Rage Against The Machine – Funk, noise and a clenched fist
In Los Angeles in 1991, Zack de la Rocha's barked lines met Tom Morello's toggle-switch guitar over a rhythm section that turned the protest into a dance beat.
Wild Style
Wild Style puts early Bronx hip-hop, graffiti, and break crews on screen before the culture had a finished product to sell.
Beastie Boys – Sabotage
Sabotage, from Ill Communication (1994), is the Beastie Boys' short punk-rap track, with Spike Jonze's cop-show video.
Public Enemy – A siren in the national ear
Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad made It Takes a Nation of Millions a dense political record you could still dance to.
NWA – Straight Outta Compton
N.W.A.’s 1988 Straight Outta Compton opens the Ruthless/Priority debut with Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Eazy-E mapping Compton in three hard verses.
What if Lauryn Hill had released a second album in 2002?
In 2002, Lauryn Hill follows The Miseducation with a complete studio album instead of offering an unplugged record as its substitute.
Illmatic – Nas
In April 1994 Nas released Illmatic, a ten-track Queensbridge debut under forty minutes that The Source rated five microphones.
Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.
Gorillaz’ Feel Good Inc. from Demon Days (2005): Albarn bass loop, De La Soul verses, windmill video, chart hit.
What if A Tribe Called Quest had never broken up in 1998?
In 1998, Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White replace A Tribe Called Quest's breakup with a one-year truce that leads to four more albums.
Afterlife Interview with Tupac Shakur
Riffs and Beats finds Tupac Shakur on a West Coast night street, bandana silhouette against purple neon, walking the block with the lines still in his head.