2Pac — Beginnings - The Lost Tapes: 1988-1991

In mid-June 2007, Koch Records re-released a compilation album of 2Pac's previously unreleased recordings. The album was released as a bootleg in April 2000 under the title "The Lost Tapes: Circa 1989", however, being unofficial, its sale was stopped by the artist's mother, Afeni Shakur, who at the time held his unreleased material.

D-Nice — Call Me D-Nice

Derrick "D-Nice" Jones was born and raised in Harlem, Manhattan, later moving to the Bronx as a teenager. Here, he met DJ Scott La Rock and formed Boogie Down Productions group along with Lawrence "KRS-One" Parker in 1986. After carving out a slice of success producing "Self-Destruction" for the Stop the Violence Movement, in the late eighties he signs a solo deal with Jive Records and creates his debut studio album.

2 Live Crew — Is What We Are

2 Live Crew is born in Riverside, California, formed by David "DJ Mr. Mixx" Hobbs, Christopher "Fresh Kid Ice" Wong Won and Yuri "Amazing Vee" Vielot. The group releases the single "Revelation" in 1984 through is own label Fresh Beat Records, with the track "2 Live" as b-side, the first is performed only by Amazing Vee, the second by Fresh Kid Ice. "Revelation" got attention in Florida, so the Miami DJ and promoter Luther "Luke Skyywalker" Campbell advises the group to move to Miami.

Home Team — Via Satellite from Saturn

After the debut album released in 1990 by the Poison Clan, a duo composed of rappers Jeffrey "JT Money" Thomkins and Patrick "Debonaire" Watler, the latter decides to leave the group in 1991 and form his own group.

Tyga — Legendary

Album number seven for Michael Ray "Tyga" Stevenson, rapper and actor born and raised in Compton, California, before moving to Gardena. He was born to Vietnamese and Jamaican parents.

D-Loc — Split Personality

The only record of a man who in 1990 has already made himself known as a rapper obscured by Richie Rich in the excellent effort "41Fivin". The music set is established by J.E.D., co-produced by Darrin "Digital-D" Harris, Kirk "Kickin' Kirk" Crumpler and "Daryl "DJ Daryl" Anderson.

Poison Clan — Poisonous Mentality

Typical LP that could easily be liquidated with a single line, and the line would be: «pathetic misogynist gangsterist who spits sh*t on fu**ing and killing for too long.»

2Pac — Until the End of Time

About thirteen months after the last time, the shelves are once again occupied by a new double album by Tupac Shakur, who at this point has released more CDs dead than alive. After "Greatest Hits" (1998), and especially after the unexpected commercial success of the Outlawz album with 2Pac (1999), Afeni Shakur and Suge Knight have once again agreed to fill their pockets with 2Pac's work by releasing this album on their own labels, with the blessing of Interscope. The material comes from the Death Row sessions and consists of 2 CDs for a total of 29 tracks.

Rumpletilskinz — What is a Rumpletilskin?

Unique album by Rumpletilskin, New York hip-hop group composed by Jeranimo, Jacob "LS" Clark, Peter "RPM" Lopez and D "Sha-now" Gordon. The production is handled entirely by RPM, the DJ of the group, who gives few beats to Chyskills ("Mad MF's"), Jeranimo ("I-N-I"), "E" ("Sweet Therapy") and The Capitol LS ("Earthquake").

 

Poison Clan — 2 Low Life Mutha

JT Money and Debonaire break into the game with a debut produced by Mr. Mixx and funded by that perverted mind of Luke Campbell. This effort of Poison Clan is a cross of different styles that touches violent and sexual themes without exaggerating too much and merging the whole project on lyrics so ignorant as to turn on themselves and become intelligent, even if there's some u-turn in a conscious direction. The offensive, meaningless and funny verses of this playful duo are adequately supported by the production: simple, slow minimal and accessible even in frantic cuts, partly distancing themselves from the typical miami bass sound to embrace softer and lighter funky vibes. The guessed samples are the icing on an underestimated and still partially hidden album in the Miami scene. Launched by two minor hits ("The Bitch That I Hate" and "Dance All Night", both in the top 20 among rap singles), released by Luke Skyywalker Records bass / electro sub-label Effect Records, the CD was embraced by fans and entered the rap charts, launching the duo's career in the crowded nineties.

Rating: 7/10.

