Never saw the movie, but I did have the soundtrack back in the day. Wiki says it came out in October of 1992. Makes you wonder why it took so long for Nas to complete Illnatic, which came out a full year and a half later. The song is one of his best, though.
I think this was mentioned earlier in the thread, some interesting pairings of bands with hip hop artists or groups. The lead single with Helmet and House Of Pain, "Just Another Victim" was pretty catchy as well as Biohazard and Onyx "Judgment Night". The album peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200 and had 4 singles released.
Wow, I forgot all about this one. '93 was possibly the first year I was signed up with Columbia House, and my selection of the month genre was rap/hip-hop. I took a chance on several of the albums mentioned so far, and for the most part I was not disappointed. This was also one I got from my music club membership, but I'll be darned if I can remember what any of it sounded like.
What are your favorite hip hop albums from 1993? Here's my list: 5. Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Space And Time) by Digable Planets 4. Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan 3. Enta Da Stage by Black Moon 2. Doggystyle by Snoop Doggy Dogg 1. Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest
I forgot that this album actually came out in 1992, but it is definitely one I played a ton during the summer of '93: Paperboy The Nine Yards The single "Ditty" didn't peak on the Hot 100 (at #10) until April of 1993, and I didn't get a copy of the album until around that time. There are several songs I like on the album, especially on the first half.
Favorite hip hop songs of 1993? It's hard to narrow down, but here's my list: 10. "Funky Child" by Lords Of The Underground 9. "Down With The King" by Run-DMC 8. "Dazzey Duks" by Duice 7. "Insane In The Brain" by Cypress Hill 6. "Gin And Juice" by Snoop Doggy Dogg 5. "Slam" by Onyx 4. "Gotta Get Mine" by MC Breed & 2Pac 3. "Ditty" by Paperboy 2. "Award Tour" by A Tribe Called Quest 1. "How Many Emcees (Must Get Dissed)" by Black Moon
I know I'm going to think of something else after I post this or change my mind later but we'll say this list is subject to change at anytime. For now I'm going with: 10. "Hip Hop vs. Rap"- Krs One 9. "Dolly My Baby(Bad Boy Remix)- Super Cat 8. "Rebirth Of Slick(Cool Like That)"- Digable Planets 7. "Chief Rocka"- Lords Of The Underground 6. "Last Wordz"- 2Pac feat. Ice-T and Ice Cube 5. "Pump Pump"- Snoop 4. "Down With The King"- Run-DMC feat. Pete Rock and CL Smooth 3. "How Many M.C.'s(Must Get Dissed)"- Black Moon 2. "Protect Ya Neck"- Wu Tang Clan 1. "Outta Here"- Krs One
I'm going to have to play Down with the King again sometime later today b/c I didn't like that song at all back when it came out. don't know if hindsight will improve it for me but I'll try. I just thought it was corny af back then.
Unlike for some of you for this was high school music I was in my mid to late 20's. I was moving off of rock to being a jazz head and this was the year I got into hip hop big time. Buhloone Mindstate, Midnight Marauders and Jazzmatazz were massive in my listening habits that year ( I was already a fan of Guru, De La and Tribe already but these felt like classics) along with the Cronic. I bought the Wu but it took me awhile to appreciate it, maybe not appreciate is the right word, I knew it was different and brilliant but it wasn't an easy listen like the others mentioned.
I'm really glad I bought Buhloone Mindstate on CD recently. It had been years since I listened to it in full (on cassette), and I enjoy it more now than I did back then. I love all the jazzy/alternative rap that was out at the time. I hear you on Wu. It was very different than anything else out. Very grimy and gritty production. Their voices are also rough sounding. NWA had street lyrics but a more "polished" sound. Wu-Tang sounded like they were a group of dudes living on the street.
yeah the grimy production was a little off putting but then Liquid Swords became one of my favorite produced hip hop records ever so go figure. That Digable Planets from 93 was huge in my circle that year as well.
