The eMusic Dozen: Hip-Hop Rarities, Part Two

The mid-to-late '90s saw the debut of now-classic artists like Smif 'n Wesson, OC and Mobb Deep -- to name just a few. Queens native Mic Geronimo also snuck in with this solid debut LP -- some might even call it a quiet classic. It has that eerie '90s dark alley street vibe from beginning to end, and not one track is worthy of the skip button. Standouts include "Lifecheck," "Men vs Many" and "Shit's Real," but the biggest anthem here is "Masta IC," which got played at every party I DJ'd during those times -- it had to be done. Geronimo's career might not have lasted but this album certainly has, a must-have for any mid-'90s hip-hop fanatic.

Bronx collective Showbiz & AG were the pioneers of the legendary DITC Crew along with Lord Finesse and Diamond. On their second LP, their sound changed a bit from the classic debut Runaway Slave, but the end results were just as good if not better. Fueled by DJ Premier's Nyte Time Remix of "Next Level" the album set the standard for the sound that would dominate the underground for the next few years. Another solid album from beginning to end, standouts include "Time For," "Got the Flava" and "Check It Out."

While we're on the topic of DITC, here's one where the title says it all. As a frantic collector of hip-hop music, I have only seen this release here at eMusic. Although I have most of the DITC catalogue in some form, there are at least five songs on this comp that I had never come across. "Bad Rep," with great verses by OC and Fat Joe, "Put It in Your System" with AG and Diamond and "I Come to War" featuring Freddie Foxxx using a classic DITC beat as a punching bag. "Drop It Heavy" features KRS, AG and Big Pun all shining, and "Best Behavior" is a classic Fat Joe/Big Pun duet. There are too many rare gems to count on this one.

In part one of this Dozen I mentioned JVC Force's debut "Doin' Damage" and the fact that their second LP was also worth a listen if you could find it. Well, thanks to eMusic's addition of the Warlock Records catalog, here you have it. The Long Island trio of Q-Ball, Kurt Cazal and B-Love switched labels from B-Boy Records to Warlock and recorded this overlooked album which had buzz at the time with "Into 2 Dance," but the label did nothing to market or promote it, leaving it in hip-hop limbo so that junkies like myself could brag about how nobody else had it. Standouts include "Stop N Listen," "Dejavu" and "Keep a Handle."

After moving to Philly in 1992 I was introduced to Tuff Crew, who were the Run-DMC of Philly at the time. Every hip-hop head knew their records and "My Part of Town" seemed to get played on the radio every night. I find it really odd that they never broke out of the Philly market. This is a classic hip-hop record by any standard, but often overlooked simply because people simply don't know them. Check out "Let It Rip," "Bound to Ike" and "Detonator" to get you started and then follow up with some of their later albums which are also available on eMusic.

In the age of the reissue, this one has got to be in the top 10. Before Tragedy evolved into a superthug, he was a young prodigy out of Queensbridge rapping about peace, unity and justice. His Juice Crew roots are evident on the first disc of this set with a Craig-G-meets-Big-Daddy-Kane flow over Marley Marl's production (see "Game Type" and "Microphone Check"). The second disc is his sophomore album, also hard to come by for the average shopper, and features some much-needed bonus tracks like "Street Life" (Return of the Life Remix) which uses the same Minnie Riperton sample made famous by Tribe Called Quest's "Lyrics to Go." It also contains the white-label vinyl single "Funk Mode," featuring Havoc of Mobb Deep and produced by Large Professor, who builds one of the greatest beats ever out of Gwen McRae's "90% of Me Is You."