K-Rino — Stories From the Black Book

Debut album for Eric Kaiser, a rapper from Houston who under the name of K-Rino has participated in dozens of hip-hop groups, doing a lot for the South Park Coalition of which he's founder and leader.

 

Threat — Sickinnahead

Debut album for the Corey "Threat" Brown, LA rapper who brings out an interesting and unfairly overlooked album, released in a particularly hectic time on the circuit. The lyrics are superior to your generic gangsta record and the guy boasts good storytelling, good voice, and slow, competent delivery to carry all of these fifty minutes alone, split into sixteen, often short, pieces. Production is mostly done by DJ Pooh with Bobcat (both Boogiemen), King T and Suede: these guys weave funky boom bap rhythms, sometimes festive, energetic, dark and jazzy. Often, the presence of Suede in production coincides, perhaps by chance, with a beat that sounds cheap and simplistic. Ultimately, it's a good gangsta album, solid, flowing, featuring a better second part than the first section, a bit cumbersome, especially in the early songs. Recommended to West Coast fans.

Rating: 7/10.

Just-Ice — Back to the Old School

Debut album by Joseph "Just-Ice" Williams Jr., rapper from New York, former bouncer at clubs, charged with the murder of a drug dealer in 1986, but later proven innocent. From many points of view, the boy proves to be ahead of his time, starting from the title, in 1986 he's already nostalgic for the old school, to the point of becoming one of the first gangsta rappers of the period and among the first to use references to the Five Percenters. Kurtis Mantronik of Mantronix is the producer of the whole effort, Just-Ice's DJ The Human DMX (not that DMX) for the beatbox.

Killah Priest & Chief Kamachi — Beautiful Minds

Collaborative album between Brooklyn rapper Killah Priest and Philadelphia rapper Chief Kamachi. Tekneek has three beats, Diamond Legit and C Sik have two each, then the remaining set is split evenly between Emonex, Danny Diggs, Dev Rocka, E. Dan, and DJ Woool. These are all names you may never have heard of, excluding DJ Woool, possibly. Planet Asia has the honor of being the only guest on the record.

Special Ed — Legal

Honest sophomore from Special Ed, who drops this effort on the eve of coming of age. His good rapping performed with a solid and regular flow without effort, isn't corroborated by the boring and generic funky-jazzy production made by Howie Tee.

Everlast — Forever Everlasting

Friend of Ice-T and member of his crew Rhyme Syndicate, in 1988 Erik "Everlast" Schrody releases his debut single, "Syndication", produced by Bilal and co-produced by Ice-T and his producer Afrika Islam. The record is dropped with Ice-T label Rhyme $yndicate Records and boasts the logo of Warner Bros. Records printed on. The following year, the guy releases the single "Never Missin' a Beat" with Warner Bros, then in 1990 drops a couple of other singles ("I Got the Knack" and "The Rhythm") and his debut studio album.

2Pac + Outlawz — Still I Rise

A year after releasing his greatest hits compilation, 2Pac continues to release records with the notable obstacle of being dead. The ironic title "Still I Rise" is a nice touch. This is his fourth release since he was killed in that infamous Las Vegas street shooting, the first collaborative with his friends Outlawz.

Askari X — Ward of the State

Twelve tracks plus three remixes make up the first studio album by Ricky Murdock aka Askari X, an Oakland boy who grew up amid family abuse and stormy teenage experiences.

 

Mac Mall — Untouchable

Mac Mall keeps a reptile on a leash, in a cover reminiscent of a famous LL album for his second LP, the most commercially successful. The artist's rapping is fine, it's regular, slow, soft and at times listless on a generic West Coast funky production that does little to accentuate the merits of this style. The guests, mainly from the Bay, converge in the second part of the CD and bring some freshness, while the music chosen by Mike Mosley and other guys, including Ant Banks, Cold 187um, Prodeje of South Central Cartel and especially Khayree, the great co-star of Mac Mall's debut album, sounds a bit faded. The rhythms aren't bad, however, there's little noteworthy, due to rusty, dry and hard downtempo drums, questionable g-funk synths, random electronic keyboards, some good strings, and ballad vibes. Relativity packs a record that isn't essential for listeners far from the West Coast rap. 6/10.

