01 05:15 Make The Music With Your Mouth Biz
02 05:46 Nobody Beats The Biz
03 04:52 Biz Is Goin Off
04 04:35 Vapors
05 04:04 Just A Friend
06 03:49 I Hear Music
07 04:07 Spring Again
08 04:07 What Comes Around Goes Around
09 04:32 Buck Wild
10 04:07 Pm The Biz Markie
11 04:09 Young Girl Bluez
12 05:33 Let Me Turn You On
Biography: Biz+Markie
* Born: April 08, 1964, New York, NY [Harlem] Period: `80s, `90s, 2000s
Biography:
Biz Markie`s inclination toward juvenile humor and his fondness for goofy, tuneless, half-sung choruses camouflaged his true talents as a freestyle rhymer. The Biz may not have been able to translate his wild rhyming talents to tape, but what he did record was worthwhile in its own way. With his silly humor and inventive, sample-laden productions, he proved that hip-hop could be funny and melodic, without sacrificing its street credibility. His distinctive style made his second album, The Biz Never Sleeps, a gold hit and its single, "Just a Friend," into a Top Ten pop single. While its success made Markie a semistar, it also cursed him. Not only was he consigned as a novelty act, but it brought enough attention that Gilbert O`Sullivan sued him over the unauthorized sample of "Alone Again (Naturally)" on Biz`s 1991 album I Need a Haircut. The lawsuit severely cut into Markie`s career, and 1993`s All Samples Cleared! was the last record he released during the `90s. However, his reputation was restored somewhat in the mid-`90s as the Beastie Boys championed him and other alternative rap groups showed some debt to his wild, careening music.
The Biz Never Sleeps put him near the top of the hip-hop world, but he fell from grace as quickly as he achieved it. Biz`s third album, I Need a Haircut, was already shaping up to be a considerable sales disappointment when he was served a lawsuit from Gilbert O`Sullivan, who claimed that the album`s "Alone Again" featured an unauthorized sample of his hit "Alone Again (Naturally)." O`Sullivan won the case in a ruling that drastically changed the rules of hip-hop. According to the ruling, Warner Bros., the parent company of Cold Chillin`, had to pull I Need a Haircut from circulation, and all companies had to clear samples fully before releasing a hip-hop record. Biz countered with his 1993 album, All Samples Cleared!, but his career had already been hurt by the lawsuit, and the record bombed.
For the remainder of the decade, he kept a low profile, occasionally guesting on records by the Beastie Boys and filming a freestyle television commercial for MTV2 in 1996. The alliance with the Beasties raised his profile considerably, but Biz began DJing instead of continuing to record. Finally, in 2003, he released Weekend Warrior for Tommy Boy, though it was his appearance (and victory) in 2005 on VH1` s Celebrity Fit Club that brought him more attention than the actual record.
