#and my favourite thing will always be whenever someone notices a reference or a parallel<3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[missmungoe]

Hello miss mungoe!! 💚♥️

How are you?

How are you dealing with the heat?

I hope where you live it's at least a bit bearable because here in France it's going not very well for us lmao 😵🔥

I have a question if you don't mind, about the fics(? or oneshots?) you wrote on ao3, about Shanks and Makino; are they in any specific order?

I saw that some are sequels to others but is there any actual order or we can just read them individually?

Sorry I got a bit confused cuz i usually don't read fics there and so it's the "first times" using that site lmao.

I hope the question doesn't bother you💚♥️

Have a wonderful day/night/evening!! 🌼🌺💐🌻💮🌹🌷🌸

♥️💚

omg look at them 😔🥺

Hi!! I’m doing well! (and this isn’t a bother at all!) And oof, I’m sorry to hear about the heat! I have the opposite problem - in my part of Norway, it’s been averaging a chilly 13 degrees and raining for the past few weeks, but I think I prefer the cold to the heat (at least if it’s cold, you can put on more layers, but you can’t really strip down past your skin). I hope the heatwave subsides soon<3

And I hope it’s okay that I post this answer! I’ve had this question from others, so I thought someone else might find it useful!

On AO3 you have the option to post fics as part of a series. My main series for Shanks x Makino is Shanties for the Weary Voyager (‘Shanties’ for short), and most of my stories about them are part of this series, barring a few exceptions (and the only reason they are exceptions is because they’re written in a different style; otherwise, they would all be in it). Shanties is (as of writing this) 26 stories, some complete and some in-progress, and they’re listed in the order I’d personally recommend reading them, starting with Heed the Siren’s Call and ending with Heart and Anchor. But this order is just a suggestion, and you can read them in any order you like, although whichever approach you take, I always recommend starting with Siren’s Call, as every single one of my stories about Shanks and Makino has this as their baseline - meaning they’re all either AUs of that story, sequels to that story, or companion pieces of that story.

So that’s my recommended starting point, but where you go from there is up to you! There’s a little something for every taste in my archive - one-shots and longfics of 100K+ words, AUs and canon compliant fics, angst and fluff and smut - so it really comes down to what you enjoy reading. Some stories branch off from others, like Heart and Anchor from Mnemosyne, while some are clear sequels, like Sea Songs and On the Water, and all my one-shots are usually set during or after Siren’s Call or Sea Songs, so I recommend reading those in order. If a story is a sequel or a companion fic, it will say so in the author’s note at the beginning. Shanties is a tiny multiverse at this point, but I’ve tried to make it as easy to traverse as I can :)

One thing you might notice if you read more than one fic in this series is that they reference each other, and that there are a lot of recurring elements - like my original character Suzume, and Makino’s sword Siren, hence my recommended reading order, as Suze’s role in Mnemosyne makes more sense if you’ve read Charybdis first, and Sailor’s Folly includes Siren’s origins. But if you start with Siren’s Call you should be set whichever path you take; I’m just delighted if someone wants to read more than one of my stories<3

[drippeddaily]

A discussion of hip hop's forgotten hits

A discussion of hip hop's forgotten hits

There are a lot of great artists out there who have amazing catalogues of work, yet the rest of their music gets overlooked because their smash single overshadows everything else. I have managed to find some tracks that prominent hip hop acts released to a muted reception, despite their undeniable excellence. Join me in a journey through the history of hip hop's forgotten hits.

Let's start off with Craig Mack. Known best for Flava In Ya Ear (and its legendary posse-cut remix), Craig has another song out there that is arguably even better. At least lyrically, anyway. Frustrated with the state of the hip hop industry, the Bad Boy rapper put out When God Comes, a scathing attack on the community that he felt had lost touch with its largely positive and Afrocentric roots. The opening bars set the scene for a four-minute assault on his colleagues, unleashing a critical sentiment that he maintains for the full length of the song.

"What da fuck's going on inside the biz?/Shit ain't raw no more/Fake is how it is/I hear brothers talking 'bout shooting and killing/Then going home and chilling/Frontin' like a villain"

This fragment of When God Comes' authoritative lyrics feels like it could have been the inspiration behind Andre 3000's verse on Return Of The "G"¹, released four years later.

Although evidence of their mutual animosity has largely been lost to the sands of time, there is some basis for the rumour that Craig Mack and Biggie really didn't get along.² Diddy managed to make a lot happen within the Bad Boy empire, but getting the two to stop publicly sending shots at each other was beyond even Brother Love's precocious influence.