Good evening late nighters! You nailed it - The Chronic definitely was a staple in the car tape deck, until it was usurped by Doggystyle. Put The Chronic's tracks in order of preference? My answers today, are definitely different than if you had asked back in '93. 1. Little Ghetto Boy There's no question. 2. Deez Nuutz Introducing Nate Dogg. R.I.P... This is such a great beat, just kills me everytime. I play this one more than anything below on this list now. 3. Nuthin But A G Thang. A Classic, still love it. Snoop's flow on this is untouchable, particularly in the 2nd verse. 4. The Day The Niggaz Took Over This cut is sonically as chaotic as the riots. A real headphone piece. I'd like to know if this was Dre or Daz. Love it. 5. Let Me Ride I'm a sucker for the samples this track is made from. If you haven't heard the 12'' version, you're missing out though. 11 minutes of Funk, with Detroit's own Tony Green on bass. I've mentioned before the fantastic Death Row 12'' singles from this era. 6. High Powered While it instantly dates it to this era, I LOVE a good "Funky Worm" synth. 7. Stranded On Death Row Oh Look, it's Bushwick Bill! 8. Lyrical Gangbang Lady of Rage kills this one. 9. The Roach Make my bud the Chronic. 10. Chronic Intro/**** Wit Dre Day Barely makes my top 10 today, although I do like the 12'' version with the different bassline. The rest aren't worth mentioning today, honestly. Re: The Cover I first bought this on cassette, and it didn't have the "Introducing the Death Row Inmates" box, but when I picked it up on Vinyl in '93, it did. I didn't really think anything of it at the time, but you're right, the original originals didn't have that.
Great '93 collage. I gotta say, all things considered, my FAVORITE '93 album is Reachin'... I could talk about it all day, I know it front to back.
I have to get up early, but I will look forward to the discussion on Reachin' and other '93 albums and songs tomorrow.
‘93… here’s where things start to buhloone out for me. Hard to track my Memphis tape / DJ Screw favorites because I don’t have them accurately catalogued in iTunes yet and often times it's hard or impossible to source accurate provenance of these tapes. Essentially this is the point at which I start to assume I'm missing / forgetting some key favorites. To the best of my ability / recollection: Lady Bee - Sumthin fa da Streets Part 1 & 2 Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Eightball & MJG - Comin' Out Hard DJ Paul & Lord Infamous - Come with Me to Hell Part 1 De La Soul - Buhloone Mindstate Geto Boys - Till Death Do Us Part A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders Souls of Mischief - 93 'Til Infinity Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle DJ Sound - The Karaoke Tape Part 1 & 2 The Lady Bee tapes in particular are some of my favorite rap releases ever. Memphis rapper Kingpin Skinny Pimp using pitched-up raps to emulate a female voice/persona in the Prince / Camille (or later on Nas / Scarlett) tradition — also similar in execution to Madlib / Quasimoto, but less ironic and more committed / secretive.
Black Moon's Who Got Da Props is one of my five or six favorite Rap songs of all time. Black Moon's debut album would eventually set the stage for DuckDown Records and the Boot Camp Clik.
Those Lady Bee tapes are about as underground as it gets. Not only have I never heard them, but there is almost no information to found about them online. Thanks for pointing them out!
This is a solid ranking! Mine would be a little different. Pretty much everything on Side A was played heavily back in the day, so those are my favorite tracks: 1. Nuthin' But A "G" Thang 2. Let Me Ride 3. Lil' Ghetto Boy 4. F- Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin') 5. Deeez Nuuuts 6. The Day The Niggaz Took Over 7. The Chronic (Intro) As far as Side B goes, the songs are all tied for #8, and the skits rank below that. Usually by the time I got to the end of Side A, I just rewound the tape and started over again!
I totally slept on this when it first came out. About 10 years later, though, I picked it up at a used store and couldn't believe what I had missed. It's one of those albums where every song is good, and the album is best played as a cohesive whole rather than cherry picking any particular tracks. I can't think of any other hip-hop group at the time that sounded like this, and perhaps none since have come close to emulating their sound.
1993 is the semi-official start to what I consider Rap's golden era, ending a few years later when Biggie died in 1997. It's the equivalent of Rock's 1967 Summer of Love explosion, when you have dozens of different acts flourishing at once and true classics starting to come from both coasts. So many great albums came out that elevated the genre beyond its initial roots, it was an amazing burst of creativity. Virtually every album in the collage is worth hearing. Tha Alkaholiks feature one of the most underrated producers of the era, E-Swift. He'd eventually become a big presence on the West Coast's underground scene, producing for many others. Masta Ace's Slaughtahouse has a nice deluxe edition available with loads of remixes.
This single came out in 1993 I believe, Hard 2 Obtain's L.I. Groove. Now hearing this video version for the first time after all these years, I think it's a different recording from the album version, the one I am very familiar with. The opening verse sounds re-recorded for some reason.
This definitely came out in '93. Fantastic track! I have the 2006 Traffic reissue of the full length album. I also have the promo CD single of "L.I. Groove," and track 1 is the Radio Edit. No difference in the vocals--just a few words muted to remove offensive lyrics--but the intro has been removed completely on the edit. (The album has a 1:22 intro before the song starts.) The album also has a "reprise" version, which is the same mix as the "Remix Radio Edit" on the promo CD, but again, the promo is clean while the LP is dirty. I believe the audio track of the video has been swapped (or they originally made a dirty version), as it contains the explicit LP lyrics.