Chubb Rock — The One

Third effort for Chubb Rock, probably his best. It keeps the production of the trusty Howie Tee, who here delivers a pattern of trivially simple, skeletal, minimal rhythms, a bit all similar to each other.

Da King & I — Contemporary Jeep Music

Debut album for the duo composed of Isadore Francois aka MC Izzy Ice and Roderick Wiggins aka DJ Majesty. These guys from New York signed to Rowdy Records and produced a 52-minute record split into 18 tracks, 6 skits.

 

Mad Kap — Look Ma Duke, No Hands

Debut studio album for Los Angeles hip-hop group Mad Kap, a trio formed by Motif, Damon "Coke" Daniels and Josef "Dr. Soose" Leimberg, the latter is also the trumpet player of the group.

Pete Rock & Smif-n-Wessun — Monumental

Collaborative studio album between Pete Rock and Smif-N-Wessun. The Bronx-native producer doesn't work to a collab records with another artist since 1995, while the Brooklyn-native duo is in its first collab LP ever. The music is provided by Peter "Pete Rock" Phillips. Tekomin "Tek" Williams from Bedford–Stuyvesant and Darrell "Steele" Yates from Brownsville, are the main rapper, otherwise, there are several guests covering most of the tracks: the Boot Camp Clik members Sean P, Rock, Buckshot and Top Dog, with Tyler Woods, Pete Rock, Raekwon, Styles P, Memphis Bleek, Bun B, Freeway, Jahdan Blakkamoore, Hurricane G and Black Rob. Besides Boot Camp Clik and affiliated groups, in this LP are represented Wu-Tang Clan, The LOX, State Property and UGK.

Mac Dre — Young Black Brotha: The Album

Andre Hicks' debut album was released in 1993 and rather than being a real studio album, it's a sort of compilation. Hicks was born in Oakland, before moving to Vallejo, where he gained local fame from a young age and chose the moniker Mac Dre in his teens.

AAVV — We're All in the Same Gang

Not too thoughtful compilation. Inside there are, well, I don't know. West Coast Rap All-Stars means King Tee, Body & Soul, Def Jef, Tone-Loc, Above the Law, Ice-T, Dr. Dre & MC Ren, JJ Fad, Young MC, Digital Underground, Oaktown's 3.5.7 ., MC Hammer and Eazy-E have all deliver a verse in the opening track, then re-proposed at the end as a remix. The beat is decent, funky minimal and simple, the deliveries are appropriate and there's a sample of Syl Johnson to testify that this cut should be considered a classic. Minor tracks follow, with minimal funky productions, skinny, tight, heavy and hard, sometimes urgent, many functional hooks and more or less adequate and decent deliveries. In the first part, the only decent tune is that of the Latin Kings, in the second the South Central Posse is quite good and perhaps have the best track of the tape, overall, this effort is just below the threshold of sufficiency. 5/10.

YG'z — Street Nigga EP

In 1993 Pete Rock manages to throw some friends into the game, including YG'z, short for Young Gunz, a duo made up of Kenny "Guest" Austin and Tommy Guest. These guys hail from Mount Vernon, Westchester, just above the Bronx, NY, and Pete Rock takes them to sign a deal with Reprise Records: in the same year, they were featured as guests in the Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth's cut "Death Becomes You", inserted in the soundtrack of the movie "Menace II Society" and, launched by the single "Street Nigga", releasing an eponymous EP later.

Seagram — The Dark Roads

Seagram Miller, aged just over 20, becomes the first rapper to sign up for Rap-A-Lot without being born or residing in Houston, Texas. He's originally from Oakland, Bay Area, and the album tries to mirror the sound of the Pacific coast in some tracks.

 

Professor Griff and The Last Asiatic Disciples — Pawns in the Game

For years Richard "Professor Griff" Griffin is the "Minister of Information" of New York hip-hop group Public Enemy. Before the release of "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back", Griffin gave interviews to UK magazines on behalf of the group, making homophobic and anti-Semitic comments, reiterating them also in interviews with US newspapers in the early months of 1989. The echo of his statements triggered an avalanche of controversy against Public Enemy, who had become very popular following the success of "Fight the Power", the key track from Spike Lee's film "Do the Right Thing".

RBL Posse — Ruthless by Law

Second studio album by San Francisco hip-hop group RBL Posse. Rhythms and rap are mainly provided by the group, helped behind the keyboards by The Enhancer and Cellski, the only guest accredited to rapping.

