+ THROWBACK THURSDAY #1: BIZ MARKIE - JUST A FRIEND (1989)

So I'm going to start a new weekly segment here on The Benjamins which I'm going to dub "THROWBACK THURSDAY" budsies! Basically every Thursday (all things going according to plan) I'm going to pull a track from the vaults, something from a by-gone era which you may have forgotten about, may have heard but always wondered what it was or have simply never have heard before. I'm going to put a little spotlight on it and give some shine to some of the classic artists and songs of the past. 

So for the first installment of Throwback Thursday I'm going with a bonafied Hip-Hop classic in Biz Markie's "Just A Friend". I was reminded of this track last weekend when I was watching Rage on Saturday morning. DJ JS-1 & Rahzel were guest programming the show and were just playing hip-hop classic after hip-hop classic. When that unmistakeable piano riff started playing a smile instantly came onto my face. I know these days plenty of rappers sing their hooks, quite well in fact (Drake and Kid Cudi) and let's face it Biz never had a good singing voice but there's something about the sincerity in Biz's voice as he wails the hook "Oh baby you've got what I need, but you say he's just a friend". Plus the film clip is absolutely gold, especially when Biz's is dressed up as Mozart. Check out Just A Friend below with stream/download and a very special surprise after the jump (let's just say it involves Biz Markie, Jeff Goldblum, The Roots and Jimmy Fallon).

Just A Friend went on to be one of Biz's most successful singles reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the album it appeared on "The Biz Never Sleeps" went gold in 1990. If you want to try and get your hands on an original copy of the album, trust me don't bother as it's out of print and goes for crazy prices on the interweb. That's not to say it wouldn't be awesome to have a copy... if someone bought it for you.


DOWNLOAD: Biz Markie - Just A Friend

Now you may remember that very special surprise I mentioned at the beginning of the post. Well below is a classic video of Jimmy Fallon, Jeff Goldblum & Biz Markie performing a rendition of Just A Friend live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon while backed by The "Almighty" Roots crew. Television magic!