WeblogPoMo 2024 - Song 11: B-Real, Coolio, Method Man, LL Cool J & Busta Rhymes ā€“ Hit 'Em High (The Monstars' Anthem)


šŸ”— a linked post to youtube.com » — originally shared here on

Space Jam was my favorite movie growing up.

I didnā€™t own it on VHS, so it was one of those movies where I would watch it whenever an opportunity presented itself.

My oldest cousin got me the Space Jam poster for my birthday one year. It was one of the best birthday presents I ever got.

I took that poster with me into every place I moved. My dad had a thing where I wasnā€™t allowed to use nails or push pins to hang things on the walls (ā€œThink of the resale value!ā€), so pretty much everything in my room was held up by that two-sided tacky tape which, ironically, left huge grease stains on the wall.

This soundtrack was the very first CD I ever purchased1. I didnā€™t even own a CD player at the time I purchased it, so I had to wait until the house was empty so I could put it into the 5 disc changer we had in the living room.

At the time, I skipped the vast majority of songs on this album. Most of the songs on this album are hip hop and R&B, both being genres that my white, suburban self had exceptionally low exposure to.

I mostly skipped around to the same songs Iā€™d hear on Radio AAHS: Fly Like An Eagle, I Believe I Can Fly, Space Jam, and Bugginā€™.

Over time, I found myself gravitating toward the non-kid radio songs. The most compelling of those is Hit ā€˜em High (The Monstars Anthem).

Here, youā€™ve got five of the biggest names in hip hop collaborating on a song for the heels of the movie, and it goes hard.

To this day, this song is what I play when Iā€™m driving my kids up to their track meets.2

(If this song isnā€™t your jam, might I recommend Coolioā€™s The Winner? I hadnā€™t really listened to the lyrics to this song before, but given all my mental health struggles in the past few months, I think it appeared at the perfect moment for me. The song is impressively positive and reaffirming.)


  1. I know Iā€™ve mentioned that on here before, but I wanna be crystal clear in case someone is trying to steal my identity down the road. 

  2. Iā€™m writing this post at my desk in the kitchen and playing this song to help spark memories. My daughter just walked in the house, heard the song, and started rapping along with Coolioā€™s part. I think Iā€™m nailing this parenting thing.