My kid is writing about the origin of hip-hop for school. We had a good chat about hip-hop being a culture as opposed to a type of music or dance. It's a collective encompassing rap, DJing, breakdancing and graffiti.
This discussion had me diving into old Public Enemy albums, and that reminded me of Paris.
Back in 1990, I was working at the CNE. I met a guy working at another game booth, and we hit it off. I can't remember his name, but I remember our first conversation as if it was yesterday.
I went into a spirited spiel about why I loved Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. He retorted with a near identical plea for Paris' The Devil Made Me Do It. We agreed to swap for a week.
One night with The Devil Made Me Do It and I had to buy my own copy. He had the same experience with It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The Devil Made Me Do It became a mainstay on my Walkman, alongside It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Fear of a Black Planet.
This morning, I decided to spin The Devil Made Me Do It. It's still great. I wish I could remember that guy's name and thank him.
