Player 1 & Bloody Bones — Crime Rate Sky-High

It's no surprise that one of the best hip-hop albums of 1994 comes from Memphis. Instead, it's a surprise that one of the best hip-hop albums of 1994 comes from Player 1 & Bloody Bones, rappers of the crew Frayser Click of Frayser, North Memphis.

YOD — Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition

Album released by Your Old Droog and produced entirely by Tha God Fahim. The beats are credited to Argov, Ewonee, Messiah Musik, Preservation and Roper Williams. The guests are Mach-Hommy, Tha God Fahim, Billy Woods, Tvoy (YOD alter-ego), Phonte, Black Thought, and El-P.

Trillmatic x Conway the Machine — Organized Grime EP

Immediately after "Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 3", Conway comes out with a second EP in April 2019: I'm not sure what the real function of Trillmatic is here, in any case the rapper from Buffalo uses a production that doesn't include the historic producer of Griselda Daringer, replaced by sounds chosen by Apollo Brown, Mephux, Farma, and Kyo Itachi. The Machine drops his classic braggadocio / gangsta lyrics, unfortunately the hooks aren't Conway's bread, otherwise this twenty-minute EP would be among his best works.

E.S.G. — Ocean of Funk

Debut for Cedric Hill aka E.S.G. (Everyday Street Gangsta), homonymous moniker of the NY group of the eighties who pulled out "UFO".

Intelligent Hoodlum — Tragedy: Saga of a Hoodlum

Percy Chapman's second album, last under the name of Intelligent Hoodlum, before finally changing the moniker to Tragedy Khadafi.

 

DJ Paul — Vol. 15 For Them Niggaz W/ Anna [mixtape]

In 1994, DJ Paul released what may actually be his number 15 cassette.

Doug E. Fresh & The New Get Fresh Crew — Doin' What I Gotta Do

Doug E. Fresh did not deserve this end. This is only his third studio album, it's kind of weird, curious if you want, that most of the pioneers of the genre didn't make it to two complete LPs, many stopped their career after the second work. Doug E. Fresh isn't even thirty years-old when he releases his third studio album, many years, four years, after his last work, a classic from the late eighties. Capitol Records still believes in him — and indeed, the album enters the Billboard hip-hop chart — but hip-hop is galloping fast and Doug E. Fresh can't keep up with the pace, his album is far behind with the contemporary sound and it maintains a lyricism typical of the early eighties.

The Brand New Heavies — Heavy Rhyme Experience: Vol. 1

Sophomore for this British group consisting of Simon Bartholomew, Jan Kincald, Andrew Love Levy, Carl Evans, Lascelles Gordon, Jim Wellman and N'Dea Davenport. In their second album, they bring several rappers among the best performers of the US scene in ten different tracks on jazzy rhythms: a quite curious choice, because usually the group plays jazz or funk music without going to touch hip-hop. As guests arrive Large Professor, Guru, Grand Puba, Masta Ace, G Rap, Dres, Edo G and The Pharcyde.

DJ Quik — Safe + Sound

Three years after the previous record, DJ Quik, inspired by Dre's work, understands the potential of live instrumentation and uses it as a major component in building the rhythms for his third studio album, of which he is the unique producer. Guests are Hi-C, Gangsta D, Playa Hamm, 2nd II None, General Jeff, 2-Tone, and Kam.

Al Kapone — Pure Ghetto Anger

Second or perhaps third studio album by Al Kapone, one of the first rappers to impose a dominant funk sound in Memphis, Tennessee.

Ant Banks — Do or Die

Ant Banks' third studio album in three years coincides with his latest work and closes his contract with Jive.

