This is a lesser-known Hip Hop classic, mainly because the group it spawned from was one that was mostly employed to create a song for Spike Lees 1995 film: “Clockers”. There are actually three Crooklyn Dodgers groups, all having created one track each; this is the second group. This incarnation consisted of: “Chubb Rock”, “O.C.” and “Jeru The Damaja”, with the beat being produced by DJ Premier.
"The real... Hip-hop!" "MCing, and DJing.. from your own mind, ya know?"
I’ve listened to hundreds of Hip-Hop albums, of course encountering my fair share of great albums and to a similar degree, some god-awful ones. There are albums that I constantly come back to, generally because their lyrics - and to a lesser sense - production are top notch. While this piece is more opinionated then my prior articles, I’m treating this as a “personal” listing and not an “end all be all” list, and using it as a chance to recommend some classic albums for people who haven’t already encountered them.
"DJ Premier", considered by Hip Hop heads everywhere as one of the "realest" artists in the culture
You’re probably viewing the aforementioned with the notion that you do in fact already know what “real hip hop” is. Yet when asked to truly define that statement, and juggle this with the abundance of hip hop tracks being pushed out in terms of mainstream and underground, your opinion becomes stagnant. Before I delve into the subject at hand, I’d like to say that I’ve listened to countless albums and have been studying the Hip Hop art for quite some time (I’m sure some of the people reading this article have as well), and only to a degree can I describe what “real” hip hop is.
For those who may be newer to Hip Hop, I’d like to go over some slang quickly. A “Purist” (in Hip Hop terms) is generally a Hip Hop head who listens to majority of the classic Hip Hop and quite a bit of modern underground, they feel strongly about what they think “opposes” the initial visions of the culture. A “Backpacker” is generally someone who enjoys participating in the “hardcore” aspects of Hip Hop, generally listening to alternative or underground Hip Hop. This term can be considered derogatory depending on who you ask, however in context of this article I’m using it to describe a subculture. Nothing less, nothing more.
