Cali

As I sat on the bike listening to my Ipod this morning, at the gym, I was really enjoying my old skool rap. Each song better than the previous one. I just get so much enjoyment listening to old classics like Christmas in Hollis (Run DMC), Gangsta Gangsta (NWA, of course), Life is Too Short (Todd Anthony Shaw - Too Short), and all the rest but then I got to one of my all time favorites... the Cabbage Patch Dance. That is really a GREAT song. It's probably from 1987 or 1988. It was performed by the World Class Wrekin Cru (not sure on the spelling of Wrekin or Cru) who were LA "rappers" similar to the LA Dream Team; more dance performers and certainly not hard core gangsta' rappers. They were not big time at all and in fact they were just some local LA guys. As they tell you, during the Cabbage Patch Dance, "the last song we did was called the Fly... it didn't quite hit and let me tell you why... the song was great... went to CBS and got stuck in red tape... held us up... kicked us in the butt... so we said forget it and fired up Cru Cut."

Anyway, that song represents so many things for me circa 1987. I had been in Nor Cal for one year and learned of the great "rivalry" between Nor Cal and So Cal which I will talk about at a later date. I was probably in my second year of college about then, rolling the 5.0 around with the booming bass, drinking beer, etc... life was good. The Cabbage Patch Dance, though I couldn't dance worth a darn, has some key lines. No profanity just braggadocios lines about how great life is in LA. Even life in the hood was made to sound like palm trees and sunny days... cuz "it's the middle of winter and it's eighty degrees...."

If memory serves it was written by one "O. Jackson." Yes, O'Shay Jackson, or Ice Cube as you might know him wrote the song. Before I go on, I just cheated and perused the Web for some more info. Wikipedia doesn't have a full explanation but pretty good:

"Cabbage patch dance
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cabbage patch dance involves putting the hands together and moving them in a horizontal circular motion. It may also refer to the traditional Snowflake Day dance. (Clone High - Episode 11; Snowflake Day: A very special Clone High holiday special.)

Dr. Dre in 1987 with DJ Yella in world class wrecking cru invented what was supposed to be a short-lived fad. They wrote a song called "The Cabbage Patch" just for a dance they made. It soon became very popular, showing up in almost every dance club in America."

Here's a funny post in the Urban Dictionary:
"Cabbage Patch definitions from the Urban Dictionary1. Dance move that white guys tried to have catch on to confuse women into thinking that white guys have rhythm. Successfully performed when both your shoulders and fists (which are placed together in a manner that looks like you just connected both ends of an extension cord) move in time with each other in a fluid, circular motion. All the rage in the late 80's and early 90's."

Ok, back to my first point, the song just screams SO CAL 1987 (or so). I can't find the words on-line but the memorable ones to me:

"It's the Cabbage Patch Dance and it's from LA... DJ Yella and my home boy Dre...."

"Cruising down the street with the top pulled back... cold rocking the Cabbage Patch...."

"With my fresh Air Jordans and Fila shirt... I am ready for work...."

"... ten inch EV's and a fresh Alpine."

It's great. You give a shout out to your homies, brag about your car, your cloths and of course your car stereo. They talked about cruising down Crenshaw Blvd. sound like a cruise down Rodeo Drive. Having once eaten at the Fatburger on Crenshaw... it's no Rodeo Drive!

It reminds me of wearing my own Air Jordans, Fila gear, and of course the booming stereo system in the 5.0 (at that time anchored with the 12" Pyle Drivers... or maybe the Cerwin Vegas's... oh they were nice!). Kicking it over at my apartment with my homie D-latz with the mixing board and 2 turntables and drinking 40 ouncers of the King! Oh seems like yesterday....

With all that said, I think it's time to head home, pop open a fo'ty OZ and break out the mixing board (yes, I still rock the 1987, or so, Tandy mixing board!).

peace out