"I talk about the things that women have gone through that they don't think I've gone through," she said, referencing some of her heartbreaking romantic agonies and dangerous life experiences as examples. And while they may sometimes be harrowing to hear, she was well aware that many other women could identify with her experiences. Speaking to The Washington Post, Kim once admitted that "most of the things" she talks about in her lyrics are true. Though the legendary hip-hop superstar has consciously attempted to keep her personal identity - as Kimberly Denise Jones - separate from her gutsy performance persona as Queen Bee, her dual identities have arguably found a shared space within her bold, brassy, and often confessional verses. Two decades later, The War Report remains an all-time classic.This article contains references to domestic violence and child abuse.Īs every fan of the legendary rapper can tell you, many of the most tragic details about Lil' Kim are right there in her music. But for us to come out so hard during that shiny suit era and blow up, it was a blessing.” You had Mobb Deep and something like that. You had to fight to get those slots or on a playlist. I remember back then it was us and Bad Boy being played in the club. And for us to stand the test of time is great. We wore our army fatigues and we were completely different from that. “It was the beginning of the shiny suit era. Two decades after the album’s release, Noreaga summed up The War Report’s definitive sound for the culture website, Mass Appeal: To put together a quintessential street record meant you met the expectations in The War Report.
Listen to groups like G-Unit, the Ruff Ryders and Dipset, and there are homages and inspirations from Capone and Noreaga. The influence of The War Report can be seen and heard across plenty of East Coast albums that followed. Billboard 200 and peaking at fourth on Billboard’s Top R&B/ Hip-Hop albums list. This pitch-perfect song was arguably the blueprint for the type of song every street rapper in New York at the time would try to recreate for the next several years.ĭespite the album often being hailed as an underground record, it also succeeded commercially, appearing on the U.S. LeFrak City, a neighborhood in Queens, became Iraq. Noreaga, inspired by Operation Desert Storm several years earlier, started to name neighborhoods after the Middle East.
The chorus highlights the unique language that the duo pushed on records. A personal favourite and considered by many to be the definitive New York anthem of the time, “T.O.N.Y.” captured all of the best qualities of Capone and Noreaga, with Nore setting the tone and Capone coming in for the kill (“I did it for the cash your honor, traffickin’ across the Verrazano, coke and marijuana”) and with a worthy closing verse from Tragedy. “T.O.N.Y.” A song that we have to talk about. Most notably, the Hitmen-who were leading producers for Bad Boy Record-were responsible for two of the best tracks on the album: “Driver’s Seat” and “T.O.N.Y. The production was a standout as well, with everyone from DJ Clark Kent, Buckwild, Lord Finesse and Marley Marl contributing. Tragedy Khadafi-an unofficial third member of the group-is featured on more than a handful of tracks on the album, and lends a lyrical power-up to the group. To this day, hearing the chorus, (“New York get the bloody money, dirty cash, live n-– who smoke weed, car seat stash, you monkeys walk, I’m hunchback, sneak quiet, talk about me, gossip, scared to death when I pop up”) still brings back memories of the first time I put this album into my Discman. From the very first track after the intro, “Bloody Money,” the tone is set by Noreaga, who raps “Put the bogey out in your face, now your face laced like ash tray face,” over a sinister EZ Elpee beat.
With the assist of his Queensbridge mates, Noreaga did just that, and because of the dynamics of how the album recording process came together, there are plenty of documentarial moments on the record-like jail phone calls with Capone-that helped define The War Report as the definitive East Coast street album.
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