#30thAnniversary – Biz Markie “I Need A Haircut”

We are downhearted that this publication about Biz Markie’s third album “I Need A Haircut” is done posthumously. He just died July 16 at age 57, due to severe complications from Type 2 diabetes.

Following the previous LP “The Biz Never Sleeps”, that includes Biz biggest hit to date “Just A Friend”, was not an easy task. We can’t lie, the album is not on the level of his earlier work, but it’s still a fun listen full of forgotten gems. The singles “What Comes Around Goes Around” and “Toilet Stool Rap” are the type of tracks that gave him the title of “Clown Prince of Hip Hop”, funny lyrics that are well delivered on top of funky beats. But if you dig deeper, songs like “I Told You”, with a really unusual sample (Donovan – Get Thy Bearings), or the electric guitar on top of funky drums for “Buck Wild” are fun to rediscover 30 years later. The production, handled by himself and his cousin and longtime collaborator Cool V, sounded a bit dated for 1991 at times, but was mostly pretty good.

Of course, we can’t talk about this album and not mention what is sadly the main reason why this record is remembered for. The Hip Hop world was changed forever when Gilbert O’Sullivan started a lawsuit linked to the use of his song “Alone Again (Naturally)”. Of course, Biz Markie lost the case, the album had to be taken out of the shelves and the song was removed from later pressings. After this, any future music sampling had to be pre-approved by the copyright owners to prevent a lawsuit.

Listen to the album, watch the videos, discover a nice remix and an interview followed by a short clip of The Diabolical Biz Markie performing live with the Beastie Boys as a backing band!