My Top 200 Hip-Hop Tracks: #160-141

NOTE: This list in an in-depth look at my own personal taste. It is not supposed to include the ‘best’ tracks, rather those that I consider to be my favourite.  Comments are most appreciated, but if you don’t like my list – go and make your own!

#160 King Tee – Payback’s A Mutha (1988)

I just had to show Tila some love in list list.  Whilst I wouldn’t say that Tee is amongst my most definitive list of favourite rappers, he’s definitely a very strong contender.  Perpetually overlooked, King Tee’s success – aside from his status as Tha Alkaholiks/Likwit Crew mentor – was obscured somewhat by more notorious Compton artists and groups in the late 80s and early 90s, meaning that his stellar first two albums (assisted in no small part by DJ Pooh) are all but entirely written out of mainstream hip-hop history.

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#159 Compton’s Most Wanted – Hood Took Me Under (1992)

Though “Hood Took Me Under” has gained its most notable recognition as a feature on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ radio station, it’s important to remember just how big this track was at the time of its release.  A top-5 single in the rap charts, the poignant – even controversial – video accompaniment also received considerable airplay.

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#158 Ras Kass – The Nature Of The Threat (1996)

Though the politics are beyond dodgy – hateful, even – and Ras Kass‘ history teaching is at times hugely inaccurate, this epic track still stands out as a fine example of 1990s Afrocentricity, with bonus points for the more lunatic elements of its teaching being very much present.

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#157 Beanie Sigel – Feel It In The Air (2005)

Featuring probably the best flip on a Geto Boys lyric ever (“I sit alone in my four cornered room staring at hammers/ready to go bananas/two vests on me, two techs, extra clips on me/I know my mind ain’t playin tricks on me“), as well as a Phil Collins sample that actually works, “Feel It In The Air” is a truly haunting track that everyone needs to hear.

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#156 Hard Knocks – A Dirty Cop Named Harry (1990 / 1992)

Though Wild Pitch eventually picked up Hard Knocks and distributed their seminal debut album School of Hard Knocks in 1992, the duo were previously part of 3′Da Hard Way, and had in fact released “A Dirty Cop Named Harry” on Noontime Records in 1990, and the track was labelled as a “noisy edit”.  However, the original version of the track remains confined to an obscure 12″ rap, and as such the video above is of the 1992 album version. As one of the best crooked cop tracks ever, it’s pretty much a must-hear.

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#155 Mac Dre – Times R Gettin’ Crazy (1991)

Released prior to his 5-year jail sentence passed in 1992, Mac Dre’s California Livin’ is probably my favourite of the early Mac Dre EPs, despite its short length. All three vocal tracks are totally indespensible, each in their own way touching upon life in The Bay. “Times R Gettin’ Crazy” is a particular standout for me, thanks to its gritty realism and Khayree’s twangy, smooth production.

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#154 Kanye West ft. Jay-Z & J-Ivy – Never Let Me Down (2004)

J-Ivy makes this track for me – who is that cat?!  His lyrics are so stupendously corny and dramatic that they’re actually good.  Oh, and Jigga comes correct too.

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#153 Nas – Destroy & Rebuild (2001)

“This is a journey into the worlds most largest and notorious projects: Queensbridge“, AKA this is a track on which every QB-rapper that ever lived gets ripped a new one. Cormega, Mobb Deep and Nature take a verbal assault over this infectious beat.

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#152 Joe Budden – #1 (2003)

One of my favourite hip-hop tracks about hip-hop, charting the history and rise of the world’s most popular musical genre over a sick White Boy beat.

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#151 Uno The Prophet – Officer Down (2006)

A very interesting take on the cops vs blacks scenario, given that the main policeman character in this track is himself black.  A hugely important track on which Uno takes shots at “Uncle Tom” cops, forsaking their ‘hood background in favour of harassing and brutalising the black and brown communities.

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#150 Cypress Hill – Hits From The Bong (1993)

Two things in hip-hop history were just going to happen, no matter what.  Perpetual stoners Cypress Hill were going to pen one of the best odes to mary jane ever, and someone, somewhere was going to sample the excellent beat for Dusty Springfield’s “Son Of A Preacher Man”.  Cypress Hill initiated the marriage of both these elements, and they still sound as good together nowadays as they ever did.

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#149 2Pac – Words Of Wisdom (1991)

2Pac’s status as the son of a Black Panther is all too often overlooked when considering his final three albums whilst he was still alive.  The fact of the matter is that his debut and sophomore albums were packed with politically-charged gems, with 2Pacalypse Now offering the hardest tracks (though not necessarily the best, by any means).  “Words of Wisdom” takes an obligatory look at the history of black oppression in the US, yet also casts an interesting look at more comtemporary issues such as education:  “No Malcolm X in my history text, why’s that?/’Cos he tried to educate and liberate all blacks/Why’s Martin Luther King in my book each week?/He told blacks if they get smacked, turn the other cheek“.

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#148 Cage – Good Morning (2005)

When Def Jux “stuffed them G’s in the cut” and facilitated Cage’s move to the flagship independent label, the results in the form of 2005’s Hell’s Winter were at times impressive, notably on the energetic “Good Morning”, a track best listened to through headphones during your morning commute.

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#147 Cage – Grand Ol’ Party Crash (2005)

With Bush-baiting having become something of a hip-hop sport by the early 2000’s, “Grand Ol’ Party Crash” is one of the better examples.  The beat is frenetic and militant, and the lyrics thought-provoking and controversial, yet humourous:  “If the opposite of a pro is a con, let’s look beyond this/The opposite of Congress must be progress“.

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#146 Akrobatik – Remind My Soul (2003)

A truly gorgeous beat, over which Ak spits hard, painful truth about the degradation of black community spirit and unity in recent years:  “Black man kill himself for limited amount of wealth/And him disrespected woman so he disrespect himself“.

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#145 Beastie Boys – No Sleep Till Brookyln (1986)

A track which for me best infuses the frenetic, partygoing, hip-hop-slash-rock personna that the Beasties were best known for.

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#144 Big Boi & Purple Ribbon All Stars – Kryptonite (2006)

“I be on it, all night man I be on it” are maybe the most excitement-inducing few words that have ever been thrown down in a club, sure to get the crowd hyped.

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#143 & 142 UGK – Muthafucka Ain’t Mine & Pregnant Pussy (1992)

Following the critical acclaim of the very deserving landmark 1992 album Too Hard to Swallow, UGK released Banned, an EP rumoured to contain tracks removed from Too Hard to Swallow on the grounds that they were just too vulgar.

The idea of self-censoring one’s own rap songs on the grounds that they’re too explicit seems kind of quaint now, but remember, this was 1992, only a couple of years removed from 2 Live Crew’s infamous and repeated obscenity charges. It is, though, easy to see why the tracks might have been ‘banned’ – with hugely misogynistic lyrics like “pregnant pussy is the best you can get/fuckin’ a bitch while her baby’s suckin’ dick” (“Pregnant Pussy”) and “rather give a fiend a crumb and punch yo’ ass in the stomach…here’s a fuckin’ butter knife, cut it up and shit it out…I’ll kick you in the stomach and leave your ass in a ditch…I’ll throw you on the floor and shove a hanger in your pussy” (“Muthafucka Ain’t Mine”).

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#141 Rappin’ 4-Tay – Only In America (1991)

Although Rappin’ 4-Tay was no stranger to the usual gangstas, guns and party themes, he also never shied away from the more political themes affecting young blacks of the day, a la the outstanding track “Only in America”, from his 1991 debut album Rappin’ 4-Tay Is Back.