Within the chaotic clutter that is my mother's house before Sunday dinner, you'll find her darting in and out of the kitchen. If you're lucky, you'll also catch a glimpse of her unashamedly singing along to the sounds of the 80s. One lazy Sunday, I heard her playing Try Love Again by The Natural Four, and couldn't believe my ears. That song, when sampled by Pete Rock in his inimitable style, and laced with CL Smooth's lyrical mastery, was reinvented to become It's A Love Thing.⁴ And, well, an excuse to listen to the hip hop version together.

I've always been inextricably linked to brass instruments; the first instrument I took formal lessons with was the trumpet. My younger brother followed my footsteps, and so did my little sister after that. It's rare that I agree with my parents about anything hip hop related, but They Reminisce Over You is one of the only exceptions - a saxophone-driven, commercially viable song that managed get the three of us moving on the dancefloor.³ Not only did TROY give me a track that I can enjoy with my family, it also gave us a bonding experience that I'll never forget.

"The question is can you top that homie/You can probably pull something close but stop that homie/Not even, could have that even if I stopped breathin'"

Even though he's likely talking about the John and Jane Does this verse is written for, it's hard to overlook how accurate those lines are when redressed to be a reference to CL Smooth's reign on the mic.

Did you know that Pete Rock is Heavy D's cousin?⁵ There must be something in the water.

If you've been to alive in the past twenty years, you've undoubtedly heard groups, from all backgrounds, singing along to Regulate by Nate Dogg & Warren G. This wasn't just a nice song, this was an era-defining record⁶ that found its way to every radio in the land, leaving a generation pining for a return to the golden years of g-funk. Not content with their success, the pairing kept pushing envelope with Nobody Does It Better - an overlooked triumph in their quest to build on the unique chemistry that made them famous.

"No one can do it better like this two man crew/They say we're one hitter quitters/Now what y'all gonna do?"

You're damned right, Warren.

You may have noticed how squeaky clean Regulate's lyrics are, especially when compared to the rest of the subgenre. That's not an accident; the version we know and love is actually not the original. Initially, it was conceived to be a lot more explicit. When it started creating a buzz, Chris Lighty asked them to go back and clean it up to ensure that it wouldn't spend half of the running time censored by radio DJs, stunting its projected commercial success. ⁷

This list wouldn't be complete without Smoothe Da Hustler. Since not everyone is familiar with the name, it's worth mentioning that his debut album stormed to the cusp of Billboard's coveted hip hop album top ten, peaking in the 11th place slot.⁸ The most successful track from his album Once Upon a Time in America, and his career in totality, was Broken Language with Trigga the Gambler. If you haven't listened to that yet, it's a great primer that will put his best work into context.

Make Or Take is my go-to song when someone asks for something good that they haven't heard before. Something fresh, yet old enough to not fit the status quo. While conceding that it's actually a Nine song with Smoothe Da Hustler rapping the hook, Make Or Take made the final cut by virtue of possibly being 1996's best underground song. Even the people getting ready to downvote this post after that last sentence are guaranteed to love this song. Before long, you'll have watched the video enough times in a row to able synchronise your blinking with the people on screen.

"There's six million ways to die but only one to live/I need enough money to spend enough money to give/Cause I love my peeps and my peeps love me/And I refuse to see them living in poverty"

What a beautiful expression of hood love.

Smoothe has rubbed shoulders with a lot of New York's hip hop royalty (Busta Rhymes, Onyx, and Public Enemy to name a few),⁹ but it's interesting to know that he got his start by opening for Biggie on the Ready To Die tour.¹⁰ This was before he'd even dropped his debut album and its hit single. Not a bad cosign.

As a child, there came a moment where I was overwhelmed by the urge to seek out black, British artists. I was yearning for proof that people from my background could fit into rap's burgeoning bourgeoisie. A colourful man by the name of Mark Morrison was enough to sate my young mind. Following in the path of Slick Rick the ruler, Mark is as flamboyant as he is talented. He rocked a fresh cut, flashy jewellery, and an unshakeably badass attitude to match. Return Of The Mack constantly finds itself near the very top of my perpetually shifting favourites list. One of those reliable songs that saves me whenever the aux cord falls into my lap.

While reflecting on his run-ins with law enforcement, the German-born singer recruited DMX to join him in speaking on the perceived injustices they were rising up against. Whether track title was accurate or not is a discussion for another time, but the trouble artists teamed up on Mark's sophomoric outing to make the case that they were each an Innocent Man persecuted by society. Although it's a Mark Morrison song, including a snippet of an embittered DMX's poignant performance should, hopefully, give more context to the duo's struggles.

