This week it was reported by The New York Times that YouTube and Universal Music Group would be joining to give some of our favorite classic music videos the remastering treatment. With a time span that goes from the ’80s all the way to the 2000s when things began to change for the better, it goes without saying that UMG has a lot of ground to cover.
The upgrades will be towards sound and picture quality to be compatible with HD streaming devices. The technological advances of today have made it possible to go back and actually “recreate” videos using their original formats, be it original film, Digibeta or even earlier ones like Betacam SPs. This will go into effect for approximately 1,000 videos by the end of 2020, and we’re kinda hoping they’re taking a few recommendations.
Keep scrolling to see 10 of our favorite throwback Hip-Hop music videos from the Universal Music Group vault that we hope to see in HD on YouTube very soon:
N.W.A. – “Express Yourself”
Year: 1988
A West Coast classic that dropped the year The Source debuted on newsstands. Even today, N.W.A. is still considered legends to the game, and we’re still getting these issues out — go cop “The Future Issue” (#275) today!
Slick Rick – “Children’s Story”
Year: 1988
A story we’ll never get tired of hearing or watching. The final scene could definitely benefit from a color & lighting upgrade for sure.
LL Cool J – “Going Back To Cali”
Year: 1989
Not only would a digital upgrade of this video be dope, but a full color version would make for an amazing anniversary release, too!
Eric B. & Rakim – “Juice (Know The Ledge)”
Year: 1992
Even though the scenes with Eric B. and Rakim are brief and only in black & white, the video overall should get a fresh finish for the sake of Pac’s groundbreaking role in Juice alone.
Ice Cube – “It Was A Good Day”
Year: 1992
It would be a good day indeed if we were able to watch this video in high definition. We’re actually surprised this song hasn’t been made into an episode of Tales yet!
Queen Latifah – “U.N.I.T.Y.”
Year: 1993
A timeless message that is still relevant today. The Queen definitely deserve to be seen and heard in HD quality.
Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg, Kurupt & Nate Dogg – “The Next Episode”
Year: 1999
We could name a few things in this video that we’d definitely like to see in the highest definition, and no we’re not talking about Snoop’s iconic Shirley Temple curls.
Talib Kweli – “Get By”
Year: 2002
Simply because, quite frankly, we still miss the old Kanye.
DMX – “X Gon’ Give It To Ya”
Year: 2003
Once X started getting into movies, his videos got way more cinematic. The CGI graphics in this video alone need a fresh upgrade without a doubt.
Kendrick Lamar – “Cut You Off”
Year: 2010
Not only was this K.Dot’s first real music video, but it reflects the year when everything changed and the Digital Era really made its impact on the game. We nominate this one off sheer nostalgia.
What are some of the music videos that you’re hoping to see get remastered? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter!
Nas typically keeps it strictly business when it comes to his social media usage so when he does take a moment to pause and get personal, it is notably with intention. On Thursday (March 21), the prolific MCtook to Instagram to wish Large Professor and DJ Premier a happy birthday, thanking both Illmaticproducers for playing integral mentorship roles early on in his career, respectively. The Queens, New York native then reflected on meeting Large Professor when he was only 17 years old, going on to big up the veteran producer for showing him how to “properly lay vocals” and help him structure songs, to name a few cherished lessons.
During a newly-released interview with VladTV, Large Professor returns the nostalgic sentiment, discussing how he first crossed paths with a then-aspiring MC through Joe Fatal. Their meeting was clearly destined, with all three collaborating on Main Source’s iconic track, “Live At The Barbeque.” The song, which also introduced Akinyele, appeared on the album Breaking Atoms, doubled as Nas’ first-ever appearance on wax.
“Joe Fatal was like the street, the connect, you know what I’m saying. He’s Uptown, Downtown, all around, you know kind of thing,” Large reflected at the 2:00 mark. “Me and Joe Fatal are like childhood friends, like five years old type-sh*t in Flushing, so he moved away and then when he came back, he was this Long Island City, Queensbridge dude now. Like yo, man, I be out in Queensbridge, I got [Tragedy Khadafi], I’ma bring Trag’ through. It was like ‘Word you make beats? Aight, aight.’ He click-clacked everything with me and Nas.”
After touching on how Joe Fatal (who also raps on “Live At The Barbeque”) initially introduced him to Nas, the conversation shifted to the nature of their early collaborations and the material they worked on at the beginning of their now-decades long friendship.
“Fatal was like, we’re going to record a demo, so we went to Coney Island and they came and picked me up from school,” he shared. “I was bringing the drum machine to school type-sh*t. So it was like we’re going to meet up after and go… We had tons of demos.”
Vlad asks what happened to these tapes. “They are somewhere out there,” Extra P says, revealing an exciting gem about their very existence. “That’s the crazy thing about it. I think Nas has the tapes. I think once the bread was good, he was like, ‘Yo, I secured them tapes.’ I remember him telling me that one time. They are somewhere out in the world.” However, P also suggests that some of those early ’90s rhymes were recycled other places. “The thing with good artists, you’ve probably heard some of them rhymes, ’cause dudes be doin’ the mix-or-clicks on rhymes.” On subsequent editions of Illmatic, Nas—who co-owns Mass Appeal Records—has released songs such as “I’m A Villain,” along with alternate mixes of his 1994 cuts.
Next, the veteran producer/MC/DJ waxes poetic on how he realized from the jump that Nas was fated to do some incredible things for the culture at large, even years prior to dropping his seminal classic, 1994’s Illmatic.
