hip hop in the nineties...
...sucks. Bottom line, son. That's it. However, the bottom line is not the only one, and there are a few lines in outlying regions and at the edges of the our atmosphere (and others) that lay across some pretty frigging dope hip hop music... my top pick from among this urban avant garde is a group from my hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia... the dynamic duo of Buck65 and SixToo...
The Sebutones
Lyrics from their 1996 debut cassette
"Psoriasis"
Sebutone Def - A frighteningly, disgustingly phat and hyper jazzy acoustic bassline keeps this old-school-meets-Ogden-Nash track moving from top to bottom. Grabbed my attention. ^_^
Flux Capacity - History and scientific breakdown of hip hop's origins and issues.
Peach RMX - Like Peach from SixToo's third album "Return Of The Seeker", this is a dream that SixToo had. The events that take place in this track haven't come true yet. ^_^
Goin' Splits - Rich and SixToo trade the mic like a hot potato to bring some great wordplay to life... and that beat gets stuck in my head!
Osteriophysio - This is Buck65's big words track. ^_^ It's like he sat down to write the rhyme and thought "hmmm... what ridiculously and conspicuously long words rhyme and flow..." and did a frigging good job coming up with it. SixToo disses Wu-wannabes as an intelligent hip hoppper should. ^_^
Multiple Organisms - I've never said this about anything else before, but TOO MUCH BASS! And I love it. ^_^ This plays correctly on very, very few systems... as the low end is lower than 20Hz! Still, Rich kicks it proper. ^_^
Security Screws - Rich says goodbye to Halifax. He's moving to New York City in the all-to-near future, and this is why.
Transmission - This track sounds like space as the Sebutones conclude with firmity the first wave of the invasion. Little green men are not to be disobeyed
Lyrics from their 1997 12" single
Sebutone Def b/w Flux Capacity
To Mock A Killingbird - They get better every five minutes, and this track is six months newer than Psoriasis... so do the math, Jesus Christ!
Lyrics from the compilation
Up Periscope
Kenny's Theme - This is one sad ass song! In beat and sentiment, it comes as a followup or continuation of SixToo's excellent Gimmick from the Return Of The Seeker album. You'll have to hear it to really understand the feeling.
Lyrics from their 1998 sophomore
50/50 Where It Counts
I've got the album but it's kinda tough to transcribe at this point, with no track names... but don't fret! It's coming! My GOD!