Roxanne’s Revenge: Roxanne Shanté – 1984
Hey, y’all! ceetay here! Okay, let’s cut to my lame excuse. I had to move
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What Up, Y’all! This is ceetay. The Doctor Brown to your Marty McFly. Hope you’re ready to waveback to a time when the U.S. delivered a miracle on ice against the Soviets during the Winter Olympics then boycotted their Soviet asses in the Summer. A time when a washed up Hollywood actor landed the biggest role of his life: becoming the next U.S. President. And a time when someone in “Dallas” had the balls to shoot JR Ewing, but not enough guts to show their face, until the next season. If you haven’t guessed yet, we are traveling back to 1980.
Make sure you strap in. Even though New York State’s mandatory seatbelt law didn’t go into effect for another four years, we… I want to avoid gettin’ stopped by the Orwellian time cops before heading back to the present. Trust me. The less we run into them, the better.
All set? Alirght! Hit that play button!
I still consider The Adventures of Super Rhyme my all time favorite old school jam. In 1980, emcee Jimmy Spicer introduced an element that helped bring rap music forward: Storytelling.
The fifteen minute, you read that right, fifteen minute jam grabbed my attention from the start. “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, I’m Sup… Sup… Super Rhyme.” Jimmy Spicer’s effortless charisma carried that song like a professional mover carrying a hefty Sofa-Loveseat up five flights of stairs, without catching a breath. Do you know how hard it is to keep a person’s attention for that long? It’s hard for people to focus on 30 second Tik Toks these days.
Jimmy’s energy countered the laid back instrumental cover of Von Mason’s Rock, Skate, Roll, Bounce. His emcee style may be a bit off-putting to the 21-century ear, but the quality of his rhymes and the cleverness behind the storytelling are still as crisp and pristine as all the hundred dollar bills the U.S. Federal Reserve just printed as I’ve been typing this post. Unlike those bills, though, The Adventures of Super Rhyme remain valuable forty-three years later. The way he delivered those rhymes, I bet some people were compelled to rap along with him like I did. I made it my mission to recite each line from start to finish.
To remember how much impact this record had in 1980, Disco was gasping on its last breath, Funk held its own, but R&B reigned supreme… on black radio stations. The few ways people could listen to rap on a constant basis were to experience it inside one of the New York Metro area nightclubs, attend neighborhood parks, buy a homemade mixtape or listen on the radio. Although Rapper’s Delight wasn’t the first rap record, it was the most successful. Reaching the mainstream was as unheard of then as someone under 30-years-old using a VCR now. Soon after Sugar Hill Gang’s massive success, other independent record labels churned out more rap records, hoping to spin their wax into gold. For a solo emcee to cut through the growing competition was a huge deal. Jimmy was one of the few who managed to stand out among the countless emcee crews dominating the rap scene at the time.
Being that I was too young to go to any clubs, my choices were limited to the radio and going downstairs to the basement listening to whatever my older brother played on the record player. If weren’t for that, I never would’ve heard of Super Rhyme at all. The only reason why I hadn’t worn the grooves from daily use was because my brother didn’t own it, it was his friend’s record. It took me almost a decade to finally track down this 12-inch classic and added it to my growing record collection.
Jimmy Spicer masterfully weaved three different stories in between the normal freestyle from that era. He served up the usual braggadocious lyrics and call and response appetizers to set up the main course: the stories. He started rapping about his life story, literally. It took a few bars to notice his life strangely resembled a certain Kryptonian, but Super Rhyme was far from a boy scout. His life was so extraordinary, the famous TV announcer, Coward Hosell, wanted to meet him. Who was he? You never heard of him? You’ve heard of Howard Cosell, right? Never heard of him either, huh? Coward Hosell was Spicer’s parody of the then top ABC network sportscaster, Howard Cosell. His claim to fame was being one of the first mainstream TV announcers to call a young, brash boxer, Cassius Clay, his preferred name, Mohammad Ali.
Super Rhyme proceeded to dazzle Coward Hosell by rapping about Dracula leaving Transylvania to New York City just to have a chance to dance the night away inside the renowned Disco Studio 54. He almost didn’t get in!
My favorite of the three stories was Spicer’s version of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. After Aladdin freed the genie, he was granted three wishes. His wishes were what any normal guy wanted: time travel to 1980, have a million dollars and cast a love spell on a woman who kept dissing Aladdin on the dance floor. Now, if you need a 2023 translation it would be: Time travel is still dope no matter what year it is, a million dollars barely covers the cost to buy a modest one-family home (in the U.S.), and the only kind of guys who need to trick a woman to be with them are Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.