 

Remy Ma — I'm Around [mixtape]

After publishing her debut disk and after having distanced herself from Fat Joe, Remy Ma is preparing to release a worthy follow-up ("PunisHer") and a collaborative album with her new all-female rap group 3Sum, along with Shawnna and Jacki-O (the latter recently feuded with Foxy Brown, as well as Remy Ma). In July 2007, Remy Ma is arrested for shooting her friend and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Remy Ma — There's Something About Remy: Based on a True Story

Bronx-born emcee Reminisce "Remy Ma" Smith emerges from a complicated childhood, becomes passionate about hip-hop and is discovered by Big Pun, that launches her career in the music industry making her debut in the tracks "Ms. Martin" and "You Was Wrong" from his album "Yeeeah Baby" (2000). After Big Pun's death, Remy Ma signs with Fat Joe's label Terror Squad Entertainment, under Steve Rifkind's SRC Records and Universal, becoming a new member of the group Terror Squad.

Havoc & Prodeje — Kickin' Game

Havoc & Prodeje improves their music on their second album, which came out about a year and a half after the debut.

Kwamé and A New Beginning — A Day in the Life: A Pokadelick Adventure

Sophomore jinx incredibly negative for Kwamé. The title refers to the rapper's penchant for wearing polka dots. In the author's idea, the album should be a concept album about "Bone Age". Each song beginning with a snippet of one of his answering machine messages. Also sinking the whole project is Kwamé's idea of ​​giving up sampling, playing almost every instrument to build the tracks.

Original Flavor — Beyond Flavor

Ski supports T-Strong and DJ Chubby Chub on the second album of the Bronx group Original Flavor.

EA-Ski — 1 Step Ahead of Yall EP

First effort for Shon Adams, the first artist to sign and to release both a single both an album for No Limit, after the founder of the label Master P and his group TRU. The production is funky, hard, with hard and pure drum machine, skinny tight syncopated and pounding, and rhythms provided by EA Ski itself and CMT, their sound full of synthesizers approaches mobb music. While EA Ski's rapping adapts to the chosen musical carpet, his delivery is slow and flowing and his gangsta hardcore bars allow him to solidly hold this long EP of over half an hour. It's a fun album, fast and smooth, with no skit or filler nor bangers, with a lot of braggadocio and some street history, overall, it's a nice qualitative effort pretty unusual for the No Limit, but usual for the nineties Bay Area scene. 7/10.

Eminem — The Marshall Mathers LP 2

Recorded in one year and half, in the late 2013 is released the studio album number eight for the Detroit artist Eminem, three years after the flop of "Recovery" and a couple of years after the appreciated collaborative project with Royce da 5'9" under the name of the duo Bad Meets Evil. The title places it as a direct sequel to his personal album from thirteen years earlier. The production is invented by S1, M-Phazes, Streetrunner, Eminem, Rick Rubin, Luis Resto, DJ Khalil, Emile, Alex da Kid, DVLP, Frequency, Jeff Bhasker and Sid Roams. The guests are the rapper Kendrick Lamar and the singers Skylar Grey, Nate Ruess and Rihanna.

Kwamé featuring a New Beginning — The Boy Genius

Kwamé's debut album, unknown cat that had emerged to the surface of the hip hop scene coming from Queens and from the Invincibles, with A New Beginning as his personal backing band. Production is realized by the emcee himself along with The Invincibles and Hurby "Luv Big" Azor. At the end of the eighties, he had a brief moment to shine and then he was unable to keep up with the contenders — they were going too strong — and his career was later mocked also by Biggie due to Kwamé's polka-dot motif in the costumes and production design present in his music videos, which did not contribute to the well-being of his image, despite becoming the rapper's trademark and a fad in hip-hop fashion.

Down South — Lost in Brooklyn

Unique album by hip-hop group formed by Shawn J Period, Myorr "The DJ" Jahna and Jeremy "Soda Pop" Jones. Shawn J Period takes care of the production, leaving some beats for T-Ray, Stretch Armstrong and the Beatnuts, while the guests are The Funkaholic and Bobbito Garcia.

