When Yo went off the air, MTV immediately shifted to glossier and glossier Rap. Which didn't help the genre at all - it spawned too many rappers like Mase being pushed front and center. MTV decided Grunge had died with Kurt Cobain and needed a hip new brand of music to sell to teenagers across America. Thus we got the increasingly commercial rap produced in the second half of the 1990s, made more or less for MTV's young national audience. That ultimately ended New York City as the center of the Hip Hop world.
EPMD, to me, is one of those groups that was just meant to be together doing albums. I had a hard time getting into their solo stuff because something just didn't feel right. There were other groups that had a breakout star, like Leaders Of The New School with Busta Rhymes, who went off and had more success outside of the group. Erick and Parrish worked so much better together than separate, I loved when they got back together for "Back In Business" in '97, things were right again in the hip hop world.
Let's see some lists of favorites! What are your favorite hip hop albums and/or tracks from 1995? Favorite tracks in no particular order: "Listen Up" by Erule "Funk Soul Sensation" by Jemini The Gifted One "I'll Be Around" by Rappin' 4-Tay (I probably should've included "Playaz Club" on my '94 list.) "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" by Dr. Dre "Boombastic" (Sting Remix) by Shaggy "I Wish" by Skee-Lo "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By" by Method Man feat. Mary J. Blige "One More Chance/Stay With Me" by Notorious B.I.G. feat. Faith Evans & Mary J. Blige "Feel Me Flow" by Naughty By Nature "1st Of Tha Month" by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio "I Got 5 On It" by Luniz "Funk Soul Sensation" - a single & EP only release and possibly only available commercially on vinyl - Jemini wouldn't release a full-length album until collaborating with Danger Mouse on Ghetto Pop Life in 2003
Frankie Cutlass released an underrated album back then with several slick collaborations. Including Feel The Vibe with Rampage, Heltah Skeltah & Doo Wop. Ruck and Rock steal the show.
Yeah, “Politics And Bullsh*t” came out in ‘96, I picked it up back then and it became a favorite of mine. Definitely an underrated album, he had some great guests on the tracks, it’s a solid listen all the way through.
I still don’t know who Frankie Cutlass is, but I bought the album due to the guests. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone ever mention it. That album still holds up.
Maybe it's already been mentioned, but there's a great doc on the history of Hip Hop on Netflix called Hip Hop Evolution. Really well done, check it out.
I actually mentioned it in my very first post in this thread, but it's worth mentioning again. In fact, I may have to go back and re-watch it.
Netflix just released the 2nd part not too long ago. I think it's another 4 episodes, I watched the first 2, one about the rise of southern hip hop and the other about the Oakland/Bay Area scene. Really good stuff, well done and informative.
Almost forgot about this 1995 classic single that dropped over that summer and another great beat done by Easy Mo Bee: Lost Boyz- "Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz"
Lost Boyz is a group I haven't thought about in a long time. I have their album somewhere around here. They had a couple of really hot singles.
99 Ways to Die - Master P I'm from Atlanta and we always jammed a lot of non mainstream music. In 1995 I was going to a little college in Savannah, GA and we were playing everything from No Limit we could get. This was before P had mainstream success. The music was so raw you couldn't help but feel it.
Live By Yo Rep - Three Six Mafia Three Six Mafia was another group that was pumping in all the cars. It was crazy because everyone knew about them from underground mix tapes. I remember the excitement when Live By Yo Rep dropped. It was serious heat.
Top Authority - Rated G Rated G by Top Authority was another classic, non-mainstream album that stayed in rotation. This has always been one of my favorites. Many of the albums throughout this thread remind me of my life. Thank you.
His Ice Cream Man album is really good. It was the last album before No Limit started getting major national recognition and MTV/BET playing their videos all the time. No Limit put out a ton of independent albums in those days from obscure No Limit label mates.
Liquid Swords Only Built 4 Cuban Linx The Infamous Dah Shinin All We Got Iz Us 4,5,6 Doe or Die Return to the 36 Chambers Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous Me Against the World
Hope it's better than the Doom one; I really dig both Czarface and MF Doom, but their collab left me cold.