Without Jimmy Spicer’s impact, we might not have heard Slick Rick rap alongside Doug E. Fresh on La Di Da Di, or go on to tell a Children’s Story. How ‘bout listening to Dana Dane rapping about his Nightmares, his misadventures on Delancey Street or spitting his own version of a fairytale with Cinderfella? Maybe we wouldn’t have heard of a West Philly teen, born and raised, to rap with DJ Jazzy Jeff to the “I Dream of Jeannie” TV theme declaring Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble. Or produce a song that would help Will Smith catapult the Fresh Prince from Philly to Bel Air, complaining how Parents Just Don’t Understand.
Not only that… ever hear someone say, Dollar, Dollar Bill, Y’all? Jimmy Spicer coined that phrase in his 1983 hit Money, (Dollar Bill Y’all) I’ll focus on this jam in more detail in a later post.
For those of you who remember Adventures of Super Rhyme be sure to mention it to younger generations. I don’t think it’s crazy for me to say this record was one of my earliest inspirations in general that helped me expand my imagination. Super Rhyme was one of the main reasons why I love rap. Jimmy transformed ordinary, traditional stories into extraordinary rap adventures for a new generation.
As much I’d like to stay a little longer, we have to go. Wait… what? Can we take what? No! Put that record back on the counter! We’re not greedy explorers stealing artifacts just to have ’em collecting dust in a museum. Besides, we can’t risk changing history, even when we want to… like eliminating Jheri Curls. C’mon, let’s to back to the 21st Century.
Aaaannddd… we’re back. So, how are ya feeling? Hope that seatbelt wasn’t on too tight. If you want more info on Jimmy Spicer, feel free to go through some extra links I got for y’all below. All that stuff should be enough for you until we meet next time. I’m ceetay, your time travel guide to the old school. Catcha next time! Seeeee Yaaaaa!
– Hip Hop DX:
article about Jimmy Spicer passing away in 2018
– Rolling Stone:
Ad Rock from Beastie Boys pays Tribute to Jimmy Spicer
In between much needed time travel arrangements, and maintenance, ceetay’s off-time consists of sitcom TV watching, Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream eating and gathering thoughts and information about old school music that have been either forgotten or buried under mountains of predatory corporate copyright claims. If you ever find yourself standing close enough, you might catch ceetay muttering, “If creativity is not allowed to be inspired by its history, culture will inevitably lose its meaning.
What Up, Y’all! This is ceetay. The Doctor Brown to your Marty McFly. Hope you’re ready to waveback to a time when the U.S. delivered a miracle on ice against the Soviets during the Winter Olympics then boycotted their Soviet asses in the Summer. A time when a washed up Hollywood actor landed the biggest role of his life: becoming the next U.S. President. And a time when someone in “Dallas” had the balls to shoot JR Ewing, but not enough guts to show their face, until the next season. If you haven’t guessed yet, we are traveling back to 1980.
Make sure you strap in. Even though New York State’s mandatory seatbelt law didn’t go into effect for another four years, we… I want to avoid gettin’ stopped by the Orwellian time cops before heading back to the present. Trust me. The less we run into them, the better.
All set? Alirght! Hit that play button!
I still consider The Adventures of Super Rhyme my all time favorite old school jam. In 1980, emcee Jimmy Spicer introduced an element that helped bring rap music forward: Storytelling.
The fifteen minute, you read that right, fifteen minute jam grabbed my attention from the start. “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, I’m Sup… Sup… Super Rhyme.” Jimmy Spicer’s effortless charisma carried that song like a professional mover carrying a hefty Sofa-Loveseat up five flights of stairs, without catching a breath. Do you know how hard it is to keep a person’s attention for that long? It’s hard for people to focus on 30 second Tik Toks these days.
Jimmy’s energy countered the laid back instrumental cover of Von Mason’s Rock, Skate, Roll, Bounce. His emcee style may be a bit off-putting to the 21-century ear, but the quality of his rhymes and the cleverness behind the storytelling are still as crisp and pristine as all the hundred dollar bills the U.S. Federal Reserve just printed as I’ve been typing this post. Unlike those bills, though, The Adventures of Super Rhyme remain valuable forty-three years later. The way he delivered those rhymes, I bet some people were compelled to rap along with him like I did. I made it my mission to recite each line from start to finish.
To remember how much impact this record had in 1980, Disco was gasping on its last breath, Funk held its own, but R&B reigned supreme… on black radio stations. The few ways people could listen to rap on a constant basis were to experience it inside one of the New York Metro area nightclubs, attend neighborhood parks, buy a homemade mixtape or listen on the radio. Although Rapper’s Delight wasn’t the first rap record, it was the most successful. Reaching the mainstream was as unheard of then as someone under 30-years-old using a VCR now. Soon after Sugar Hill Gang’s massive success, other independent record labels churned out more rap records, hoping to spin their wax into gold. For a solo emcee to cut through the growing competition was a huge deal. Jimmy was one of the few who managed to stand out among the countless emcee crews dominating the rap scene at the time.
