Last week I wrote a piece on the song, ‘My Mind Playing Tricks on Me’ by The Geto Boyz. The song is widely regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time. It is also a southern rap classic that set a standard for what southern rap music could be. A year after that release another southern rap group named UGK would drop their debut. Too Hard To Swallow. It was released November 10th, 1992 and features another southern rap classic, ‘Pocket Full of Stones’.
Bun B would produce the song and also made up one half of UGK alongside his partner Pimp C. The song was the most popular track on the album and would also be included on the soundtrack to the hit movie, “Menace II Society”.
The funky vibe and slowed down tempo paired perfectly with the duo’s southern slang throughout the track. For the beat Bun B sampled, ‘Going Back To Cali’ by LL Cool J and ‘Gettin’ Funky in the Joint’ by Mellow Man Ace.
The song was a dose of harsh reality with the two rappers spitting incredibly detailed lyrics about the crack game. Throughout the 6-minute long cut Pimp C and Bun B weave tails of slangin’ crack to pregnant women, killing judges, and getting sent to prison only to have to come home and start all over again. At the time, there were not many rappers were telling these type of stories. Some of the content on the album was removed due to being deemed too harsh. Just before the release of, Too Hard To Swallow, these tracks surfaced on an aptly titled EP called, Banned.
‘Pocket Full of Stones’ would go on to be considered a southern rap classic. Such notable artists as T.I., Jay-Z and Young Jeezy would cite the song as influences in their music. So today, I pay homage to Underground Kingz and their 1992 record, ‘Pocket Full of Stones’.
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