![]() ![]() ![]() If you asked a hardcore Philly rap fan who the avatars of that style were around ’97, they would have pointed to Major Figgas. It was a fitting style for a town where it was often said that everyone either boxed, rapped, or both. They were influenced by New York rappers like Ma$e and the Lox, but they added their own pugnacious spin: Their signature trick was to circle around the same syllable, often the same word, from line to line, like they were softening up a boxer with jabs-“Cats thinking I’m sweet, I ain’t been killin’ in a while/I heard a lot of cats rhyme, I ain’t feel one in a while,” taunted a rapper named Spade on a 1999 song called “ I Love Being a Gangsta.” And then, just when you thought they were sputtering, they would switch every word in the rhyme scheme, delivering a clean uppercut. They didn’t race in front of the beat or ride the snare-they dug in and found a pocket, punching hard alongside the track’s low end. Across North and South Philly neighborhoods, two dozen or so rappers were defining a fierce local style: halting but high-velocity, herky-jerk but smooth, slick but hard. ![]()
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