![]() ![]() ![]() Crystallizing the G-Funk production style that he’d edged towards with N.W.A’s Efil4zaggin, The Chronic remains one of the most influential hip-hop albums of all time, Dre’s high-pitched synth lines running on top of P-Funk samples and low-slung beats, laying the template for much of mainstream hip-hop for years to come. Having defected from Eazy-E’s Ruthless imprint, Dr Dre lay the foundations for Suge Knight’s Death Row label, putting it on the map with an album that took gangsta rap to No.3 on the Billboard charts. Sample lyric: “Little boys and girls, they all love me/Come sit on the lap of I-C-E” (‘A Gangsta’s Fairytale’) Cube comes out swinging with the utmost ease and style it’s unbelievable to consider he was only 20 when he recorded it. Besides Cube’s unparalleled lyricism and The Bomb Squad’s sample-driven sound, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted delves deep into the social and political issues of the era: poverty, racism, and drug addiction. With newly found freedom he released his debut solo album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, in 1990: an instant hit that went Gold in only two weeks. However, contractual and royalty disputes led to an acrimonious split from the group. Ice Cube was one of the founding members of the seminal gangster rap group N.W.A, as well as their chief lyricist. Sample lyric: “I’ve been dropping the new science and kicking the new k-nowledge/An MC to a degree that you can’t get in college” (‘Sounds Of Science’) Following the 1989 sampling lawsuit against De La Soul, producers and DJs were forced to become more circumspect about their source material, making it virtually impossible for anyone to even try to top the dexterity on display on Paul’s Boutique. Gleefully sampling everything from P-Funk to The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Johnny Cash, Paul’s Boutique was a crate-digger’s delight, reveling in the possibilities that hip hop’s Golden Age had to offer. Having introduced themselves as hip hop’s bratty punks with 1986’s Licensed To Ill, Beastie Boys holed up with production duo The Dust Brothers, creating a dazzling follow-up whose patchwork of samples is ably matched by the wordplay – and interplay – of Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock. ![]()
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