Tag: East Coast Hip Hop
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Capone-N-Noreaga ‘The War Report’ (1997)
The Queens rap duo of Kiam “Capone” Holley and Victor “Noreaga” Santiago first met in 1992 while serving time at Collins Correctional Facility and bonded over their shared backgrounds in Queensbridge and LeFrak City neighborhoods. After being released from prison they adopted stage names inspired by infamous gangsters and began recording together, signing with Penalty…
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Naughty By Nature ‘Naughty By Nature’ (1991)
Naughty by Nature pulled off what most couldn’t—massive pop hits without losing an ounce of street cred. Formed in East Orange, NJ by three high school friends, the group started out playing talent shows as New Style before catching the right ears and signing with Tommy Boy Records. Their 1991 breakout single “O.P.P.” lit up…
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Raekwon ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…’ (1995)
Like we said when we discussed Ghostface’s 2000 album Supreme Clientele, any member of the Wu Tang Clan had their legacy pretty much cemented due to the sheer epicness of the group’s 1993 album 36 Chambers. But goddamn did their members ever have some bangers for solo albums, with Raekwon being no exception to that…
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Gang Starr ‘Moment of Truth’ (1998)
Moment of Truth feels like peak 90’s hip hop— Guru’s commanding, introspective lyrics paired with DJ Premier’s meticulously crafted beats have that raw authenticity which defined a lot of “underground” hip hop from that era. It’s polished but unpretentious, keeping one foot in the Golden Age of Hip Hop of the 80’s and the other…
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Ghostface Killah ‘Supreme Clientele’ (2000)
As a member of the venerable Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah’s credentials are cemented without even taking his solo career into account. But with Supreme Clientele everything that made Ghostface such a massive figure in hip hop were taken to the next level, delivering one of the best solo albums from the group that effectively invented…
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Run D.M.C. ‘Run D.M.C.’ (1984)
Run D.M.C.’s self-titled debut was a watershed moment for hip-hop in many ways and within a historical context has remained one of the most influential hip hop albums to ever be released. It was the first hip hop album to be certified Gold by the RIAA, introduced the first song ever in the rap-rock genre…
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DMX ‘It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot’ (1998)
There’s few hip hop artists in history that can get me hyped as much as DMX could. The dude brought an intensity to his music that worked on every single level– his flow that sounded like gravel dragged through broken glass, his intensely muscular physique, his barking backing vocals courtesy of the Ruff Ryders, and…
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Jay-Z ‘The Blueprint’ (2001)
New York City has long been a landmark in hip-hop, from its humble beginnings during the early 70’s in The Bronx to the infamous East/West feud in the late 90’s to the NYC Drill Movement that’s been prominent since Bobby Shmurda’s rise to fame in the mid-2010’s. Put simply, New York City is the home…
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Eric B. & Rakim ‘Paid In Full’ (1987)
Noted for its revolutionary lyrics and complex rhyming schemes, Eric B. & Rakim’s Paid In Full stands one of the most influential hip hop records of all-time. Released during the golden age of hip-hop, an era loosely defined by hip hop music released from the mid-80’s to the mid 90’s, Paid In Full and its…
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A Tribe Called Quest ‘Midnight Marauders’ (1993)
A Tribe Called Quest is one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time, contributing an absolutely epic run of three all-time albums in the 90’s. Midnight Marauders is the second album of that run, book-ended by 1991’s Low End Theory and 1996’s Beats, Rhymes and Life. Tribe’s use of jazz, funk, soul, and…
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