dork magazine.

1. Prince Paul feat. Breeze – Steady Slobbin’

Breeze Evablowin! I love this dude. The voice is crazy. He’s also the all star emcee from Prince Paul’s concept album Prince Among Thieves. I can’t even get into how important Prince Paul is or even an accurate break down of this track. All I can tell you is that it’s fun as all get out and the best thing to listen to first thing in the morning.

2. Q-tip – Wait up

I’m a reformed Amplified hater. It may have been Dilla’s futuristic sound at the time, or maybe I was still getting over the whole Tribe Called Quest break up but for whatever reason I didn’t give Q-tip’s first solo venture a chance. Breathe and Stop was cool enough, but it was so….club. Where’s the jazz? My thinking was a little cloudy back in the Jansport years and I believe it was at least a year before I picked up Amplified for myself to see what it was about. What a refreshing surprise. J Dilla is really the captain of this ship. It had such bounce and clarity. The jazz was firmly in place had I simply listened for it. Wait up was the albums opener and a good mission statement. Dancing keys and agitated horn stabs perfect for jamming at home, with enough bounce and bass to make noise in the club and in the car. Tip and Dilla were here for a good time while still making great music. In retrospect I wish more albums followed this ethos.

3. Rah Digga – Lessons of Today

As with the general release process I remember a good amount of hype surrounding Rah Digga’s debut. I think there might have been a little bit of drama around this getting held back too. Either way once I heard the single Tight I was pretty much sold, but when I hit the record store with only enough money for one purchase I ended up choosing random underground rap single # 352. I remember my man Kris was with me at the time. Kris was one of my ‘Oh I don’t listen to rap’ converts. He was actually out shopping at a couple different stores and we met back up at my girlfriends place in Toronto. We broke out our purchases and he had Digga’s album in the pile. He was surprised I hadn’t picked it up. I really wasn’t feeling like I was missing out, but then he proceeded to drop the CD in his Discman and I quickly realized my error. This thing was pounding! I lost it. A quick check of the producer list solved a lot of the mystery. Pete Rock, DJ Scratch, Mr.Walt, and a host of others had laced this with their finest. This joint was supplied by DJ Premiere. Another great example of less is more as well as how a strong bass sample can carry a tune. It’s one of personal favourites. It’s too bad that as with most of the Flipmode Squad not much seemed to come of Rah’s career but she at least left a mark and a large impression on this hip hop fan.

4. Gza – Publicity

The Gza has one of the strongest voices in rap. I remember being down at the basement of Dr.Disc in London with this 12 inch in hand. At the time Mad Skillz had started to re-emerge on the scene after taking a few years off to ghost write for everyone in the industry. There was another dude downstairs who had the last copy of Skillz ‘Ya’ll Don’t Wanna’ 12 inch. That track was on Rawkus and produced by Hi-Tek. I was defenceless in needing to have it. We talked back and forth for about ten minutes before settling on a trade. I felt I was the victor, and not to hate on Skillz but I think I lost out that day. This is second in a series of concept raps where Gza uses names of whatever, in this case magazines to break down the science. Backed by a strong high hat and anchored by a beautiful string sample this is just another exhibition of Gza’s incredible talent on the mic.

5. Pete Rock feat. Big Pun, Noreaga & Common – Verbal Murder 2

Three of the games strongest rhyming and one of the best to ever touch the boards equals pretty hard to lose. This is off of Pete Rocks original Soul Survivor LP. Being that this is a Pete Rock production showcase picking tracks off of here could be done blindfolded. I had been following Pete’s career, but in fact I was turned on to this album through the retail environment. I was shopping around at a place called Noise and heard the track #1 Soul Brother and lost my mind. How I managed to hear that before the single Tru Master remains a mystery. Regardless I had to have it and was extremely excited to turn the speakers up hearing hit after hit. On this track a performance from Common and Big Pun meant I should be predestined to enjoy it. It is though the weird wandering guitar and thumping bass that keeps me coming back for more and more.