Schoolly D - "P.S.K.-What Does It Mean?" b/w "Gucci Time" (Schoolly-D Records, 1985)
In my intro to the Spray Cans series, I said that I wanted
to create a hip-hop analogue to Nuggets.
While most of the songs on Nuggets
barely sold but were great enough that they deserved to be rescued from
obscurity, others were singles that hit #1 on the Billboard charts (such as
“Louie, Louie”) but that hadn’t achieved the respect or attention that they
deserved, hence my choice to cover a single from Fiend’s Gold-selling album There’s One in Every Family in Vol. 008.
On the other hand, some of the artists that found themselves on Nuggets, such as the 13th
Floor Elevators, didn’t sell many records when they were active but their
subsequent influence far outstripped their initial success. This week’s artist
Schoolly D falls into this latter camp. While many people probably know him
best these days for rapping on the intro song for Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Schoolly D is a hip-hop legend who arguably
recorded the first gangsta rap song ever with “P.S.K.-What Does it Mean?” in
1985.
