Wake Up Show 2003

WAKE UP SHOW END OF THE YEAR SPECIAL (12.28.03)

Three years after being dumped by KKBT, the Wake Up Show instantly reestablished itself as the world's preeminent hip hop show. Since coming back on the air, the Wake Up Show has broadened its selections (still not much reggae, but definitely more mainstream stuff), and also opened its doors to some unlikely freestyle guests (Farnsworth Bentley, Mekhai Pfeiffer, and others). It is unclear what caused this shift. Maybe it is a natural byproduct of Sway's endless hobnobbing. Maybe it is a strategy for not getting kicked off the air again. Or maybe it is just the natural evolution of the show, being that the Wake Up Show surely rivals its mainstream peers in both fame and influence. Whatever the reasons behind the slight shift... Sway, Tech, Revolution, and Carmelita are still the best show in any medium.

Much like my play-by-play synopsis of the final Friday Night Flavas broadcast of 2003, I took some notes while listening to the final Wake Up Show of 2003, as well. While Friday Night Flavas focused more on Southern California artists, the Wake Up Show focused on individual artists, regardless of where they are from. That said, one artist made it onto both shows: Kanye West.

Here's how the broadcast worked. Rev and Tech hosted the show (Sway was absent). Before each interview or freestyle excerpt, Rev and Tech would make some comments and/or give some background info. All quotes without a name in front of them are by the artist. Notable highlights include: Saul William's vitriolic tirade against the industry, unknown rapper and ex-army medic, Bamboo, kicked some very intelligent rhymes, and both Rev and Tech totally dissed Andre 3000 (and it also sounded like maybe Jayo Felony did too).

ICE CUBE
FREESTYLE:
-"Your shit is basic... my shit is Matrix."
-When asked to do a reprise of "America's Most Wanted" Cube couldn't remember the lyrics, got a little perturbed, but cracked a joke about needing a teleprompter and laughed it off.

COMMON
COMMENTS:
King Tech: (before playing the freestyle said of Common): "He was a little too in love", with reference to his relationship with Erykah Badu.
Rev: Every time he comes through.. he murders the mic
FREESTYLE:
-asks for a word: "photosynthesis" Sway said.
-talks about the room he's in, calls out everyone in the room, one by one: rev, sway, tech, carmelita.
-"People ask me about Erykah... I say fuck America"
-kicked a remix reprise of "I Used to Love H.E.R.", on request of Sway, I think.

JAE MILLZ
COMMENTS:
-Tech/Rev: said Millz "destroyed Castro in a battle in front of Puffy's restaraunt"
FREESTYLE:
-"I'm anthrax with a voice."
-"I'm a problem and I got no solution."
-dope, but kinda sounded written, not very spontaneous-sounding
-"In my hood you need radiators, cuz everyone is holdin heat."
-Lots of thug/gun talk

BAMBOO
COMMENTS:
-ex medic in the army
-Rev: dude has a lot of insight
FREESTYLE
-"Carmelita takes a lighter to the constitution"
-kinda sounded written, but dope
-"I too have weapons of mass destruction: deconstruction of the masses through rhyme construction"
-dope!!!
-written had to be sped up for fast beat, still dope

SAUL WILLIAMS
COMMENTS:
-Rev: he's a poet
-Saul was wearing moccasins
-Tech: "After [Saul] rapped, he made it hard to look in the mirror"
-interestingly, Tech and Rev only played the interview portion of Saul's appearance, not the freestyle
INTERVIEW:
-"Hip Hop has become Republican"
-"Emcees talk about 'i'm a get mine'... these emcees are republicans"
-"These [mainstream emcees] aren't rebelling... they ARE the system"
-"hip hop is powerful...it's the only music that demands an affirmative"
-"head nodding as affirmation"
-"biggest illusion on the planet is separation: everything is connected
-tolerance for bullshit in rap music started around the time of Dr. Dre's The Chronic. Even though i like the album, the beats and how it sounds.
-"1989 to 1999: lyrically regressing... musically regressing."
-"you cannot make a billion dollars without exploiting people"
-"Money is not power... Love is power"
-"I know how to conquer the system. I'm not afraid."
-"Industry rappers: you're not thugs... you are cowboys."

