Local Lingo: Bay Area Jazz Rap '90-'99 Anthology Vol. 01

The Bay really has it all. Especially when it comes to hip hop sub-genres. It's not just mobb music, turntablism, and hyphy. We also have gangsta rap and g-funk. But seriously, when boom bap and / or jazz rap get brought up, the Bay Area usually doesn't. That's not the typical focus. Except today and for the next two weeks, it is.

Whether you know your Mac Ts from your Mack-Ts₁ or not, there's somethin' for everyone here. Doesn't matter if you're listening to I.Q. or Eyeque. I got it all covered: from Dave Dub to Joe Dub, everything from dank smokin' killers to doja smokin' nerds. A who's who of “who's that?”, that'll make you sound like a group of owls listenin' to Mike Jones.

I made this with both the “East Coast purists” and the “hardcore Bay Area fans that don't even know who DJ Premier is” in mind. I wanted to show each group, and everybody in-between, how vast and yet also how insular the Bay can be. That juxtaposition is just one of many themes found throughout the following fourteen volumes of this anthology.

In 1990, Too Short already had his first Greatest Hits album, and by '99 you could find all that shit on Napster. During the decade between, the streets were flooded with tapes. Independent tapes, trunk tapes, demos, custom joints, you name it.

Thanks to 12manrambo, Billy Jam, Da Cream Hunter, Gary Baca, Kwame Harrison, L-Wood, MadHuman, OGDonNinja, potlood, R8R, Ripped Open By Metal Explosions, Til Inf., and everybody else sharing music for us all to hear. Don't get hissed off.

So maybe we're still known more for our alt-comedy scene than our alt-rap one. I'm here to help change that, with a head start for your weekend and your summer playlists. You ever hear of Bay Area Hip-Hop History 101? This is the advanced class. (As an aside, the one track from '89 that I would've picked as a lead-in to represent this group of recordings I've gathered is East Side Oakland's Eastmont Mall.)

Local Lingo: Bay Area Jazz Rap '90-'99 Anthology Vol. 01

01. 2wo Dominatorz – Visions₂ | San Francisco, '90
02. 415 – 415 (Remix) | Oakland, '90
03. BP (Black Power)₃ – Mind Power | Vallejo, '90
04. Chill E.B. – Let's Roll | Antioch, '90
05. D-Loc – Be a Friend to the End | Oakland, '90
06. Dan the Automator – King of the Beats ft. MC Twan | San Francisco, '90
07. Dangerous Dame – Far From a Regular | Oakland, '90
08. De-Ric-De – Gangster Base | Oakland, '90
09. Dice Man P & DJ Ronski – Kick It! | Richmond, '90
10. Funky Illness – Fire It Up | San Francisco, '90
11. I.M.P. (Ill-Mannered Posse) – Listen | San Francisco, '90
12. E-A-Ski₄ – High Stepping | Oakland, '90
13. Hugh EMC – My Poetry | San Francisco, '90
14. The J Ski Set – Funk Technique | Concord, '90
15. The Legion – Saucy | Oakland, '90
16. Lyrical Prophecy – You Can't Swing This | San Jose, '90
17. Maximum Security –This Beat is Endorsed | Vallejo, '90
18. MC Jay & DJ Villian – City of a Gangster | Oakland, '90
19. Mr. Nice Guy₅ – It Ain't That Type of Party | Davis, '90
20. Peanut Butter Wolf – Rebel Within ft. MC Twan₆ | San Jose, '90
21. So Busy – My Intro | East Palo Alto, '90
22. Raised by Seuss – Jane & Jim | Campbell, '90
23. Richie Rich – Side Show | Oakland, '90
24. The Mac₇ – Enuff of Tis Shit! | Vallejo, '90
25. One Cause One Effect – Let's Get Busy | Oakland, '90

Peace to The Mac, Cougnut, Quiz One of Lyrical Prophecy, and Dangerous Dame.

_{Minor liner notes on Volume 1}

_{1 - Mac T is from Pittsburg and Mack-T is from San Francisco. That doesn't even get into Young Mack-T, outta Stockton.}

_{2 - Samples Strawberry Letter 23, originally by Shuggie Otis, who was from Sonoma.}

_{3 - Signed to Too Short's 75 Girls Records.}

_{4 - His first release, as Easy-A-Ski.} 

_{5 - The artwork for the single was done by 8th Wonder.}

_{6 - Both early PBW and Automator separately worked with this local MC, Twan, in 1990.}

_{7 - Mac Dre was his namesake and protégé.}

_{Look folks, you can put quotes 'round those footnotes.}