As weeeee proceeeeed… shoutout to Arsenio’s “Posse”… more of my favorites from of course, the ’90s:
“I Shot Ya (Remix)”- LL Cool J feat. Keith Murray, Prodigy, Fat Joe, & Foxy Brown (1995): Shit was undeniable. First of all, the track itself was crazy and built to be killed by someone capable of doing so, which all five MCs seemed to be aiming for. Murray opened things with a bang. Mobb Deep’s Prodigy followed with lyrics that I doubt he could write today to save his life. Joe came through much-improved from his prior work. Foxy made her debut and nearly stole the show. And then, LL KILLED IT. L had a point to prove with his rhyme, and he did just that. I remember people bein’ surprised at how hard L went. I never understood the shock, but maybe it’s because last time they’d heard him, he was “heeshee, blowticious, skeevy, delicious”… ?
“Got My Mind Made Up”- 2Pac feat. Tha Dogg Pound, Method Man, & Redman (1996): Daz (who produced the track) could’ve given his spot up to someone else… but everyone else brought it. One of the tracks that pulled me into All Eyez On Me (because I was NOT diggin’ “California Love” at all), “…Mind Made Up” is still a favorite of mine. It also proves to dispel the incorrect belief that ‘Pac hated the East Coast during this time. Meth and Red, fresh off of their first collab “How High”, continued to exhibit the power of their combined talents. Kurupt turned in another in what was then a consistent number of solid guest verses, and ‘Pac sounded quite determined to not be outdone. Personally, I’d give this one to Red’s verse, but I wouldn’t be mad if someone else preferred ‘Pac’s.
“John Blaze”- Fat Joe feat. Nas, Big Pun, Jadakiss, & Raekwon (1998): No dis, but if there was ever a rapper unlikely to go the distance in the rap game, it was Joe when he debuted in ’93. By ’98, he was primarily involved in pushing his man Big Pun into the spotlight. Once that was solidified, Joe went back in to drop his third album, Don Cartagena, which featured this joint. All the guests do their thing here, with Jadakiss’ raspy flow continuing to shine on every track he touched. Who knows what Raekwon was talkin’ about, but his flow was still thorough. Nas, who was phoning it in a LOT around this time, came with his A-game here. But the edge goes to Pun, off the strength of “even if I stuttered, I would still sh-sh-shit on you”. Punisher was killin’ it in ’98 before his size and health started taking a lot out of him, vocally and of course, physically.
“Banned From TV”- Noreaga feat. Nature, Big Pun, Cam’ron, & The Lox (1998): Around ’98, as I mentioned before, there was a new wave of artists coming up. Most of these were rappers who’d gotten most of their early shine on the mixtape circuit, then led by DJ Clue. Out of that new wave came “Banned From TV” by Noreaga, a.k.a. N.O.R.E. This one was major, especially due to Swizz Beatz providing what is still one of his best tracks ever. Everyone goes for it, with the back-n-forth teamwork of Jada & Styles nearly taking the cake. But Pun takes it again with “disrespect and watch ya body cave in, pump the shottie gauge and hit ya shorty while he potty-trainin’”. On a side note, Nore’s never been the most immaculate lyricist, but damn if his verse isn’t entertaining as hell. HTF is Hennessey STRAIGHT if it’s “with tomato juice”?
“Don’t Curse”- Heavy D feat. Kool G Rap, Grand Puba, Pete Rock, CL Smooth, Big Daddy Kane, & Q-Tip (1991): Known for being on the lighter side of hip-hop (no complexion joke), Heavy was a formidable MC. Much of his music was aimed in a more R&B direction, which may be why he tends to be left out of those “golden age” convos. But Hev got a lot of love from others in the game, as was shown on “Don’t Curse”. Here, he collabs with some of hip-hop’s best of the time on a track where almost everyone teases curse words but never actually says one. Not even a wack Pete Rock verse nor Kane rocking a damn purple matador suit in the video could stop this song from bein’ my shhh… stuff. Oh, and G RAP for the win.
(KRS would say) “We’re not done… we’re not done!” I’ll be revisiting this topic again sometime down the line, as there are more that I plan to speak on in the future. For now, I’ll leave it here. Feel free to name some of YOUR favorites in the comment section. Meanwhile, go ‘head and enjoy:
-D!
Posted by Danj! 
