by XICripZ

Created on: September 08, 2010

At a time when music execs suddenly realised that Hip Hop was the next big thing in the music world, a number of Pop-rappers came out. There were too many to count. However, only a few of them made music that was memorable and would still be just as popular today as when it originally dropped - Tone Loc’s first two singles seem to fit that trend. Able to produce two hits but no more, the gravel-voiced rapper first immerged in 1989 with “Wild Thing” and soon after this came out to a similar reaction. 

Written by Young MC and the Delicious Vinyl label co-founders, “Funky Cold Medina” is straight Pop-Rap for the masses. After recruiting a West Coast name (at a time when it was suddenly more appealing to be from there) the people behind him pushed for a radio-friendly version of what else LA had produced in terms of Hip Hop. N.W.A wasn’t getting any play, but with Young MC writing for Tone Loc, he’d be able to reach the right markets. 

The track reads as a funny little number. It shows Young MC’s knack for story-telling coming into play as the rapper is taken through a series of situations, narrated well by Tone Loc, when speaking on his unsuccessful attempts to get a girl - until he discovered this aphrodisiac potion. It’s not really all that funny and will only really appeal to the American market, but it does the job for that. However, this isn’t even the weakest point to the track – the production is. The beats are a mash-up of Foreigner, Kiss, Free, The Rolling Stones and Funkadelic. Together, it acts as a rather deseperate attempt to make the Rock and Rap worlds collide as they did on “Walk This Way”. 

This release was the second single from the artist’s double-platinum début album, “Loc-ed After Dark”, but really the last that most had heard of him. He’s a two-hit-wonder. This track broke the UK’s top twenty, but I wouldn’t call it a true ‘hit’ as it was in his home nation. It’s really nothing special and seems to be quite messily-produced. It’s far less appealing that Pop-Rap cuts like “Ice Ice Baby” and “Baby Got Back” from this time, but clearly was enjoyed by a fair few at the time. What’s done here is completely outdated as the trends for Hard Rock in Hip Hop dyed-out with Run-D.M.C. but some are bound to still like it. It originally came with instrumentals and a remix on the flip side, but isn’t really worth looking for.  

2/5...September 2010

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