T.E.V.I.N.
Artist: Tevin Campbell
Community Score: 7.00

If T.E.V.I.N. had been recorded by an adult instead of a teenager, the album would still be impressive, but the fact that Tevin Campbell was only 14 years old when this was made makes it all the more amazing. Campbell's voice is remarkably expressive, able to handle both ballads and up-tempo dance tracks without losing confidence. When he has... Read More

Womanchild
Artist: Bemshi
Community Score: 10.00

Is she urban contemporary, pop/rock, or world music? Very hard to categorize, Bemshi's debut album, Womanchild, didn't make the playlists of either pop or R&B stations in the U.S. -- and that's a shame because this neglected CD has a lot to offer. To be sure, Womanchild doesn't fit neatly into any one category. The music of Bemshi, an expressive... Read More

Rick & Friends
Artist: Rick James

An 11-song collection of Rick James productions that includes solo releases and tracks featuring James working with the Mary Jane Girls, Teena Marie, and Smokey Robinson. Rick explodes on "Super Freak," "17," "You and I," "Give It to Me Baby," "Bustin' Out" (with its spacy dope beat), and "Mary Jane," Rick's funky homage to marijuana. The Mary... Read More

A Different Time: The Best of Cowboy
Artist: Cowboy

All of the best cuts from the five albums, which document the history of a fine Southern rock outfit. The title "A Different Time" seems to say it all. ~ James Chrispell, All Music Guide Read More

The Geto Boys
Artist: Geto Boys
Community Score: 6.25

This is a revamped version of Grip It! On That Other Level, an album released earlier in the year on Rap-A-Lot. Rick Rubin stepped in, signed the group to Def American, and proceeded to tweak some of the tracks; some other tracks were simply lifted from Grip It!, while a couple went so far as to have new vocals recorded. This works like a charm... Read More

Greatest Hits
Artist: N.W.A
Community Score: 7.29

N.W.A's career isn't necessarily one that lends itself well to anthologies. Though the group had important singles, especially in the underground hip-hop community in the late '80s, it never received any support from radio or MTV, which meant it never had any official "hits." Instead, N.W.A's albums were more important, popular, and influential... 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

Lalah Hathaway
Artist: Lalah Hathaway
Community Score: 6.83

When Lalah Hathaway's self-titled debut album came out in 1990, there was reason to believe that she might evolve into one of the top female R&B singers of the 1990s. Donny Hathaway's daughter certainly had a lot going for her -- not only a big vocal range, but also plenty of charisma, passion, and charm to go with it. The material on this CD... Read More

Take It to the Floor
Artist: Special Generation

The debut album from the MC Hammer protégés Special Generation produced three single releases. The initial release "Love Me Just for Me" is an easy-flowing single with crossover appeal; however, it rode the Billboard R&B charts for 21 weeks, peaking at number eight. The second release "Spark of Love" is probably the best track from the project.... Read More

The Revival
Artist: Tony! Toni! Toné!
Community Score: 3.50

One of the more distinctive R&B groups of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tony! Toni! Tone! has managed to appeal to urban contemporary audiences while expressing its love of 1970s soul and funk. As high-tech as things get on its sophomore effort The Revival, the Oakland trio never fails to sound organic and soulful. Funk smokers like "The... Read More

Vocally Pimpin' EP
Artist: Above the Law

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

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

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

Straight Outta Compton - CLEAN
Artist: N.W.A
Community Score: 8.86

Straight Outta Compton wasn't quite the first gangsta rap album, but it was the first one to find a popular audience, and its sensibility virtually defined the genre from its 1988 release on. It established gangsta rap -- and, moreover, West Coast rap in general -- as a commercial force, going platinum with no airplay and crossing over with... Read More