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It was 1994 and The Arsenio Hall Show was one of the few places for real hip-hop on late night TV.  This collection of talent not only represents the appreciation that the community had for Arsenio but it boasts most of the brightest stars in the mid-school golden era.  See if you know all these cats.

In this installment of Way Gone Wednesdays we focus on Dr. Octagon (a.k.a. Kool Keith a.k.a Dr. Dooom a.k.a. Black Elvis).  His solo debut, Dr. Octagonecologyst, was both bizarre and brave for 1996.  Dan The Automator (Cornershop, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Deltron 3030) handled production and Keith handled what would become his trademark weirdo sci-fi raps.  Dig.

The year was 1989 and N.W.A. had taken the world by storm, especially white America. Conservatives were ready to run for the hills while those of us curious about the inner-city lifestyle were treated to a behind-the-curtain view courtesy of Dre, Eazy, Ice Cube, Ren and DJ Yella.  

In the song "Express Yourself", Dre professes "I don't smoke weed or sess" (around the 4:30 mark on the video below), which seems highly contrary to the message promoted on the rest of their album.

Fast foward to 2001 and we find Dre replacing Cheech & Chong as the official poster-boy of herb, releasing the iconic album The Chronic. I present Exhibit B - "The Roach".

Real Talk Tuesdays is all about exposing inconsistencies in lyrics (as well as praising good writing). That said, Dre remains one of the best producers in hip-hop today.  It's the sounds he gets. When you take away the marketing, the videos, the endorsements, the hype (the ghostwriting) - what you have is the sound. Listen. As a DJ, I usually have to pull back the faders a bit when I put on a Dre record because it bangs so much harder than the rest. Well done, Dre. Light one up.

You can either revel in the fact that you have less free time than most of these folks or you can be amazed at the ones who are truly gifted.  Either way, enjoy.

DJ Limbs (Victor Carreon) was a regular fixture in C-U during his college days but has since returned to the Windy City where he bears a rather large crown amongst Chicago djs.  I found this track on his Soundcloud page and immediately approved it for this series.

091005-ItsWonderfuuuuul2 by DJ Limbs