“I always knew. I went through so many stages of Hip-Hop and life to be confident enough to know what it was. This is it,” he explained. “Ain’t no question about that. You go through enough to know, that’s that sh*t. Whenever I heard Nas, I’d be like, nah he’s ill. He’s going to be big.”
From referring to Nas’ lyrical prowess as “the beginning of shock rap,” in how it made a person react strongly and revisit what he spit in order to process the meaning, to explaining how he connected with the MC due to his humble nature, Large Professor is among those from Queens who experienced firsthand how “the Borough was peaking with pride” when the legendary rapper began solidifying his path in Hip-Hop.
“Nas was humble. He’d always say some out of the ordinary sh*t, you know what I’m saying. I’ll always say that. He’d always say something out of the ordinary but then he’d say something cool and humble,” he noted. “‘I sip the Dom P, watchin’ Gandhi.’ There’s no knucklehead-ass kid out there in the street, you know, watching Gandhi. You know there’s a peaceful part of him; he’s got the patience to watch Gandhi but he’s getting twisted on some hood sh*t. It was things like that.”
Given their past work together, as well as their ability to still inspire one another all these years later, it goes without saying that these two are not only proud of what they’ve accomplished together, but extremely grateful for the opportunity to share such historic experiences together.
#BonusBeat: Part 1 of Vlad’s conversation with the Extra P:
Nas typically keeps it strictly business when it comes to his social media usage so when he does take a moment to pause and get personal, it is notably with intention. On Thursday (March 21), the prolific MCtook to Instagram to wish Large Professor and DJ Premier a happy birthday, thanking both Illmaticproducers for playing integral mentorship roles early on in his career, respectively. The Queens, New York native then reflected on meeting Large Professor when he was only 17 years old, going on to big up the veteran producer for showing him how to “properly lay vocals” and help him structure songs, to name a few cherished lessons.
During a newly-released interview with VladTV, Large Professor returns the nostalgic sentiment, discussing how he first crossed paths with a then-aspiring MC through Joe Fatal. Their meeting was clearly destined, with all three collaborating on Main Source’s iconic track, “Live At The Barbeque.” The song, which also introduced Akinyele, appeared on the album Breaking Atoms, doubled as Nas’ first-ever appearance on wax.
“Joe Fatal was like the street, the connect, you know what I’m saying. He’s Uptown, Downtown, all around, you know kind of thing,” Large reflected at the 2:00 mark. “Me and Joe Fatal are like childhood friends, like five years old type-sh*t in Flushing, so he moved away and then when he came back, he was this Long Island City, Queensbridge dude now. Like yo, man, I be out in Queensbridge, I got [Tragedy Khadafi], I’ma bring Trag’ through. It was like ‘Word you make beats? Aight, aight.’ He click-clacked everything with me and Nas.”
After touching on how Joe Fatal (who also raps on “Live At The Barbeque”) initially introduced him to Nas, the conversation shifted to the nature of their early collaborations and the material they worked on at the beginning of their now-decades long friendship.
“Fatal was like, we’re going to record a demo, so we went to Coney Island and they came and picked me up from school,” he shared. “I was bringing the drum machine to school type-sh*t. So it was like we’re going to meet up after and go… We had tons of demos.”
Vlad asks what happened to these tapes. “They are somewhere out there,” Extra P says, revealing an exciting gem about their very existence. “That’s the crazy thing about it. I think Nas has the tapes. I think once the bread was good, he was like, ‘Yo, I secured them tapes.’ I remember him telling me that one time. They are somewhere out in the world.” However, P also suggests that some of those early ’90s rhymes were recycled other places. “The thing with good artists, you’ve probably heard some of them rhymes, ’cause dudes be doin’ the mix-or-clicks on rhymes.” On subsequent editions of Illmatic, Nas—who co-owns Mass Appeal Records—has released songs such as “I’m A Villain,” along with alternate mixes of his 1994 cuts.
Next, the veteran producer/MC/DJ waxes poetic on how he realized from the jump that Nas was fated to do some incredible things for the culture at large, even years prior to dropping his seminal classic, 1994’s Illmatic.
“I always knew. I went through so many stages of Hip-Hop and life to be confident enough to know what it was. This is it,” he explained. “Ain’t no question about that. You go through enough to know, that’s that sh*t. Whenever I heard Nas, I’d be like, nah he’s ill. He’s going to be big.”
From referring to Nas’ lyrical prowess as “the beginning of shock rap,” in how it made a person react strongly and revisit what he spit in order to process the meaning, to explaining how he connected with the MC due to his humble nature, Large Professor is among those from Queens who experienced firsthand how “the Borough was peaking with pride” when the legendary rapper began solidifying his path in Hip-Hop.
“Nas was humble. He’d always say some out of the ordinary sh*t, you know what I’m saying. I’ll always say that. He’d always say something out of the ordinary but then he’d say something cool and humble,” he noted. “‘I sip the Dom P, watchin’ Gandhi.’ There’s no knucklehead-ass kid out there in the street, you know, watching Gandhi. You know there’s a peaceful part of him; he’s got the patience to watch Gandhi but he’s getting twisted on some hood sh*t. It was things like that.”
Given their past work together, as well as their ability to still inspire one another all these years later, it goes without saying that these two are not only proud of what they’ve accomplished together, but extremely grateful for the opportunity to share such historic experiences together.
