A (Brief) History Of Hip-Hop's Obsession With The Summer
Who doesn't love the summer? There are cookouts and pool parties, daisy dukes and basketball shorts. Even summer school pops off. Rappers, however, have a particularly intense love affair with the season bookended by the June and September months. J. Cole recently revealed his lust on his new song "Cole Summer." VIBE backtracks through the rap history books to find out just how far this infatuation goes. —John Kennedy
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DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince Release “Summertime” [1991]
Before Will Smith became a global movie star, the Fresh Prince (along with DJ Jazzy Jeff) created this hip-hop block buster that still can still turn up any family reunion or street party.
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Ice Cube Drops “My Summer Vacation” [1991]
Cube narrates a tale of Los Angeles gang members who trekked out to St. Louis to conquer new drug turf on this Death Certificate standout.
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Hot 97’s First Summer Jam Concert [1994]
When New York was still hip-hop’s mecca, this Hot 97 show was the concert of all concerts. Summer Jam kicked off in ‘94 with performances by the likes of Wu-Tang Clan, Queen Latifah and Nas. The annual show became a rap beef battleground in 2001, when Jay-Z debuted his “Takeover” verse dissing Prodigy of Mobb Deep (along with blown-up childhood images of the rapper in dancing school); Game, Eminem and 50 Cent would later use the Summer Jam screen and stage to ride on their enemies.
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DJ Quik Drops “Summer Breeze” [1995]
Quik waxes nostalgic on this funky feel-good, recalling his experiences growing up through the summers with water balloon fights, BBQs and playing “hide-and-go-get-it” with the local girlies.
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Jay-Z’s “Ain’t No Love (In The Heart Of The City)” [2001]
The idea of running the summer was pretty much instituted by Jay-Z, thanks to lines like “Jigga held you down six summers. Damn, where’s the love?” on this Blueprint album cut.
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Jay-Z Writes A Love Letter Called “Dear Summer” [2005]
The newly appointed President of Def Jam, Jay-Z could pretty much do whatever he wanted back in ’05. Including obnoxiously hijacking a track on perpetual protege Memphis Bleek’s 534 album, and dedicating it to his impending summer slumber.
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Jim Jones Releases His Album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer [2006]
In a subliminal shot at Hov, Jim Jones dropped this sophomore LP that featured another summertime dedication, “Summer Wit Miami,” opening with: “If you think that bitch summer is yours, she could be cheatin’ on you.” Someone call Joey Greco!
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Cam’Ron Declares “It’s Gonna Be A Real Motherfuckin’ Hot Summer” [2007]
It was still Spring ’07 when Cam’Ron -- sporting boxers and a beater -- responded to tough talk from 50 Cent with his now famous declaration: “It’s gonna be a real motherfuckin’ hot summer,” which instantly became every meteorologist’s Facebook status.
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Rick Ross Disses Young Jeezy On “Summer’s Mine” Track [2010]
Over a Lil Lody beat, Rozay takes some subtle swipes at Young Jeezy (“Be honest with yourself, I’m who you idolize,” he grunts), simultaneously claiming this Summer chick all for himself.
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Nas Drops “Summer On Smash” [2012]
Drop tops, tank tops and Ciroc -- Nas and Swizz Beatz nailed the summertime essentials on this catchy, if cheesy, anthem to celebrate the summer season. Ironically, the seasonal track didn’t score much radio play.
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G.O.O.D. Music Releases Cruel Summer Album [2012]
Kanye and Co. juuust made it with the much-delayed compilation LP that finally dropped in September, a mere week before Autumn crept up.
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J. Cole Releases “Cole Summer” [2013]
While 2013 is still warming up, J. Cole jumps out with a Lauryn Hill-sampling freebie, continuing summer’s personification as a run-though chick whose allure he just can’t escape. Time will tell if Born Sinner will stake his claim as this year’s June-to-September ruler.
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