From Murs to Tabi Bonney to Common, It’s All “Hip-Hop & Love” (Listen & Download)

It's no surprise that RefinedHype doesn't pull any punches. There's a lot of bullshit out there and I"m not going to hesitate to call it out when I see it, but I don't want to ever forget the reason I sarted doing this in the first place; I love hip-hop. (Otherwise I'll end up like Byron Crawford.) So I'd like to kick off today with some positivity. Awwww....let's all hug it out.

The track that got me started on this love trip is MURS and Tabi Bonney's "Hip-Hop & Love". Produced by Ski Beatz, this will appear both on MURS upcoming album and was released to promote the duo's upcoming tour. (More info here.) It's nothing groundbreaking, just quality music that makes you want to, for example, write articles about how much you love hip-hop. Stream and download are at the bottom of the page.

That got me thinking though, what other odes to the love of hip-hop are out there? Of course the first track that comes to mind is Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R.", although that's a more complicated lover story.



Watching that video immediately brought to mind Erykah Badu's "Love of My Life", essentially a female based flip of 'Love H.E.R." that not coincidentally also features Common. This is my joint;



And then that got me thinking about the "Brown Sugar" soundtrack, which is secretly a really ill album. I know there was a Mos Def track on there that I really dug too, but before I could look it up I was hit with the overwhelming urge to listen to "Ms. Fat Booty".



Seriously, on a pure enjoyment level, that may be my favorite track in hip-hop history. And then the related videos caught my eye and I clicked on a dope Mos Def freestyle.



And then that got me thinking about dope freestyles, and I can't think about dope freestyles without reminsicing about Eminem's first freestyle on The Wake Up Show:



And just like that I had spend my entire morning falling back in love with hip-hop. We could all use a reminder of why we spend so much time thinking and talking about hip-hop in the first place. Feel free to share the music that made you fall in love with hip-hop below. Awww.....let's hug it out.