Hip Hop on Modest Walrus

Reaction Keep Ya Head Up by 2Pac

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Why I Reacted To This Song

It’s rare to hear a rap track from that era speak this directly.

Original by Artist

About This Song

Released on October 28, 1993 as the third single from 2Pac’s second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…, the song was actually recorded back in 1992. DJ Daryl produced the track, building the beat around a sample of Zapp’s 1980 song “Be Alright” and layering in The Five Stairsteps’ 1970 hit “O-o-h Child” for the chorus. 2Pac dedicated the song to Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old Black girl fatally shot by a Korean-American store owner in 1991, an incident that raised racial tensions in Los Angeles ahead of the 1992 riots; the music video opens with a dedication to her memory. He also dedicated it to his godson Elijah and to Corin, daughter of Salt from Salt-N-Pepa, with uncredited backing vocals from R&B singer Dave Hollister of Blackstreet. The track marked a real departure from the more aggressive gangsta rap of the era, leaning instead into a compassionate, socially conscious side of 2Pac that tackled women’s rights and the struggles facing the Black community; he later said in a 1995 interview that he’d noticed a lack of songs uplifting Black women before writing it. A sequel, “Baby Don’t Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II),” followed posthumously in 1999 on Still I Rise.

Reaction Quality Control by Jurassic 5

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Why I Reacted To This Album

Jurassic 5 have a reputation as one of those groups people point to when they say they “don’t really like hip-hop, but…” Quality Control is the album that earns that reputation, so it was worth revisiting properly.

The Video

About This Album

Quality Control is the second studio album by American alternative hip hop group Jurassic 5, released on June 6, 2000, by Interscope Records. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 77 based on 17 reviews, indicating “generally favorable reviews.” In 2015, it was included in Paste’s list of “10 Hip-Hop Albums for People Who Don’t Like Hip-Hop.”

Reaction The Light by Common

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Why I Reacted To This Song

I was blown away from the show. Seeing Common perform live put this song in a completely different light and it’s stuck with me ever since.

Original by Artist

About This Song

“The Light” was released in 2000 on Common’s album Like Water for Chocolate, produced by James Poyser and built around a sample of Bobby Caldwell’s “Open Your Eyes.” Part of the Soulquarians-era work that defined the album’s sound, it became one of Common’s biggest and most accessible singles; a warm, melodic love song that stood apart from the more conscious, abstract material he was known for at the time.

Reaction If I Ruled the World by Nas ft. Lauryn Hill

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Why I Reacted To This Song

Nas has always been one of the sharpest voices in hip-hop and “If I Ruled the World” is one of his most enduring records. Pairing him with Lauryn Hill on the hook turns an already great song into something timeless.

Original by Artist

About This Song

“If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)” was released in 1996 on Nas’s second album, It Was Written. The track samples Kurtis Blow’s 1985 song of the same name and pairs Nas’s verses with a hook sung by Lauryn Hill of The Fugees. It became one of Nas’s biggest commercial hits, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, and remains one of the most recognisable hip-hop singles of the era.