With Father’s Day around the corner, sometimes having a gift ready for one of the most important times in the year can be difficult. Between the resurgence of vinyls and Hip Hop’s 30 plus history, there’s a huge possibility that someone’s dad may be in need of some classic records. We all know the type, fathers feels that nothing in rap mattered after 95. Look no further, as the holiday creeps around in under 48 hours, DX is here to help. With a little help from popular Universal Music Enterprises brand Respect The Classics, these six iconic albums should serve as the best way to show appreciation.
Warren G – Regulate… G Funk Era
Despite having ties to Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Long Beach representer Warren G decided to sign with Def Jam. The end result was one of Hip Hop’s most underappreciated debuts in Regulate… G Funk Era. A project like this could have turned into a catastrophe considering the album was the first crack at West Coast rap for at the house that Simmons and Rubin built. Regardless, the Nate Dogg assisted single “Regulate” was only boosted by its appearance on the Above The Rim soundtrack. While the rest of Hip Hop focused more on the Death Rows, Louds, Tommy Boys and Bad Boys of the world, Def Jam was hanging by a thread. Regulate… G Funk Era saved the company.
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LL Cool J – Radio
LL Cool J is arguably one of the great emcees to bless the mic and there isn’t any better example than his Def Jam debut Radio. Was it the simplistic yet hard-hitting boom-bap brought on by Rick Rubin? Or did LL spit with a level of aggression and cool unheard of at the time? Those two elements created a first impression that held a specific level of what the then next generation of Hip Hop was capable of. Confidence was at an all-time high when he spit rhymes like “But I’m the warlord of rap with my own army, Japan’s whole military couldn’t disarm me.” Since then, that bravado has only grown larger.
Gang Starr – Step Into The Arena
“The DJ’s name is Premier and I’m the Guru” is the first thing heard on Step Into The Arena opener “Name Tag (Premier & The Guru).” From then on, the album becomes a steel clad battle cry filled with lyrical gymnastics from Mr. Elam and musical surgery from Premo. The eighteen track project to some, may possibly be better than their debut No More Mr. Nice Guy. Before Premier elevated himself to the future super producer and Guru became the legendary underground dynamo of rap lyricism, Step Into The Arena felt like the start of something new.
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Slick Rick – The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick
The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick may offer some of the greatest narratives the era has to offer. Sure, everyone likes to use “Children’s Story” as an example and for great reason. Even now, the track may be one of the best stories ever told. However, the album’s 50 minute runtime that proves to something greater from Slick Rick. “Teenage Love,” “Hey, Young World” and “Lick The Balls” all are classics within their own right.
Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
The production from The Bomb Squad got slicker while Chuck D’s rhymes were more vicious and poignant. Most importantly, Flavor Flav’s adlibs became even more hilarious. As classic as the album art has become over time, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back it stands on its own as one spectacular follow-up to Yo! Bum Rush The Show and established Public Enemy as a true force within Hip Hop.
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Various Artists – Juice
There was a time in Hip Hop when movie soundtracks use to be just as good as albums from solo artists or groups. Sometimes, artists sent original material that matched the quality of their own. One standing the test of time is the soundtrack for Juice. Who doesn’t remember the classic “Know The Ledge” theme done effortlessly by Eric B & Rakim? The great thing about the soundtrack for Juice is how diverse the tracks were. Naughty By Nature and EPMD represented East Coast while Too Short and Cypress Hill represented for the West. R&B even found a few spots from artists including Aaron Hall and Teddy Riley. Interestingly enough, lead Tupac wasn’t featured at all but, considering his superb portrayal of Bishop, it was probably better that way.