Being that I was too young to go to any clubs, my choices were limited to the radio and going downstairs to the basement listening to whatever my older brother played on the record player. If weren’t for that, I never would’ve heard of Super Rhyme at all. The only reason why I hadn’t worn the grooves from daily use was because my brother didn’t own it, it was his friend’s record. It took me almost a decade to finally track down this 12-inch classic and added it to my growing record collection.
Jimmy Spicer masterfully weaved three different stories in between the normal freestyle from that era. He served up the usual braggadocious lyrics and call and response appetizers to set up the main course: the stories. He started rapping about his life story, literally. It took a few bars to notice his life strangely resembled a certain Kryptonian, but Super Rhyme was far from a boy scout. His life was so extraordinary, the famous TV announcer, Coward Hosell, wanted to meet him. Who was he? You never heard of him? You’ve heard of Howard Cosell, right? Never heard of him either, huh? Coward Hosell was Spicer’s parody of the then top ABC network sportscaster, Howard Cosell. His claim to fame was being one of the first mainstream TV announcers to call a young, brash boxer, Cassius Clay, his preferred name, Mohammad Ali.
Super Rhyme proceeded to dazzle Coward Hosell by rapping about Dracula leaving Transylvania to New York City just to have a chance to dance the night away inside the renowned Disco Studio 54. He almost didn’t get in!
My favorite of the three stories was Spicer’s version of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. After Aladdin freed the genie, he was granted three wishes. His wishes were what any normal guy wanted: time travel to 1980, have a million dollars and cast a love spell on a woman who kept dissing Aladdin on the dance floor. Now, if you need a 2023 translation it would be: Time travel is still dope no matter what year it is, a million dollars barely covers the cost to buy a modest one-family home (in the U.S.), and the only kind of guys who need to trick a woman to be with them are Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.
Without Jimmy Spicer’s impact, we might not have heard Slick Rick rap alongside Doug E. Fresh on La Di Da Di, or go on to tell a Children’s Story. How ‘bout listening to Dana Dane rapping about his Nightmares, his misadventures on Delancey Street or spitting his own version of a fairytale with Cinderfella? Maybe we wouldn’t have heard of a West Philly teen, born and raised, to rap with DJ Jazzy Jeff to the “I Dream of Jeannie” TV theme declaring Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble. Or produce a song that would help Will Smith catapult the Fresh Prince from Philly to Bel Air, complaining how Parents Just Don’t Understand.
Not only that… ever hear someone say, Dollar, Dollar Bill, Y’all? Jimmy Spicer coined that phrase in his 1983 hit Money, (Dollar Bill Y’all) I’ll focus on this jam in more detail in a later post.
For those of you who remember Adventures of Super Rhyme be sure to mention it to younger generations. I don’t think it’s crazy for me to say this record was one of my earliest inspirations in general that helped me expand my imagination. Super Rhyme was one of the main reasons why I love rap. Jimmy transformed ordinary, traditional stories into extraordinary rap adventures for a new generation.
As much I’d like to stay a little longer, we have to go. Wait… what? Can we take what? No! Put that record back on the counter! We’re not greedy adventurers stealing artifacts just to have ’em collecting dust in a museum. Besides, we can’t risk changing history, even when we want to… like eliminating Jheri Curls. C’mon, let’s to back to the 21st Century.
Aaaannddd… we’re back. So, how are ya feeling? Hope that seatbelt wasn’t on too tight. If you want more info on Jimmy Spicer, feel free to go through some extra links I got for y’all below. All that stuff should be enough for you until we meet next time. I’m ceetay, your time travel guide to the old school. Catcha next time! Seeeee Yaaaaa!
– Hip Hop DX:
article about Jimmy Spicer passing away in 2018
– Rolling Stone:
Ad Rock from Beastie Boys pays Tribute to Jimmy Spicer
In between much needed time travel arrangements, and maintenance, ceetay’s off-time consists of sitcom TV watching, Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream eating and gathering thoughts and information about old school music that have been either forgotten or buried under mountains of predatory corporate copyright claims. If you ever find yourself standing close enough, you might catch ceetay muttering, “If creativity is not allowed to be inspired by its history, culture will inevitably lose its meaning.
Hey, y’all! ceetay here! Okay, let’s cut to my lame excuse. I had to move
Wassup! ceetay here, the Doc Brown to your Marty McFly. Okay, I’ll just cut to