Image via Complex Original
This feature is a part of Complex's "Triple F Life" Week.
Every few years a new rapper comes out whose music pisses off the status quo so badly that they get blamed for completely ruining hip-hop. It happened to Soulja Boy years ago, but now the rapper folks love to hate is Waka Flocka Flame (whose sophomore album, Triple F Life: Fans, Friends & Family, drops today and you can buy it here on iTunes). This is ironic for a couple of reasons. First of all he actually makes great music—in fact Waka and Lex Luger changed the sonic landscape of hip-hop, as he so eloquently explained in our cover story.
Secondly, most people don't realize that Waka's life is deep-rooted in rap. As a child growing up in Queens, he had family working at Def Jam, his birthday parties were attended by Run-D.M.C., and he was convinced that Big Daddy Kane was his father. When he got a little older he moved down South and soaked up game by listening to Southern players like Juvenile, UGK, and Master P while still maintaining a love for East Coast rappers like Jay-Z, Nas, and DMX. So say whatever you want about Waka ruining hip-hop, but there's no denying that he knows the culture better than most.
"Yeah, but don’t tell nobody that though," said Waka with a laugh. "You know how I am, I don’t know shit about rap." Sure, Waka's got jokes, but when asked about his favorite albums he didn't stop at the standard Complex 25—instead he listed his 50 Favorite Albums. Maybe this will help dispell the perception that Waka is a rap ignoramus. But even if it doesn't, he doesn't seem to care.
So what does Waka think of all people who question his hip-hop IQ? "They stuck on stupid and parked on dumb." We couldn't agree more.
As told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)
DMX
Label: Def Jam
Waka Flocka Flame: "All of DMX's shit. Period. I got all his albums. I liked DMX for his creativity, his poems, and his preaching. Plus when he started praying. His prayers and the concepts in his songs, them shits was so crazy. The shit he rap about, you gonna like him as a person no matter what the situation is. I just like DMX as a person."
Kilo Ali
Label: N/A
Waka Flocka Flame: “Kilo Ali, from Atlanta. A down-ass Atlanta artist that was POP-ING! He's POP-ING! The nigga had like eight or nine clubs. Kilo Ali had his own sessions. He had a skating rink. When skating rinks was poppin' Kilo Ali was the man. THE MAN! Kilo Ali the shit, man.”
Playa Fly
Label: N/A
Waka Flocka Flame: “See niggas don't know nothing about that. He ain't have no albums but he was the man. Playa Fly is from Memphis. He was down with Three 6 Mafia. His shit hard as a motherfucker. He was the down-South Jay-Z. Don't never let a nigga lie to you: That's where damn near everybody in Georgia get they swag from, Playa Fly. Straight up.
"Everybody waited for some shit called Fly 2K to drop but I think he got locked up or something. I was in high school [when he was hot] and that nigga was the hardest nigga ever. Nobody was rapping better than him. He wasn't just a local artist. He was down South. Everybody know about Playa Fly. He just ain't get that big break.
"He was with Three 6 Mafia. They broke apart. He was dissing them and all that. Then he got locked up and Three 6 blew up. Playa Fly got out of jail now. He be rapping on Gucci mixtapes. He was talking about snorting powder, all kinds of crazy shit. That nigga the truth man. That nigga hard as fuck.”
Big Daddy Kane, Long Live the Kane (1988)
Label: Cold Chillin', Warner Bros.
Waka Flocka Flame: “Swag, swag, swag. I was more of a Big Daddy Kane fan than a Rakim fan. You know why I like Big Daddy Kane? That nigga slick-he looks like my father, my nigga. I used to think that nigga was my pops, 'Like damn, that nigga rap?'
I got a song called '80s'” Shit be like, 'I'm from the 80s/Fat rope gold chain/All the girls wanna do me like I'm Daddy Kane/I'm from the 80s/Brand new black Jetta/Cross colors was the clothes and the Coogi sweaters.' That shit sound crazy. I ain't put it out yet. That's for my third album. I planned it. I made that shit before my first album came out.”
N.W.A, Straight Outta Compton (1988)
Label: Ruthless, Priority, EMI
Waka Flocka Flame: “It had so much attitude. It was a 'Fuck you' attitude. They just gave you the hood, the gangster shit. They branded that gangster shit. That shit was just right. It's hard to explain, it's like where I came from. When I heard it, I just connected with it immediately. The way they rapped remind you of your family members, or a guy you seen. It was just a good connection.”