"Did my time in a county jail/Just when things started going well/And I paid the price for the crimes I did/Wanna change my life/Wanna raise my kids"

"You say I'm rehabilitated, but I still can't vote/You say I paid my debt but I still can't vote/Gotta pay taxes but I still can't vote/Come on dawg y'all stay trying to keep a nigga broke"

Eleven years on, their dissatisfaction with America's legal system, and the way felons are routinely stripped of their basic human rights, is still a contentious point of discussion.¹¹ ¹² ¹³

Although his other charges were endlessly debated in the court of public opinion, Mark Morrison was conclusively found guilty of employing a body double to complete his court-ordered community service.¹⁴ Full points for creativity...

TL;DR: these underappreciated songs are really good. You won't regret checking them out, and they are probably bigger hits in a parallel universe.

Artist Signature Track Underrated Track Craig Mack Flava In Ya Ear When God Comes Nate Dogg & Warren G Regulate Nobody Does It Better Smoothe Da Hustler Broken Language Make Or Take Mark Morrison Return Of The Mack Innocent Man Pete Rock & CL Smooth They Reminisce Over You It's A Love Thing

Genius. OutKast – Return of the "G" Lyrics. https://genius.com/Outkast-return-of-the-g-lyrics#note-134976.

YouTube. Did Biggie smalls and Craig mack had beef before he died? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJcR9M4lbEM.

Rolling Stone. The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-50-greatest-hip-hop-songs-of-all-time-20121205/pete-rock-and-c-l-smooth-they-reminisce-over-you-t-r-o-y-19691231.

WhoSampled. Pete Rock feat. C.L. Smooth and Denosh's 'It's a Love Thing' sample of The Natural Four's 'Try Love Again'. https://www.whosampled.com/sample/80330/Pete-Rock-C.L.-Smooth-Denosh-It%27s-a-Love-Thing-The-Natural-Four-Try-Love-Again/.

Biography.com. Pete Rock Biography. https://www.biography.com/people/pete-rock-5112017.

Billboard. 'Regulate' At 20: Warren G & Michael McDonald Discuss the G-Funk Jam. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6070114/regulate-at-20-warren-g-michael-mcdonald-discuss-the-g-funk-jam.

Rolling Stone. Warren G and Nate Dogg's 'Regulate': The Oral History of a Hip-Hop Classic. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/warren-g-and-nate-doggs-regulate-the-oral-history-of-a-hip-hop-classic-20141219

Billboard. Smoothe Da Hustler Once Upon A Time In America Chart History. https://www.billboard.com/music/smoothe-da-hustler/chart-history/r-b-hip-hop-albums/song/176271.

Ambrosia For Heads. Smoothe Da Hustler & Trigger Had An Unbreakable Lyrical Bond In Broken Language (Video). http://ambrosiaforheads.com/2016/04/smoothe-da-hustler-trigger-had-an-unbreakable-lyrical-bond-in-broken-language-video/.

Wazzup Tonight. Smoothe Da Hustler | Legend Who's Worked Alongside THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., ICE-T, KRS-ONE, PUBLIC ENEMY And More | Makes A Comeback. http://wazzuptonight.com/smoothe-da-hustler-comeback/

NAACP. Criminal Justice Fact Sheet. http://www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/.

Washington Post. Give felons and prisoners the right to vote. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/let-felons-and-prisoners-vote/2016/07/26/f2da2d64-4947-11e6-acbc-4d4870a079da_story.html?utm_term=.d9ddf788ece6.

Human Rights Watch. Bail and Pretrial Detention of Low Income Nonfelony Defendants in New York City. https://www.hrw.org/report/2010/12/02/price-freedom/bail-and-pretrial-detention-low-income-nonfelony-defendants-new-york.

NME. GRIM MORRISON: THE MACK IN TROUBLE AGAIN. http://www.nme.com/news/music/mark-morrison-10-1392631.

