Pass the Mic

To fully appreciate Larry Drew II’s place among College Basketball’s Hip Hop royalty with this “freestyle”, it’s a must to take a deeper look into the rich tradition of basketball MCs.  But before I do that, a little housekeeping:

The term “freestyle” refers to the improvisational spitting of lyrics, most commonly occurring in a cypher.  The recital of memorized, pre-written lyrics on stage at one’s own birthday party is most certainly NOT a freestyle.  Please keep this in mind when writing articles about this subject, national media.  But I digress …

Courtesy of Ballin’ is a Habit, here is Larry Drew’s “definitely not a freestyle” performance.  Not bad when you refuse to consider that the entire context of his lyrics is based in an alternate reality.  The “script full of typos” is working pretty well for Roy and Company, I’d say.  Here’s a better effort from LD2 over the beat to “Get By” that pushes him up the credibility ladder on the MC scale.  I’ll even forgive him for the a capella birthday performance … if Ja Rule can make-believe he’s from the streets I guess Larry Drew can make-believe he’s a better point guard than Kendall Marshall.  Let’s see how Larry Angeles stacks up against College Basketball’s finest MC’s …

Tennessee Junior Renaldo Woolridge has billed himself as a rapper first and a college basketball player second.  “Swiperboy”, which either speaks to his kleptomania or to his affinity for Dora the Explorer, has actually generated some buzz through aggressive self-promotion through the internet.  Though his stats aren’t all that impressive (1.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg), his flow is actually pretty good.  Swiperboy gets negative points for joining the “Color & Color” bandwagon, however, with his ode to mediocrity: “Orange & White“. 

The anti-LD2 has to be former Butler star Gordon “G-Time” Hayward.  His flow is, not surprisingly, awful, but he’s going to get high scores from me on this CBB MC scale for two reasons: brilliant collaboration, and lyrical accuracy.  Heading into the NCAA tournament last season, “G-Time” spit a few bars on his friend’s track “Too Big Yo” and showed the ability to see the future with lyrics like “It’s not about me, it’s about the team / Going to the tourney with a full head of steam / Chip’s real close, it’s at our back door / Get a few dubs we’ll be in the Final Four”  Contrast Hayward calling his shot pre-tournament to LD2’s diss of the red-hot Tarheels.  G-Time also shows off his savvy as an MC by collaborating with perhaps the weakest MC I’ve ever heard.  I compare this to any rapper who has ever asked Andre 3000 to make an appearance on one of their tracks.  Andre always saved his best work for collaborations (for example – UGK getting absolutely murdered on their own track by both Andre and Big Boi on ‘International Players Anthem’), but this guy that Hayward is teaming up with is AWFUL.  Hear for yourself, and try to hang on long enough for G-Time to jump in at the 1:50 mark.  His career as a MC is a long shot for sure, and we’ve all seen Hayward’s success rate on long shots.

Any discussion about CBB MCs is not complete without mention of “Big” Ed Nelson, formerly of Georgia Tech and UCONN.  Ed Nelson has the rare combination of an awful voice, terrible delivery, offensive lyrics, and fraudulent claims within his songs.  In just the first verse of his hip hop classic “Pick Up Truck”, Ed let’s us know that his jersey is retired (not accurate at either college he attended) and his off-the-court activities include hate crimes.  Well played, sir.  Without further ado, college basketball’s worst MC … “Big” Ed Nelson.

Alright, Devilwolfers … who else do you have that needs to be on the list of CBB’s most famous MCs?