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Snoop Dogg references this song at the beginning of the second verse of “Gin and Juice.”ĩ8. No disrespect to MC Breed, who died of kidney failure when he was 38, but 2Pac is the main attraction here, one of five appearances for him on this list. “Gotta Get Mine” – MC Breed featuring 2Pac (Corrected on 7/7 – added this song to remove an ineligible song from higher on the list.)ĩ9. Ice Cube’s lyrics often led to controversy – something I doubt he minded since even bad publicity sells records – but I don’t think the anti-gay lines in this song would fly today like they did in the early ’90s. Samples an early hip-hop classic, “The Message,” that was already dated before the 1980s ended, with guest vocals by Das Efx on the chorus.
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That cutoff means no Jay-Z or Eminem and virtually no Nas or Outkast, to pick a few examples, but with one exception (a song recorded before the deadline but released afterwards) I stuck to the deadline for all tracks. I’ve limited the list to songs released, either as singles or on albums, prior to 1996. And it’s about how the songs have held up over time, not which songs I liked when they first came out or how they fared on the charts.
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This is list is entirely my opinion, and maybe 90% of it is just about how much I personally like the songs, with the other 10% reserved for the song’s influence or importance in hip-hop history. It started out as a top 40, then a top 50, then 75, after which I figured I’d just push it to 100. I’ve been working on this post since late February, but it’s finally done now that the draft crush and our summer east coast swing are over. Now, journey with us as we revisit the best songs from our favorite decade.I’m a huge fan of old-school hip-hop music and have wanted for some time to put down some kind of ranking of my favorite songs from that era. We compiled them into one mega list, ranked them all and created the list below.Īnd we’ve even created a playlist, check it out here. To compile this list, each panelist nominated their 30 favorite songs from the years 1990-1999. She does big tings outchea.Īnd of course, the slayer of sloppy stans and the reviewer your favorite artist hates, yours truly, Edward T. God-is Rivera, global director of culture & community for Twitter, yes, THE Twitter. Troy Smith, entertainment reporter for and host of CLE Rocks podcast Veteran reporter and 90s hip-hop expert Maisy Draper Make sure you check out his youtube channel, it’s dope. Hip-hop reviewer Luke James, the only reviewer you should trust besides me. Once again, I’m joined by fellow music stans from the Soul In Stereo Cypher on Facebook, where we debate these topics 24 hours a day. But these are the songs that meant the most to me and our panelists. Clearly, we could have made a list of 500 sounds and still left out some incredible music. Today we’re going to embark on the impossible task of ranking the 100 best songs of that decade. Sure, that era didn’t have the financial or mainstream success that rap enjoys today, but make no mistake – today’s hitmakers are standing on the foundation laid in that special decade. The array of sounds, legends being made seemingly on a monthly basis, regions rising up to tell the stories of their communities, dynamic producers pushing the boundaries of sound – it was a magical time. Just take a stroll through hip-hop Twitter – you’ll get 5,000 different voices with 10,000 different opinions.įor my money, though, the 1990s were the most transformative years in hip-hop history.