There are a lot of great artists out there who have amazing catalogues of work, yet the rest of their music gets overlooked because their smash single overshadows everything else. I have managed to find some tracks that prominent hip hop acts released to a muted reception, despite their undeniable excellence. Join me in a journey through the history of hip hop's forgotten hits.Let's start off with Craig Mack. Known best for Flava In Ya Ear (and its legendary posse-cut remix), Craig has another song out there that is arguably even better. At least lyrically, anyway. Frustrated with the state of the hip hop industry, the Bad Boy rapper put out When God Comes, a scathing attack on the community that he felt had lost touch with its largely positive and Afrocentric roots. The opening bars set the scene for a four-minute assault on his colleagues, unleashing a critical sentiment that he maintains for the full length of the song."What da fuck's going on inside the biz?/Shit ain't raw no more/Fake is how it is/I hear brothers talking 'bout shooting and killing/Then going home and chilling/Frontin' like a villain"This fragment of When God Comes' authoritative lyrics feels like it could have been the inspiration behind Andre 3000's verse on Return Of The "G"1, released four years later.Although evidence of their mutual animosity has largely been lost to the sands of time, there is some basis for the rumour that Craig Mack and Biggie really didn't get along.2 Diddy managed to make a lot happen within the Bad Boy empire, but getting the two to stop publicly sending shots at each other was beyond even Brother Love's precocious influence.Within the chaotic clutter that is my mother's house before Sunday dinner, you'll find her darting in and out of the kitchen. If you're lucky, you'll also catch a glimpse of her unashamedly singing along to the sounds of the 80s. One lazy Sunday, I heard her playing Try Love Again by The Natural Four, and couldn't believe my ears. That song, when sampled by Pete Rock in his inimitable style, and laced with CL Smooth's lyrical mastery, was reinvented to become It's A Love Thing.4 And, well, an excuse to listen to the hip hop version together.I've always been inextricably linked to brass instruments; the first instrument I took formal lessons with was the trumpet. My younger brother followed my footsteps, and so did my little sister after that. It's rare that I agree with my parents about anything hip hop related, but They Reminisce Over You is one of the only exceptions - a saxophone-driven, commercially viable song that managed get the three of us moving on the dancefloor.3 Not only did TROY give me a track that I can enjoy with my family, it also gave us a bonding experience that I'll never forget."The question is can you top that homie/You can probably pull something close but stop that homie/Not even, could have that even if I stopped breathin'"Even though he's likely talking about the John and Jane Does this verse is written for, it's hard to overlook how accurate those lines are when redressed to be a reference to CL Smooth's reign on the mic.Did you know that Pete Rock is Heavy D's cousin?5 There must be something in the water.If you've been to alive in the past twenty years, you've undoubtedly heard groups, from all backgrounds, singing along to Regulate by Nate Dogg & Warren G. This wasn't just a nice song, this was an era-defining record6 that found its way to every radio in the land, leaving a generation pining for a return to the golden years of g-funk. Not content with their success, the pairing kept pushing envelope with Nobody Does It Better - an overlooked triumph in their quest to build on the unique chemistry that made them famous."No one can do it better like this two man crew/They say we're one hitter quitters/Now what y'all gonna do?"You're damned right, Warren.You may have noticed how squeaky clean Regulate's lyrics are, especially when compared to the rest of the subgenre. That's not an accident; the version we know and love is actually not the original. Initially, it was conceived to be a lot more explicit. When it started creating a buzz, Chris Lighty asked them to go back and clean it up to ensure that it wouldn't spend half of the running time censored by radio DJs, stunting its projected commercial success. 7This list wouldn't be complete without Smoothe Da Hustler. Since not everyone is familiar with the name, it's worth mentioning that his debut album stormed to the cusp of Billboard's coveted hip hop album top ten, peaking in the 11th place slot.8 The most successful track from his album Once Upon a Time in America, and his career in totality, was Broken Language with Trigga the Gambler. If you haven't listened to that yet, it's a great primer that will put his best work into context.Make Or Take is my go-to song when someone asks for something good that they haven't heard before. Something fresh, yet old enough to not fit the status quo. While conceding that it's actually a Nine song with Smoothe Da Hustler rapping the hook, Make Or Take made the final cut by virtue of possibly being 1996's best underground song. Even the people getting ready to downvote this post after that last sentence are guaranteed to love this song. Before long, you'll have watched the video enough times in a row to able synchronise your blinking with the people