Still Claiming TRU: The Twentieth Anniversary of Tru 2 Da Game

Good folks!  How's everyone?!  I'm really enjoying doing these salutes to highlight these great albums that were either genuine classics within the annals of hip-hop history or just simply some very acclaimed work that solidified the statures of some artists.  There are still a few more salutes to give but we will focus on this one from the No Limit camp.  This album, many feel, was one of the single most successful albums to emerge from the "tank".  This group of blood brothers delivered an album that was completely filled with gritty street tales of violence, drugs, and hustling.  Not a lyrical masterpiece by no means, it didn't need to be.  The aura of this album, especially when it was at the peak of No Limit's hottest period, was appropriate and fitting.  The result of this double album was a double platinum effort and part of southern hip-hop's celebrated legacy in the late nineties.  With that being said, here's the salute to TRU's TRU 2 Da Game.

With the south experience a newfound level of notoriety not seen since the emergence of the ever infamous 2 Live Crew, the mid-nineties opened for acts such as Outkast, Three 6 Mafia, Eightball & MJG, and UGK.  In fact, it was in this mid-nineties period where some of the acclaimed work ever to come from that region was released such as UGK's unforgettable classic, Ridin' Dirty, Scarface's game-changing The Diary, and Outkast's breakout, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.  However, there were also labels from the south that were quite noted as well.  Labels such as Rap-A-Lot and Suave House were in constant rotation, but there was one that slowly blew to being one of the most recognized labels in all of the game, and that label was No Limit.  Headed up by Percy "Master P" Miller, No Limit was a regionally-based label from New Orleans, and was responsible for acts such as Mia X, Mac, Fiend, Kane & Abel, Skull Druggery, and Big Ed.  It was also known, at that time, for Miller and his brothers Corey "C-Murder" Miller and Vyshonne "Silkk The Shocker" Miller.  Although they were solo acts, they were also a group, and they were known as TRU, an acronym for The Real Untouchables.  The group originally consisted of them and several others including Big Ed, King George, and Cali-G.

In the early days of No Limit, they released albums such as Understanding the Criminal Mind and True, releasing cuts such as "I Ain't Going Out That Way" and the anthemic "Bout It, Bout It".  By the time '96 came around, the buzz from this label was slowly building, as Master P delivered his Ice Cream Man album and it became his official breakout album, eventually selling one million units.  Plus, Silkk dropped his debut, The Shocker, album.  It was time for another TRU album, only this time it would consist of the Miller brothers.  It was filled with everything that made No Limit what it was.  Plenty of gangsta stories and real tales of hustling and crime galore.

The only official singles released from the album were "I Always Feel Like" and "Feds", which both unapologetically jacked Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" and Aaliyah's "If Your Girl Knew" respectively.  The rest of the double disc contained cuts such as "Final Ride", the C-Murder solo cut "Eyes Of A Killer", "1nce Upon A Time", and the haunting "The Lord Is Testing Me", which all completely quenched thirsts of diehard No Limit heads.  Although not a game-shifter, it didn't need to be.  What it lacked in originality, witty metaphors and sample-free production, it made up for with honest, brutal imagery of the bloody streets within the Calliope Projects in New Orleans.

What the Miller boys delivered to us with TRU 2 Da Game ultimately and throughout time was an important album in the growth of southern hip-hop.  Continuing the traditions of Geto Boys, UGK, and Eightball & MJG, TRU had a gangsta album for that ass.  One that contained all the necessary ingredients for a gangsta's soundtrack.  Guns, bitches, drugs, crooked cops, and trying to make it out the ghetto were the themes of this album and it didn't reinvent the wheel.  They put out other albums such as Da Crime Family and The Truth, but TRU 2 Da Game was the group's most commercially successful album, selling double platinum units.  This, along with Ice Cream Man at the time, officially let the world know that the tank was in the building and they were gonna be here for a while.  Salute to TRU 2 Da Game.

