Release Date: 1996

Impressions:  Haven’t give this one a spin in a while. Let’s go… After the obligatory opening skit, “How Many Mics” kicks off with a nice off-kilter beat and, weird that I didn’t remember this, but tons of crazy references (Seal, Crazy Baldheads, Stevie Wonder, Last Tango In Paris, Jefferson Airplane, movies, tv, sports, heck, even the cover is a Godfather theme.)  like almost at a Beastie Boy level. Many of the tracks (“Zealots,” “No Woman, No Cry”) have a great Haitian/Island influence that provided some relief during the gansta-rap dominated mid ’90s. Oh man, listen to Lauren Hill belt it out on “Ready Or Not.” Wow, she was amazing before she checked out of the whole scene. I can’t think of anyone who can sing and rhyme as equally well as she can. Sigh. This album is a loopy mix of rhymes, singing, and weird beats with a loping dubby productions. Heady, socially conscious, lyrics and lots of smarts and humor behind the production. Like lots of hip-hop albums, too many dumb, long skits (“Red Intro,” “The Beast”) but then stellar cuts like the amazing, swaggering “FU-GEE-LA” and the spooky cover of “Killing Me Softly” makes everything better. Still fresh and fun to listen to, I don’t know if this is timeless, but it sure holds up.