New Jack Kings vs. Slick Rick

Like This and Like That is the new column from Snobcast extraordinaire, Father Guido Sarducci IV. The procedure: Every morning (OK, maybe not every morning) Guido will snatch the first crisp, clean & new mp3 he stumbles upon, listen to it at least once, and then find an old song (ten years or more) for some good old-fashioned compare and contrast. The purpose: To draw a line between the modern and the out-of-date. The premise: To expose the kids to their past while also showing the unfashionable adults that there’s great new music being made every day. Thus, if you like This than you might like That.

“New Night To Remember” by New Jack Kings vs “Street Talkin” by Slick Rick ft. Big Boi

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This track comes from an outta-nowhere collaboration album featuring affiliates of the Athletic Mic League. Primarily, New Jack Kings are T. Calmese (formerly Illite of the subterraneous crew) and Vaughan T. (of the Athletic Mic League), but the New Jack Kings project features Buff 1, Mayer Hawthorne, Big Tone, 14kt, Ro Spit, Nick Speed, Aloe Blacc, Zo!, Forekast, Ella, and Soul Deacon. The idea for the project is to “flip” classic new jack swing records and is a nod to the “era of high top fades, eye brow parts, and house parties.” You can cop this 12 track project for free.

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“Street Talkin” is the only single released from Slick Rick‘s final album. Released in 1999, Art of Storytelling was the highly anticipated return of hip-hop’s Golden Age storyteller. Richard Walters, the British-American rapper known as Slick Rick, had been in jail from ’91 to ’96 and while he had recorded two albums during the incarceration, neither of them had been received as well as the 1988 debut The Great Adventures of Slick Rick. With Storytelling, Rick returned to the fun, playful raps he had been known for. “Street Talkin” features Big Boi from Outkast, and while it’s not new jack swing, it has a nostalgic feel that’s even more potent over a decade later.

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