Timothy Jerome Parker, known worldwide as Gift of Gab, died on June 18, 2021. He was 50 years old. In this episode, I pay tribute to one of the most important emcees and poets of the last 50 years.
"Mrs. Rogers are you there?" When I was in middle school listening to Rap City in the late 90s, there was a now classic hip hop song that came out called "Holiday" by a member of the Dungeon Family (the Outkast/Organized Noize crew), Witchdoctor. I was hooked. I bought Witchdoctor's album A S.W.A.T. Healin' Ritual (Interscope Records, 1998) from NRM and listened to it until I probably scratched the hell out of it. I even talked about it and recited & referenced some of Witchdoctor's lyrics ("Hurting") when I did a report on different hip hop styles back in 10th or 11th grade in a Speech and Theater electives class. Several tracks are produced by Organized Noize, making any fan of Outkast likely to embrace the album. For me, what stands out about Witchdoctor is his unique and somewhat eccentric way of rhyming. He's sort of choppy in his delivery; bluesy and less interested in inner rhyme. He's also introspective, reflective abou
Comments
Post a Comment