Eazy-E, Eazy-Duz-It (1988)
Label: Ruthless, Priority
Waka Flocka Flame: "Fucking gangster. The Godfather of gangsta rap. That's just what it is."
Slick Rick, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)
Label: Def Jam, Columbia, CBS
Waka Flocka Flame: "Too hard. That's the ruler."
Run-D.M.C., Tougher Than Leather (1988)
Label: Profile Records
Waka Flocka Flame: “I had a party with one of them Run-D.M.C. niggas on my birthday. I got pictures and shit. That song, 'Mary, Mary, why you bugging?' they made that shit for my aunt. Nigga was in love with my aunt. On my momma [that's true.]”
LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out (1990)
Label: Def Jam
Waka Flocka Flame: “First off, my uncle A&R'd it. His name was James; he worked at Def Jam. He would bring the album home and sit in the car. I was there through the whole process as a child. That's like the first album I ever heard. LL from my hood, so I'm a big fan. His grandma lived around the corner from me.”
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, Live and Let Die (1992)
Label: Cold Chillin'
Waka Flocka Flame: “I didn't fuck with Outkast or Goodie Mob like that. I was too young for them, I was still in New York. You gotta understand, I moved to Georgia when I was in the second semester of 5th grade. So I was stuck on Kool G. Rap and the video for 'On The Run.' He was gangsta man. As a kid, he was the first gangsta rapper I had ever seen in my life. That's what I came from, gangsta shit. So that shit was A-1.”
SWV, It's About Time (1992)
Label: RCA
Waka Flocka Flame: “The CD where they had 'Weak' was crazy. I grew up on a lot of R&B though man, I ain't gonna lie. That shit took over.”
Dr. Dre, The Chronic (1992)
Label: Death Row, Interscope, Priority
Waka Flocka Flame: "That's the first time I seen gangsta niggas flex. It was just West Coast flexing on some gangsta shit. It just brought back that gangsta shit.”
UGK, Too Hard to Swallow (1992)
Label: Jive
Waka Flocka Flame: “You know what UGK showed me? Pimp niggas is G'd up too. Like, when you hear them niggas rap, they just so smooth with that shit. They seduce girls with words. That's what Pimp C showed me-how to be a con artist and a slicksta when it come to women. And Bun B, I never in my life heard him rap a wack verse. Never in my life.”
Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle (1993)
Label: Death Row, Interscope, Atlantic
Waka Flocka Flame: "I like fucking doggystyle, that's why I like that."
Onyx, Bacdafucup (1993)
Label: Jam Master Jay Records
Waka Flocka Flame: “They about that rowdy shit, all that ratchet shit. They was wild. They went to Elementary School on 118th, P.S. 147 in Queens. Onyx was like Brick Squad.”
Method Man, Tical (1994)
Label: Def Jam
Waka Flocka Flame: "It had a lot of art in it. He put his heart in it. He wanted to be different. He had an image."
Redman, Dare Iz a Darkside (1994)
Label: Def Jam
Waka Flocka Flame: "I liked his sense of humor. It had a lot of humor. As a child sense of humor was what I would gravitate towards. “
The Notorious B.I.G, Ready to Die (1994)
Label: Bad Boy
Waka Flocka Flame: “No, I don't fuck with Biggie like that. [Laughs.] Nah, I'm playing. That skit where she's like 'You fat greasy motherfucker,' I love that shit. That album is a classic. Biggie was just a wordplay genius. It was New York at the time. When I was a kid, that's what New York was. New York was at an all-time high. Life After Death was New York too. It just reminds me of what I remember as a kid about New York.”
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Creepin on ah Come Up (1994)
Label: Ruthless, Epic
Waka Flocka Flame: “My little brother thought he was Bizzy Bone; he loved Bone Thugs. It was different, they had different niggas that they could rap fast and they was snapping.”
TLC, CrazySexyCool (1994)
Label: LaFace, Arista
Waka Flocka Flame: "Cause they was crazy, sexy, and cool."
