Never Made Twenty
Royal Flush – “I Never Made 20“
from 976-Dope (Yo!, 1991)
Allhiphop asked Bun B for his 5 favorite emcees. He makes some predictable choices (Scarface) and some unexpected (Jeezy) but one in particular stands out for its unabashed obscurity – Rick Royal aka King Ricardo of one time Rap-A-Lot signees Royal Flush. You can definitely hear the influence “Never Made 20″ had on early UGK. Quoth Bun:
“Rick Royal, from the Royal Flush on Rap-a-Lot Records, to me was one of the greatest songwriters, not just rapper, but really an incredible songwriter for himself and other people as well. Rick Royal wrote “Deeper” for Boss, and “Progress of Elimination.” But he wrote a song called “I Never Made 20” for Royal Flush, if you can find that song and tell me that that’s not one of the best written rap songs in your life… I would say I’d give you something, but people would just say no just to get something.
“But seriously, I’d really like to hear that song and see what year it was recorded and then tell me it ain’t one of the best songs ever. It was Pimp’s favorite rap song. Period. Hands down, nothing remotely close. When we actually heard the song I was 20, he was 19 and it really hit him, it really hit him hard. When you hear it you be like, “Wow,” this is a crazy record, and you couldn’t see that being anybody’s life. But it’s really a reflection of the paranoia that young Black men feel.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Ya know, when I was posting the story I was thinking, “Should have asked Noz if he has an MP3…” Good ish.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
[...] Made Twenty [Noz has got the goods] Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)RIP Chad Lamar Butler – Bun [...]
March 16th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
thanks, the bustthefacts link is down…
March 16th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
how many other traxx use that same never made twenty / mama’s family beat? i swear i heard that same melody (sample? interpolation?) on something else recently
March 16th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
when i interviewed bun a couple weeks ago. i asked him what happened when he started using “that flow” on the Ridin Dirty album. He credited handing around Ricky Royal, Big Mike and Mr. 3-2 as the main influence.
March 16th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
wow. amazing stuff. really. thanks.
March 16th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Wow, how did I get this far without ever hearing this song?! Seriously, one of the best songs I’ve ever heard.
March 16th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Outstanding.
Props to Aqua for the best (read: least predictable (though Killer Mike mentioning AZ was cool)) Top Five Dead Or Alive yet…
I was hoping Noz would liberate it too. I’m loving this cut, and will be likely hunting down the rest on eBay.
Thank you all.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Deej: I don’t know which you’re thinking of, but to me this same thing was used on one of the best Brand Nubian songs, “Probable Cause.”
But damn, now I hope someone can get the rest of 976-Dope up on mp3, and a minute ago I’d never heard of ‘em. I just ain’t with spending 25-30 bucks on a used CD with none of that cash going to the artist–too broke, too strong.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
mayn i aint gon eva undastand why dudez whu be up on ro be sleepin on de boi. maybe iss cuz he in a whole diff league den any1 else u know. iss disrespectaful to even categorize ROTHER
March 17th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Both the Flush albums are great.
March 17th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
mad thank yous Noz and Bun
March 17th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
i’ve only got ‘uh oh’, so this track is a nice surprise. i’d love to hear the whole album too!
March 18th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Does anyone know why Raheem and Royal Flush had beef? Raheem talks trash about Royal Flush all the time on the album “The Invincible.”
March 19th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
“Elijah
Deej: I don’t know which you’re thinking of, but to me this same thing was used on one of the best Brand Nubian songs, “Probable Cause.””
apparently the loop is a grover washington one
this is the first place id heard it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFN3gjm8Fxs
March 19th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
To GOLEM582:
Vicious Lee of The Def IV broke some of it down about the static between Royal Flush and Raheem. The interview is here: http://www.unkut.com/2008/06/dj-vicious-lee-def-iv-interview/
I’m not sure if my facts are correct, but I recall Born Twice a.k.a. B-2 Omega and Al B. of Royal Flush being brothers. This is info I heard back in the 80’s.
June 29th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
that song was truly dope for 91 not many cats were writing such vivi stories then and his flow is smooth
July 21st, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Wow, Bun sounded exactly like this cat on Too Hard To Swallow.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I’ve been on the hunt for this particular album for bout 5yrs now but no luck. this was my favorite song @ that time & still is one of my favorites. I remember the first time I heard & saw these cats. They were @ The Miller Outdoor Theater during the late 80’s performing with Def lV & some other acts. They put on a damn good show free to the public & sweating like hell. That day I also discovered we had a rap scene in houston. I’m not even sure if my mom even knew all this was going on there.