random old rap you are loving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV7aOnX7XeE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7Ae31yMfSc

`meaningless composition lacking purpose.`

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnOpB_EKY_4

treblefree featuring plee — "irony" (2008)

shoutout to schematix \m/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOFKU_hwj2o

hehe that hits the spot

I'd never seen this video before. Really incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z5aFdvE2jc

what a find!

Whoa cool, ty for sharing D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb3TgyF1Zbc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76FaSHrH7XI

MOOD - Info for the Streets

wow i love divine sounds and mood! those are both personal classics.

also granny that reminded me of one of the best j dilla beats: his remix for mood's "secrets of the sand" from 1999.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aec2SYEXT68

that was pre-"j dilla" moniker, so it was credited to jay dee at the time and has since gotten a little forgotten, unfortunately.

"gotten forgotten" jfc what am i doing with my life

I've heard a lot of Dilla remixes but hadn't heard that before!

And lo and behold it's on streaming services

nas feat. maxwell — "no one else in the room" (2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htISO_yapc4

i like to dis nas for being inconsistent after illmatic, but the truth is that all of his albums have a couple solid jams. i am still legitimately salty that, to this day, this is the only hiphop collaboration maxwell has done. at least it's good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBaiRExhdK4

DJ Spinna - More Colors

I posted another Spinna track upthread. Only way I can listen to this album now is on YouTube. There's some other strong tracks on it. Thought the concept on this one was very well executed.

oooh, i love dj spinna!! that's a really good jam.

it might be approaching heresy, but i've always thought his remix for de la soul's "stakes is high" is just as good as the original with the jay dee beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUIl92zgRqA

Hadn't heard that before! Yeah that's nice

I’m a big fan of that spinna track. I think it’s actually a remix of the original. I probably posted about it somewhere on ilx when it came out like 11 years ago or something

Yeah I'm pretty sure it is but I can't find the original anywhere

Speaking of Dilla and of stuff that's as good as or better than the better known version, I've been loving this and thinking it's the best Fantastic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZCE8epbfXM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYVcaQ1Bzu8

man alive, that was the original sv white label. first time i heard them proper. four songs and i just played them again. and again. and again. and again.

i had this original (and superior imo) version of "forth + back" on a mixtape around the same time and those five songs had me convinced that they were the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znQxLCp-Rsk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhXA-MIR6bk

Lol well that sure was a wild ride

Kane and Abel - Time After Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7_GCwqNDV4

Da Grassroots - Passage Through Time album. Underground classic, unavailable streaming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWS2mrM8oe0

definitely a classic of the period. i don't know why they never made any other records. seems like most people who were in the know (rightfully) thought it was a damn good record. i love "black dove." wish i had held onto my copy.

I have the cd somewhere, ie wherever my sister stored my collection

cheapest cd on discogs right now is $100. (facepalm) i mean it's not that good.

Lol. That's crazy.

ive never heard of this record or group or any of the rappers. sounds good to me right now tho.

I think the only mc on it who had any sort of recognition was k-os. If I'm remembering the bit of press I heard about the album at the time, it was a supergroup of Toronto-based producers.

yeah k-os i recognized now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpOYPH1dgaU

cru — "loungin wit my cru" (1997)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rknNci3T4xw

i think it was a little too soon for new jack swing nostalgia to have kicked in when this album came out in `97, but this has officially become a favorite jam.

those slow phased drums
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkGY5EzA-h4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkUO_tODZ0o

2pac — "me against the world (soul power remix)" (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLVQT0BaKWk

love this bob james sample version. always been my favorite.

I have that Cru album on vinyl that's a gem

yeah, that's a solid one for any collection i'd say. the main dude in the group (yogi) was one of p diddy's "hitmen" production team and probably had some significant input into some of badboy's 95-97 hits. enough to get his whole crew signed to a rival label. wonder how that went down.

j dilla with common and d'angelo — "so far to go"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw64fXeWe_8

seems like this is kind of forgotten by now because it was an "old" beat by the time it came out and they sort of re-did it again on common's next album. but it still holds up for me. common was one of the only people who could get away with such raps and this was his last hurrah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPUQvSk44Rc

it's being used in the vaccination ad campaign here in NYC - i'm actually glad to hear it play all the time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkX29avJ838

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuRY1skaH4M

Godfather Don - Status

Amazing how I can still stumble across new-to-me 90s rappers. Judging from the view count on this video, he's not exactly unknown!

granny did you ever hear any of those eddie ill + d.l. mixtapes from the late 90s / early 2000s? all sorts of indie rap obscurities. here's some info on discogs: eddie ill, d.l.

i've found some on youtube, but they come and go on there. not everything on them is great, but sometimes they would throw in unreleased stuff or freestyles and to this day those tapes are the only place i remember hearing some of those things.

No I have not. Thanks I'll check em out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJuU5KekXOo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzkM43TEek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVqCqSvZvfA