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So word got to ear today from my sis Porsh that #MalikB passed away and my first initial reaction was “nah…can’t be true. Let me make some phone calls back home.” Welp, you could only imagine how heartbroken I was to hear that Malik’s passing was true.
#RIPMalikB #Philly
#RIPMalikB #Philly
Now here’s the thing, I know A LOT of folk who looked at Malik as “that other MC in the Roots” and let me stop that lie from the pit of hell before ANYONE else who doesn’t know better tries to utter that dumb shit.
The funny thing when it comes to Malik B is I didn’t see the hype with him when I first heard Do You Want More. When I heard him say “I can make a nerd say he’s superb” I was like “is the best this bul could offer?” But then something F&$KING AMAZING happened. Illadelph dropped.
And if you know me than you know that Illadelph is my fave Roots album & is also a top 20 fave hip hop album EVER for me! And guess what’s my fave song on Illadelph? Malik’s dolo song “No Great Pretender.”
Think about that for a sec…my fave Roots album & a top 20 hip hop album EVER for me & an album that IMO showcases Thought at his lyrical sharpest yet my gave song on the album is Malik’s dolo track. Says a lot about Malik doesn’t it? To me “No Great Pretender” is Malik’s Butter.
What I mean by that is I felt the same way about Phife on “People’s Instinctive…” I was like why is this bul even in this group? And then “Low End” dropped and I heard “Butter” & I was like “oh THAT’S why he’s in the group. And that’s how I felt when I heard No Great Pretender.
“Cool calm collect in my perspective, search the premises I leave no clues for detectives/my verbal impact across your back slap, you talk about you see me but your vision’s full of cataract."
#HipHopQuotable #RIPMalikB
#HipHopQuotable #RIPMalikB
"It don’t matter that your glass house I shatter that, bad luck I walk under now show me where the ladder at.”
#HipHopQuotable #RIPMalikB
#HipHopQuotable #RIPMalikB
Those first six bars had me the SECOND I heard them and I never looked back. To me “No Great Pretender” is a PERFECT #hiphop song and I say that EASILY!
And to me Malik kept that same energy on his dolo song “The Spark” on “Things Fall Apart.” “I walk around a little edgy already…” Bruuuuuuuuuuuh.
The other thing I LOVED about Malik was he was straight hood. When he spit “HRM Ogontz Ave, Brickyard to Hollow” I felt that ish cause #1 I live off Ogontz Ave and #2 half of my life was spent trying NOT to get robbed by HRM! (Hit & Run Mafia for folk who aren’t from Philly)
Not to mention that Malik had the OG Philly beard that was way doper than Thought’s back in the day. Peep the video for “Proceed 2” with Roy Ayers! There's no way someone from Philly WITH a beard wouldn’t salute a bul who’s beard was ALWAYS on point!
Like Jalil said on “Friends” “I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again…” that one of the reasons I stopped liking the Roots as much post TFA is because Malik wasn’t there anymore. And it’s no coincidence that the next Roots album I F&$KED with was “Game Theory.”
The one thing I’m VERY proud of to say is that I’ve always championed Malik’s name and gave him his flowers while he was still here. His name ALWAYS came out of my mouth either on my podcast #Apt5B, on twitter or anytime I was talking hip hop!
