Music » West Coast Music

Asian version featuring a bonus Audio/Video CD, with 3 videos and 5 additional audio tracks.

2007 vinyl repressing of Dre's 1999 opus featuring guest turns from Eminem and Snoop Dogg. Interscope.

An indispensable and definitive collection showcasing the passionate genius of the late rapper. The album's nonchronological sequence highlights the contradictory impulses that made Tupac's music so commanding; the 21 well-loved "hits," some slightly reedited for legal reasons, are accompanied by four previously unheard songs. Of the new material, the raw-sounding "God Bless the Dead" has been the subject of the most speculation, owing to its subject matter: a eulogizing of the late Notorious B.I.G.--a mysterious feat, since Tupac was killed six months before Biggie. And, making its first proper appearance on a Tupac album, the B-side "Hit 'Em Up" stands as the most intense outburst of pure venomous rage ever captured on tape. Whether he's waxing political, philosophical, or just plain paranoid, Tupac's empathetic, charismatic style remains unmatched. --Charley Gothic

UK two-fer combines the late gangsta rapper's 1988 album, 'Easy-Duz-It' with the 1992 EP, 5150 Home 4 Tha Sick. EMI. 2002.

Throughout the 1990s, Snoop Dogg proved that the phrase "old rappers" doesn't have to be an oxymoron, and that it's possible to age gracefully within the genre. But as he made the transition from lethargic gangsta crony to mature thug uncle, Snoop the icon soon outstripped Snoop the rapper and his output became spotty, leaving questions of whether his talented tongue was lost to time. On Tha Last Meal, Snoop proves that all the glitter isn't gone from his golden throat. He's so secure that he even dips into crooning on the so fresh and so clean "Leave Me Alone." But Tha Last Meal largely achieves its smoothness through worn-leather raps delivered with pimp savoir-faire and production--supplied by Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Meech Wells, and others--that swaps the charisma-free bounce of Snoop's last two albums for an uptempo, newly enthused sound. The glee is echoed in Snoop's rhymes. "I'm in a three-piece suit looking too cute," Snoop gloats on "Stacey Adams." "Go Away" serves as the Dogg's new position statement, on which he belligerently proclaims "I'm too young to retire, I'm having fun with it / See, when you learn what to do with it, I'll be done with it." Indeed, it'll take a nation of haters to keep Snoop down, something that Snoop nods to on "True Lies," which features the boldest player of all, President Bill Clinton. With even the prez doing dirt, it's clear the game still isn't to be told. --Jon Caramanica

L.A.-based Jurassic 5 have unearthed the lost art of flow. With a style reminiscent of the Native Tongues, J5 delivers one of the most consistent rap albums in recent memory. Cuts like "The Influence" and "Great Expectations" exhibit a wonderfully organic quality that could help us all to forget the tired rap formulas of money, hoes, and gats. Comprised of four MC's and two DJs (DJ Nu-Mark and the legendary Cut Chemist), J5 is near Ellingtonian in size for a hip-hip troupe. The interplay between the members reeks of old school, the place where rap sounds honest and evolves as an art form. As well it should, because J5 aren't new to hip-hop; after all, they've been "rockin' since the '84 Fresh Fest." --Marc Calhoun

Despite the middling quality of his previous two albums, Snoop Dogg's sixth full-length effort firmly places this "professor of G-ology" back on top of the game. Snoop comes off surprisingly spry on Paid tha Cost, offering one of his best-balanced albums in years. His pimpalistic style is still draped in silk and fur, especially on "Bo$$ Playa," "Suited 'n' Booted," and "Ballin'." But "I Believe in You" is an unexpectedly sensitive, irony-free love ballad, while Snoop's pairings with the Neptunes and Gang Starr's DJ Premier result in two of his hardest hitting cuts ever, "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" and "The One and Only" respectively. Combine this with his unfettered attack on Suge Knight ("Pimp Slapp'd") and this is a Snoop Dogg charging forward rather than lazily leaning back. Taking the helm at the dawn of the new decade, this old Dogg still has some new tricks. --Oliver Wang

Release Date: 2001-03-27, Audio CD, Interscope Records

Array

Release Date: 2001-12-04, Audio CD, Priority Records