Classic Album Review: Various Artists

This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing): Thematically, most hip-hop compilations don’t have much holding them together. It’s typically something obvious, like all the artists being from the same city or on the same label. Not so this exceptional, star-studded set featuring singers, rappers, MCs and DJs from all over the map (musically and geographically). The glue that binds them is some dude named M-Boogie, the Cali producer / remixer / DJ behind Laid In Full. No, I’ve never heard of him either, but obviously plenty of folks have — Beat Junkies, Defari, DJ Spooky, Kool Keith, N’Dea Davenport, Peanutbutter Wolf and Mos Def are just some artists who contribute soulful vocals, righteous rapping, superlative scratching or funky freakouts. Boogie on, M. [embedded content]