MASTER OF CEREMONY

Grand Puba: 360 (What Goes Around) SD50s Remix
From 12″ (Elektra, 1992). Also available on Reel to Reel (Elektra, 1992)

Grand Puba: I Like It
From 12″ (Elektra, 1995). Also on 2000 (Elektra, 1995)

All respect due to Sadat X but Grand Puba was the only Brand Nubian I was ever that interested in listening to when he went on the solo tip. Puba seemingly took a big risk in ditching BN to go for self but his Reel to Reel had all the elements that made One For All the classic it was: fierce lyricism, funktacular beats, a healthy dose of Five Percenter mathematics – everything you came to expect from the early ’90s era.

Puba couldn’t have asked for a more auspicious start with the first single off that LP – “360 (What Goes Around).” The original mix was nice enough – perfectly acceptable with its chunky basslines – but the SD50s remix killed s*** with its Mar-Keys’ “Grab This Thing” loop. This song has so much juice to it – I still play it out these days and never get tired of it.
I also think “Check Tha Resume,” (which opens Reel to Reel) is remarkably slept-on. It opens so thunderously and never lets up. I’m surprised they didn’t release this on 12″ at some point – to me, it’s the best thing on there (save “360”).

One day, I might also post up Puba’s B-side only track, “Mind Your Business” which ended up on my Incognitos Redux tape.

As for “I Like It,” the first single off of Puba’s uneven sophomore album, 2000 – this is one of my all-time favorite songs by Puba and it once saved my life (sort of). I was driving home one night and was falling asleep at the wheel and suddenly, “I Like It” came on over the radio and I was so juiced to hear a DJ put it in the mix that it woke me up long enough to get home without crashing the car.