“Sometimes I wish I could
Stop the world from spinning and step out of it…”
-Diaz Brothers feat. Matrix and A-Butta, “Keep Pourin”

I’d like to think I’m a special, unique snowflake, like my mom tells me…but I know I’m not. I’d bet a handful of you reading this had a similar development arc in your love for Hip-Hop. Mine went something like this:

…The “dumb deaf and blind interest in the pop rap fed to me by top 40 radio” phase
(He’s The DJ, I’m the Rapper; 2 Legit 2 Quit)

…The “who’s this guy with the cool voice on the Beastie Boys song” phase
(Midnight Marauders; Blowout Comb; Buhloone Mindstate)

…The “holy shit if Wu-Tang isn’t the best shit ever I don’t know what is” phase
(Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers); the entire first round of Wu solos; Forever)

And then it really got crazy. The whole initial independent/”underground as fuck” movement, centered around Rawkus Records was crazy. Progression, energy, meaning…if you wanted to hear everything you thought Bad Boy Records WASN’T…this world was yours.

A centerpiece of this era for many was the incredibly packaged double disc Lyricist Lounge Vol. One. Each and every track brings me back to a more innocent time, for me and for Hip-Hop.  Rappers didn’t have clothing lines, there were more fans than MCs, and I didn’t have credit card debt.

Of the unknowns, some went on to have varying success on a national level (Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Jurassic 5, Saul Williams) while some were rarely if ever heard of again.

You already know Mos and Kweli’s stories, so let’s google some of the less ubiquitous names:

Cipher Complete: These dudes had the first track on the first disc, “Bring Hip-Hop Back,” which I still really enjoy…but it appears that as far as the internet is concerned, that just might be the only song they ever recorded…

Natural Elements: They have a Myspace page that hasn’t been updated since March.

A.L: Google’s got nothing on this guy…milk carton.

Diaz Brothers: Through 8 Google pages all I learned is that the producers who brought Pitbull out share the same name, another set of Diaz Bros are popular mixed martial arts fighters…oh and there’s a bail bondsman service in San Jose called Diaz brothers.

Word A’ Mouth: These dudes made my favorite track on the entire disc (Famous Last Words), but Discogs.com says that since LL they only released but one 12″ single in 2002.  They are now known as Brooklyn Academy, and have a newish track for download. Check the promoter’s bio, wow….

Lyricist Lounge Vol. One