"Classic" Year created: 2001 Written & Performed by: Dutchmassive Produced by: Celph Titled Recorded by: Dan Smith @ Bay Sound (Tampa, Florida) Mixed & Mastered by: Celph Titled @ The Chrome Depot (NYC) Album: "Junk Planet" (Released July 13, 2004) CD & 2xLP (double vinyl) Label: Atomik / Freshchest Records / Caroline Distribution Original Concept Drawing by FILTER - Recreated by Skawty Shaw and SlopFunkDust Graphic design and layout by Open Mic "Junk Planet" was created 1997-2002, Released world wide 2004. https://dutchmassive.bandcamp.com/album/junk-planet-1997-2002 ------------------------ Lyrics: (Verse1) "Ayo remember the days that you could say what you want / you could smile, act a fool, talk about who you robbed / you could talk about women in a positive way / have fun with your album, talk about your bad days / you could be hardcore without murder and guns / or you could shoot a million people and you'd still catch love / it was all about expression and the cause and effect / battling was just for fun, I used to love to catch wreck / every group was flat broke, but they videos was dope / recording everyone so I could watch when i'm old / I used to leave my books at home and bring my radio to school / we'd have ciphers after class and outside the lunch room / love was in the air, it wasn't bout who's the best / I never forget, walking through the negative stress, i'll never forget" (Chorus) "Whatever happened to the ways of mankind (Remember) / classic material is so hard to come by / I know that hip-hop's going through some hard times / but through the drama, I'll be rhyming from dark to light sky" (Repeat x2) (Bridge / Scratches) "Back in the day when I was a teenage / I let my tape rock till my tape pop / in my younger years, we used to rhyme out loud, that we create, cus that's our mission" (Verse 2) "Ayo ima be triumphant, I'll pass all this dumb ish / independent or mainstream, I rise about kids, I love this / nothing can make me stop / I be the king emcee, so i'm bound to be on top / I'll rock any show on celph titled production / any vinyl I release, Kramtronix the one cuttin / back spin to the past / I want to speak to the masses / the way things are going, yo hip-hop won't last / and conditions still critical / times is pitiful, I wanna change the world but i'm just an individual / (Just Me & My Walkman) I journey on to A land of dope emcee's where we live like gawds / A shining star, dreams of succeeding in life / I'm seeing the light / no wonder I can't sleep at night / my thoughts take flight " (Chorus) "Whatever happened to the ways of mankind (Remember) / classic material is so hard to come by / I know that hip-hop's going through some hard times / but through the drama, I'll be rhyming from dark to light sky" (Repeat x2) ------------------------ Backstory: "Classic" was one of the last songs written & recorded for "Junk Planet". I began the album during the very cusp of the "Golden Era" of hip-hop in 1997 when the jiggy / masiofo / casio keyboard era started to dominate radio & television. Little did I know this was not going to be just a phase and would ultimately change the course of rap / hip-hop and music in general as this was also the same time Clearview (now iheartradio) would take over all major urban fm radio stations and pivot to only playing a select amount of the most popular / commercial songs on repeat every hour. This was also around the time Record labels learned that fans were more than o.k. consuming watered down, generic keyboard production and paying for sample clearance wasn't necessary to sell hit records. Anyone that grew up as an active fan of hip-hop from the early 90's to around 97/98 knows that we were spoiled with an abundance of unique and diverse forms of hip-hop, stuff you couldn't even imagine being played on MTV or BET these days. It was truly an overwhelming amount of classic music that painted abstract pictures, transported you and captivated your heart & soul. I'm sure every generation thinks the music they grew up with is "their" golden era and created memories and have nostalgia attached to those songs, I wasn't an "old head" when this shift occurred so we can't use nostalgia as an excuse. You just kinda had to be there to understand. Going from the wild west of musicians creating the type of music they want to hear, no matter how silly, aggressive or experimental and it would get played on The Box, Rapcity and Yo! MTV Raps. It began with flexing unrealistic ways of life and making it seem very obtainable. Mob lifestyle & flexing material possessions became the standard. "Fake it, till you make it" At this time, Artists were not making the type of money from music they were acting like they had. This would change over the decades and slowly seep into society, making the majority of the population hyper focused on wasting money on excessive name brands, jewelry, vehicles they probably never would have cared about or thought twice about if not having those things programmed and shoved in your face 24/7. I need to make it clear, while radio & mainstream tv were playing the pop-ish, watered down, party records. The underground was in full steam. The dope music didn't stop being created, it just no longer had the mainstream stage any longer, but if you were a head, you had nearly an unlimited supply of styles of sincere music to listen to. All this excessive, over the top unrealistic music dominating the airways would be fuel for the underground and even spawned a semi-mainstream arc of "Conscious-HipHop" I could go on and on about the history above and underground from the late 90's all the way to 2022 as I've been a head my whole life and I always payed attention and sought out dope music while also being an artist through-out all the waves and changes but when "Classic" was created. It honestly wasn't even that bad in hindsight haha, If we only knew then, how far down the corporate., cookie-cutter rabbit hole music would continue for the rest of time. There was always classic music being created from 97 to present, this song was just my dedication to a time when it had the same mainstream platform as we hear the "top 10" in now. I will continue to create and collect dope music til my very last breath. You will never have to worry about me burning out, losing interest or moving on from genuine music. Thank you for taking time to read the backstory, and thank you for listening. Sincerely, Dutch