A Wu Cult Classic: The Twenieth Anniversary of Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars

What's happening kind people?!  This salute goes to an album that initially was somewhat scoffed upon, as these guys were seen as Wu-Tang wannabes, in spite of the fact that they were under the Wu umbrella.  At a time where Wu offspring such as Sunz Of Man, Shyheim, GP Wu, and Royal Fam (shouts to Timbo King) were popping up everywhere, there were six young emcees and all of them were pretty damn nice.  The cats of Islord, Dom Pachino, Shogun Assassin, Beretta 9, 9th Prince (RZA's younger brother) and Killa Sin were creating a buzz within the underground and caputred a true Wu essence perhaps more so than any other Wu-affiliated group.  Their usage of Five-Percenter anecdotes and using street life as a comparison to war and military combat made them an especially intriguing group.  Combined with incredible production from Wu producer 4th Disciple, this group's potential to be an official problem was high, and with that, we salute Killarmy's Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars.

In '97, this young crew literally came out of nowhere with an underground single with accompanying video called "Wu Renegades", which contained a very sinister piano loop provided by 4th Disciple and fiery lyrics from four out the six emcees.  Before long, their debut, Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars dropped, and the buzz was definitely building.  An album filled with combat references and five percenter ideals, this was an album people didn't expect to be as tremendous as it was.  A extremely high Wu-Tang influenced album, Silent Weapons created a cult following, as the album became a sincere delight for diehard Wu fans.  While "Wu Renegades" was definitely a standout track, the album contained more standouts as well, including "Camouflage Ninjas", "Full Moon", "Swinging Swords", and the haunting "Blood For Blood".  There was truthfully not a sub-par moment on the album.  While the argument could be made that the album could've been more lyrically consistent, the album as a whole put Killarmy on the map.

They dropped two more albums that were equally hot if not better in Dirty Weaponry and Fear, Love, Or War, but sadly inner beefs and lack of cohesiveness among the group eventually met the demise of the once very promising crew.  Regardless, Killarmy's debut, Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars, was as hot as any Wu-affiliated album in the late nineties.  This was a strong album within the Wu family and deserves to get celebrated, so salute to Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars.  Here's to a hopeful reunion one day!

The Game's Still Over: The Twentieth Anniversary of The Untouchable

What's going on people?!  This salute post goes to an album that was considered one of this particular legend's most intimate and moody releases.  This album expounded on his prior southern landmark album, The Diary, and continued its vision.  By the time this album dropped in '97, his stature was approaching giant status within not just the south but in all of hip-hop.  His brand of macabre, yet vulnerable and at times spiritual hip-hop made him a household, and at the time of two icons of Pac and Biggie tragically passing, the importance of this artist was raised that much more.  The result was an exceptional album that further branded this cat as the official (and original) king of the south.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is a salute to Scarface's The Untouchable.

We were already captivated by the artist known as Scarface of seminal group, The Geto Boys.  Responsible for two of the absolute hardest hip-hop albums to ever get released in Grip It! On That Other Level and We Can't Be Stopped, they all began going on solo ventures.  While people were checking for Bushwick Bill and Willie D, the real star of the crew was Brad Jordan, otherwise known as Scarface.  His debut album, Mr. Scarface Is Back, is widely considered one of the grittiest and realest albums of all-time.  Vivid, uncompromising, and relentless, the album explored nihilism, madness, and self-destruction and it became a brutal, yet awe-inspiring classic for the game.  He followed it up with a decent follow-up in The World Is Yours, but it was his third album that we all officially paid attention to Face on a bigger level.

In '94, he dropped The Diary, which became a southern staple and was eventually unofficially given the claim of "greatest album to come from the south".  Mixing agression with a building sense of reflection and spirituality, The Diary marked a new level with Face.  Hoping to continue to overwhelming acclaim of The Diary, he delivered The Untouchable, a fourteen-track dynamite effort that showed that the artist known as Scarface was among the most revered emcees in the entire game.  Starting off brooding and dark, cuts like "Ya Money Or Ya Life" and "No Warning" were classic Face, with threats of utter violence and the reassurance of reminding people just who he was.  While fairly consistent, a bump in the road or two like "Money Makes The World Go Round" or "Smartz" would temporarily knock the album off a touch with plain production and uninspired lyrics, but then cuts like the eerie "Faith", the haunting ode to weed "Mary Jane" (former Murder Inc princess Ashanti used this song to sample for her hit single "Baby"), and the menacing "Game Over" featuring three icons in themselves Dr. Dre, Too $hort, and Ice Cube (Cube worked with him on The Diary's tremendous cut "Hand of the Dead Body") would more than make up for any stumble. 

