Ain't No Shame in My Game
Artist: Candyman

When a rapper does well in the R&B or pop markets, hip-hop's hardcore tends to view the artist with suspicion, however strong his or her rapping skills might be. That was exactly what happened to Candyman when "Knockin' Boots" (a catchy single that sampled Betty Wright's "Tonight Is the Night") enjoyed considerable crossover action. Some... Read More

2 Live Crew's Greatest Hits
Artist: 2 Live Crew

Uncle Luke and company have made a career out of Miami bass/electro that's as raw, funky, and unforgivingly sexually explicit as humanly possible. This collection takes the highlights from four of their earliest and most controversial records and puts them together for a very convenient and near-accurate survey of their classic and most... Read More

2nd II None
Artist: 2nd II None
Community Score: 8.00

Tha D and K.K. once confessed publicly that they were not capable of freestyling in the grand tradition of rap, so it would be quite reasonable if 2nd II None were not the most groundbreaking album in terms of its concepts and rhymes. And it is, in fact, lacking to some extent in those departments. On this debut album, the duo tended toward... Read More

Hard or Smooth
Artist: Wreckx-N-Effect
Community Score: 9.00

Together with "Baby Got Back," Wreckx-N-Effect's "Rump Shaker" helped to blur the line between decency and debauchery that, in the early '90s at least, was allegedly still intact. But unlike Sir Mix-A-Lot, who capitalized on his 1991 monster hit with a seemingly endless cache of goofy double entendres, lurid song ideas, and bombastic... Read More

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Artist: Black Sheep
Community Score: 7.40

Playfully satirical, witty, and incredibly imaginative, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing introduced one of the freshest talents in early-'90s rap, a self-produced duo who caught the tail end of the Native Tongues family. Though Dres and Mista Lawnge didn't match the brilliant wordplay of A Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul, their topics were... Read More

Greatest Hits
Artist: Whodini
Community Score: 9.00

When funksters and soulsters who reached adulthood in the 1960s and '70s criticize rap, their #1 complaint is usually that too much of it isn't melodic enough. But they seldom make that complaint about Whodini, which in the mid-'80s, enjoyed a lot more support from R&B fans than the more forceful and abrasive sounds of Run-D.M.C. or LL Cool J.... Read More

Blacks' Magic
Artist: Salt-N-Pepa
Community Score: 10.00

Prior to the release of their third album, Blacks' Magic, Salt-N-Pepa were viewed as little more than pop crossover artists. Most of their singles had been rap remakes of old R&B songs, and they hadn't even rapped all that much on their biggest hit, "Push It," which got by on its catchy synth hook. But Blacks' Magic was where Salt-N-Pepa came... Read More

Together Forever: Greatest Hits 1983-1991
Artist: Run-D.M.C.
Community Score: 7.00

For the most part, all of Run-D.M.C.'s most important singles and biggest hits are included on Together Forever: Greatest Hits 1983-1991. That alone makes the compilation a necessary purchase. However, that doesn't mean it's a perfectly assembled collection. Instead of presenting the singles in chronological order, the sequencing skips back and... Read More

Prec.I.S.E.-Ly Done
Artist: Prec.I.S.E. MC

When a CD comes out on Luke Records and lists Luther Campbell as its executive producer, one tends to expect South Florida-style bass music. But despite the fact that Campbell signed the PreC.I.S.E. M.C. to his Luke label and serves as executive producer on her debut album, PreC.I.S.E.-ly Done, there isn't a trace of bass music to be found on... Read More

Mama Said Knock You Out
Artist: LL Cool J
Community Score: 8.08

Increasingly dismissed by hip-hop fans as an old-school relic and a slick pop sellout, LL Cool J rang in the '90s with Mama Said Knock You Out, a hard-edged artistic renaissance that became his biggest-selling album ever. Part of the credit is due to producer Marley Marl, whose thumping, bass-heavy sound helps LL reclaim the aggression of his... Read More

Cypress Hill
Artist: Cypress Hill
Community Score: 8.22

It's hard enough to transform an entire musical genre -- Cypress Hill's eponymous debut album revolutionized hip-hop in several respects. Although they weren't the first Latino rappers, nor the first to mix Spanish and English, they were the first to achieve a substantial following, thanks to their highly distinctive sound. Along with Beastie... Read More

2 Live Crew's Greatest Hits
Artist: 2 Live Crew