Slick Rick launched The Artwork Of Storytelling on Might 25, 1999, simply over a decade after his debut album and signature hit “La-Di-Da-Di” made him a hip-hop immortal. The album’s title could be pretentious for anybody who hadn’t achieved his iconic standing, however at this level, The Ruler had earned it. Vocally and lyrically, he was in a lane all his personal. Nobody seemed like him, nobody appeared like him, and nobody advised a tall story like him.
Take heed to The Artwork Of Storytelling proper now.
The folks hero
Slick Rick is a folks hero. He’s a legend, sure, but in addition a folks hero. He got here up throughout the golden age of hip-hop however in contrast to all the blokes who caught round – Ice Dice, Snoop Dogg, and Ghostface Killah – Rick sort of disappeared for some time. He was 34, married with kids, and had 4 traditional albums to his title. In 1999, there wasn’t precisely a precedent for rappers constructing longevity by near-annual releases and a handful of visitor appearances between every one. Being his ultimate album, nonetheless, The Artwork Of Storytelling, was constructed to final. It additionally grew to become his highest-charting album, reaching No.8 on the Billboard 200 and No.1 on the Prime R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
Rick’s songs are each deeply (typically absurdly) private, however they keep their broader relevancy due to his allure and, if nothing else, honesty. “Trapped In Me” and “I Run This” are masterclasses in braggadocio by delicate, preternatural understanding of the basics, musical and in any other case.
Large Boi, Nas, Raekwon, and Snoop Dogg all come by for visitor verses – the previous shining on the album’s solely single, “Street Talkin’.” The roster didn’t simply characterize the altering of the guard; it was a testomony to how a lot respect Rick garnered – and would go on to keep up. These featured friends would stick round for 20 years, all 4 changing into (to various levels) among the most recognizable and influential elder statesmen in hip-hop. The identical goes for Rev Run and Q-Tip, who additionally function.
The DNA of Storytelling
It doesn’t take an knowledgeable to search out The Artwork Of Storytelling’s DNA in a lot of the hip-hop that adopted. “Frozen” sounds prefer it’s out of the Kanye vault, whereas “I Own America” is a superbly appropriate boom-bap outing that feels prototypical of so many Neptunes songs that might observe. The manufacturing on “Impress The Kid” and “Why, Why, Why,” in the meantime, is as multi-layered as practically something occurring right this moment.
Despite the fact that this was his final album, Rick’s affect was so pervasive it’s as if he’d stored churning out albums into the brand new millennium. Among the many following era’s most prolific artists – Lil Wayne, Kanye, Nicki Minaj, Danny Brown, J Cole – Rick is referenced by lyrics, sampling, and as a legend in his personal proper.
The legacy
Rick is so clean on The Artwork Of Storytelling that even when the verses are sparse, it’s practically not possible to discern from the extra intricate bars. That’s what the artwork of storytelling is: doing the methods so effectively that nobody notices. And regardless of a smaller physique of labor than many, Rick stays some of the sampled, interpolated, and quoted rappers of all time. He’s been referenced so usually it’s not possible to inform the place the tribute ends and the inadvertent homage begins.
Just like the Brothers Grimm, Rick is a traditional storyteller in each sense of the phrase.
The Artwork Of Storytelling may be purchased right here.