However, the cut that gave the album its official mainstream buzz was the ominous, yet touching, duet with the late 2Pac, "Smile".  The video depicted a 2Pac look-a-like draped on a cross in the midst of a flooding storm.  The cut (you know a cut is strong when gospel megastar Kirk Franklin redid it for his own hit "Smile") became his biggest selling single to date, going gold. 

He would end up releasing other excellent efforts such as Made, Last of a Dying Breed, and simply stellar works like the 2002 classic The Fix and 2015's Deeply Rooted.  With The Untouchable, Face kept his seat as the king of the south, as the album further cemented the importance of one of the truest emcees and most vivid storytellers in the game.  Twenty years later, we still celebrate this album as one of his finest overall moments and we salute The Untouchable.

Nothing Like Family: The Twentieth Anniversary of No Way Out

It's on again kind people! This is another twentieth anniversary salute.  Thanks for showing these salutes love.  This particular salute goes to an album that became an unexpected classic.  In an age where materialism and consumerism had begun to take full fledge over the game (this during and just after the mafioso phase in hip-hop), this album explored some of that but more so very personal emotions, ranging from deep depression to reflection to high levels of anger in ways that were unapologetic and deliberate.  Released just a few months after the death of a hip-hop icon, this album was as melancholy as it was defiant, gloomy as it was ambitious.  While it may not have been a lyrical marvel by the artist himself, his friends and guests made the ride a lot better and smoother.  It became one of the highest selling hip-hop albums of the late nineties.  This is the salute to Puff Daddy & The Family's No Way Out.

Before he was Diddy, he was Puff Daddy, and Sean Combs was the boy wonder of the music game in the nineties.  His Bad Boy empire didn't hit, it exploded.  He made instant stars out of Craig Mack and a buzzing young emcee named Notorious B.I.G.  Their respective albums of Project: Funk Da World and Ready To Die became staples of the burgeoning label, especially the classic latter.  Riding the wave of the momentum of Biggie, Combs was in full demand, although drama and beef started to develop between he and Deathrow Records CEO Suge Knight that would tragically prove fatal.  In March of '97, Biggie got murdered by an unknown assailant in what appears to this day as a professional hit.  This after the six month anniversary of the equally tragic passing of 2Pac.  There was so much going on in the life of Puff Daddy, and he had a lot to get off his chest and from his heart.  Linking up with his Bad Boy artists of Black Rob, Ma$e and The Lox, he delivered No Way Out, a surprising juggernaut of an album.  Clearly having people ghostwrite for him throughout the album ( he admitted himself he wasn't a rapper, he was an entertainer), this was more of a conceptual firecracker.  The production work done by his team The Hitmen (Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, Young Lord, D-Dot, 6 July, Nasheim Myrick, Yogi, and an then somewhat unknown Stevie J) was beyond stellar and proved that they were the hottest production team in hip-hop.

The album started with an eerie dream sequence of sorts, then explodes with the FEROCIOUS cut "Victory", which includes an animated as usual Busta Rhymes and a phenomenal posthumous few bars from Biggie.  Over an incredible Rocky-sample, it was Biggie and Puffy at their Batman & Robin best.  From there, they balance the Moet-popping, lavish lifestyle on cuts like "Been Around The World" and the monster anthem "All About The Benjamins" with the touching and painfully poignant on cuts like the utterly depressing "Pain" (which featured a haunting Biggie sound byte), "Is This The End" (which featured an amazing guest spot by Twista) and of course the Grammy Award winning "I'll Be Missing You" with Faith and 112.  You see all of Diddy's emotions spread all over this masterful album.  Of course, he did a dedication to J. Lo with the sultry "Señorita" and did a fantastic job with storytelling on the vivid standout with Black Rob "I Love You Baby", that showed that Rob was officially a force to be reckoned with over a dynamite string piece provided by Amen-Ra and J Waxx.

Love him or hate him, this album was undeniable.We all knew Diddy wasn't a lyrical swordsman.  In this case, it didn't matter.  This was an exceptional effort that stands as one of Bad Boy's most prized possessions.  With No Way Out, Diddy and his label put together an album that still stands the test of time and could easily be up there with anything great that came out during this time period.  While other Diddy albums weren't in the ballpark as fantastic, this one showed his star appeal post-Biggie.  Give props where it's due.  With that, happy twentieth anniversary to No Way Out.  Biggie would be proud.

