"Ooo ooo, did you hear that, do you recognize it?" I ask my wife all the time.

I've always been fascinated with the origin and history of song's hooks, lyrics, chorus, beats, you name it. It makes me giddy to hear something I've heard before--not just because of the feeling of familiarity, but also because it's like finding a hidden clue and then it begs me to solve the puzzle.

A while back now, we had the chance to see Jay-Z, our seats even got upgraded to floor seats just about 5 rows away from the man himself. One of the songs that hadn't ever caused much of a stir in me, that hit Elicia, was Jay's "99 Problems". So I went down this path of examining the lyrics, and started getting caught up in the connections in the hip-hop scene.

So let's start it off with the history and connections of "99 Problems". Wikipedia does an excellent job already so I won't try to pretend I uncovered much more than contributors have already.

In summary, it all started with Brother Marquis of 2 Live Crew and Ice-T having a conversation back before 1993...and subsequently released in Ice-T's "99 Problems" on his Home Invasion album, and then a slightly tweaked version by Marquis in the song, "Table Dance".

Here are the songs:
Ice-T - 99 Problems (1993)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bicN4ryVQSI

2 Live Crew - Table Dance (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChhhXnogmYg

Then, over 10 years from the first time the hook materialized, Jay-Z releases "99 Problems" in 2004
https://vimeopro.com/somesucharchive/mark-romanek-12-02-15/video/95947494
(sorry YouTube doesn't have it..Tidal is going to be HUGE ya'll)

Ice-T isn't the originator of all the songs you've listened to. Let's take one of his songs where he brings in a classic to one of his songs.

"I'm Your Pusher"from Ice-T (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nODi6OECzs

Then Eminem takes it for a spin and puts his own flavor on it, of course, in "I'm Shady (1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wYWdcanEIc

Already, ready for it? Where did the hook for these songs come from? Curtis Mayfield's 1972 song, "Pusherman". In this gem, he communicates a powerful, simple, and straight-forward message stemming from the drug problems ravaging inner-city America at the time. Damn.

Anyways -- the point here is, I love chasing these things down and knew I had to share this journey with you. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, and if I can actually keep up with this blog moving forward, I'll turn it into a little series. For now, just happy to finally get a post up on here after years.