90s Hip Hop

The social heart of The Fugees and its most talented performer, Lauryn Hill tailored The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill not as a crossover record but as a collection of overtly personal and political statements.`z

In Shades of Blue Madlib, hip-hop producer extraordinaire, tackles Blue Note's soul-jazz catalogue, enjoying free rein in the fabled label's vaults.

Precise. Bass Heavy. Just right. These are the three qualifiers that encapsulate Midnight Marauders. All of them accurate. Credit: albumism.com

While most of the players in the jazz-rap movement never quite escaped the pasted-on qualities of their vintage samples, with The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest created one of the closest and most brilliant fusions of jazz atmosphere and hip-hop attitude ever recorded.

The Score is the second and final studio album by the hip hop trio Fugees.

The album blends R&B, hip hop, and jazz influences with Badu's introspective and socially conscious lyrics.

The Atlanta-based critically acclaimed duo of Big Boi and Andre with yet another innovative contribution to hip-hop.

The album has cemented its place in hip-hop history and has since gone on to achieve 6x platinum certification in the US, selling over 3.5 million copies, and has achieved platinum status in the UK as well.

By 1994 the Beasties had settled into their cultural role as the grand arbiters of cool, and 'Ill Communication' is pretty much a catalog of coolness

Covering themes of insecurity, social issues and personal relationships, Badu delivered a highly intimate and personal album that reached Platinum two months after its release.

No matter how controversial, it remains one of the greatest and most influential hip-hop albums of all time.

"People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm" is the debut studio album by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released in 1990.

The album is consistently named in magazine polls as one of the greatest albums of all time. No-one believed the Beastie Boys could top the hard rocking beast of 'Ill Communication', but along came 'Paul's Boutique'. Their first album release for Capitol Records the album was originally released in the summer of 1989 and frankly didn't hit the spot, initially, with many critics. Essentially a love letter to their home town of New York, 'Paul's Boutique' is a dense record with its multiple layers of samples and beats that helped to redefine just how good sampling could be. With the help of production duo the Dust Brothers, the Beastie Boys mix up numerous beats, samples and loops to create a great record that many critics now regard as one of the finest release of 1989, the decade or even the century.

A Tribe Called Quest weren't rap's biggest hit makers, but their signature numbers indeed fill this collection with style, eclecticism, and laid-back but deliberate flow; indeed, the group's stature seems to have grown since its 1998 breakup.

Straight Outta Compton was the hugely successful and highly controversial second album from Eazy E, Ice Cube, and Dr Dre.

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...is the solo debut of American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon.

The Infamous is the second studio album by the American Hip Hop duo Mobb Deep, released in 1995. The album features guest apperances from Nas, Wu-Tang Clan members, Reakwon and Ghostface Killah. It marked Mobb Deep's transition from a relatively unknown Rap duo to an influential and commercially successful one.

Finished in 1998, unreleased until 2000, and featuring reworked material that dates back to the trio's earliest years, Fantastic Vol. 2 is practically a retrospective of Slum Village's career.

Step in the Arena is the second studio album by hip hop duo Gang Starr, commercially released on January 15, 1991.

If you love Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Prince - this is up there.

In time, Blige became a global symbol of female empowerment and perseverance, but on My Life, she lay her soul bare to brilliant ends.

Gang Starr is undoubtedly one of the most revered, beloved and influential groups in Hip Hop.

It doesn't hurt that Q-Tip and Phife Dog are feeling the flow here; an inspired pairing with distinctive voices and different strengths, they trade verses with fluid grace.

The was the first rap LP to top the Billboard album chart in 1986.

Remastered from the original tapes & pressed on loud double vinyl! Hot of the success of Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, producer extraordinaire Ski was on fire when he flipped Dynasty’s “Adventures In The Land of Music” for Camp Lo’s breakout 1996 smash single “Luchini aka This Is It”.

It is on OutKast's debut album that the fledgling production team Organized Noize began forging one of the most distinctive production sounds in popular music in the '90s: part hip-hop; part live, Southern-fried guitar licks and booty-thick bass runs; and part lazy, early-'70s soul. 

The 1996 sophomore follow-up was titled It Was Written, and in contrast to the urban bleakness of his debut, had Nas dipping his toes into the world of mafioso rap. 

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on June 28, 1988, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records.

Efil4Zaggin, is about as close as you can come to a death metal/hip-hop hybrid. People will get hurt here.

Check Your Head brought the Beastie Boys crashing back into the charts and into public consciousness.

The De La Plugs created the D.A.I.S.Y. (Da Inna Sound, Y'all) philosophy on their brilliant and weird debut, Three Feet High and Rising (making them the first—and probably only—hip-hop act to appropriate a Johnny Cash song for their album title).

The contributions of the late Detroit producer James DeWitt Yancey - better known to the world as J Dilla- to the world of hip-hop can't be overstated, and nowhere is his legacy more apparent than his work as a member of Slum Village.

Cypress Hill's eponymous debut album revolutionized hip-hop in several respects. 

All World: Greatest Hits is a compilation album by LL COOL J that spans his career from the release of his debut album.

Blunted On Reality is the 1994 debut album by Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel, collectively known as The Fugees. The album contains less political lyrics than their second album The Score [MOVLP068], but there definitively were political intentions.

35th anniversary of the Platinum-selling second album, co-produced by Ice-T and Afrika Islam. Releasing as a limited edition 'Ice cold gold' coloured vinyl, this record includes legendary singles like 'I'm Your Pusher' and 'High Rollers' from one of rap's original gangsters.

“We are the planters of the weeds or roses in our garden. Take the plunge within yourself to find The Main Ingredient.” So reads CL Smooth’s album dedication in the liners to Pete Rock & CL’s underrated, soulful and deeply grooving sophomore album.

Vinyl repress of the sophomore album by Eric B. & Rakim, originally released in 1988.

KMD (Kausing Much Damage, or a positive Kause in a Much Damaged society) was a Hip Hop group in the early 90s perhaps best known for launching the career of acclaimed MC/Producer MF Doom (known during his KMD tenure as Zev Love X).

In the aftermath of their commercial resurgence in 1994 with ‘Ill Communication’, Beastie Boys decided to return to their punk rock roots with the following year’s ‘Aglio E Olio’ EP. Mike

It was produced by the group's production team The Bomb Squad, who sought to expand on the dense, sample-layered sound of Public Enemy's previous album, 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' (1988). 

This carefully curated double LP compilation combines the best of Mantronix's work from the early, and arguably, best era of their career into one amazing listening experience. Whether you are an avid Mantronix fan or are looking for a place to start - this is the collection to wrap your ears around.