Still Bomb Atomically: The Twentieth Anniversary of Wu-Tang Forever

What's good folks?! It's time for another twentieth anniversary salute, and with this piece, we will focus on one of the most impactful double albums in hip-hop history.  This album officially put this unbelievable crew of emcees in the world's consciousness.  Released just after another gigantic double album in Biggie's Life After Death, many wondered if this album would hold up to the standards set by Biggie in terms of potent double albums, but they answered that challenge emphatically with a 'hell yeah'.  This album became the group's biggest seller and even earned them a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.  This album, ladies and gentlemen, was Wu-Tang Clan's epic sophomore album, Wu-Tang Forever.

In '93, eight sharp sworded emcees from Brooklyn and Staten Island came together like Voltron to become one of the most legendary groups, not just in hip-hop but in music ever.  The guys of Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Master Killa, U-God, GZA/Genius, Inspectah Deck, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and RZA were the Wu-Tang Clan and they dropped one of the game's true masterpieces in Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), which was so raw and unbridled with its imagery of drugs, guns, payback, and throwing in some jewels in between.  Seen as one of the real cornerstones in the NYC renaissance in an era where the west coast was dominating with The Chronic, Doggystyle, and others, this album was groundbreaking and signaled a changing of the guard.  Afterwards, everyone ventured into their own solo projects, with debuts by Raekwon, Ghostface, Method Man, and GZA considered to be classics in their own right.  The anticipation was growing greatly, as we were all wondering about the next Wu album.

In June of '97, we got the first official taste of what was to come with the instant classic single "Triumph".  Considered one of the most quotable-filled hip-hop cuts ever made, "Triumph" was an eight minute lyrical tour de force, with Deck laying the insane groundwork with his highly memorable opening verse.  If this was what we were in satire for with the new album, we were in for another hip-hop monument.  The anticipation was completely off the page, quickly becoming the second most anticipated hip-hop album of the year behind the aforementioned Life After Death.  It finally dropped, and within a week sold nearly seven hundred thousand units, ultimately selling upwards of four million units.  Don't think "Triumph" was the only sincere banger on this double album, as other cuts like "Reunited", "For Heaven's Sake", "Bellz Of War", and "Hell'z Wind Staff" were damn near as flames as "Triumph".  While they occasionally step out from their gritty scenes of the streets and hustling with cuts like the somewhat conscious "Lil Ghetto Boy" and the eerily seductive U-God solo cut "Black Shampoo", ultimately it comes back to what the Wu is known for, and that was just fine with us.  Emcees like Ghostface really broke out on this album on cuts like "Impossible", "Cash Still Rules", and "The Projects", while Rae showed his ass on cuts like "Older Gods" and "Visionz".  Also, Cappadonna, who was seen as an unofficial tenth member, earned more of his stripes on this album, blistering cuts like "Triumph", "Maria" and the bananas "Heaterz".  Even the late, great Ol' Dirty Bastard shined on his own solo cut "Dog Shit" in very typical Dirt fashion.

Albums that followed such as The W, Iron Flag, A Better Tomorrow, and The 8 Diagrams were received with mixed results.  A couple worked, a couple didn't, and as a result, many feel this was the last great Wu album.  While we all knew about friction within the family, this wasn't completely heard on this crazy release, as they all sounded as refreshed as ever.  Although not quite matching the standard bearer that Enter The Wu-Tang was, Wu-Tang Forever was still an incredible album that accentuated all their positives and hid most of their negatives.  We wouldn't get another group album until The W, which hit three years later.  Between that gap were sophomore projects by Meth, Rae, and GZA, as well as debuts from RZA, Deck, and the CRIMINALLY underrated debut by Cappadonna, The Pillage.  All were overall dope, especially Ghost's Supreme Clientele.  However, it was just something when the family came back together, and with Wu-Tang Forever, this was a prophetic album title, as we are still talking about the Wu, and how much they meant to the game.  Happy twentieth to WTF...that's Wu-Tang Forever.  Can I get a SUUUUUU!!!!!!

