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A+



(the video has been re-uploaded...)

A+ had the distinction of being one of youngest rappers in the game, only 16 and pushing his sophomore album when "Enjoy Yourself," the song above, was released in 1998. I remember seeing this all over BET's "Rap City" and MTV Jams. It wasn't until later in life that I found out the song sampled the disco hit "A Fifth of Beethoven," but as a kid I thought this was one of the tightest beats ever.

Plus he was only two years older than me! I kind of wanted to be a rapper too.

Wikipedia says this was a big hit overseas, but here in the U.S. the song peaked at #50 R&B/#63 Hot 100. Another single, "All I See," peaked at #29 R&B/#66 Hot 100, but I'm not remembering that song at all.

In the beginning of the song, he says "Yo Kedar/let me hold the keys to the car." Yes, that would be Kedar Massenburg, the force behind D'Angelo and Erykah Badu. However, if he was able to bring them to new heights, why couldn't the same happen with A+? And plus he didn't seem like he was 16...as far as kiddie/teen rappers went, audiences could never take Another Bad Creation of Biv 10's Pee-Wee All-Stars seriously, but A+ seemed to have a nice flow. I wonder what happened?

How to make a comeback:

Even though A+ has a MySpace page, I am considering him MIA since it seems to not have been updated in three years (the bio says "now at 23") except for a mere blog posted in January saying the site is under construction. I'm assuming he's been on the mixtape circuit as the bio indicates, and his pics show he might have a son. Regardless, A+ is pushing 28 and it's not too late to get back in the game. We're waiting on you (and we also want you to show the young cats how it's done)!

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