Nick Cannon: “This is how we should remember Mike.”
THE ALBUM THAT SOUNDS LIKE MY CHILDHOODSlick Rick
The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Def Jam, 1988
I grew up on Slick Rick. When I was a kid, like 6 or 7 years old, his cool, laid-back chats were the first rhymes I ever learned. You know, when people used to carry the big radio at the playground or on the corner, I remember just hearing it playing out of a boombox. Everywhere. And you were instantly cool if you knew the words to “La Di Da Di” or if you could spit the whole verse of “Children’s Story.” You gotta do it like Slick.
THE ALBUM THAT SOUNDS LIKE MY ADULTHOOD
Kanye West
The College Dropout
Roc-A-Fella, 2004
Kanye’s a good friend of mine and I know how hard he works and how much he put into this. It depicts the life of a young black male who’s not necessarily a thug or a gangster or a pimp. Just a regular dude who likes to have fun, and I can relate to that — The College Dropout is the underdog record, it’s very unorthodox. But it’s also the most perfect of albums. He has the comedic element, the swagger and obviously he has the hot tracks.
THE ALBUM THAT I LOST MY VIRGINITY TO
R. Kelly
12 Play
Jive, 1993
Now that’s the freaky album. I was just getting into girls, and doing more than kissing behind the lockers. On “Homie Lover Friend” he just breaks it down! It was the perfect sex manual for teenagers. So I had my first sexual experience to 12 Play. It was at a slumber party, a get-in-my-sleeping-bag type of thing. Just wham bam, thank you, ma’am. I cried afterwards. Not tears of bliss. It was just, “Oh my god! What am I doing?” Because my pops was a minister.
THE ALBUM THAT'S THE EPITOME OF COOL
The Time
What Time Is It?
Warner Bros., 1982
My favorite band. The first dance I knew how to do was from “Gigolos Get Lonely Too.” Everybody — especially girls — likes Prince, but I like Morris Day. I can quote all his lines from Purple Rain. Every guy wanted to be as cool as Morris Day — he was a funny cat. Their live shows put it all together: choreography, acting, music. The whole guy-with-the-mirror thing, that was very theatrical. I think we need to bring that back. He and I can remake “Gigolo” — tell him to holler at me!
THE ALBUM THAT MADE ME "BUGABOO"
Destiny’s Child
The Writing’s on the Wall
Columbia, 1999
I’m in love with Beyoncé. When this came out, I was going to every concert, every TV show they appeared on — I could have been the “bugaboo” they were talking about. I was backstage, trying to get it cracking. They got the records for when you get intimate or when you’re just chillin’, they got driving music, they got club music. The slow ones are on my iPod “Freaky Jams” playlist. Where every song just makes you want to …
THE ALBUM THAT'S SO GOOD IT'S SCARY
Michael Jackson
Off the Wall
Epic, 1979
If I had to give a definition of music, Off the Wall would be it — all the orchestration, the production, and live instruments, it will never go out of style. Even today, you go into a club, you might hear “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” or “Rock With You” and the club goes crazy. This is how we should remember Mike. When he was just an artist with the fresh afro, the big bow tie, the big nose. They invited me a bunch of times to Neverland, but I never went.
THE ALBUM THAT I KNEW EVERY WORD TO
Notorious B.I.G.
Life After Death
Bad Boy, 1997
The weekend Biggie was killed, before the record came out, I met him at the Soul Train awards. The first single, “Hypnotize,” had just dropped, everyone on the Sunset Strip was bumping it in their cars. I love when an MC becomes greater than his music, when he’s larger than life. And for him, a cat coming from the streets and making it big, his success was against all odds. He wasn’t an attractive dude, but ladies loved him.
THE ALBUM THAT MY FATHER MADE ME LISTEN TO
Fred Hammond & Radical for Christ
Pages of Life: Chapters 1 & 2
Verity, 1998
When I was young, I would sometimes live with my father in Montreal. Fred Hammond’s amazing voice would be blaring in the car, in the house. I was only allowed to listen to gospel. When my mother, who was living in California, sent me Snoop’s Doggystyle, my father crushed it and threw it away. I eventually learned to love and understand gospel, and now it’s my favorite music.
THE ALBUM THAT IS THE ANTI-JIGGY
Common
Like Water for Chocolate
MCA, 2000
Common became one of my favorite MCs on this record because he was talking about regular stuff that nobody else was talking about. It’s spiritually grounded. At that time it was all about diamonds, bitches, ho’s and Bentleys and he really wasn’t on it, which was cool for me, because I was 17, and I couldn’t relate to that stuff either. Common is a great storyteller and he speaks in everyday talk instead of braggadocious rhymes.
THE ALBUM THAT WILL BE BIGGER THAN ELVIS
Tupac
All Eyez on Me
Death Row, 1996
Tupac’s the greatest MC ever. He could talk about his love for his mom and at the same time, he’d talk about the strip club and how much he hates the police. He was more than a rapper — he was a cultural icon, a poet, an activist in the community, a modern-day philosopher. I think his legacy will even be greater than Elvis. When this came out, I was in high school, and “All Eyez on Me” was my anthem. I wanted everybody to be watching me at all times.