Still Going Uptown: The Twentieth Anniversary of Uptown Saturday Night

What's happening kind folks?!  For this salute, we are giving big props to an album that, over the years, has finally gotten its rightful props as an underrated classic album.  The originality and the swag associated with this album made you feel as if you were listening to a New York version of Outkast.  Over some fantastic, vintage production from famed beat smith Ski Beats, two young cats named Geechi Suede and Sonny Cheeba presented an album that was all fun and all the way funky.  Capturing the spirit of seventies Blaxploitation sounds, as well as funk and some good ol' fashioned jazzy hip-hop with some street elements with it.  Many feel this album was ahead of its time and, considering the time period it came out in, got lost in the shuffle of acclaimed hip-hop.  That ends now, as we give it up to Uptown Saturday Night.

We first heard Suede and Cheeba on the intoxicating cut "Coolie High", and the buzz was around about who these cats were making a cut so good.  Before too long, we heard a little more from this duo that almost seemingly came out of nowhere to lace us.  Then, the bottom fell out with the incredible cut "Luchini (This Is It)" dropping six months later, and it was cool, fresh, and unlike anything else out on the radio at the time.  A tag team style that could easily rival the likes of EPMD or especially aforementioned Outkast, these two sounded fantastic together.  The cut was a lot more upbeat than "Koolie High" and had a seventies nostalgia vibe with it.  This was an instant hit.  Once they released their debut, Uptown Saturday Night, we knew this was a special album.

Widely praised by critics and fans alike, this album shined silently in an era oft hugged out rap and commercialism.  Cuts like the sensual and seductive standout "Sparkle", the funky "Swing" with a reinvigorated Butterfly of highly acclaimed early nineties jazz-rap group Digable Planets, the thick as gumbo "Black Nostalgia" and the thumping album opener "Krystal Karrington" showed the undeniable talents of these two young emcees.  No overtly drug references, violence, or beefs on wax, this was just mellow, feel good hip-hop with a little bit of street in there to satisfy some heads, but it was far from anything hardcore, and that was perfectly fine, in fact that's what made it so charming at the end of the day.  Guests were very minimal, in fact Butterfly and De La Soul's Trugoy (now known as Dave), and that was just fine as well because we got to hear that much more of this highly intriguing duo by themselves.

The album cuts ranged from catchy ("Rockin' It") to phenomenal ("Sparkle"), but there was zero filler material on here and officially put the duo on the map.  While it may not have seen a gold or platinum plaque, it helped them develop a devoted fan base.  Subsequent albums such as Black Hollywood, 80 Blocks From Tiffany's (a DOPE collaborated album with legendary producer Pete Rock) and Ragtime Hightimes were overall decent and listenable, but it was this debut effort that remains their most prized recording and their magnum opus.  On this twentieth anniversary, if you've slept on this album, stop rolling over on this album and peep the excellent material they delivered, and you'll see just how far from the curve they were in the game during that time period.  In today's times, albums like Uptown Saturday Night are desperately needed.  Happy twentieth to Camp Lo and their amazing debut!

Indie's Most Celebrated: The Twentieth Anniversary of Funcrusher Plus

What's happening folks?!  It's another twentieth anniversary salute for you, and this is for an album that became a landmark release for all indie/vanguard hip-hop releases.  Never before had an album generated that much underground buzz and that much of a following cult-wise, especially with the type of sounds coming from the album.  It was far ahead of its time and signaled a progression in how hip-hop could be presented.  While it never achieved gold and platinum status, and never achieved widespread commercial appeal, it became an underground movement and showed just how far the underground could go with its influence.  This salute goes to Company Flow's Funcrusher Plus.

Three cats from Brooklyn and Queens (Big Just, Mr. Len, and producer/emcee El-P) got together to become Company Flow, a group mostly centered around socio-consciousness, politics, and the governmental takeovers/the new world order.  They released their debut EP, Funcrusher, as a way to present themselves and put themselves out there.  Practically the entire EP ended up on their first full-length album,  and this was only a microcosm of what was to come with album number two.  When '97 hit, they dropped Funcrusher Plus, which just hit people clean in the face like an uppercut you didn't see coming and knocked you on your ass.  While the streets were already screw-facing off Funcrusher, it was the rest of the album that completely changed the entire underground game at that time.  Recorded with lo-fidelity and very dense and sparse production, this album was silently among the most revered albums to emerge out of NYC during this period.  Released on El-Producto's Definitive Jux label, they eventually signed a distribution deal through highly influential underground label Rawkus Records, and this became more of a buzzworthy monument.  Brooding yet intelligent, dark yet conscious, this was as hardcore as it was experimental.  This was somewhat of a dichotomy, yet in brilliant form.  There was nothing fluffy about this release, this was no holds barred raw, and epitomized NYC.

