The Next Spot is a recurring series dedicated to the albums that could’ve, would’ve, should’ve made the Decade Top 50.  Michael Render first attracted attention with his guest appearances on Outkast’s “Snappin’ And Trappin’” and “The Whole World”, but he never sounded completely at ease over Dungeon Family space-funk. I Pledge Allegiance II is backed […]

The Next Spot is a recurring series dedicated to the albums that could’ve, would’ve, should’ve made the Decade Top 50.  None of y’all will admit it, but Madlib went and dropped the Y2K Paul’s Boutique on us. The innumerable samples, the LA stoned immaculate vibe, and the back-and-forth interplay reminiscent of the Beasties’ classic. Of […]

The Next Spot is a recurring series dedicated to the albums that could’ve, would’ve, should’ve made the Decade Top 50.  Capture the essence of the most important album from one of the most important emcees to come out of Houston in the last 20 years in less than 200 words, including this intro? That doesn’t […]

 The Next Spot is a recurring series dedicated to the albums that could’ve, would’ve, should’ve made the Decade Top 50.  Forget the lackluster back end, My Ghetto Report Card is all about the high energy first half that brought 40 Water back to MTV and put the Bay back in the National spotlight for a […]

The Next Spot is a recurring series dedicated to the albums that could’ve, would’ve, should’ve made the Decade Top 50.  Up in our merger, there’s foul murders Turkeys to cow-burgers, the code of our murder Child, if you style or a wild splurger Stay away, okay? Mr. Giles will hurt ‘ya. If there was ever […]

  The beautiful thing about hip hop is that you can say some of the weirdest, most inane, ridiculoid phrases, but say them with conviction or jest, and suddenly you’re creating New Speak. From “rap at high speed strawberry kiwi” to “gimme them girls with the pumps and a bump”, it’s not really what you […]

  The Next Spot is a recurring series dedicated to the albums that could’ve, would’ve, should’ve made the Decade Top 50.  Devin Copeland started rapping with Jugg Mugg and Rob Quest in the Odd Squad, whose Fadanuf Fa Erybody!!, was famously called Rap-A-Lot’s best album by no less than Scarface. In ’96, he joined the […]

The Next Spot is a recurring series dedicated to the albums that could’ve, would’ve, should’ve made the Decade Top 50.  “My wife don’t like my album,” sneers Ryan Montgomery– better known as Royce da 5’9”– on the closing track on Death is Certain, “Something’s Wrong with Him”, “It’s way too dark for women, she say […]

A late arrival to the Queensbridge canon of classics, Cormega’s The Realness strikes a middle ground between Illmatic’s wistful nostalgia and Mobb Deep’s ice-cold aggression. Mostly produced by a cast of little known QB beat-smiths with choice contributions from Godfather Don, Havoc and Alchemist, The Realness is an exercise in good taste with Mega picking […]

Hip-hop history is littered with middling records made by teenagers. For every Shyheim, there’s a Kriss Kross, a Bow Wow and a Lil Romeo. Even good adolescent rappers like Illegal and Da Youngstas rarely got much further than a few strong early singles. Needless to say, a pair of dirt-poor 16-year olds from hip-hop backwater […]