RIP Tim Dog

[The Predator]

As posted in the other thread...

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South Bronx nigga get's my respect, R.I.P. Dog.

Dope:

Breaking North -

J-Zone’s Tim Dog Appreciation Post.






“I’m so large, I boned Michelle’, in the bathroom – we was bonin’, you shoulda heard how the bitch was moanin’ [followed by the most accurate karaoke rendition of Michelle's “No More Lies” I've ever heard]… shut the fuck up bitch, you can’t sing, ya sound like a kid playin’ on the swing.”
Summer, 1991

At at time when 50% of the folks walking around the Metro New York area were certified God damn nuts looking to break your jaw for a Starter jacket, I heard that stanza being shouted over a pulsating, prison wall-hard, melody-less beat. It was blasting out of a black Pathfinder. Somebody was not only dissing the fuck out of all things N.W.A (the world’s most dangerous group of the moment), but an entire coast. He didn’t sound happy, lyrical, clever, smooth, dapper, Afrocentric, quirky – none of that shit that most rappers from NYC were at the time. Just hard and pissed off, but not to the point where he wouldn’t get a mean-spirited laugh at your funeral.

“Yo man, what the fuck is that!?” I asked the twenty-something driver.

“Fuck Compton,” he responded in a disinterested ‘kid get outta here’ tone. He was probably in the midst of a transaction that would one day make him the next Nino Brown, so I skedaddled.

Shortly after that sonic shock, a review for “Fuck Compton” by Tim Dog appeared in The Source magazine’s 12” single section. About a month later, I stumbled into a Harlem record store and bought the cassette single for $4.99. Three months after that, my father bought me Tim Dog’s Penicillin on Wax CD for Christmas. My life was forever changed.

In 1991, great rappers were a dime a dozen, good ones weren’t good enough to compete, and sucky ones made hits. But what about rappers who weren’t skilled, but immensely entertaining? Twenty years later, “personality rap” pays the bills and that term usually applies to the majority of likable rappers that can’t really rap worth a shit (insert just about any current acclaimed rapper here). Tim Dog got points for being both bold and the poster child for Mayor David Dinkins-era NYC – an NYC overrun with robberies, racially-charged fights, and hair-trigger violence – but most people back then said the same thing with regard to his skill level: “Yeah, but he can’t rap.” NYC’s infatuation with lyrical skill caused them to overlook one of the most ground-breaking and important albums in its history. Penicillin on Wax enjoys more appreciation on YouTube two decades later than it did at the time of its release. (Despite Sony’s claims that it went platinum, it’s still impossible to find on CD today.)

What the naysayers didn’t understand was that Tim Dog’s modus operandi was not one of lyrical dexterity, but brute force. In 1991, brute force embodied the streets of New York and balanced out the “Prisoners of War” and “Verses from the Abstract” type of songs. Instead of being cerebral, brute force rap beat you in the cerebrum with a baseball bat. This wasn’t hip-hop; it was rap. Rap was bold, vulgar, hard, alpha male, gold rope-wearing, chest-beating shit, not the more eclectic stuff you played for critics to prove that all rappers weren’t ignorant hooligans. Visual symbols for this type of rap would be the likes of Schoolly D, Cool C, Eric B., and yes, Tim Dog.

Rapper beatdowns, taunts, disses, celebrity sexcapades, grunts, screams, humor, non-lyricism, and threats of extreme violence over a stolen bicycle were all put into a Cuisinart and the result was one of the most cinematic rap albums to ever come out of New York. Let’s glimpse at one of the most entertaining songs on the album, “Dog’s Gonna Getcha”, an epic three minute sleigh ride into psychosis, non-lyricism, angst, threats, and the detriments of being soft circa 1991 – all done with brilliant use of the echo chamber.


New York’s staunch refusal to big up anything not overtly skilled in ’91 meant Abbey Road-level genius like the “Dog’s Gonna Getcha” was doggy paddling below the radar. Not anymore. As I got nostalgic in the 20-year anniversary of my introduction to the rapper who created my favorite rap album of all time, I started a trending topic on Twitter called
#timdogquotables
for fun. What I soon realized was Penicillin on Wax needs to the first album in history that has its lyrics re-issued on Twitter – one line at a time. Every single stanza on the album can be sanded down to a 140-character statement that makes you say “damn!”, “whoa!”, “pause, son”, “… the fuck?”, or “there’s no fucking way the engineer kept a straight face with that nigga in the booth doing that shit.” Penicillin on Wax is not only the unheralded soundtrack to a pre-Whole Foods and devoid of Bloomberg-ism New York, but the most Twitter-friendly rap album of all time. Let’s pin 2011 technology on a 1991 masterpiece; share these 15 Tim Dog-penned brain farts of brilliance to stimulate the minds of your followers.

