When Hip Hop was Hip Hop !!

Ahhhh Man you know I had to dig in my crates for this one, this sh!t goes hard!!! 50 and CNN holding it down for Queens. This was 50 before the whole G-Unit movement when "Power of the Dollar" was going to drop. A very very rare record that can only be found on mixtapes. Download link:  50 cent ft Capone n Noreaga - We Keep It Gangsta

of the many hot tracks off of the 1998 album "Moment of Truth," Gang Starr came back with vengeance. Every single record on the album was a banger. Til this day I can listen to the entire album from beginning to end without skipping a track. Krumb Snatcha killed the verse at end!! I still can't believe Guru isn't with us.   Download link:  Gang Starr - Make em Pay

Here is another classic from the rugged child  Download link:  The B Side - Licka Shot

I first heard this during watching the credit roll at the end of the hip hop classic film "Who's The Man" featuring Ed Lover and Doctor Dre plus every single rapper that was hot in the early 90's. Anyway I heard this track and always thought this record was the sh!t. This is off of the movie's soundtrack. On the mic we have Bronx native Jesse West aka 3rd Eye who is a producer/rapper. He went on to produce hit songs with many artists including GZA, Xzibit, Heavy D and KRS-One among others. One of Bad Boy Records' original "Hitmen", West produced remixes for songs on Mary J. Blige's album, What's the 411?.  Download link:  3rd Eye & The Group Home - Ease Up

Hailig from The Bronx, New York. The duo The Lo formally known as Camp Lo consists of rappers Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede. They released their debut album "Uptown Saturday Night" in January 1997 which many people considered it a classic album packed with a smooth jazz sound. This is just one of  the many songs I like off of the album. Download link:  Black Connection

Straight out of Bucktown (Brooklyn) U.S.A, Black Moon paved the way for the entire Duck Down Movement starting with the classic 1992 album "Enta da stage."  Consisting of Bucksot, Evil Dee, and 5 F.T. The group brought that brooklyn flava to the fore front. Download link:  Who Got da Props?