Jive (1993)
Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.
As much as I love the Casual album Fear Itself (and I do love it so very much), "I Didn't Mean To" was never one of my favorite songs on it. It's a really good song, but considering how much of the album is next-level great, it doesn't stand out to me quite as much. It's particularly weird to me that it was chosen as the second single off of the album with a video and the 12" treatment.
The highlight of the album version of the song is its excellent, slinky beat. Lyrically, I'm not as into the ladies man vibe, though the storytelling is a unique taker on the subject. I just enjoy Casual the most when he's unleashing battle raps and self aggrandizing lyrics. That's where he really shines.
The 12" also comes with a remix of the main track. It uses the same vocal take, but has a beat that's a little punchier and has a nice baseline. I don't like it as much as the album version, but it's a fun listen. In addition to instrumentals of the LP version and the remix, we also have one exclusive track, "That's How It Is Part II." I'm not sure why it's considered part two, as the beat is new and really it's a brand new song featuring a verse by A-Plus of Souls of Mischief. It's an awesome track and it is kind of a shame it's relegated to B side status and has been somewhat forgotten as it is as strong as anything on Fear Itself.
Casual - "I Didn't Mean To (Album Version)":
Casual - "I Didn't Mean To (Remix)":
Casual - "That's How It Is Part II":
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