Odd Squad — Fadanuf fa Erybody

Digging deep into the Rap-A-Lot catalog you may eventually find some very well-hidden gems like this: debut for Odd Squad, a Houston group consisting of Devin "The Dude" Copeland, Robert "Rob Quest" McQueen aka Blind Rob, and Dexter "Jugg Mugg" Johnson.

Havoc & Prodeje — Livin' in a Crime Wave

Debut album for the Los Angeles rap duo composed of Cary Calvin and Austin Patterson, who under the names of Havoc & Prodeje are among the founders of the South Central Cartel collective.

Isis — Rebel Soul

In 1990, Lin Que (X Clan affiliate) released his hip hop debut under another name (Isis) and choosing political themes and hip house rhythms, or the two trends of the moment in the genre that's rapidly gaining popularity.

Stezo — Crazy Noise

Stephen "Stezo" Williams is born in 1968 in New Haven, Connecticut. The kid chooses to become a rapper after being a background dancer for EPMD, appearing in the music video of their single "You Gots to Chill", extracted by "Strictly Business". A year later, in 1989, Stezo signs with Sleeping Bag Records and publishes his debut single "To the Max" before his full LP. There's no guest and is almost all self-produced, the first two tracks are produced by Vicious V.

Da Youngsta's — No Mercy

Third album in three years for Da Youngsta's, a trio of kids from Philadelphia formed by Tajj, Tarik and Qu'ran and managed by Lawrence Goodman.

Jungle Brothers — Done by the Forces of Nature

Almost exactly a year after their amazing debut album, New York City hip-hop group Jungle Brothers returns with a second LP self-produced (as The JB's). The guests are A Tribe Called Quest, Monie Love, Vinia Mojica, Jungle D.J. Tohwa, KRS-One, Caron Wheeler, De La Soul and Queen Latifah.

Positive K — The Skills Dat Pay da Bills

At 22 y/o, Darryl Gibson manages to release his debut album, released by Island Records and launched by a hit single, "I Got a Man": the producer, Shawn Thomas aka Easy LG, inserts a series of samples stratified taken from songs of the eighties, managing to mix them on a jazzy boom bap with a lean, syncopated and lively drum machine.

Westside Gunn — Flygod Is an Awesome God

In 2019, Westside Gunn releases his third studio album, twelve choices, half-a-hour of listening. Daringer, Madlib and Denny LaFlare offer two beats each, the other rhythms are provided by The Alchemist, JR Swiftz, Motif Alumni, al.divino, Sadhugold, Evidence and DJ Muggs. The guests are Keisha Plum, Benny the Butcher, Conway the Machine, Sauce Walka, Raekwon, Westside Pootie, Meyhem Lauren and Hologram.

Cypress Hill — Unreleased & Revamped EP

Nine tracks recorded between 1991 and 1996 make up this EP for a total of 36 minutes of music. Production is credited to DJ Muggs, remixes are performed by East Coast producers such as Fugees, Q-Tip, Prince Paul, Diamond D, and by T-Ray who is from Lancaster, California. DJ Muggs is the author of a remix. The guests are Fugees, Erick Sermon, Redman, MC Eiht and Call O' Da Wild. The whole project can be read as an attempt to bring the two coasts closer together in a period in which the feud is inflaming at its highest level.

MC Shy-D — Don't Sweat Me

MC Shy D abruptly separates from Luke Campbell and is label to drop his effort number three via Benz Records and On Top Records. Music is handled by DJ Toomp, MC Shy D and Michael Sterling. He hadn't gone badly in previous years, but here he falls: everything still points to the skeletal and raw beat (in 1990!), with bad results. The only silver lining is that the guy still proves to have a following among his niche audience and the title track is driving the album up in sales, even if it lacks the promotional push of his previous releases under Campbell.