 

Kid Frost — Hispanic Causing Panic

Arturo "Kid Frost" Molina Jr. was born and raised in Windsor, California, later moved to Los Angeles, California, and occasionally lived in Guam and Germany. Passionate about hip-hop, he began his music career as a tribute to his rival Ice-T. In the mid-eighties, Kid Frost releases singles on Los Angeles-based labels Electrobeat and Baja. DJ Yella is credited for the scratches in his single "Rough Cut" (1984). At the end of the eighties, the emcee signs with Virgin Records and drops a couple of singles, among which his signature song "La Raza", that became an East Los Angeles anthem and leads the boy to make his debut studio album.

2Pac — R U Still Down? (Remember Me)

A year after the last time, we find him here in front with his hands clasped over his mouth in a sort of prayer in the dark, while the boy is asking "are you still down?" Apparently, a posthumous album wasn't enough, because 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur decides to collect some unreleased material recorded between 1992 and 1994, when the artist was under contract with Interscope Records, which in the meantime sold the rights to Tupac's recordings to her mother's newborn label Amaru Entertainment, and to publish it as a new double CD of unreleased material by the legendary rapper, even if it includes already released tracks such as "Definition of a Thug Nigga", included in the soundtrack of the film "Poetic Justice" (1993), as well as the remix of "I Wonder If Heaven's Got a Ghetto", released as a b-side of the single "Keep Ya Head Up" in 1993 and the song "I'm Getting Money" which is identical to "Str8 Ballin'" except for three words.

R.B.L. Posse — A Lesson to Be Learned

RBL Posse is a San Francisco duo formed by Hubert Kyle Church III aka Mr. Cee and Christian Mathews aka Black C. Mathews are also producing their debut album, released in 1992 by the local label In-A-Minute Records: these guys choose a sound too relaxed to their simplistic rapping style.

 

Blood of Abraham — Future Profits

Benjamin "Benyad" Mor and David "Mazik" Saevitz form Los Angeles hip-hop duo Blood of Abraham. The group signs with Eazy-E's Ruthless, which releases this socio-conscious record, which is quite rare for the former NWA label.

 

Shazzy — Attitude: A Hip Hop Rapsody

Easily and unfairly in the running for the race of the best MC you've never heard of, this artist has remained unknown to most aesthetes of the genre. Sherry "Shazzy" Marsh delivers a compact effort of almost an hour, eighteen songs, four skits.

Dru Down — Fools from the Streets

Debut album for Darnel Robinson, birth name of the Oakland rapper Dru Down (The Regime). The MC comes up with generic braggadocio and g-ish themes combined with Oaktown scene-specific topics, including pimping and sex, spit over the Ant Banks production: the beatmaker provides the beats for the entire record, leaving some rhythms to Robin Duhe, Keenan Foster and Gino Blacknell.

 

The Click — Game Related

Second studio album by The Click, group of Vallejo, Bay Area. The production is realized by Studio Ton, Mike Mosley, Kevin Gardner, Roger Troutman, and Tone Capone, in addiction to some live instrumentation. Guests are Cavio, T-Pup, Studio Ton, and Levitti. All members of the Click family participate and each has a solo joint: E-40 and B-Legit are the main and most renowned protagonists, D-Shot and Suga-T get an important part in the project.

Hell Razah — El Raziel

From this exact moment on, Chron Smith's discography becomes complicated. In 2010, Hell Razah ended up in hospital and only later was the last album he had recorded, "Heaven Razah", released in the same year. Then begins a long and difficult convalescence, after a few years the artist returns to release material.

The Click — Down & Dirty

Three years after their debut EP, The Click, a hip-hop group from Vallejo, California, formed by E-40, B-Legit, Suga-T and D-Shot, emerges with a debut studio album. 75 minutes for 18 tracks in its original version, these four performers pull out bars with good flow on parties, weed, women, crime and other generic gangsta themes. The production is carried out by the same group, together with Mike Mosley and Studio Ton: the choice falls mainly on mobb music, slow funky boom bap with a dry and slow drum machine, light and velvety beats, on which the boys flow well, along with some uncredited guest (Mugsey in "Ballers" and "Streetlife", Kav-vo in "Streetlife" and "Porno Star", Lil Bruce in "Old School" and Levitti in "Tired of Being Stepped On"). Despite the length, the record is relaxed and solid, a good listen for West Coast fans. 7/10.