BIG BOI
COMMENTS:
-Rev: "What's up with andre?... He didn't come through. Killer mike came through"
King Tech: "Andre... I miss them rhymes."
Rev: "I need to be able to mix and cut that record. I can't do nothing with that record: can't play it, can't listen to it."
FREESTYLE:
[over transeurope express]
- "off the top, just grabbing words and leaving blanks when necessary, barely holding on ... then hit stride"
-"haven't eaten pork in about ten years"

CROOKED I
COMMENTS:
-"Turning point (in career) was the night he went head to head with Chino XL in 1999 on Rap City."
-tech: "It was like ali and frasier."
-"Suge Knight saw it and signed Crooked to Death Row."
FREESTYLE:
-aggressive, gun talk, never switched up flow or content
-reminds me of xzibit, ras kass
-"smart as nuclear physics"

KANYE WEST
COMMENTS:
-Tech: producer/emcee... probably the best in the game" (Rev agrees)
-joke: "He needs to step up his wardrobe from wrestling shoes and izod shirts".
FREESTYLE:
-dope
-"I'm michael jordan, scotty pippen, paxson."
-"You trying to stab one like jack the ripper/but you stab two like jack the tripper"
-took loud breaths
-clever, not many punchlines

JAYO FELONY
FREESTYLE:
-decent, aggro
-talking about rapper "wearing pink mink coat", which caused a little stir on the set. Sway and Tech tried to get him to say the name of the rapper, but he wouldn't. I assume he meant Andre 3000.
-picked it up after a few rounds, his last rap seemed better paced to the song, probably because he spit writtens in the first few rounds.

STYLISTIC
-Formerly known as Merciless Styles (aka Stylistic Jones)
-Likwit Crew member
-Dope!
-I heard the original show and they cut out j-ro, swift, and tash's rhymes. Stylistic came out of nowhere. Nobody saw it coming, 'cept the Liks.

BABU
ROUTINE:
-scratch happy
-repetitive

TRIPLE THREAT (DJs Vinroc, Apollo, Shortkut)
ROUTINE:
-dope, but also kinda repetitive

ILL TRAX
COMMENTS:
-from San Jose, CA
-DMC 2003 finalist
ROUTINE:
-switched it up right off the back, nice scratch phrasing, switched it up, kept it flowing and switching up

FILLER SONGS
50 Cent "Stunt 101"
PROJECT BLOWED "Give It Here"
DIAMOND "Freestyle" (same as scan this)
LUDACRIS "Stand Up"
50 CENT "Life's on the Line (Nobody Likes Me)"
BUCWHEED (Buc Fifty) "The Rethuglican"
D.O.C. "It's Funky Enough"
DILATED "Lots and War"
RAEKWON "Run"

FINAL COMMENTS
Tech: "2003 was an incredible year for us."

WAKE UP SHOW TOP 20 (broadcast the following week)

20. RZA megahertz did beat "We Pop"
19. Keith Murray "Yeah you know it"
18. Mobb Deep p. alchemist " "
17. Raekwon "Clientele" Fat Jon, Ghostface
16. Snoop prod. Premier "The One and only"
15. Talib Kweli "Get By" p. kanye
14. G-Unit "Stunt 101"
13. Black Moon "12 Gauge Barrel"
-Rev's favorite
12. Dilated Peoples "Marathon" p. alchemist
11. [i missed it] must've been Jay-Z
10. [i missed it]
9. Kanye West "Through The Wire"
8. Jaylib "The Official" with the big horns (j-rocc's fave)
7. DMX "x gone give it to ya" and DMX "Where da hood"
6. Defari "Spell My Name"
5. Sly Boogy "California" remix?
4. Nas "I Know I Can" and "__ " over JB's the boss
3. Gang Starr "Rite Where U Stand"
2. Ludacris "Stand Up"
1. 50 Cent & Snoop "PIMP"

I was seriously unimpressed with the 2nd broadcast, both the commentating and the selections were the worst I've EVER heard. Again... where was Sway? He's been absent from half the episodes in the past two months. I think he is wasting everyone's time with the new Wake Up MTV Show. And without Sway, Tech is simply unable to pick up the slack of their absent chemistry.