#timdogquotables
“She wanted me to pee in her face (So what did you do?) I pissed in her face”
From “Secret Fantasies”. Bladder relief. It’s just that simple. Really.

#timdogquotables
“Imma wax his ass, Imma tax his ass, Imma fax his ass, and cold lax his ass”
From “You Ain’t Shit”. The said ass is in a heap of trouble.

#timdogquotables
“Wax that ass Imma wax that ass. Wax that ass Imma wax that ass. Wax that ass Imma wax that ass Ill wax anybody”
From “I’ll Wax Anybody”. Guard your ass, it might get waxed.

#timdogquotables
“Imma blast that nigga, Imma shoot that nigga, Imma smoke that nigga, Imma do that nigga”
From “Bronx Nigga”. I’m noticing a pattern here – niggas and asses meet their fates on Tim Dog records.

#timdogquotables
“All you muthafuckas walkin around, wearing polka dots, your shit is wack, I’ll tell you to your face!”
From “I Ain’t Havin’ It”. Looking at rap today, Kwamé was eons ahead of his time as well. But back then, the dotted one was in the cross-hairs of Mr. Dog.

#timdogquotables
“Rap is nothing you can put in a movie with a bunch of turtles!”
From “I Ain’t Havin’ It”. I always thought Donatello was a bitch ass nigga.

#timdogquotables
“Rappers like Kid-N-Play, rappers like Kwamé, rappers like Young MC with nothin to say.”
From “You Ain’t Shit”. The “who do you think he was dissing?” debate never came up with Tim Dog. Ever.

#timdogquotables
“Take a nigga like MC Hammer. A wack ass rapper, but a dope ass dancer.”
From “You Ain’t Shit”. Even hard rappers appreciated dancers back then.

#timdogquotables
“Im just a myth/To riff/The gift/The if/The fifth/The shift/The spliff is in control… (etc.) WHEW & Im still too great”
From “Fuck Compton”. Huh? I guess this could be a facsimile of an inebriated Big Daddy Kane freestyle, which is a good thing.

#timdogquotables
“The short one, you know the one with the fat ass? Oops! They all have a fat ass”
From “Secret Fantasies”. My observations exactly; En Vogue gets dicked down backstage on Soul Train.

#timdogquotables
“Cause I’m Tim Dog babybaby Tim Dog babybaby Tim Dog babybaby Tim Dog babybaby Tim Dog babybaby Tim Dog! I’m Tim Dog!”
From “Dog’s Gonna Getcha”. It is Tim Dog. It really is.

#timdogquotables
“Dropped the bitch at the train, threw her a token, said forget my name.”
From “Bronx Nigga”. Metrocards for the classy broads; Tokens for the hoodrats.

#timdogquotables
“Aaarrggh! I cant believe how dope I am, Im the mufuckin man, slappin MCs with 1 hand. Dont cry ya little bitch! Be a man!”
From “Dog’s Gonna Getcha”. Real men don’t cry. Especially after being slapped with one hand.

#timdogquotables
“And I stoled ya muthafuckin beat and made it better, to show the whole world that yall aint nuthin but a buncha pussies!”
From “Intro”. I told my ninth grade English teacher that “stoled” was a real word. He didn’t believe me.

#timdogquotables
“Here comes a big nigga named Bruce. Oh shit. What am I to do?”
From “Goin Wild In The Penile”. For all with Twitter access in a holding cell.

Tim’s sophomore effort, Do or Die, also featured some Twitter-friendly lines, but many of them entered the “double whoa” zone. Example:

#timdogquotables
“Because I’ll fuck you in the ass til its covered with shit. Yea boy Im a freak. If we was up north you be callin me big Zeke”
From “I Don’t Give a Fuck”. Ummmmmmmm… yeah.

I could delve into the never-ending replay value of the skits, but I did that last year (click here).

In summation, Penicillin On Wax is just as entertaining as it was 20 years ago. Considering that NYC became Disney World in the interim, the album’s spot in New York rap history is cemented firmly and its content is irreplaceable. It was also light years ahead of its time – personality taking the front seat over actual lyrical skill was a concept lost around these parts in 1991. Salute.
Bonus Tweet:

Bonus Tweet:

#timdogquotables
“She took it in the butt hole; she took it quite well.”
From “Secret Fantasies”. Is that a fact?