R. Kelly, R. Kelly (1995)
Label: Jive, Zumba, Background, Sony
Waka Flocka Flame: “I ain't gonna lie, my nigga. Everybody in my grandma's house had that CD. We had like six copies of that shit. The cracked cases and shit everywhere. R. Kelly was smoother and cleaner with it. I love it cause the women love it. He put songs together. That's what made me love the music and respect his G.”
Ol' Dirty Bastard, Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version (1995)
Label: Elektra
Waka Flocka Flame: “The shit with his food stamp card was hard. ODB, that nigga hard. Nigga just be yelling but that shit just goes hard as fuck.”
2Pac, All Eyez on Me (1996)
Label: Death Row, Interscope
Waka Flocka Flame: "I like 2pac. Period. No joke. He's best rapper that ever rapped in the world. So that's just hands down. Don't gotta say too much to explain that. Greatest rapper of all time, that's what you put next to that."
Mobb Deep, Hell on Earth (1996)
Label: Loud,RCA,BMG
Waka Flocka Flame: "That's Queens for you. Respect our craft. The Infamous was the hard shit though. And I loved all the shit they did with Alchemist too.”
Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt (1996)
Label: Roc-A-fella, Priority
Waka Flocka Flame: “That shit was like a grown-ass gangsta. A clever man with his words, that's what made me love it so much.”
Aaliyah, One in a Million (1996)
Label: Background, Atlantic
Waka Flocka Flame: "She was just sexy. Everything she said out of her mouth was just the shit. That shit '4 Page Letter' was so sexy. I thought she was the finest woman in the world. Aaliyah made me like skinny girls.”
Lost Boyz, Legal Drug Money (1996)
Label: Uptown Records
Waka Flocka Flame: "I seen them a million times. They used to hang with my cousin and shit. They used to live in on 134th. I fucked with them anyway. I just love their music. Their music was from our area.”
Makaveli, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)
Label: Death Row, Interscope
Waka Flocka Flame: "Makaveli's a more gangsta side of 2Pac. That shit was thugging harder. That's what I fucked with him for. He showed me the G side of it. Plus Makaveli was just... that shit was Makaveli my nigga."
Missy Elliott, Supa Dupa Fly (1997)
Label: The Goldmind, Elektra
Waka Flocka Flame: “You know what made me love Missy so much? Her image, her presence, her videos, her art. The way she thinks. That was just A-1. That shit just had good concepts. Shit made me just go with it. She was an original.”
Master P, Ghetto D (1997)
Label: No Limit
Waka Flocka Flame: "That was the streets. Master P showed you about that life. That was that life boy. That was that corner life. You gotta have P on there.”
Wu-Tang Clan, Wu-Tang Forever (1997)
Label: Loud,RCA,BMG
Waka Flocka Flame: “The album with ['Triumph'] is crazy. It was the era, it was the sound. I don't know, it just gave you that bop. When you heard 'Woooo' on the beat, that shit just gave you that bop.”
Master P, MP da Last Don (1998)
Label: No Limit/Priority/EMI
Waka Flocka Flame: “That shit was G. He just brought the streets of the South. He swapped it from dancing, to G'd up shit like the trap. He explained the pimps, the hoes, the suckas, the bustas, the robbers, the drug dealers in the South. He was the voice. He introduced you to the South, in my opinion. Everybody wanted to put a tank on their arm. I'm fitting to get a No Limit tank on me dog. ”
Big Pun, Capital Punishment (1998)
Label: Terror Squad, Loud Records
Waka Flocka Flame: "I love Pun. Pun's album was serious, Fat Joe's shit was serious too. But come on, do I gotta explain that? You ever seen a fat spanish nigga swaggin' like him? Come on, my nigga. He was rapping hard my nigga."
Juvenile, 400 Degreez (1998)
Label: Cash Money, Universal
Waka Flocka Flame: "Shit I ain't gotta explain too much about that. That shit explains itself."
Hot Boys, Guerrilla Warfare (1999)
Label: Cash Money, Universal
Waka Flocka Flame: "Everybody from the South wanted to be a Hot Boy nigga. You gotta know that. I liked the Geto Boys but too many niggas be mentioning them."
Sisqó, Unleash the Dragon (1999)
Label: Def Soul
Waka Flocka Flame: "That shit is hard. I liked it cause all the girls in school liked it. I listened to it so much I knew it.”
Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Label: Aftermath, Interscope
Waka Flocka Flame: “I think the movie made me like that a lot though. He's just a white boy that snap. When he came up, niggas wasn't rapping like him. Niggas was Bubba Sparxin' and shit. When Eminem came out that shit just changed the game. No disrespect to Bubba Sparxxx though.”
Trick Daddy, Thugs Are Us (2001)
Label: Slip-N-Slide, Atlantic
Waka Flocka Flame: “That was Miami for you. That shit was just some trap shit, some street shit. I didn't have no car [to listen to music in]. We rode in stolen cars-just keepin it real. I remember 'Naan Nigga' with Trina. Shit, Rick Ross was on that motherfucker but I ain't know. He had some hard verses on that Slip N Slide shit.
"That's when Eddy Golds was in style. Nigga had like four golds. Nigga was thugging. That shit just went with the program. If you was thuggin', you was listening to some thuggin-ass music, and Trick Daddy's shit was thugging. He was doing what Plies was doing. His shit was authentic.”
Jill Scott, Experience: Jill Scott 826+ (2001)
Label: Hidden Beach
Waka Flocka Flame: "I love it. I love Jill Scott. I [have a crush on her]. She's sexy. I don't know what it is about her.”
Cam'ron, Come Home with Me (2002)
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Diplomat, Def Jam
Waka Flocka Flame: "Just gangsta-ass tracks. Cam and Juelz, swag. That's all you gotta put is 'swag' for that."
Clipse, Lord Willin' (2002)
Label: Star Trak, Arista
Waka Flocka Flame: "They was Virginia, they was flexing. They was the trap. You gotta love them for that."
Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, Kings of Crunk (2002)
Label: TVT
Waka Flocka Flame: "That shit was crunk. I beat a lot of niggas' ass to that. And the East Side Boys-I love that. Ultimate fighting music. I love that music. It helps my anger management. Everybody got crunk in the club, shaking they dreads. That's where I get that from. Shaking my head, I get that from the club. We used to do that in the club. Niggas in the club shaking their heads, going wild, pushing niggas, and punching niggas. That's where that shit comes from."
Nas, God's Son (2002)
Label: Ill Will, Columbia
Waka Flocka Flame: "It showed me how clever you can be when you rap. It showed me the mental of a man. I love that shit. That nigga Nas' shit was hard. It Was Written was dope too. The video for 'Street Dreams' when he did Casino over was hard.”
T.I., Trap Muzik (2003)
Label: Grand Hustle, Atlantic
Waka Flocka Flame: “T.I. was the trap. He broke it down to you in a clever way. He made it more smooth. He made it like, 'Damn, that shit smooth right there. That shit sound good. What's the trap about?' It made people wanna educate themselves and use the words and terms he used in the way he used it. He was clever with his slang and delivery.”
50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003)
Label: Aftermath, Shady, Interscope
Waka Flocka Flame: "You know that shit had a story behind it. That shit was a movie. It was a whole new sound in hip-hop. It was Queens. That shit just remind me of Queens period. I feel like I was a part of the movement because I got hella family in G-Unit.”
Kanye West, The College Dropout (2004)
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Waka Flocka Flame: "It was an undeniably different sound. I don't know, that nigga was different. His shit hard though."
Jay-Z and Linkin Park, Collision Course (2004)
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Machine Shop, Warner Bros., Def Jam
Waka Flocka Flame: "Yeah that shit was serious. I like that. That reminds me of the fucking Run-DMC shit, 'Walk this Way.'"
Gucci Mane, Trap House (2005)
Label: Tommy Boy
Waka Flocka Flame: “Gotta have that on there. I was a teenager when this came out. I was young. I was in them streets. Gucci was the streets when he came out. That's what we rode to. That's what we got money to. It's even crazier that I know Gucci now. I still listen to it, it makes me feel like I'm a kid again.”
Young Jeezy, Trap Or Die (2005)
Label: N/A
Waka Flocka Flame: “I remember I was getting money [when this came out]. I was robbing folks, gang-banging, shooting, getting into fights. That shit reminds me of where I came from. I'm not worshipping it. I'm just saying it reminds me of riding around, hot boxing, listening to that shit. But TM101 is that shit too.”
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III (2008)
Label: Cash Money, Universal Motown
Waka Flocka Flame: "That was Wayne at his best. Period. That shit made me a stone-cold forever Wayne fan.”
