and the melodic dust it produced this magical era was Young MC, a rapper from NYC by way of London, at the top of the charts and lyricist heap.
Picture it, the year was 1991. I was a music hungry eleven year old running out of cassette tapes to play in my Sony Walkman, in a Chicago that was none too eager to have a plethora of hip-hop in the record stores. With a pocket full of allowance money I happily went down to Record Town in Ford City, eager to part with my money like gamblers at the casino. On my mind was Young MC, specifically for Bust A Move. Uncle Buck was one of my favorite films to watch on repeat in those days, and Bust A Move was an infectious jam featured in the film. Now the plan was to buy Bust A Move (since I didn’t know if it was an album or single or what) and I wound up with Brainstorm. While I was disappointed that Bust A Move wasn’t on the album, I was pleasantly surprised and elated to have a cassette tape for my Walkman that finally made me be amongst the millions that owned a rap cassette.
That’s right, Brainstorm was my first rap cassette.
Many of the reading audience may not fondly remember this album, as Young MC wasn’t revered in the 1990s as gangster rap crept through the landscape, displacing feel good hip-hop. Brainstorm, for better or worse, was one of the last albums at the end of the party hip-hop fun era, where the DJ controlled the dance floor and the MC rocked the crowd with an upbeat, up tempo type vibe that screamed show up and show out with your best moves imitated from Soul Train at the party. In those days there was nothing wrong with being a MC that spit solid bars on the joys of being a young adult and having a good time learning life’s lessons through various PG-rated social interactions that didn’t get you into too much trouble. Above all, MCs had no qualms about the crowd shaking a leg. That was half of the unadulterated fun they were talking about on the mic.
Young MC was a young clean cut dude in those days, with his pulse on the youth. Brainstorm is a testament to that, especially in songs like After School, Keep Your Eyes On The Prize, and the album’s biggest hit That’s the Way Love Goes (which should not be confused with the 1993 Janet Jackson song by the same name). For me, my love affair with playing the album for endless nights came from my love of All My Children. When Young MC rapped about the soap opera and threw a Brooke and Tad reference on a bar in Keep Your Eyes On The Prize, Brainstorm got rotation every single night as the tape I listened to before I went to sleep.
Sure, not everyone liked this album when it came out – gangster rappers and their endearing critics definitely didn’t like it for being too soft – and by consequence judged it too harshly and buried it when it didn’t need to be solely for its dancefloor appeal. Yes, it’s definitely house elements floating around on the kick of tracks like That’s The Way Love Goes or the complete melody of Keep Your Eyes On The Prize (if you know anything about hip-hop house), but that’s what good hip-hop is, the groove! Has no bearing on interrupting the lyrical content of the songs or the vocal delivery of Young MC. Don’t get it twisted, there are a lot of bangers on the album. That’s The Way Love Goes, Keep Your Eyes On The Prize, Do You Feel Like I Do, After School, and Keep It In Your Pants give you some serious fire to the smoke of the melodic beats with Young MC’s infectious pentameter.
Now that you know, go brainstorm with Young MC and see what happens. I dare you.
