No hype man filling in catch-your-breath breaks. Pure flow. Which reminds me of this recent excellent evaluation of Big Pun’s legacy. As noted by Thun, Pun was often compared to KGR. I think it is also worth noting that he was often critiqued for overdoing punch-ins. I never had the opportunity to see the man perform so I can’t comment on his breath control but it doesn’t seem far fetched. This is not necessarily to take away from his legacy but I think it’s important not to gloss over this distinction. This also is not to suggest that KGR did or did not utilize the same studio technique, but it is definitely worth discussing. This issue has always kind of lingered. A few years back there was an article in the NYTimes covering a Hip-Hop Karoake championship and one of the contestants discussed how difficult it was to emulate “Still Not A Player” and I was compelled to wonder if he ever considered he might be trying imitate something that never really took place.
footage via sb
