Hip-Hop Groups: An Album a Day
Featuring Geto Boys, Three 6 Mafia, Boogie Down Productions, and others
My friend Ken and I decided to listen to an album every day this year. Each week is themed. At the end of each week, we rank what we listened to. To be clear, we aren’t ranking every album that fits the theme. We are only ranking what we chose to listen to during the last seven days.
This week’s theme is “hip-hop groups,” meaning albums by hip-hop acts with at least three members. Though hip-hop has been dominated by solo stars over the last two decades, it was largely shaped by duos and groups during the 20th century. We wanted to dive into some of those groups to better understand the genre’s foundations.
#7 We Can’t Be Stopped by Geto Boys (1991 - Willie D, Scarface, Bushwick Bill, Prince Johnny C, DJ Ready Red)
I became interested in Geto Boys after hearing their laid back “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” in the 1999 comedic masterpiece Office Space. When this theme arose, I thought it was the perfect time check out some more music from the Houston hip-hop outfit.
There were moments that I enjoyed on this record. “Mind Playing Tricks On Me,” the surprise hit from We Can’t Be Stopped, has the same relaxed groove that drew me to “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta.” But those moments were overwhelmed by what I thought was largely redundant lyricism and forgettable beats.
#6 The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (1982 - Grandmaster Flash, Kidd Creole, Keef Cowboy, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Scorpio, Raheim)
In one sense, The Message is the blueprint. Its combination of socially conscious rhymes (i.e., “The Message”) with braggadocios party music (i.e., “It’s Nasty”) maps out two core themes that rappers would use for decades to come.
But The Message is also a relic. First, the group’s namesake is Grandmaster Flash, a DJ. At the dawn of hip-hop, DJs—like Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, and Kool Herc—were the stars. Rappers played a vital but more ancillary role. This would change throughout the 1980s, emcees taking centerstage.
Additionally, some of this album is very clearly not hip-hop. “Dreamin',” for example, is an R&B ode to Stevie Wonder. “Scorpio” is a electro composition that foreshadows Daft Punk over a decade before the French duo ever made a beat. These things combine to make The Message a strange record, vital to any hip-hop head for its influence but also slight for its forays into unrelated genres.
#5 Most Known Unknown by Three 6 Mafia (2005 - Juicy J, DJ Paul, Crunchy Black)
A few months ago when discussing Ja Rule’s Blood in My Eye, I argued that the rapper “has one of the most compelling voices in the history of hip-hop.” I would make a similar claim regarding the emcees in Three 6 Mafia. These are gruff voices hypnotizing you over grim, Southern beats. I’d go so far as to claim that a grunt from Juicy J is more entertaining than a multi-syllabic bar from his contemporaries.
Nevertheless, Most Known Unknown lost me because of its length. The hour-and-fifteen minute run-time felt excessive, especially when the trio retreads much of the same ground musically and lyrically. Lop off 20 minutes from this thing, and I would probably have ranked it higher.
#4 Criminal Minded by Boogie Down Productions (1987 - Scott La Rock, KRS-One, Ced-Gee)
In some ways, Criminal Minded picks up where “The Message” left off, KRS-One painting vivid imagery of a rough-and-tumble life in the South Bronx. But Criminal Minded stands apart for two reasons.
First, rather than just describing the violence of the streets, Criminal Minded participates in it. Tracks like “9mm Goes Bang” and “The Bridge is Over” are invitations to attack. In fact, much of this record narrates an early beef between Bronx and Queens natives about where hip-hop was birthed. Boogie Down Productions (rightfully) places the origin in their home borough, the Bronx. In fact, “South Bronx,” Criminal Minded’s second track, is a history lesson of sorts.
Second, the production on Criminal Minded is sparser than anything the Furious Five created. A track like “Elementary,” for example, isn’t much more than a simple, programmed beat. But when you have an emcee as compelling as KRS-One, that’s all you need. Beats and rhymes. Everything else is just details.
#3 SATURATION III by BROCKHAMPTON (2017 - Kevin Abstract, Matt Champion, Joba, Ameer Vann, Dom McLennon, Merlyn Wood, Bearface, Romil Hemnani, Jabari Manwa, Kiko Merley, Henock “HK” Sileshi, Ashlan Grey, Robert Ontenient)
To describe BROCKHAMPTON as a “hip-hop group” is a bit deceptive. Yes, they are composed of rappers and producers. But they also list web designers and app developers as members. Because of that, I think “collective” more accurately captures what they do. It’s in this less structured type of organization that they stand apart.
On SATURATION III, you find off-the-wall, party beats (e.g., “BOOGIE). You find jazzy, lackadaisical flows (e.g., “LIQUID”). You also find incisive, self-reflective rhymes (e.g., “JOHNNY”). With so many members and so many styles, you’d expect this record to feel like a mess. But it doesn’t. There is enough musical and lyrical cohesion to maintain the collective’s center of gravity.
#2 Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde by The Pharcyde (1992 - Imani, Slimkid3, FatLip, Bootie Brown, J-Swift)
Where much hip-hop of the 1990s was dominated by the imagery of the streets, The Pharcyde—a group hailing from South Central Los Angeles—chose a different path. Their beats were jazzy (e.g., “Otha Fish”). Their rhymes were off-kilter and humorous (e.g., “Oh Shit”).
This style, exemplified by their debut album, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, came to be known as “alternative hip-hop.” While I like many of the gangsta rap albums that dominated the last decade of the 20th century, I am admittedly more drawn to this alternative, spacey strain of the genre.
#1 Money, Power & Respect by The LOX (1998 - Jadakiss, Styles P, Sheek Louch)
This week we got to listen so many different styles of hip-hop (e.g., Southern, gangsta, alternative). But the most interesting part of our listening was how we got to track the evolution of New York hip-hop during the 20th century.
We heard the inventive samples of Grandmaster Flash that defined the 1970s. We heard the city’s sparse, punchy beats programmed a decade later by the likes of Boogie Down Productions. And then we got to Money, Power & Respect by The LOX, one of the finest examples of the Bad Boy style that captured the five boroughs during the 1990s.
Some records we heard this week felt one dimensional, the same ideas being repackaged for an hour (e.g., We Can’t Be Stopped by Geto Boys). But Money, Power & Respect gives you everything and more.
You’ve got silly, party music, like “If You Think I’m Jiggy.” You’ve got the in-your-face, boastful title track brought to life with the help of DMX and Lil' Kim. You’ve got some of the richest storytelling you’ll ever hear on a rap song, like “Bitches of Eastwick.” You’ve also got diverse, inventive beats (e.g., “Get This $,” “Goin’ Be Some Sh*t”). This is hip-hop at its finest, birthed boasting in the streets with beats that punch you in the face and leave you lightheaded.
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