BIZ MARKIE: SOUL AND SENTIMENT BY SHELDON TAYLOR

 

                                                                                                                                         

 Biz Markie's low-profile final year shielded him from prying eyes and public pity. Occasional whispers and premature death announcements be damned---Biz's eventual passing is a major blow for hip hop and reminder of rap's mortality. An overwhelming number of legendary artists are passing from this earth on the cusp or in the midst of middle age.

Two words sum up his legacy: Biz Is.

To the mainstream, he's the court jester tethered to a classic song that lives on thirty-two years after its release. To Biz's inner circle, he'll forever be that the mysterious drifter who turned up in Queens, Harlem, Brooklyn, Long Island and New Jersey during rap's embryonic moments. A traveling hip hop hologram of sorts, Biz's sense of timing is immaculate.

While hanging at Wyandanch High in Long Island, he saw Kid Wizard spit rhymes for a high school crowd. Within a year, that kid would morph into the God MC Rakim.  On Illion Avenue in St. Albans, Queens,  he was there when a 16-year old LL Cool J wrote Rock The Bells in his grandmother's basement. Cue up You Tube and you'll see Biz rolling with Roxanne Shante and Big Daddy Kane during their early days as their  beatbox/sidekick/mentor.

 During sample-crazy late 80s and 90s Biz's catalog contained samples from vintage R&B and funk records. Unearthing styles of early New York City rap heroes DJ Hollywood, Fantastic Romantic Five and the Cold Crush Four---Biz flipped McFadden and Whitehead's Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (1979), 8th Day's She's Not Just Another Woman (1971) and the record spawning his signature hit Just A Friend----Freddie Scott's lost soul gem You Got What I Need (1966). In the process, Biz would helped usher in the vocal/music interpolation model that would defined contemporary Black music for the next three decades.

Biz's songs were also laced with elements of pop/rock staples courtesy of the WABC AM radio playlists that rocked New York City back in the 70s. Albee Square Mall samples psychedelic pop duo Friend and Lover's  Reach Out In The Darkness (1968). Strains of the Steve Miller's  Fly Like An Eagle (1976) run through Nobody Beats The Biz. Steam's Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye powers Make The Music With Your Mouth. Guesting on Kool G Rap's Erase Racism (1990), Biz rocks the hook from Three Dog Night's Black and White (1972) alongside Barry Manilow's 1976 I Write The Songs and Dobie Gray's 1973 Drift Away on the Heavy D 1988  duet We Write The Songs.

 In '91, Biz's career took a hit after a major sampling lawsuit involving his usage of  Gilbert O'Sullivan's  1972 hit Alone Again (Naturally) resulting in his album being pulled from stores.The incident impacted hip hop sampling laws forever. The song was famously known in b-boy circles as part of the Cold Crush's legendary routine from a 1981 live performance at Harlem World.  Biz would rebound and would dip back into the childhood to revive The Little River Band's 1978 hit Reminiscing for 2003's  Throwback.

 Before Grand Puba and Kanye sprinkled their music with pop culture references, Biz was a master of the art of aside. Richard Pryor's comic Mudfoot character, jingles from Shoprite ("hey Ma/what's for dinner?") the Wiz ("nobody beats The Wiz") and Irish Spring soap commercials, Jacques Cousteau references all found their way into his songs.

 Beneath the hilarity of records like  Pickin' Boogers (1988) and The Dragon (1989) beat the heart of a true emcee who could captivate fans with his partyrocking skills. Standing apart from Run's bombast, Rakim's aloof cool or Kane's lethal smoothness. Biz hugged the curb of commonality courtesy of storytelling that played up his common man roots.

On The Vapors (1988) and Alone Again (1991), he's the rejected sad sack/hard luck guy  who makes finally makes good.  Just A Friend (1989) casts him as a victim of infidelity and he barely avoids the clutches of a transvestite on A Girl Named Kim (1989). Like Slick Rick, Biz was master storyteller capable of many moods. 

He could also make songs that tugged at the heartstrings too. On She's Just Another Woman (Monique) Biz explores puppy love and heartbreak in the projects with an eye for detail that's sharp as a blade. The record was a precursors to Ghostface's own laser-eyed narratives on future songs like All I Got Is You (1996) and Child's Play (2000).   

 My Man Rich immortalizes a friend compelled to sell drugs to support his family ("the way this story ends/is just a tragedy/I wish upon a star/it didn't have to be") Turn Back The Hands of Time (2003) celebrates days gone by and runs down a roll call of deceased R&B and hip hop stars that Biz would tragically be a part of nearly two decades later. 

Biz's immortality is ensured. In a miraculous act of foresight, cousin/dj Cool V has written three books detailing his relationship with his old partner that are available on his website www.djcoolv.com. In 2019, writer Ben Merlis wrote Goin' Off: The Story of The Juice Crew and Cold Chillin' Records that explores Biz's history with his record label.

Biz's hip hop pedigree is far-reaching: archivist and collector. Beat boxer, emcee and dj. Rap historian and record collector. Possessing a likeability strong enough to penetrate the walls of a competitive industry, Biz Markie will forever be the candle in the wind that withstood rap's winds of change---a steadfast symbol of hip hop's simpler times and----simpler rhymes.