“Been Gettin G’s” Beeda Weeda, Eddie Projex (2011)
Increasingly, Bay Area artists are returning to the classics for mixtape beats, and I can’t say whether that’s a good thing or bad thing for the scene, but I can say that they’re fun to listen to. Where else are you going to hear a revamp of the beat to C-Bo’s “Want to Be a G?”? (Other than Boosie)
Keak da Sneak flirted with bringing back an updated early 90’s production a few years ago, with “In Front of Yo Mama’s House”, but it sort of stopped there. As novel as “cloud rap” is, Bay Area rap thrives on heavy bass, and while Young L and Droop E certainly deliver in this department, the tweaked out synths are just, I don’t know, not as timeless.
This is off of Beeda Weeda’s Bassrock Babies Leak, which also has a freestyle over “Da Bumble” and a track over a beat that sounds like an old Too Short beat I can almost identify (is it “Shortside”?). DB tha General’s Young OG 2 mixtape was similar in this regard. I don’t think it’s a bad thing for Bay Area rappers to be getting back in touch with their roots, even if it might seem retrograde, and it seems natural given how jarring the whole Hyphy thing must have been.
I have this fantasy project where someone gets together all the up-and-coming Bay Area rappers and has them cover or update Bay classics, In Tha Beginning… style. Not the ones that everyone knows like “Playas Club” but more local favorites like “H Ni**a Groove”, “Streets of Frisco“ and the like. Or just 13 different rappers all covering “Dope Fiend Beat”.
That’s why I like spaceghostpurp’s throwback shit. Yeah you can just go listen to old shit but the thing is I want new versions of that style as well. Fuck it, I want dudes to make miami bass again, fuck futurebass, i want raps about popping pussy and 808s. Fuck an ableton beat, hammer that shit. Bay rap over 808 slaps with that touch of funk should never die. I want that to live on so hell yes people should revisit those styles because they were fucking great and motherfuckers lost their way trying to get on another trend.