This Is How We Do It
Artist: Montell Jordan
Community Score: 7.00

Montell Jordan was blessed with a strong set of producers for his debut album, This Is How We Do It. Working with material that is essentially sub-par, the production team turns in a seamless performances, creating hooks and melodies from the deep bass and beats. Jordan's skills as a rapper are fine -- he does nothing particularly noteworthy,... Read More

Hemp Museum
Artist: B-Legit
Community Score: 5.00
All World: Greatest Hits
Artist: LL Cool J
Community Score: 8.52

All World: Greatest Hits is an excellent compilation of LL Cool J's greatest hits, featuring 16 of his biggest and best singles, including "I Can't Live Without My Radio," "Rock the Bells," "I'm Bad," "I Need Love," "Going Back to Cali," "Jingling Baby," "The Boomin' System," "Mama Said Knock You Out," "Around the Way Girl," and "Hey Lover."... Read More

Can You Feel Me
Artist: Dru Down
Community Score: 10.00

Can You Feel Me is a revelation, proving that Dru Down has rhyming skills far superior to most of his West Coast gangsta rap brethren. While the music isn't stylistically different from G-funk, it is catchier and more memorable than many sub-Dre productions. More importantly, Dru Down is a terrific rapper, capable of laconic phrasing like Snoop... Read More

11-20-79
Artist: Mona Lisa
Community Score: 9.23
Adventures of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel & The Furious Five: More of the Best
Artist: Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
Community Score: 10.00

Although much of Grandmaster Flash's best, biggest, and most groundbreaking work was compiled on Message From Beat Street: The Best Of, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: More of the Best is necessary for any comprehensive rap collection. The rest of Grandmaster Flash's most important singles, many of which have not appeared on compact disc... Read More

Legal Drug Money
Artist: The Lost Boyz
Community Score: 9.07

Legal Drug Money covers the same themes that many other hip-hop artists were covering in the mid-'90s. The Lost Boyz rap about getting high, being rich, and other topics typical of the genre. The best track on this album is easily "Renee," a song about a woman who fell in love with an MC but gets killed. Smif-n-Wessun's Dah Shinin and Heltah... Read More

The Natural
Artist: Mic Geronimo
Gangsta's Paradise
Artist: Coolio
Community Score: 8.50

Most of Coolio's hit debut It Takes a Thief was fairly upbeat material, but the appearance of the stark single "Gangsta's Paradise" in the summer of 1995 signaled a change in the rapper's music. Driven by an ominously deep bassline and slashing strings, the creeping, threatening funk of "Gangsta's Paradise" was the most chilling thing Coolio had... Read More

Curb Servin'
Artist: WC and the Maad Circle
Community Score: 5.37

Musically, WC & the Maad Circle's Curb Servin' is by-the-books West Coast gangsta rap, with deep funk grooves and lazy, rolling beats. Coolio, who used to be a member of the crew in the early '90s, and Ice Cube make guest appearances, but what distinguishes it from others of the genre is the lyrical flair of WC, who spices up his rhymes with... Read More

E 1999 Eternal
Artist: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Community Score: 8.59

Following the surprise success of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's summer 1994 anthem "Thuggish Ruggish Bone," the group returned a year later with E 1999 Eternal, an impressive debut full-length that dismisses any notion that the group was merely a one-hit wonder. From beginning to end, the album maintains a consistent tone, one that's menacing and... Read More

T.H.U.G.S.: Trues Humbly United Gatherin' Souls
Artist: Flesh-N-Bone
Community Score: 9.18

Flesh-N-Bone's solo release is a continuation of the rapid-fire delivery of lyrics patented by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The words come so fast you're forced to listen intently to identify them. Lots of preaching and sermonizing here; the first cut uses lines from the "Lord's Prayer," while "Reverend Run Sermon" features Run (of Run-DMC) preaching a... Read More