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

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

Greatest Hits
Artist: TKA
Community Score: 9.00

In the 1980s and early '90s, TKA was the top male group in the genre termed "freestyle" and "Latin hip-hop." The latter is a definite misnomer, for this type of music isn't hip-hop per se, but rather dance music with hip-hop and Latin elements. Boasting such club smashes as "One Way Love," "Tears May Fall," "Scars of Love" and "Come Get My... Read More

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

Reel to Reel
Artist: Grand Puba
Community Score: 8.00

In a sense, Grand Puba really never was a genuine member of Brand Nubian. He was several years older than Lord Jamar and Sadat X, and had already recorded with the old-school crew Masters of Ceremony several years before finally hooking up with his younger mates. And even the mostly collective-minded One for All featured a couple Puba solo... 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

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

A Future Without a Past...
Artist: Leaders of the New School
Community Score: 8.67

Even in the vibrant early-'90s hip-hop scene, A Future Without a Past... emerged as a breath of fresh air, simultaneously presenting a throwback to the old-school rhyme tradeoffs and call-and-response rapping styles of crews like the Furious Five and the Funky Four + One, and vaulting rap headlong into its future. Brash and full of youthful... Read More

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