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Article about long island singles scene:
The 25 Best Long Island Rap Albums. With his impossibly cool delivery, complex metaphors, previously unheard of internal rhyme schemes and Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earths–informed knowledge, Rakim instantly changed the game for MCs with Paid in Full , his 1987 debut album with Eric B, released 25 years ago today. The emergence of The God MC was remarkable, at the time at least, for another reason: He didn’t claim Brooklyn (where he had deep family roots), or Eric B.’s home borough of Queens, but Wyandanch, a small town 30 miles east of the city, in Long Island’s Suffolk County.

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People still generally don’t associate the suburbs with hip-hop credibility but starting with Paid In Full and Public Enemy’s aptly titled Yo! Bumrush The Show (also released in ‘87), Long Island’s “Black Belt” became, for several years, hip-hop’s center of creativity. Embracing their outsider status, acts like De La Soul, EPMD, Leaders of the New School and KMD issued a wave of innovative albums in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, ushering in sounds and sensibilities that invigorated hip-hop’s core audience while evincing a universality rappers from the city couldn’t always muster. Though not as vital as it once was, Long Island’s rap scene still produces the occasional gem—see Roc Marciano’s Marcberg , for one recent example. What better was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Paid In Full than to take a look at 25 of the greatest albums to come from Strong Island? Recognize. 25. JVC Force, Doin' Damage (1988) Label : B-Boy Records. JVC Force gave “Strong Island” its anthem with their underground classic by that name in ‘88. And, quiet as it’s kept, the trio of B-Luv, AJ Rok and Curt Cazal dropped a pretty dope album that year, too. With its offbeat samples, put-on accents and a general air of playfulness, Doin’ Damage had the sort of loose, bugged-out aesthetic that another Suffolk Country trio, De La Soul, would take to greater heights a year later, with 3 Feet High and Rising . 24. Grand Daddy IU, Smooth Assassin (1990) Label : Cold Chllin'/Reprise/Warner Brothers. Golden Era rap label Cold Chillin’ Records was generally associated with Queens and the Juice Crew but Tyrone “Fly Ty” Williams’ imprint had other acts, too. A product of gritty Hempstead (hometown of Prodigy, and the birthplace of Method Man), the dapper, baritone-voiced Grand Daddy I.U. had a pair of minor, R&B-flavored hits with “Something New” and “Sugar Free but Smooth Assassin tracks like "Nobody Move" and "Behind Bars" showed that Strong Island MCs could get just as gully as their city peers. And to think, this project almost never happened! When album producer Biz Markie initially called I.U., the rapper thought he was bluffing and brought baseball bats to their meeting before wising up. 23. The UN, UN or U Out (2004) Label : 456 Entertainment/WORLD Records. Carson Daly has proven to be more successful at championing new music on late-night TV than he was as a record label exec but the Last Call host’s short-lived 456 Entertainment imprint was responsible for at least one brilliant—if little known—rap album, in The U.N.’s U.N. Or U Out . On their lone LP, the Uniondale, L.I.-based crew (which also included former Flip Mode member Roc Marciano, of nearby Hempstead) came off sounding like a Long Island version of Wu-Tang, while rocking over some of the best—and darkest—Pete Rock and Large Professor beats you’ve probably never heard. If only Carson went all in on this record label thing, more people might have. 22. EPMD, Business As Usual (1990) Label : Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records/Priority Records. EPMD never tried to one-up or reinvent themselves after their breakthrough success with Strictly Business . The Brothers from Brentwood, L.I., have been content to retrace that album’s blueprint (funky, whip-friendly beats and rhymes about snappin’ necks and gold-digging chicks named Jane) over and over throughout their career. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Case in point: '91's Business As Usual isn't necessarily superior to their next best albums, ‘89’s Unfinished Business and ‘92’s Business Never Personal —they're all pretty much the same in terms of overall quality—but it was the first EPMD release to showcase Erick and Parrish's ability for spotting talent, introducing the Hit Squad to the world via Redman's cameo on “Hardcore.” 21. Freddie Foxxx, Industry Shakedown (2000) Label : Landspeed Records. Though his connections to Brooklyn’s Gang Starr Foundation and the Bronx's BDP—not to mention his tough-as-nails demeanor—might lead you to think otherwise, Freddie Foxxx was raised in solidly suburban North Babylon, L.I. Released 11 years after his first and only major-label release, Freddie Foxxx Is Here (MCA), Foxxx’s Industry Shakedown put phony rappers and disingenuous corporate execs on blast with bold threats ("I remember when I first stepped to Lyor, I should have blown him/Cause that cracker been a crook since I first known him" went one particularly direct line) and gruff, cut-the-bullshit lyricism. Produced by an all-star committee of DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Diamond D. and the Alchemist, Industry Shakedown was the best-selling independent album of 2000, ensuring that Bumpy Knuckles had the last, diabolical laugh. 20. Son of Bazerk, Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk (1991) Label : MCA/Sound of Urban Listeners. Long Island produced a lot of colorful acts in the early ‘90s, but none more unique than Son of Bazerk or, as they were known in full, Son of Bazerk featuring No Self Control and the Band.













Long island singles scene