Play this music on every route

We've made it past the halfway mark on this countdown which, as with all milestones, is much further than I expected to get. Holler holler holler.

151. Dirt McGirt - "Pop Shit (ft. Pharrell)" (from the The Neptunes Present... Clones comp, Star Trak Entertainment, 2003)

This is easily one of my favorite ODB tracks and it comes from the back end of a Neptunes comp. The beat isn't even particularly special by Neptunes standards, y'kno, but the verses and chorus are so crazy that he could prolly be rapping over late-era N*SYNC JT beatboxing and it would still be fly as hell.

Dirty just goes off here. His flow, delivery, and lyrics all sound as far out as ten years before, maybe even moreso. The lines "Follow dirty, I'm the way out/catch bitches like trout, gettin' drunk off stout" are straight up some of my favorite rhymes anyone has ever spit. The combination of messianic insanity, oddly specific simile, and booze there gets me every time. Dude was absurd on record in the best way possible.

Ain't what you want, baby, it's what you need

215. RZA ft. Method Man and Cappadonna - "Wu-Wear: the Garment Renaissance" (Big Beat, 1996)

I was shocked enough, in retrospect, that whoever was putting together the soundtrack for High School High was gracious enough to let RZA stick a 4 minute long advertisement for Wu-Wear on his album, but I had no recollection of the fact that it was also a single and a video. Audacious, is what you call that. This beat is a highlight even in a career as illustrious as RZA's, though, and his super-scientifical bullshit is inspired here. Method Man should sing more hooks, too, this is great. (Full disclosure: I had a black Wu-Wear hoodie that I loved a lot, and still have a navy blue Wu-Wear Shaolin t-shirt).



BONUS: I had this on mixtape in like 7th grade, and am so happy to find it on YouTube: the Wu-Tang St. Ides radio ad. Solid.