F.U. Don't Take It Personal
Artist: Fu-Schnickens
Community Score: 9.00

Even before they made it to the record bins, three-man New York crew Fu-Schnickens created quite a buzz in the hip-hop community with the oddity of their group name. Once they dropped their debut album, F.U. Don't Take It Personal, their music turned out to be every bit as curious and intriguing. The music is inundated with kung fu movie... Read More

Way 2 Fonky
Artist: DJ Quik
Community Score: 7.00

DJ Quik proved his mettle with "Jus Lyke Compton," a definitive bit of regional touting that proclaimed West Coast rap the style-setter and all others followers. Whether or not you bought the line, you were hooked by the rap. Nothing else on the disc matched this single's intensity and wit, but it helped him earn a second straight gold LP. ~ Ron... Read More

Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beets
Artist: Terminator X
Community Score: 10.00

For hardcore Public Enemy fans, the release of Terminator X's debut solo album, Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beets, in 1991 was a major event. Terminator X, of course, is best-known for his work as Public Enemy's DJ; his cutting and scratching added a lot to five-star albums like Fear of a Black Planet and It Takes a Nation of Millions... Read More

Step in the Arena
Artist: Gang Starr
Community Score: 7.66

The album on which DJ Premier and Guru perfected the template that would launch them into underground stardom and a modicum of mainstream success. Guru's deadpan monotone delivery was shockingly different from other early-'90s MCs, many of who were either substituting charisma for substance or engaging in hardcore "realism" without really... Read More

Quik Is the Name
Artist: DJ Quik
Community Score: 8.28

The release of DJ Quik's debut album, Quik Is the Name, in 1991 begged the question: does rap really need yet another gangsta rapper? Indeed, by that time, rap had become saturated with numerous soundalike gangsta rappers -- most of whom weren't even a fraction as interesting as such pioneers of the style as Ice-T, N.W.A, and Schoolly D.... 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

Vocally Pimpin' EP
Artist: Above the Law

Improved production and studio techniques, and sharper quips. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide Read More