Buried Gems 4

G

Gang Starr - Daily Operation (1992)
This was their break through album in my opinion, the one that defined Dj Premier as a ground breaking producer, and where Guru further advanced his skills and utilized his monotone to full effect.

Gang Starr - Hard To Earn (1994)
The best album in their catalog to me, no doubt.

Gang Starr - Moment Of Truth (1998)
This is their most accessible album to casual hip hop fans to date, start with this one, if you like it, the other two are definitely for you.

GORE-TEX - The Art Of Dying (2004)
Easily the most talented member of Non Phixion, if you like any of the work that group put out then you'll like this.

Grav - Down To Earth (1996)
An undiscovered gem, get this by any means.

Group Home - Livin' Proof (1995)
Show cases Premo's best production work of all time on Suspended In Time, Livin' Proof and Up Against The Wall (Getaway Car Mix), AT least get the instrumentals, you're not missing much in terms of Lil Dap and Melachi's rhyming skills.

Buried Gems 3

C
Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein (2001)
Any enthusiast of independent hip hop has this album, but for those that don't here's a reminder.

ALSO check out
EL-P Presents: The Cannibal Oxtrumentals (2002)
D
The D&D Project (1995)


While I think we can all agree, both versions of the D&D Allstars-Dj Premier-produced track titled 1,2 Pass It is better than everything else on here combined, this is actually worthy of a burn at least.

D.I.T.C. (Diggin' In The Crates Crew) - D.I.T.C./Worldwide
The strength of Ebonics (Primo mix) alone is worthy of a burn, but the inclusion of a song in which Fat fucking Joe upstages Big L and 7-8 decent tracks bumps this up to a purchase.

The D.O.C. - No One Can Do It Better (1989)
One of the best offerings from the West Coast of all time, had he not gotten his vocal cords fucked I have no doubt that The D.O.C. would have been a great aid to Dr Dre in dismantling hip hop.

Das EFX - Hold It Down (1992)
This is where the -iggedy style began, a fine offering from a fine group.

Das EFX - Straight Up Sewaside (1993)
An effective expansion on their debut, and just as worthy of a purchase.

Das EFX - Hold It Down (1995)
This is like your favorite rapper's favorite album, it wasn't recieved well by actual critiques of music but hip hop heavy weights have cited this as the gold standard of East Coast hip hop. Drayzie and Skoob opted to drop the -iggedy style and got some name brand production behind the boards, and effectively crafted one of MY top 5 albums of all time.

Dilated Peoples - The Platform (2000)
I can't in good conscience recommend a purchase of this, but what I CAN do is recommend a burn and if you like it I suggest you purchase it, as it's FAR more rewarding than that shitty Layover EP Evidence did.

Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop (1992)
You absolutely HAVE to listen to this, I guarantee you if you enjoy early 90s East Coast in any way, shape or form you'll love this.

Diamond D - Hatred, Passions and Infidelity (1997)
The production on here isn't as ahead of it's time as on his debut, but Diamond's lyrical game takes a massive step up and I'd rather listen to this on repeat for the rest of eternity than hear DJ Khaled negate the use of the word 'Are' one more time.

Buried Gems 2

B
Blahzay Blahzay - Blah, Blah, Blah (1996)
Despite a pretty successful single this album failed to move many units, and is now out of print, which is a fucking shame since there's A LOT of good shit on here. If you happen to find this in a shop and your taste in hip hop doesn't suck, spend the three pounds on it.

Blak Forest - You Are Now Entering The Blak Forest (1997)
The beats on here are that magical combination of West Coast bass and East Coast melody and there's some highly capable artists on here, so if you find a used copy of this: get it bought, or burn it like I did.

The Brotherhood - Elementalz (1996)
This is the polar opposite of what you'd expect from a London based hip hop group, mainly because this was created when the East Coast was in it's prime and the grime movement hadn't caught on to 13 year old white girls yet.

I have a sore head, C-E will probably come tomorrow.

Buried Gems 1

This is generally why I wanted to make this blog, to spread the word of lesser known artists and albums, as a large portion of good hip hop isn't particularly well known, my blog won't change this, but it DOES provide me with an excuse to talk shit, which is all that matters.

A
Akinyele - Vagina Diner (1993)
A full album of Large Professor production and COMPLETELY RANDOM shit from one funny motherfucker? This is a must hear.

Akrobatik - The EP (2002)
The epitome of underground hip hop; raw boom bap production, skillful lyricism and a few shitty songs. You could do a lot worse.

Arsonists - As The World Burns (1999)
A six man crew who knew before they even wrote their verses that commercial success would allude them, so they opted to create an underground masterpiece, gritty boom bap and unpolished delivery with more lyrical ability between the six of them than half the South combined.

Artifacts - Between A Rock And A Hard Place (1994)
New York Mid 90s at it's finest. Well, it's not exactly Illmatic or The Infamous but you won't regret at least burning this.

I'll probably go through each letter of the alphabet and point you in the direction of some good obscure shit over the next month or so, meaning that I'll reach Z when hell freezes over and then subsequently melts into a small red puddle.