Son of Bazerk — Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk

In the mid-1980s, a band known as Townhouse 3 was formed on Long Island and was composted by Tony "Son of Bazerk" Allen, Jeffrey "Almighty Jahwell" Height, Gary "Daddy Rawe" Stanton and Cassandra "Half Pint" Jackson. The group is inspired by James Brown, paying tribute to his debut album with this title.

Mixmasta "D" — Turntable Scientist EP

Dana Mitchell and Doug Rankin record some songs for Phattrakz Recordz, a local label of Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1993 this CD is released, the A side consists of five songs in which the rhythm is made Mitchell aka Mixmasta "D" and the rapping is performed by Rankin aka Flipsyde.

 

Mysterme & DJ 2000 — Let Me Explain

Unique project extracted by the Bronx hip-hop duo Mysterne & DJ 2020, who signs for Gee Street. Twelve discreet songs, lyrics by Ulysses "Mysterme" Quintana and rhythms made by Mysterme, Kay Zee, Rich Nice, Rick Posada, Sebastian Rodriguez, Robert Brown and DJ Nastee, while I don't know the role of Lamar "DJ 2020" Gardner, I believe he's limited to a few scratches.

 

Pete Rock — NY's Finest

Third studio album-producer by Pete Rock, the first since "Soul Survivor II" (2004). The cover is a tribute to that one of "Hell" by James Brown. The production is handled entirely by Pete Rock, except for "Don't Be Mad", a solo track with a beat provided by DJ Green Lantern.

Jungle Brothers — Straight Out the Jungle

At the end of the 80s some friends decided to form a musical trio: Nathaniel "Afrika Baby Bam" Hall, Michael "Mike Gee" Small and Sammy "DJ Sammy B" Burwell formed Jungle Brothers. In 1987, the youngstaz sign with Idlers, subsidiary label of Warlock Records, and release "Jimbrowski".

2Pac — Greatest Hits

Two years after the murder of Tupac Shakur, a compilation of the artist's best tracks recorded during his short and intense career in the recording industry is released.

The 7A3 — Coolin' in Cali

First group of DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) who neither produces anything nor offers rap here, maybe just a few scattered scratches. Despite being from LA, the group sound East Coast because they're originally from NY. Production's almost entirely created by Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo, while a couple of cuts are offered by Daddy-O.

Justin Warfield — My Field Trip to Planet 9

Unique solo album for the musician Justin Warfield, released by Qwest Records, a branch of Warner Bros.

Skimask Troopaz — Skimask Troopaz

Skimask Troopaz is a branch of the Gimisum Family consisting of Killmac, Mista Playa Dre and So Serious. The guests are more or less all related to Gimisum: Big Hill, AK, Z-Dogg, Lil Gin, Lil Debo, Tupe and Big Red. The lo-fi gloomy production of Big Hill, Skinny Pimp and DJ Steve The Boogah Maine is ideal for the sprays of performers, who drop endless clips of violent and criminal bars effortlessly. In the second part, the tape falls and rests on its laurels with some milder musical choices than the first part, which dominates with several essential extracts including "Don't Fucc Up", "Violence" and "Talk Yo Ass Off". 7/10.

Capital Tax — The Swoll Package

Debut album by Capital Tax, an Oakland hip-hop group consisting of Leonard Robertson aka Total Mind Devastator (TMD), Scruff, Al "DJ Cool Al" Hughes and DJ Big MC.

Pete Rock — The Surviving Elements (From Soul Survivor II Sessions)

Normally, an instrumental scraps album would be safely avoidable. But here we are talking about Pete Rock, for a while, a long time, the best hip-hop producer. Fifteen instrumental songs discarded by the sessions of "Soul Survivor II", which already of it, did not boast one of the most memorable materials made by the revered New York-native beatmaker.

5th Ward Boyz — Rated G

Second studio album by 5th Ward Boyz, it comes out one year after the previous EP and two seasons after their debut. The production is handled mainly by the Houston group and Mike Dean, also contributing Derek Edwards with two rhythms and, with one beat each, Roger Tausz, Scarface and Pimp C. Guests are 3D, Flesh-N-Bone, Wildchild, UGK, Daddy Lo, Mr. Slimm, Nickelboy, Kaos and Gotti.