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Kool Keith - "Black Elvis" and "First Come, First Served" (as Dr. Dooom). The mid-point (and possibly the peak) of Keith's late '90s/early '00s resurgence. The former album showcased him being grimy and straight-up weird, while the later is a fine example of him being as slick, polished, and "accessible" as possible without sounding forced.
Atmosphere - Headshots: Se7en. I'm a huge Atmosphere fan, and this album might be in my top 3 by them; possibly even top 2. This is where Slug really came into his own as an MC/storyteller.
Swollen Members - Balance. Yes, this was when I was into "underground" hip-hop shit heavy, and I really loved this album. Dope beats, Madchild and Prevail were solid as MC (before Madchild went ridiculously over the top), and the guest appearances were really quality. Lots of versions of this album were released, but I prefer the European version.
High & Mighty's "Home Field Advantage" and Arsonists "As The World Burns." Like Swollen Members, these were in the first group of albums released by crews that were running the underground hip-hop 12" scene. And as with all the groups, I was glad to see that they were able to make dope shit beyond the singles. Not very everyone, but very much for me.
Beatnuts - A Musical Massacre. This album gets shit because it was their most "pop" album (it was released in the midst of the Latin artist surge of the late '90s), but take off too tracks, and there's a lot of really dope shit on here.
So yeah, with those six albums, plus some gimmes like Things Fall Apart, Operation: Doomsday, Blackout!, BOBS, Soundpieces, Soundbombing 2, Streetz iz a Mutha, and the Slim Shady album, and I can get to 10 fairly easily. -----------------
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