No Face — Wake Your Daughter Up

Originally known as Funktion Freaks, No Face is a hip-hop duo formed by Mark "Mark Sexx" Skeete and Shawn "The Shah" Trone. The group became controversial due to the nature of its obscene and exaggerated lyrics, their songs aren't play in radio stations even with the censored versions. The duo signs with dance label Great Jones, sub-label of Island Records, releasing a couple of singles, "Revenge of the Bat (He's a Bat Mutha)" and "Hump Music", the latter enters in Australia chart. In 1990 No Face signs with Russell Simmon's Rush Associated Labels and published their disk through their own label No Face Records, affiliated to Rush. The production is realized by No Face, the guest are 2 Live Crew and BWP.

Cypress Hill — III (Temples of Boom)

As the title suggests, third studio album by Cypress Hill, group from South Gate, California. The production is handled entirely by DJ Muggs, who reserves a beat for his friend RZA. Muggs is in charge of mixing, aided by Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo, Jason Roberts and Ross Donaldson. Percussionist Eric Bobo becomes an official member of the group.

Ed O.G & Da Bulldogs — Roxbury 02119

Edo.G & Da Bulldogs' second effort, which came three years after its debut, is disappointing: the Boston MC keeps various arguments and he's acceptable on the lyric side, however, it's not adequately supported by the production.

Terror Squad — True Story

The release of the hip-hop group Terror Squad's debut album was a success and seemed to have launched the group's career. However, a few months later, Big Pun died, and later, members Cuban Link and Triple Seis left Terror Squad in conflict with Fat Joe, who replaced them with Remy Ma and Tony Sunshine. In 2004, the group was ready to return to conquer again the market and their rightful place in the circuit. Fat Joe was coming off a solo album that had little success in sales, but he managed to land a hit that saved his career and relaunched it: "Lean Back".

Fugees (Tranzlator Crew) — Blunted on Reality

Debut album by Fugees, hip-hop group from East Orange, New Jersey, formed by Samuel "Pras" Michel of New York, Wyclef Jean of Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, but raised between East Orange and Newark, and Lauryn Hill of South Orange, New Jersey.

Original Flavor — This Is How It is

After their second album, the group disbanded and was integrated by Roc-A-Fella Records, a fledgling label created by Kareem Burke, Damon Dash and Shawn Carter. Original Flavor will not make other albums, on the other hand Carter's artistic career will be immediately launched high thanks to the rhythms provided by the group's producer, David Willis.

Tommy Wright III — Ashes 2 Ashes, Dust 2 Dust

Self-produced and self-distributed (Street Smart) debut album by the Memphis teenage rapper Tommy Wright III, who collaborates with several local MCs, including Mac T-Dog, Shawty Pimp, Princess Loko, MC Spade and King Goldie. The young cat delivers rough and violent themes typical of the Memphis scene with a dynamic and competent style, sometimes ultra-fast, producing a series of lo-fi rhythms that approach the trap sound, thanks to a frenetic snare drum that often prevails over dark samples. In general, the cassette doesn't have particularly memorable songs, but it's certainly different and, if we want, innovative for the genre: produced by an artist who was rediscovered by fans at the end of the two thousand and ten years, the tape consists of about an hour of listen, and it's a must for trap lovers. 7/10.

Kokane — Funk Upon a Rhyme

Kokane's second studio album, three years after his debut under the moniker "Who Am I?". Almost certainly, the guy here's at his best: the record is a great tribute to Digital Underground's p-funk and George Clinton, which you can hear in some of the samples, in the numerous fat bass lines and vocal inflections of Kokane's singing.

Esham — She Loves Me Not

Simple, tight dark rhythms and mediocre, weak jazzy, Esham provides a wack, gray, tasteless, never inspired dark rapping. Samples are never needed and sonic variations like looped guitar riffs, never required. Halfway through the LP, a trap foray with an out of time and generic rapping on a generic rhythm, Esham doesn't even use the bridge. Forget it. In the end, he turns completely to the trap music by choosing generic beats and dropping a poor rapping: in "Bag of Demons" he tries a delivery that looks like a parody of Future. 4/10.