You get the sonic aura of murky weed or cigarette smoke in the tunnels of NYC that are filled with tons of graffiti and yellow police tape with damn near the entire album.  Tracks like "Vital Nerve", "Definitive", and the thunderous "Fire In Which You Burn" are so gutter, you wonder why this was so kept underneath the sewers, but then the more you listen, the more you understand that in an era where shiny suits and commercialism were becoming the norm, this was anti everything you thought was what defined hip-hop.  Other bangers like "Crazy Kings", "8 Steps To Perfection", and "Population Control" were so drenched in intrigue and a true battle aesthetic that this was was what defined the backpacker movement.

Definitive Jux later became known for El-P's solo debut, the equally classic Fantastic Damage and Cannibal Ox's mind-blowing The Cold Vein, which further exemplified El-P's influence in the underground and showed that he had practically, along with the likes of MF Doom, Lootpack, and Slum Village, turned the underground completely upside down during this time.  His influence continues to this day, as one-half of hip-hop's most dangerous duo Run The Jewels, along with Killer Mike, as they recently completed the most stellar trio of albums in over two decades with their self-titled debut, RTJ2, and RTJ3.  He also dropped other solo albums such as I'll Sleep When You're Dead and Cancer For Cure, which are also very dope and show how necessary El-P is.  While we would all want a Company Flow reunion to this day, we won't hold our breath.  However, what we can do is reminisce on the trailblazing path Funcrusher Plus laid for the underground and how it changed the face of it in a way that wouldn't be heard again for years.  For that, we salute Funcrusher Plus for twenty years of influence.

Disaster Struck: The 20th Anniversary of When Disaster Strikes

What's the deal folks?!  Continuing the 20th anniversary salutes, this album absolutely has to be included with the best albums of that year.  In '95, the world witnessed the long-awaited solo birth of hip-hop's most animated lyrical dungeon dragon and his excellent album, The Coming.  The question became, "Would he do it again, or was it a one-time offering of that level of dopiness?"  The answer was revealed emphatically and profoundly, as we saw a career elevated to higher heights and a star was officially here if you didn't believe it before.  With that, we salute When Disaster Strikes.

Former Leaders of the New School member, Busta Rhymes, was establishing himself as one of hip-hop's most intriguing characters.  However, it was his career-defining verse on A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario" that officially made him hip-hop's next big star, even without Charlie Brown and Dinco D.    From there, he was guesting on tracks from Craig Mack to Boyz II Men on their very catchy hip-hop laced remix to "Vibin'".  The anticipation for his debut album was at a fever pitch, and we were soon blessed with The Coming, which was accessible but very grimy at the same time.  Sure, there were sure shot singles like the grown-folk vibes of "It's A Party" and the mega smash "Woo Hah! Got You All In Check", but there were others strictly for the streets such as "Everything Remains Raw", "Still Shining", and "The Finish Line". Many wondered could he repeat the same formula.  MAN did he!

We were bombarded with the instant classic "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See", and we knew he was officially back. It was immediately catchy and we knew that if the rest of the album was this hot, we were in for something special, and we were.  He soon dropped When Disaster Strikes, which although was a long player at nineteen tracks, was enjoyable from top to bottom.  Following the theme of the impending apocalypse on the fabulous intro, outdo, and on the title track, the rest of the album was a mash-up of party-laden tracks and tracks that were just meant to get one animated like him.  This was also the introduction of his crew Flipmode Squad, which consisted of lyrical femme fatale Rah Digga, best friend Spliff Star, cousin Rampage, Queensbridge resident Baby Sham, and the ever bananas Lord Have Mercy.  They especially shined on the riotous "We Can Take It Outside", but other incredible tracks include the fast-paced and ridiculous "Rhymes Galore", "Get Off My Block", and "Survival Hungry".  He slows it down with intoxicating reworking of Stevie Wonder's "Love's In Need Of Love Today" on the Erykah Badu-assisted "One", but brings the funk with "There's Not A Problem My Squad Can't Fix", "Get High Tonight", and "Turn It Up".

