Return to the 36 Chambers
Artist: Ol' Dirty Bastard
Community Score: 7.77

As a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Ol' Dirty Bastard's bizarre, free-form rants added both comic relief and a dangerous unpredictability to the group's chemistry. ODB's RZA-produced solo debut Return to the 36 Chambers stretches his schtick over a full album, which if anything makes him sound even more unbalanced. Long before the album ends, it's... Read More

It Was Written - CLEAN
Artist: Nas

For his second album, It Was Written, Nas hired a bunch of hip-hop's biggest producers -- including Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, Stretch, and Trackmasters -- to help him create the musical bed for his daring, groundbreaking rhymes. Although that rhyme style isn't as startling on It Was Written as it was on his debut, Illmatic, Nas has deepened his... Read More

Muddy Waters
Artist: Redman
Community Score: 7.39

Despite a heavy dose of Redman's eccentric humor, Dare Iz a Darkside often threatened to disappear in a haze of blunt smoke, so for his third album, he and producer Erick Sermon backed off the muddled sonics of Darkside and returned to the hard funk of his debut set. There isn't as blatant a P-Funk/Zapp influence on Muddy Waters; the beats are... Read More

Hard Core
Artist: Lil' Kim
Community Score: 7.48

Lil' Kim certainly lives up to her provocative billing on Hard Core. Just a notch or two below other mid-'90s East Coast hardcore rap classics like the Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die and Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt, Hard Core emulates much of the gangsta attitude that had characterized the West Coast rap of the time yet retains an East Coast... Read More

Wrath of the Math
Artist: Jeru the Damaja
Community Score: 8.57

Jeru reunited with DJ Premier for this slightly sprawling second record, though fans must have been delirious with joy to find it was similar to -- and usually just as strong as -- his debut. Though it's clear Jeru isn't as hungry a rapper as he was two years earlier, he has just as much to say, and he's just as angry with the state of hip-hop... Read More

Business Is Business
Artist: PMD
Ironman
Artist: Ghostface Killah
Community Score: 8.53
It Was Written
Artist: Nas
Community Score: 7.82

For his second album, It Was Written, Nas hired a bunch of hip-hop's biggest producers -- including Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, Stretch, and Trackmasters -- to help him create the musical bed for his daring, groundbreaking rhymes. Although that rhyme style isn't as startling on It Was Written as it was on his debut, Illmatic, Nas has deepened his... Read More

KRS-One
Artist: KRS-One
Community Score: 6.42

For his second solo album, KRS-One worked with a variety of younger hip-hop talents, perhaps in an attempt to resuscitate his street credibility and his commercial standing. Featuring appearances by Das EFX, Mad Lion, Fat Joe, and Channel Live, KRS-One is loaded with fresh talent of the first rank and they help spark the Teacher into giving an... Read More

Out of Business - LIMITED EDITION
Artist: EPMD

After the popular, praised 1997 comeback album Back in Business, Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith returned with another solid effort that proved they remained one of the best combos in hip-hop, as relevant and tight in 1999 as they were ten years earlier. Most of the tracks are in-house productions (either Sermon or Smith), a true rarity in the... Read More