on screen."There's six million ways to die but only one to live/I need enough money to spend enough money to give/Cause I love my peeps and my peeps love me/And I refuse to see them living in poverty"What a beautiful expression of hood love.Smoothe has rubbed shoulders with a lot of New York's hip hop royalty (Busta Rhymes, Onyx, and Public Enemy to name a few),9 but it's interesting to know that he got his start by opening for Biggie on the Ready To Die tour.10 This was before he'd even dropped his debut album and its hit single. Not a bad cosign.As a child, there came a moment where I was overwhelmed by the urge to seek out black, British artists. I was yearning for proof that people from my background could fit into rap's burgeoning bourgeoisie. A colourful man by the name of Mark Morrison was enough to sate my young mind. Following in the path of Slick Rick the ruler, Mark is as flamboyant as he is talented. He rocked a fresh cut, flashy jewellery, and an unshakeably badass attitude to match. Return Of The Mack constantly finds itself near the very top of my perpetually shifting favourites list. One of those reliable songs that saves me whenever the aux cord falls into my lap.While reflecting on his run-ins with law enforcement, the German-born singer recruited DMX to join him in speaking on the perceived injustices they were rising up against. Whether track title was accurate or not is a discussion for another time, but the trouble artists teamed up on Mark's sophomoric outing to make the case that they were each an Innocent Man persecuted by society. Although it's a Mark Morrison song, including a snippet of an embittered DMX's poignant performance should, hopefully, give more context to the duo's struggles."Did my time in a county jail/Just when things started going well/And I paid the price for the crimes I did/Wanna change my life/Wanna raise my kids""You say I'm rehabilitated, but I still can't vote/You say I paid my debt but I still can't vote/Gotta pay taxes but I still can't vote/Come on dawg y'all stay trying to keep a nigga broke"Eleven years on, their dissatisfaction with America's legal system, and the way felons are routinely stripped of their basic human rights, is still a contentious point of discussion.11 12 13Although his other charges were endlessly debated in the court of public opinion, Mark Morrison was conclusively found guilty of employing a body double to complete his court-ordered community service.14 Full points for creativity...TL;DR: these underappreciated songs are really good. You won't regret checking them out, and they are probably bigger hits in a parallel universe.ArtistSignature TrackUnderrated TrackCraig MackFlava In Ya EarWhen God ComesNate Dogg & Warren GRegulateNobody Does It BetterSmoothe Da HustlerBroken LanguageMake Or TakeMark MorrisonReturn Of The MackInnocent ManPete Rock & CL SmoothThey Reminisce Over YouIt's A Love ThingGenius. OutKast – Return of the "G" Lyrics. https://genius.com/Outkast-return-of-the-g-lyrics#note-134976.YouTube. Did Biggie smalls and Craig mack had beef before he died? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJcR9M4lbEM.Rolling Stone. The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-50-greatest-hip-hop-songs-of-all-time-20121205/pete-rock-and-c-l-smooth-they-reminisce-over-you-t-r-o-y-19691231.WhoSampled. Pete Rock feat. C.L. Smooth and Denosh's 'It's a Love Thing' sample of The Natural Four's 'Try Love Again'. https://www.whosampled.com/sample/80330/Pete-Rock-C.L.-Smooth-Denosh-It%27s-a-Love-Thing-The-Natural-Four-Try-Love-Again/.Biography.com. Pete Rock Biography. https://www.biography.com/people/pete-rock-5112017.Billboard. 'Regulate' At 20: Warren G & Michael McDonald Discuss the G-Funk Jam. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6070114/regulate-at-20-warren-g-michael-mcdonald-discuss-the-g-funk-jam.Rolling Stone. Warren G and Nate Dogg's 'Regulate': The Oral History of a Hip-Hop Classic. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/warren-g-and-nate-doggs-regulate-the-oral-history-of-a-hip-hop-classic-20141219Billboard. Smoothe Da Hustler Once Upon A Time In America Chart History. https://www.billboard.com/music/smoothe-da-hustler/chart-history/r-b-hip-hop-albums/song/176271.Ambrosia For Heads. Smoothe Da Hustler & Trigger Had An Unbreakable Lyrical Bond In Broken Language (Video). http://ambrosiaforheads.com/2016/04/smoothe-da-hustler-trigger-had-an-unbreakable-lyrical-bond-in-broken-language-video/.Wazzup Tonight. Smoothe Da Hustler | Legend Who's Worked Alongside THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., ICE-T, KRS-ONE, PUBLIC ENEMY And More | Makes A Comeback. http://wazzuptonight.com/smoothe-da-hustler-comeback/NAACP. Criminal Justice Fact Sheet. http://www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/.Washington Post. Give felons and prisoners the right to vote. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/let-felons-and-prisoners-vote/2016/07/26/f2da2d64-4947-11e6-acbc-4d4870a079da_story.html?utm_term=.d9ddf788ece6.Human Rights Watch. Bail and Pretrial Detention of Low Income Nonfelony Defendants in New York City. https://www.hrw.org/report/2010/12/02/price-freedom/bail-and-pretrial-detention-low-income-nonfelony-defendants-new-york.NME. GRIM MORRISON: THE MACK IN TROUBLE AGAIN. http://www.nme.com/news/music/mark-morrison-10-1392631.