[The Predator]

 Kool Keith Interview & Tim Dog Tribute Show

[Blood$]

Free max b

[The Predator]

Looking back at the lifetime and legacy of a uniquely brilliant and divisive rapper.

Written by J-Zone (@jzonedonttweet)

You really think that you can rhyme?/Well come and get some of this loaded tech nine!/Buck, buck, buck, shots are cold gunnin', and you'll really be 100 Miles and Runnin/You wanna play? Go ride on a sleigh/I'm so large I fucked Michell'e. In the bathroom—we was boning/You should've heard how the bitch was moanin!"

The first time I heard that shit I was 14 years old. I'd taken the Metro North train to 125th Street in Harlem to buy bootleg rap tapes, African medallions, and a pair of Patrick Ewing kicks, all three of which were the rage in the summer of '91. Metro North trains back to Westchester came once per hour, so you usually had to mill around on 125th for a bit before the next one came.

That dull act of killing time quickly became a moment I'll never forget when a Jeep pulled up at the corner of Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard and threw its hazards on. The Jeep was your standard drug dealer means of transportation in all of its kitted-up glory, but when I heard those words bumping out of the Alpine speakers, they grabbed me by the throat and tried to choke the shit out of me.

The bassline was so fucking thunderous it probably moved the curtains at the Apollo Theater up the street. The incendiary, hilarious rhymes sounded like they were directed at N.W.A., but in the moment I wasn't totally sure. The voice and tone were reminiscent of what'd happen if D.West from The Maury Show and Mr. T decided to make a record. There was too much alpha male, New York testosterone surging onto Adam Clayton Powell during that moment to get a handle on it all, and crime-spiked, Dinkins-era New York was the backdrop that made the song feel like it was made specifically for a movie about the very time, place and moment I was standing in. Tip-toeing the line between being utterly fascinated and petrified, I approached the motorist to get more info on this mysterious song. He didn't seem thrilled to answer a question that didn't pertain to him making money, but I had my answer, nonetheless. Tim Dog. "Fuck Compton." Got it. I saw it written up in The Source shortly after that, and a month later I was back on 125 buying the cassette single with my pops. We played the song 11 times on the way home that day. Utterly shocked. Hysterically laughing. Anticipating the album. Life would never the same.

The album, Penicillin on Wax, was a Christmas gift a few months later. And as my teenage mischief skyrocketed during my freshman year of high school, Penicillin on Wax became the soundtrack for every single fucked up adolescent experience I endured during that period—it paid a mortgage in my Walkman for three straight months. There was the time I was chased out of a housing project in seven degree weather wearing nothing but a t-shirt, nylon jogging suit pants and a Starter jacket I borrowed from a friend. Apparently you can't visit girls in the projects unless you know people there. I turned on my Walkman and ran for my life in the Arctic weather to catch the last bus home, but nearly missed it because I was laughing too hard. You every try to sprint and laugh hysterically? You can't. Tim Dog nearly got me killed. The "Michell'e Conversation" skit, son. You can't run and listen to him talk about fuckin' a bitch with a pussy like velvet with "harrrd strokes" at the same time. The beats were apocalyptic. The general theme of the album was be hard or die. But you can count on one hand the moments you're not cramped up laughing over the course of the album's 61 minutes.

As I grew out of teenage mischief and into artist territory, Tim Dog became a prime influence. One of few artists who managed to pepper prototype rap machismo, threats and boasts with side-splitting humor (others were Schoolly D and Tim's arch-nemesis, N.W.A.), Tim Dog showed me early on that conveying multiple sides to one's personality makes an artist exciting. For all the classic songs and skill associated with rap's Golden Era, few artists back then were ever able to balance everything and cram it into one LP. Rakim was serious. Mob Style were hard. Kwame was light-hearted. Biz Markie was funny. But Tim Dog was one of the first to bring us the tough guy who killed cops, beat the shit out of soft rappers, then ended his day jerking off to porno magazines and fantasizing about urinating on members of En Vogue. Hardness and candor were concepts that rarely integrated back then. To marry the two took vision and a whole lot of balls. He also taught me that pure rapping skill does not make an artist—if you can't entertain, you're useless overall.