There's literally something for everyone that's a fan of Busta.  It's not an overly serious album, but he sticks to his animated, hype style for the most part that's guaranteed to keep the energy very high.  In a year that has monstrous releases, Busta's When Disaster Strikes has to be considered right up there with them all.  This album made hi an official household and worldwide name for any that somehow may have been on the fence with The Coming.  This silenced any critics he may have had going into the album.  Busta was here to stay, and we're so glad he did.  Happy twentieth to this fantastic piece of hip-hop.

The War's On: Happy 20th to The War Report

What's up world?!  It's a new year, which means there are a lot of albums turning twenty this year, and quite a few of them are legit, genuine hip-hop classics.  There are others that are grossly underrated and deserve their place in critically acclaimed folklore.  Those are the albums we will focus on throughout the next few weeks.  We will start with an album that annihilated people from outta nowhere, much like an RKO (only my wrestling people will get that one).  Covering the bloody streets of Queens came two young cats that presented nihilism in its most reckless form, and it resulted in one of the hardest albums to emerge from NYC in the nineties.

In '97, Queensbridge representative Capone and his Lefrak City brother Noreaga (now N.O.R.E.) presented a dark and murky stick-up underground anthem with "Stick You", only to hit us in the head with the equally potent "Illegal Life" with Mobb Deep's Havoc on the hook.  There was a small yet attention-worthy buzz about these two cats that were loosely affiliated with the likes of Mobb Deep and Nas.  Unfortunately, during the recording of the album, Capone got sent up north to do a bid so Noreaga had to soldier the majority of the album, along with close mentor, and QB veteran Tragedy Khadafi.  The first official single and video was released with "T.O.N.Y.", however they caused a slight stink with the inflammatory response to Tha Dogg Pound's "New York, New York", with "L.A., L.A.", in which the beat was the same one used in the aforementioned "New York, New York", plus the video was accompanied had scenes of some poor fool getting tortured then eventually being thrown over the bridge into the ocean (for the record, the Marley Marl-produced remix was stupid better than the original beat for it).  The album, The War Report, was finally released, and it became an instant classic.  Seen in the same mold as Mobb Deep's two prior monuments, The Infamous and Hell On Earth, this album was filled with drugs, guns, sticking up, and mayhem, with occasional five-percent gems thrown in.  Considered one of the hardest and most realistic albums to get delivered from NYC in the entire late nineties, there were hits a plenty.  From the INCREDIBLE mafioso-sounds of "Iraq (See The World)" to the Hell On Earth-sounding "Parole Violators", the dedication to Capone "Live On Live Long", and their own version of "Shook Ones", the BANGIN' "Halfway Thugs", this album has been considered, at times, even better than Infamous or Hell On Earth.  While that point is certainly debatable, what's not is how impactful this album became as we approached the new millennium.

Another thing this album did was make a star out of Noreaga.  While his brother-in-arms was incarcerated, he decided to pursue a solo career until it was time for Capone to come home.  The next year, Noreaga dropped N.O.R.E., which was almost as critically acclaimed as The War Report.  However, things changed in '99 when Capone came home and they started work on their sophomore album, The Reunion, to get released in 2000.  While it was a definite banger, and the chemistry sounded as good as it did in '97, it wasn't the blood-soaked epic their debut was.  Subsequent albums such as Channel 10 and the sequel, The War Report 2: Report The War, were decent but couldn't equal the monster they released in '97, although they certainly tried and in all respects provided mostly solid work regardless.

Although there were two cuts were left off the album due to sample clearance issues, "Married To Marijuana" and the Nas-assisted "Calm Down", The War Report didn't really need it, as it was practically a flawless effort within the gangsta rap time, in which Mobb Deep, Nas, Biggie, and the Wu were running things from NYC.  This debut is still regarded as one of the most rugged debuts of the decade and deserves its place as a hardcore classic.  Happy 20th to "the other" CNN.