Jadakiss and Sheek Louch are all well and good, but Styles P aka The Ghost is a true CRC icon…apart from all those shitty songs with Swizz and co. that he’s made, of course. But put this dude on the right beat and he gets the job done with minimal flash but a whole lotta…
From his humble beginnings as the DJ for 7A3, DJ Muggs introduced a whole new sound as part of Cypress Hill before finding chart success with ‘Insane In The Brain’ and ‘Jump Around.’ Initially choosing only to work with his immediate associates, it wasn’t until later in his career that he recruited a wider field…
In the wake of my recent piece on the importance of Sadat, here are sixteen superior tracks from his extensive catalogue. Download: A Salute To Sadat X Track listing:
Mr. Walt and DJ Evil Dee teamed up with Rich Blak, Baby Paul and Chocolate Tye to create Da Beatminerz production crew, best known for driving the Boot Camp Clik to their finest moments but also providing some great remixes for a number of other acts. With a deep appreciation for jazz in particular, Da…
Against all odds, producer Easy Mo Bee was able to overcome being a member of Rappin’ Is Fundamental to become THE sound of 1994, as he helped usher the Bad Boy label into the hearts of minds of rap fans everywhere, before the excess of the Shiny Suit era and Puffy’s insistence on stamping his…
Outside of his own incredible solo work, Kool G Rap had provided some of the most memorable cameos in rap. His run of guest spots in the late nineties was so impressive that it prompted Rawkus Records to pay him a lot of money to record an ill-fated album for them. Here are eighteen examples…
After a highly scientific process involving going to the pub and eating Vietnamese take-out, I’ve finally determined my favourite eighteen Mobb Deep songs at this exact point in time. Resisting the urge to focus too heavily on their peak period, I’ve attempted to include something from all of their albums over the years to provide…
Roc has a new solo album dropping this year titled Rosebudd’s Revenge. If he’s able to match the quality of Marcberg and Reloaded then he will have delivered a true classic rap trilogy. In the meantime, I thought I’d revisit his back catalog and select what I consider to be the sixteen definitive Marciano records…
The introductions to rap albums have traditionally been the arena of poorly-executed impersonations of Al Pacino movies or just general shit talking. These eighteen examples, however, feature intros where actual rapping has been utilized to make them worthwhile. Good job, everybody! Download: A Salute To Rapping Intros [re-upped]
The only conditions for this are that the story is fictional (which eliminates classics such as ‘Ever So Clear’) and that it’s one consistent narrative (which means that ‘Vapors’ isn’t eligible). This first volume is a mixture of obvious standards, unorthodox yet brilliant narratives and straight forward tales. Download: A Salute To Story Raps, Volume…
Sir Menalik aka Cyclops 4000 aka Scaramanga aka Jabbar El aka Chewbacca Uncircumcised first made a name for himself reading out technical manuals on Dr. Octagon, but it was his Scaramanga material that really made an impression on CRC-minded rap fans as he delivered wordy jiggnorance over outstanding beats. Both versions of ‘Mind I.C. Mine’…
Eighteen stellar moments from Godfather Donnie Brasco, who demonstrated fairly distinct styles throughout his numerous creative periods. From his ‘fast rapping’ techniques from the Hazardous LP to his experimental demo period through to his ‘singles’ phase at Hydra Entertainment (which I consider to be his peak), he then began to channel a slightly ‘jiggy’ street…