Some old school?

Common Sense - Resurrection (1994)
Common Sense was/is a rapper out of Chicago. He changed his name to Common after his first 2 albums to avoid a law suit with some european band named Common Sense. Common was friends with the Native Tongues crew early on and has some guest spots on De la Soul and Tribe albums. This is very different than the Common you hear today. If you haven't heard this album, it is a classic. It blows away anything he has released in the past 12 yrs.


De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead (1991)

De La Soul released this album as a direct response to the criticism of their previous debut. This Lp was a mainstay on my record player all throughout high school. If you have their first lp and haven't heard this one yet, you are missing out. This album is revolutionary in its sampling. It's release was delayed because all the samples now had to be cleared with other artists. Here you find De la trying to get out of the pigeonhole of Hippy rap. This album is much angrier than their debut. A definite classic. Click the cover art to download part 1...here is part 2.


Ultramagnetic MC's - Critical Beatdown (1988)

Not much needs to be said about this classic album except maybe that it was the launching pad for Kool Keith's rap career. Enough said.


Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992)
Basically the west coasts answer to De la and ATCQ. Fun, earthy hip hop with great beats. Classic songs include Oh Shit, Yo Mamma, Passin me By, and of course Pack the Pipe.

Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing (1991)
Black Sheep exploded on the hip hop scene around late 1990. They had a fairly large commercial success with their song 'The Choice is Yours'. That song put them into the one-hit wonder category. They were much much more than just that song though. Every track on this album is good. Here is part 2 of the album

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Digable Planets - Blowout Comb (1994)
This is the amazing follow up to their debut lp. Digable Planets meld jazz, hip hop beats and stick in your head eternally rhymes. This Lp goes way beyond what they did on their debut and it was slept on by most of the hip hop community. If you passed this band up as a one-hit wonder then you missed out on one of the most diverse albums of the nineties. Download part 2 right here.


Well, enjoy the classic hip hop. I have a few more albums I upped that didn't make it into this post, so I will put the links in the comments.


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