"Supersonic," JJ Fad (1988)

 Sometimes I think Dr. Dre is The Chronic (1992), and his G-Funk was always leaning too much on the P-Funk, so to speak. But here is some of his production work from 1988, J.J. Fad's "Supersonic," an old school Boom bap girl group sound produced to perfection; reached 22 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Duly noted in collaboration with Dj Yella and the Arabian Prince but, at any rate, it is Dre with a crafty minimalist model of early '80s rap and NOT The Chronic. The J.J. Fad trio look underage but they show up later in the video as older ladies, appearing proud of the legacy of their song, "Supersonic," as they should be. They still perform too or did on the internet as middle age looking ladies, a girl group trio having fun on stage at a karaoke bar. I'd just arrived in Seattle in 1988 and I at first thought J.J. Fad were from Seattle and this was a promotional number for the local NBA team the Seattle SuperSonics, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. I could swear the song was used in Sonic promotions around that time but I can't find any evidence for that on the internet. At any rate, the hiphop-ya-don't-stop gleeful nonsense purity of "Supersonic" bubbles over with the vitality of "Rapper's Delight" and all the best rapping in the early 1980s; heretofore to be known as Hip Hop or rap before RunDMC or RBRD. Sugar Hill, Tommy Boy, Enjoy! Turning out the disco on the block, plug and play, turntables, sampling, drum machines, the rhyming is bold, seductive, full of braggadocio and swagger and often very funny. Turns out J.J. Fad were really from LA and "Supersonic" an early Dr. Dre production masterpiece, if late to the RBRD party and still refining the retrosheen that would become his bread and butter. "Supersonic" is a Hip Hop classic, anyway you slice it. J.J. Fad, MC J.B. (Juana), Baby-D (Dania), and Sassy C (Michelle), on the mic, 1988. Party in the House. Meanwhile, the SuperSonics, Bernie Bickerstaff's version of the '88 Sonics, finished 3rd in the Pacific Division that year and traded away Scottie Pippen for Olden Polynice in the draft. We need those Secret Base Dorktown guys to do one of their historical docs on the Seattle SuperSonics. Even so JJ Fad's "Supersonics" were a positive force vibe with that Supersonic team in '88, X-Man, Michael Cage, Dale Ellis, Nate McMillan, Derrick McKey, Avery Johnson, so much potential on that team! Not to be. But there will always be JJ Fad's "Supersonic."