Songoftheday 12/11/20 - Saturday morning at the crack of sunrise, thank the man upstairs for lettin me open my eyes...

 

 

"Backyard Boogie" - Mack 10

from the album Based On A True Story (1997)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 6

 

Today's song of the day comes from rapper Mack 10, who had already visited the top 40 three times before 1997 as a member of the trio Westside Connection on "Bow Down" and "Gangstas Make The World Go Round" with Ice Cube and WC, and as a solo-billed artist on his collaboration with Tha Dogg Pound, "Nothin' But The Cavi Hit", the latter two in the beginning of 1997. That fall, Mack came back with his second solo effort Based On A True Story. The lead single was "Backyard Boogie", written by Mack with producer DJ Bobcat was a slice of everyday storytelling G-Funk in the style of Snoop and Dre, but clearly meant for partying outdoors...

"Backyard Boogie" became Mack 10's second solo-billed top-40 pop hit in September of 1997. The song also climbed to #23 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart. It was his best lead-billed hit on either chart. The single also made it to #5 on their Rap Singles chart as well. The Based On A True Story album went to #14 on the Billboard 200 sales chart, his highest solo ranking, and #5 on the R&B-specific list, and went on to sell over a half-million copies.

This single would be his last solo lead single to make the pop top-40,. but he would visit there again three more times, once again with Westside Connection, and two featured spots on singles from Warren G and Ice Cube.

 

As for his solo work, Mack followed with a third disc, The Recipe on his own imprint Hoo-Bangin', in 1998. From the set the single "Money's Just A Touch Away", featuring crooner Gerald Levert singing on the interpolation of Freddie Jackson, went to #31 on the R&B chart, and #54 on Billboard's pop Hot 100. The album also made the top-20 on the Billboard 200 at #15, as did his next record, The Paper Route, in 2000 (#19). Since then he's released four more solo albums, the most recent being Soft White in 2009, which hit #141 on the sales list.

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The "B-side" of the single, "Only In California" with Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg, had enough urban radio airplay to placed on Billboard's R&B Airplay chart for ten weeks in 1998, peaking at #52. It was clearly an answer to 2Pac and Dr. Dre's "California Love"...

 

And lastly, Mack 10 live in concert in 2013...

 

 

Up tomorrow: Motownphilly soulsters are feeling pretty isolated all the time. I can relate.