23 Comments
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Andrew Smith's avatar

Nice. I'm listening to EPMD right now, so just a few years behind these dudes. I love early 90s hip hop.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Nice! "So Wat Cha Sayin'" is an all timer.

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Andrew Smith's avatar

Agree! Banger, great for jiu jitsu class.

BTW, I have graduated to All 'N All for my Earth Wind & Fire journey !

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Andres's avatar

I didn’t know many of these records. Homework sorted! Thanks!

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Sam Colt's avatar

You’re in for a treat. I cannot recommend going to De La’s first four albums enough. “3 Feet High” is amazing but don’t let it overshadow their other stuff! I did that for far too long.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

^This^

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Of course! Hope you find a new favorite or two in there!

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Joi's avatar

90s hip hop is my fav and I'm always interested in discovering "new" artists from that era....so thank you for this essay.

Gonna share this record that a friend recommended of Underground 90 hip hop artists. I'm not a hip hop connoisseur by any means but I think this compilation is pretty damn phenomenal and folks here might appreciate.

https://dopefolksrecords.bigcartel.com/product/the-best-of-dope-folks-records-lp-pre-order

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Oh, this looks awesome! Thanks for getting it on my radar!

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Steve Goldberg's avatar

Some fantastic picks here, guys! And I like how you both tossed in some of the '90s-era hip-hop lingo, just to create a proper atmosphere. You two def buggin' out.

I would add Pete Rock and CL Smooth's brilliant '92 album Mecca and the Soul Brother to the list.

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Sam Colt's avatar

That was a runner up to my list, along with Kevin’s first two picks. Such a good album!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

A fantastic pick! This was on my shortlist, and a last minute cut.

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Gary Trujillo's avatar

These groups weren't getting radio play at the time but were pretty huge in the skateboard scene. I believe this was the beginning of "underground hip hop."

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

I think you're right!

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Kevin McSpadden's avatar

I wanted to add Nia from Blackalicious, and cheat by throwing in Power in Numbers from Jurassic 5 (came out in 2000 apparently).

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

A Jurassic 5 shoutout? We'll allow it. :)

Seriously though; they're fantastic!

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Kevin McSpadden's avatar

Played it during closing at work yesterday for my Gen Z colleagues and they were enjoying it

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Jeff K's avatar

So...How's Your Girl? is a great album.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Indeed!

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Bree Stilwell's avatar

Such an awesome list. Always surprised to see Bizarre Ride make these cuts tho… it was such a MASSIVE record for me and my crew. Just everywhere, all the time. It felt like the whole world was going nuts on it.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Thank you! I’m glad you liked it!

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Adam Tanner's avatar

Some excellent choice here. I grew up on mid to late 80’s hip hop and punk/hc/college music so when the 90’s came and we were overrun with either Gangsta rap or Puffy related pop music that masqueraded as hip hop, I just tuned out. There was still the De La’s and Q-Tip solo but most of the indie people I know went waaaaay deep on the underground Hip Hop side.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Thank you! I’m glad you dug it. So much great stuff was bubbling just beneath the surface.

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