Passin' Me By by The Pharcyde (prod. J-Swift)

In 1991 Slimkid3, Imani, Bootie Brown and Fatlip all had big breaks when they passed on their demo tape to Mike Andrews, a record executive at Delicious Vinyl Records. That same summer they were signed.

Slimkid3, Imani and Bootie Brown had all gone to high school together, and had their start in entertainment as dancers with their most notable feature as background dancers for the television show In Living Color. The three soon met Fatlip and producer J-Swift in an after school music program taught by RnB musician Reggie Andrews. Andrews (who had done music with Rick James) considered J-Swift his star pupil. J was a musical prodigy who was an excellent piano and bass player. Andrews encouraged J-Swift to pursue production and beat making, buying him an Akai MPC60. When the 5 had formed The Pharcyde, their demo tape contained the songs 'Ya Mama', 'Passin' Me By' and 'Officer'. These tracks would soon be released on their debut album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde.

Dead Bent by MF Doom (prod. Metal Fingers)

I think comic books and hip hop have always shared an interesting relationship. Both are distinctly American inventions whose intended audience were children. And in many ways the rapper is an alter ego put on by normal people, much like a super hero. Daniel Dumile, known in the early 90s as Zev Love X began his hip hop career with his group KMD (Kausing Much Damage or a positive Kause in a Much Damaged society). KMD consisted of Zev, his brother DJ Subroc, and Onyx. They made their debut appearance in the video for 'The Gas Face' by 3rd Bass.

Shortly there after released their overlooked full-length album Mr. Hood in 1991. Onyx soon left the group and during production of their second album Bl_ck B_st_rds in '93, Zev's brother Subroc was tragically hit by a car and killed. The album was shelved by Elektra Records due to the controversial cover and wouldn't be released until 2008 on Metal Face Records. Zev vanished from the music scene for 4 years, living homeless and sleeping on benches on the streets of Manhattan. He would return with a new identity, as the masked super villain/rapper MF Doom.

Jazz (We've Got) by A Tribe Called Quest (prod. Q-Tip & Pete Rock)

In 1991 (five months before I was even born) A Tribe Called Quest released their seminal album The Low End Theory. In their short career Tribe managed to release some of the greatest albums in hip hop, and their discography remains to be the greatest having released in my opinion 3 classic albums and 2 otherwise great albums. The Low End Theory being their second release is what really put them in the good graces of mainstream audiences, despite Jive Records believing the release would be a commercial failure.

Me or the Papes by Jeru the Damaja (prod. DJ Premier)

Back in '96 Jeru released his sophomore album Wrath of Math. Like his previous release, the album featured themes of Afrocentricity, the preservation of hip hop culture, and criticized materialism. His first album The Sun Rises in the East was precieved well by hip hop heads, but was not free from criticism. The single Da Bitchez left some of Jeru's audience partially divided. Pras from the Fugees even made a couple of disses in response to this song in particular. The song explicitly describes a certain type of woman, and Jeru is careful not to generalize.

"Now a queen's a queen and a stunt is a stunt/ You can tell who's who by the things they want."

Despite this, Jeru felt that on his '96 release he would have to clarify exactly who he was referring to.