To folks who were around to witness his debut album's release, the word "swag" sounds like a foot fungus. To kids who use the word swag today and fight to attain it, Tim Dog was the old rapper guy who scammed the three women and ended up on Dateline, if they were even paying attention. But whether any of us know it or not, Tim Dog was one of the earliest pioneers of what's referred today as "swag." You know, when a rapper may not have Joe Budden's arsenal of lyrics, but has personality and character by the boatload. The entertainer rapper, the superhero. He may not be Rakim, Kool G Rap, or Joell Ortiz, but he left an impression that will never be forgotten and made an album that entertained from end to end. That's no easy feat. Ask your favorite lyricist with shitty beats and boring songs. And I always felt that beyond the Dateline dating site Ponzi scheme fiasco and being one of the earliest rock-throwers in the East Coast-West Coast beef (both of which will be brought up numerous times today and onward), Tim Dog was a trailblazer. Someone who made rap fun and entertaining while still living up to a serious, professional hitman profile. I'd never heard anything like Penicillin on Wax and haven't since.

Tim Dog guided me through adolescence and my artistic endeavors. It impacted my dad, too. People in their mid 60s don't typically like rap music, but my pops has Penicillin on Wax on his iPod. He fired up "Bronx Nigga" in his stereo system after we talked about Tim's passing last night. It's our favorite rap album of all time. That's impact.

Tim Dog, Rest in peace.

[Black Excellence]

Free max b

[Black Excellence]

You know I heard when Tim dogg was dying he was crying like a bitch, "please oh god it hurts" and as it got worse and worse the tears soaked up into more of his fucking chunky ass head until he died. Ultramagnetic MCs can eat shit and die along with Tim Dogg.

so much truth in this post, Tim Dog did as much for the rap game as the city of St. Louis has which is next to nothing

let's hope Nelly is next along with the St. Lunatics

LOL

[midwestryder]

You know I heard when Tim dogg was dying he was crying like a bitch, "please oh god it hurts" and as it got worse and worse the tears soaked up into more of his fucking chunky ass head until he died. Ultramagnetic MCs can eat shit and die along with Tim Dogg.

so much truth in this post, Tim Dog did as much for the rap game as the city of St. Louis has which is next to nothing

let's hope Nelly is next along with the St. Lunatics

this just shows how much you know about hip hop ,nothing?  their was no truth in that post . just closeminded ignorance. Tim Dog & Ultramagnetic MCs did more for hip hop then you will ever know . wishing death apone anybody is wrong . wishing death on a friend of mines is worse . dissing respect my city when it better then where you are from . you owe st louis for singing style that domino brought to west coast . the singing style that domino,snoop dogg & bone used was started in St Louis not Lbc or the west coast..

[midwestryder]

Maaan, fuck him.

Death Row and all of Comptown shoulda capped his azz back in da day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gun control in 2013!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace from Europes!

no fuck you for that . you are wrong for that . Tim dog was a member of legendary hip hop group Ultramagnetic MCs & was influnce before their was a west coast . also there was no death row when tim dog did fuck compton . no Death Row and all of Comptown shoulda not because tim dog was hip hop legend compared to them at the time . tim dogg is from the home of hip hop boogie down bronx . so hip hop was his first before the west coast was even around .

God Midwestryder you really are a fucking faggot, if bitch could get a new meaning you'd be the fucking meaning. You fucking faggot piece of shit. You know I heard when Tim dogg was dying he was crying like a bitch, "please oh god it hurts" and as it got worse and worse the tears soaked up into more of his fucking chunky ass head until he died. Ultramagnetic MCs can eat shit and die along with Tim Dogg.

you sound like ignorant closeminded piece of worthless shit that does not even take care of his own kids . so the only ignorant closeminded fucking faggot is you . so take your worthless ignorant closeminded self down the road,loser.  everything i said in my post is facts aka the truth unlike you .i am not bitch or mitch like you . you don't even take care of your own children or pay child support . so you are the bitch or mitch for that.

[Blood$]

Free max b

[MoodMuzik]

yes lets free the wave oww oww

[Blood$]

who would win in a fist fight, Nelly or Tim Dog?

[Hack Wilson - real]

nelly cuz td is dead

[Blood$]

if Tim Dog was still alive he would drop a song "Fuck St. Louis" and smash on flaw ass Nelly and the St. Lames

[midwestryder]

if Tim Dog was still alive he would drop a song "Fuck St. Louis" and smash on flaw ass Nelly and the St. Lames

no,Tim dog would not busta ass hater.  TIm dog would still be broke & dieing just like you mitch ass.  Tim dog already had his chance & did not do shit at all. so you full of bullshit with what you say . . what the hell is flaw ass. the st lunatics are not lames like you bitch hater ass.  get a life loser . you just jealous that nelly & st lunatics have a way better life then your loser self . . stop being made that st louis is better then your hometown & where you life to day,loser.   get off st louis dick,hater

[Chamillitary Click]

Tim Dog > Nelly.