Aint No Half Steppin'

In the last episode of season one, Jon, Danny and Eddie go over their stand out one hit wonders from the golden era. The guys suggest five songs each. There were over 30 songs in contention and they can all be found on our Spotify playlist "One Hit Wonders from 90's Hip-Hop".

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"All Eyez On Me" was the fourth album released by Tupac Shakur and the last before his untimely death in Las Vegas on September 13th, 1996. The album was received with acclaim as it went straight to number one on The Billboard Top 200. It sold 566,000 copies in it's first week and was certified Diamond status in 2014, eighteen years after Tupac's death.

It is rumored that Pac knocked out the first seven songs in his first night out of jail as he hit the recording studio to make up for lost time. Signed to Death Row Records for a three album deal, Pac was keen to get to work after his stint in prison and the shooting at Quad Recording Studios in New York.

Daz Dillinger and Johnny J produced a lot of the album with Dr. Dre taking a back seat as his stint at Death Row was coming to an end. This double album was the first double album in hip-hop and is widely regarded as Tupac's best work.

Ready to Die was the debut album by Biggie Smalls that released on September 13th, 1994 on Bad Boy Records. The album would go on to hit multi platinum levels as Biggie became one of the biggest stars in hip-hop. With radio hits like "Juicy" Big Poppa" and One More Chance" leading the way on the radio, Ready to Die went on to become one of the most popular albums of all time.

Bad Boy Records Who Sampled That Mix

Raekwon released his debut studio album "Only Built for Cuban Linx" on August 1st, 1995 on Loud & RCA Records. Fellow Wu member Ghostface Killah features heavily throughout the album and every other Wu-Tang member also makes an appearance except for Ol' Dirty Bastard. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard Top 200 selling 130,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified gold on October 2nd, 1995. The album went on to sell 1.1 million copies in the US alone.

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The second studio album from Mobb Deep was released on April 25th, 1995. Prodigy and Havoc achieved commercial success with "The Infamous" and hit number 15 on the Billboard Top 200 and the album went gold in two months. Singles included "Shook Ones", "Survival of the Fittest", Temperature's Rising" and "Give up the Goods" all went on to be hits with "Shook Ones" being the stand out to this day. So where does this album stand in 90's hip-hop? Is it a 5 mic album or is this not even Mobb Deeps best album? Danny, Eddie and Jon take a look back at the summer of 1995.

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One of Harlems finest, Big L burst on the New York hip-hop scene as one of the most promising rappers ever to emerge. Known for his lyricism and creative freestyles, Big L appeared on the Stretch and Bobbito radio show in 1995 promoting his album "The Lifestylez ov Da Poor & Dangerous" alongside Jay-Z. In what is now a legendary freestyle in hip-hop history L and J lay down bars back to back. In 1999 Big L was shot and killed in Harlem. Jon, Danny and Eddie look back on L's legacy and his massive potential and what could have seen him emerge as one of the greatest rappers of all time.

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Ice Cube released his fourth studio album "Lethal Injection" on December 7th, 1993. The album debuted at number 5 on the Billboard Top 200 after selling 215,000 copies in it's first week. Commonly seen as a change from the norm for Ice Cube, Cube explores funk sampling on "Bop Gun" with George Clinton as well as continuing to tell America about real life in the ghetto with songs such as "Down for Whatever" and "Ghetto Bird". The album is most remembered for the success of the single "You Know How We Do It". Jon, Danny and Eddie go over where they were when the album dropped, thoughts on guest appearances, noteworthy samples and music videos as well as their rating out of five mics.

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Released on April 19th, 1994 "Illmatic" by Nas is regarded as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. The album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Top 100 albums and sold 92,000 copies in it's first week. By 2001 over 1 million copies were sold and it eventually hit two million copies sold in 2019. Boasting some of the games heavy hitter producers such as Large Professor, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Q-Tip and LES the album lived up to the hype.

Initially it wasn't received as a commercial success but the recognition came over time as more and more people recognized the pure lyrical brilliance of Nas accompanied by the top level production on the album. The Source gave the album a 5 mic rating much to the disapproval of other MC's of the time.

In 1993 Snoop Dogg dropped "Doggystle" while on Death Row Records. It was widely accepted at the time as the most anticipated hip-hop album following Snoop's role on Dr. Dre's "The Chronic". Jon, Danny and Eddie go over their favorite songs, samples, lyrics, guest appearances and where there were when the album was released.

Where does this album rank on the all time list? The guys go through where they were when the album dropped, their favorite songs on the album, best lyrical performance as well as their overall rating out of five mics.

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