Esham — She Loves Me

Esham's 2020 is opened by a very interesting as well as irregular, deeply irregular choral production: it goes from g-funk to frenetic rhythm, from sparse boom bap to dark rhythm, passing by trap rockin' and elegant piano with female soul samples. Musically, despite all the flaws you can find inside, it's quite enjoyable; however, Esham never exploits the potential of these rhythms, he delivers tired, without ever involving the listener, detached, cold. Try a couple of horrorcore cuts with his raw voice, some dark delivery, but its flow is weak, quite flowing aight, but never exciting or impressive in any way despite the unusual duration for the time ("Football Player"). 6/10.

Roxanne Shanté — Bad Sister

In 1984, the UTFO release "Roxanne, Roxanne". A normal song, fine, about a girl, nothing too interesting. In the same year, however, this trio cancels the presence in a show hosted by Mr. Magic and Marley Marl. For this insignificant suburban trio is the beginning of the end.

Esham — Closed Casket

On his fourth solo album in five years, Esham begins to lose relevance in the rap game coinciding with his renunciation of Satanism as the cornerstone of his records: this is his latest album to deal with the subject, and it's mainly a horrorcore CD with violent themes and music that tends to recall the production of his previous albums.

Esham — KKKill the Fetus

Fourth solo album in three years for Esham, one of the most committed teens in hip-hop at the time. The production is based on the usual skeletal lo-fi sound, while still cheap and raw, it's better than his previous records, which had an amateur sound.

Common Sense — Can I Borrow a Dollar?

In 1992 Chicago arrived on the hip-hop map thanks to the debuts of Twista and Common: the latter made an irregular and deeply incoherent debut studio album.

Esham — Judgement Day Vol. 2 - Night

Officially, it's Esham's third studio album, it's actually the second part of "Judgment Day", the second record from the Michigan pioneer rapper, often rightly considered inferior to the Day Side.

Esham — Judgement Day Vol. 1 - Day

Esham is ahead of his time and in 1992 thinks of a double album for his sophomore record, until then no one has tried anything like that in hip-hop. Instead of releasing a double album, the Detroit rapper releases two CDs on the same day, dividing the volumes into Day Side and Night Side.

A.G. & Cuns — Bronck's Kill EP

Andre "AG" Barnes breaks into 2019 with a new collaborative EP, this time trying to bring Italian producer Cuns out of the underground, and the latter brings out several interesting gems. The tape is released under the Italian label Tuff Kong Records, mixed and mastered by the veteran Bassi Maestro. AG doesn't fully exploit it — typically for him — and leaves little to analyze, but the dark, obscure, tight, jazzy boom bap dropped by Cuns during the whole EP deserves to be listened to. There's a dedicated instrumental part in one of the editions of "Bronck's Kill", I recommend that to jazz rap fans. The light delivery of AG more than anything else disappoints, in fact one of the best cuts is the gloomy, tight remix of "When It Rains It Pours" which presents a couple of guests. The instrumental, ça va sans dire, is pretty dope. 6/10.

Terror Squad — Terror Squad: The Album

At the end of the millennium is released the first album in studio by the group leaded by Fat Joe and Big Pun, Terror Squad. The music is handled by The Hitmen production team, along with The Alchemist, JuJu Gigante (of The Beatnuts), Infinite Arkatechz, VIC, DJ Noodles, Don "AP" Sellers, LA' Smouve, Dirtman and Armageddon. The guests are Buju Banton, Keith Nut and The Bleach Brothers.

Esham — Esham's Boomin Words From Hell 1990

Although some sources give him basically as an infant or little more than a pre-adolescent, Esham is 16/17 years old when he comes out with his debut, recorded on cassette in one day and released in 1989.

John Robinson & A.G. — Penelope EP

Second EP published by the duo AG & John Robinson in the year, after the spring "They Watching", it's the turn of the autumnal "Penelope". Mixed by Dave Dar, is entirely produced by Ray West.