Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.Artist: 2Pac
Community Score: 7.11
Fulfilling much of the promise showcased on 2Pac's debut album a year earlier, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. offers a wealth of thoughtful moments such as "Keep Ya Head Up" yet still makes plenty of room for good-time celebrations such as "I Get Around." These two hits in particular make Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. a noteworthy, if sometimes...
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Life After DeathArtist: The Notorious B.I.G.
Community Score: 7.93
It may have taken the Notorious B.I.G. a few years to follow up his milestone debut, Ready to Die (1994), with another album, but when he did return with Life After Death in 1997, he did so in a huge way. The ambitious album, intended as somewhat of a sequel to Ready to Die, picking up where its predecessor left off, sprawled across the span of...
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ResurrectionArtist: Common Sense
Community Score: 8.54
Although Chicago is often praised for its blues, jazz, and house music, the city has failed to be successful when it comes to rap. One of the few Chicago MCs who has enjoyed any type of national attention is Common Sense, whose complex style of rapping and jazz-flavored tracks inspire comparisons to De La Soul, Digable Planets, A Tribe Called...
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It Takes a ThiefArtist: Coolio
Community Score: 5.70
Just when it looked like rap would completely succumb to the violent hyperbole and mean-spirited "realness" of gangsta rap, new blood entered the scene in 1994 to nudge the genre back toward friendlier turf. That new blood included Nas, Craig Mack, and Coolio, whose It Takes a Thief starts with the easy-rolling funk of Lakeside's "Fantastic...
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Which Doobie U B?Artist: Funkdoobiest
Community Score: 10.00
Funkdoobiest's debut album, Which Doobie U B?, sounds a lot like their mentors in Cypress Hill -- a lot. Not only is DJ Muggs' production very similar, but lead MC Son Doobie's flow often resembles a more robotic version of B Real (that's a compliment, by the way). But it all works anyway -- Muggs is in his absolute prime as a producer...
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In a Word or 2Artist: Monie Love
Monie Love's second CD was more ambitious, taking a harder, less pop tone and approach. She spoke frankly and with clarity about such topics as promiscuity and self-esteem, while her rapping was more focused, her beats starker and more forceful, and the rhymes less gimmicky. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide
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Let Me Clear My ThroatArtist: DJ Kool
