Not sure if these have been named yet, but...
Above The Law--TIME WILL REVEAL--this one doesn't get the props that UNCLE SAM'S CURSE and LIVIN' LIKE HUSTLERS do, which is too bad. I think this is as great as those two...
MC Ren--DA VILLAIN IN BLACK--folks I know cite SHOCK OF THE HOUR or RUTHLESS 4 LIFE as Ren's best, but this one, to me, is flawless from start to finish. "Live From Compton, It's Saturday Night/but no jokes/I'm not a motherfuckin' comic!"
Too Short--SHORTY THE PIMP--the vibe on this CD is as dope as the one on GET IN WHERE YOU FIT IN, IMHO.
Digital Underground--WHO GOT THE GRAVY?--NO ONE heard this in '98, and it's a damn shame! Shock G., Money B. and the others were as musically innovative and as funny here as on their earlier stuff.
Mac--SHELL SHOCKED--contrary to popular belief, No Limit did NOT go all-the-way-wack-and-commercial after Master P's MP DA LAST DON. Mac could rhyme all day if he had to, and the rest of the NL soldiers gave solid performances.
Honorable mention--
Westside Connection--BOW DOWN--The point of this CD, to me, was this: Cube, Mack, and Dub were almost saying: "yeah, we KNOW that we Californians don't come 'conscious' the way NY critics, parents, politicians and women want us to...we KNOW that we use profanity...but, guess what? THAT'S THE POINT!!! That's what a lot of people in the streets WANT to hear! YOU critics and backpackers might not like it, but a lot of other people DO!" I think is a classic, even if it's not the most politically correct CD ever made...the reaction to it in '96 just showed how thin-skinned a lot of NY critics were (and are)...
PEACE!
