Music » Experimental Rap Music

Between 1986's Licensed to Ill and 1999's hits package, The Sounds of Science, the Beastie Boys matured from attention-starved brats to insightful, funky, trendsetting brats with an ace record collection and top choice in collaborators. And by staying in tune with their inner children, the Beasties have also managed not to drop off in fervor as they've continued to push their boundaries. How many other hip-hop/rock groups would be able to put songs as different as the hard-core "Egg Raid on Mojo" and the jazzed-out instrumental "Sabrosa" on the same collection? As well as a slightly deranged take on Elton John's "Benny and the Jets"? At a hefty 42 tracks, this collection has something for everyone--and manages not to skimp on the hits or pad itself with filler. Though it would serve well as an introduction, The Sound of Science is even better as a companion. --Randy Silver

Less experimentally brash than his more recent release, Tricky's debut CD Maxinquaye is actually a better introduction to the British hip-hopper turned international trip-hopper than his later work. The dozen smoldering, moonlit tracks are less concerned with loopy aural exaggeration than they are with showcasing Tricky's slow-mo rap and singer Martine's sexy soprano. With the exception of the stellar "Pumpkin," (featuring vox from Alison Goldfrapp), the duo mix a colorful palate of rhythmic vocals, throbbing backbeats and gravelly electronic textures. Toss in large doses of sexual innuendo and Maxinquaye becomes a libidinous foray into languor and lust. --Nick Heil

Special edition of the hit hip hop group's 1999 'best of' with a bonus disc featuring seven remixes of six tracks, 'Bonita Applebum' (12 Inch Why? Edit), 'I Left My Wallet In El Segundo' (Vampire Mix), 'Public Enemy' (Saturday Night Virus Discomix), 'Can

How can such a self-righteous rapper be so much fun to hear? Common, like so many carrying the banner for alternative hip-hop, casts himself as the enemy of all things commercial ("That jiggy shit is over / The war is on, I only wanna be a soldier / I'm holdin' on to a culture"), yet he also insists on getting paid. Like Water for Chocolate is full of such contradictions: while often exciting, Common also maddens with his casual homophobia and sneers at those he sees as lesser artists. He doesn't lack a sense of humor, though, as witnessed by the likes of "A Film Called (Pimp)" (featuring MC Lyte) and titles such as "Payback Is a Grandmother." The latter track is something of a conceptual coup, expanding Common's pro-family message into the realm of a cinematic revenge fantasy against some thugs who rob one of his relatives. Such displays of imagination--and the thick, layered funk throughout--ultimately make this a superbly playable disc. --Rickey Wright

With their third album, the Beasties transformed themselves from smart-ass punks with a hip-hop jones into a playful live funk band with some solid rhymes, assisted by the extraordinary keyboardist Mark Ramos Nishita. A couple of tracks look back to their old school rap roots, and they still deploy goofy samples like nobody's business, but they're mostly making their own grooves (including some instrumentals worthy of being sampled in their own right). Their universalist world-view results in some excellent, off-the-wall fusions--the metalloid bump that forms the funk pulse of "So What'cha Want," Sly Stone's "Time for Livin'" transformed into a hard-rock bomber--but they don't have to prove how clever they are any more, and they're stronger and more humane for it. --Douglas Wolk

Release Date: 1991-09-24, Audio CD, Jive

Release Date: 1998-07-14, Audio CD, Capitol

People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is, quite simply, one of the finest albums in hip-hop. It's easy to argue that A Tribe Called Quest reached their zenith on this, their debut album: though they went on to produce another world-class disc (The Low End Theory) and broadened their palates and their consciousness, never again were they quite this naturally free and easy. Q-Tip and Phife's delivery is deceptively simple, flowing like wine and tasting like candy, and Jairobi adds some contrast. The music, so self-assured that it never raises its voice to make a spectacle, follows suit. Four albums later, on their last tour, songs from Paths of Rhythm still were at the top of the set list. --Randy Silver

Import edition of the alternative rapper's seminal and groundbreaking 1989 debut. Currently available domestically on cassette only! Standard jewel case.

After the out-of-nowhere success of Licensed to Ill, the Beasties had to prove they were more than one-album wonders, and they hit it out of the park with this follow-up. The Boys' lyrics are a hysterical deluge of cultural allusion (Ponce De Leon, Sadaharu Oh, and Love Connection's Chuck Woolery all get name-dropped), compressed wordplay, and adenoidal snottiness, but the real stars are the Dust Brothers, whose production is a hip-hop landmark. Their music tracks sound like the history of rock and funk radio boiled down to a pure concentrate--monster jams built out of thousands of unexpected samples (Johnny Cash! The Sweet!). It's a killer party album, kinetic and dense, and it never slows down. --Douglas Wolk Beastie Boys Photos More from Beastie Boys The Sounds of Science Check Your Head IIll Communication Hello Nasty Awesome, I Shot That DVD Video Anthology - Criterion Collection