Jean Grae is the best female emcee of all time. I’m not here to debate either because well… this is my opinion and in my yearssssss of listening to rap and hip hop, she stands apart from the emcees. And let me just stop right there because if you go to a time capsule in the late 90s and into the early 00s, Jean Grae was one of the best rappers out. Jean doesn’t rap anymore because she aspired to me much more than a rapper in her artistry… But back to rap… Before Jean Grae, there was an artist from the Natural Resources known as What-What.
I am tripping out right now because I never knew there was a music video for this. 25+ years later of loving this track and I JUST FIND OUT NOW THAT IT HAS A VIDEO??? And it only has 800 views??? Fam…. Just go listen to the What-What verse live and in effect right here. Listen and feel this track and tell me that popcorn isn’t in your hand when What-What grabs the mic. A track like this below just might stay in rotation for you for awhile… maybe?
I knew I needed to hear every What-What verse I could find. Tracks like this just had to make their way to my eardrums… or just my fingers because I wanted to hold a piece of this art. What-What was such a dope emcee… But she was also producing the majority of Natural Resources tracks under the moniker, Run Run Shaw. Dope emcee, dope producer, complete artist.
What-What’s talent was undeniable as more fans heard her and like me, just needed to hear more. I remember seeing The Herbaliser’s new album in 1999 and trippin out that What-What was featured on it. The mellow jazz rap beat with What-What coolin out on the mic was something different… What-What was laying the foundation to her solo career.
Natural Resources broke up in 1999 and What-What shifted right over to a new moniker…. What-What evolved Jean Grae. Her debut album didn’t drop until 2002. Attack of the Attacking Things had some cuts that again, just stopped you in your tracks. Songs like this are why I love hip hop so much. This beat along with Jean’s voice and story move me. It’s as simple as that.
But Jean Grae kept you on your toes. You hear on these heartfelt songs but then you hear her over with Mr. Len in his post-Company Flow days dropping cuts that made you pay attention. That Mr. Len album is crazy… The track “Taco Day” was crazy… The story was controversial for sure… but Jean gave you perspective. She narrated a harrowing story of a young girl who….well… you just gotta go listen.
Jean Grae was like Company Flow meets The Artifacts. She would be a guest feature on a track and steal the show with all other emcees on the track watching in awe as Jean had the rare ability to ascend when you thought she was already at her ceiling. Listen to Jean Grae’s over a beat from El-P with verse from Mr. Lif, Aesop Rock, and Akrobatik… Jean is an assassin on the track. All of the emcees kill on their verses but Jean is in her bag on this.
Jean also had those mixtape tracks where you’d hear her over some Pharrell and go, yup, this works… She breathed new life into music at a great time when independent artistry was celebrated heavily by the industry… actually nah… f*ck the industry. 90s and 00s underground hip hop lived because of artists who didn’t want to be told what to do. And fans loved it because they didn’t want to be told what to listen to. And there Jean Grae was finding herself at one of the first Coachella’s. Yup… We went… Had to see Jean Grae and MF Doom rock Coachella in the early days. I wish I could find video of that. In the meantime, I guess I’ll just find another dope performance of Jean live.
In the early 2000’s, Jean Grae stood right next to MF Doom and Def Jux. She was even dropping bootlegs of her tracks just so fans could get these songs all in one place. Jean had a great work ethic and gave it her all on the mic. Songs like this made you wonder what was better… the original or Jean’s version… I’ll let you be the judge.
When Jean dropped, you copped. You wanted a glimpse of where she was taking her talent… she could sing… she could rap… she was funny… she was everything. When she officially linked up with 9th Wonder it was hard to believe… wait… these guys have a whole album together? This was the definition of buzz… But then at some point the unfinished album leaked… it wasn’t hard to find… there were tracks on there that took Jean up to a whole other level of the game…
The Jeanius album never got finished… It leaking onto the internet was devastating. The real heads have heard it. But soooooooooooo manyyyyyy people never got to see what a full finished Jean Grae and 9th Wonder album would have sounded like. But fam… Jeanius in its raw form was too dope. I got my hands on it and I felt bad for having it but… I had to have it. And it delivered… Was this going to be the actual album and it just needed to be mixed and mastered? Were there other songs to be created? Were some of these not going to be on the album? SO MANY QUESTIONS! But here we go…give the album a spin. Jean and Phonte…. whoa.
So many times an artist’s work fades away and I have a hard time coming to grips with that. Jean Grae was one of the most special emcees to come out of the 90s underground rap scene. The real hip hop heads know…but so many of you need know as well. Jean had something to say.