Bootlegs & B-Sides (Priority, 1994) by Ice Cube

This is a mediocre compilation (which explains why they're bootlegs and b-sides).  However, there are some highlights.  The blend of "Check Yo Self" for the remix over Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five's "The Message" is and "D'Voidofpopniggafiedmegamix" is a cool mix of Ice Cube records from his first few albums and a clever ways to give props to P-Funk.

The Lion King (Disney, 1994) by various

This soundtrack is solid and still holds up almost twenty years later.  Like the movie, the soundtrack covers a wide range of feelings and emotions.  Therefore, the result is an album with a wide-range of appeal.  "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," Hakkunah Mattatah," "Be Prepared"- it's all here and sequenced well.  The highlights though, which should come as no surprise, are the contributions that Sir Elton John makes to the project.  Put simply,  "Circle of Life" is epic and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is an amazing love song regardless of age or species.

No Words (Windham Hill Records, 1994) by Jim Brickman

Brickman's playing has a bit more of a pop feel than other piano players.  Therefore, the music definitely has an expressive mood to it, as opposed to just technical piano playing ability.  The music connects too and so it's no surprise that "Rocket to the Moon" made it on to Billboard's Top 40.  The album is called No Words, and that's fine because they're simply not needed here.

Murder Was the Case Soundtrack (Death Row, 1994) by various

I remember I bought this album on my 8th grade East Coast trip in the summer of 2001.  Blink-182 had released a new LP too (props to them as well), and while many of my classmates purchased that, I rushed to the rap section and found this older release.  "Murder Was the Case" is one of Snoop's best songs ever, and the remix does it justice.  The biggest deal of the release though is "Natural Born Killaz"- a great reunion of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre.  Other noteworthy tracks are Nate Dogg's "One More Day" and Jodeci's "Come Up to My Room."  I remember on the last night of the trip, I listened to the album non-stop and burned through an entire set of batteries on my portable CD player.  Good times.

Volume 1 (Interscope, 1994) by Thug Life

This a very good album that complements Tupac's idea of "Thug Life" very well.  There is definitely a raw quality about the delivery of a lot of the material on this project.  However, there is certainly social commentary woven into it too.  "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" is a stand out and props to Warren G for the production on it as well.  Other highlights are "Pour Out a Little Liquor" and the somber "Cradle to the Grave."  Volume 1 is great and it makes me wish that more were made when Pac was still alive.

Street Fighter Soundtrack (Universal, 1994) by various

"In the Rotten Apple, take a bite taste the worm/Embrace the world of reality we're faced to learn/Coke connection drug bust, graveyards where thugs rest/I keep my mug blessed, the evil is illegal substance sold/Roll mob deep, guns in the black Jeep/Mac-11's and legends, cracks in the streets/Patroller, gold money-folder, gun happy soldiers/Never sober takin over, my blood is colder/Niggaz respect violence so I become it/I'm from it, I even done it blunted so run it"

-Nas, "One on One"

Age Ain't Nothing but a Number (Blackground, 1994) by Aaliyah

The controversy surrounding R.Kelly's marriage to Aaliyah seemed to overshadow the album itself.  However, the album is very good.  It blended hip hop and R&B very well.  And even if Mary held the title of the queen of hip hop soul, Aaliyah had the youthful attitude and swagger that provided her an identity all her own.  "Back and Forth" still holds up almost twenty years later and the title track still bangs too.  The video is bittersweet though.  It has Aaliyah, of course, and Proof.  Two artists whose lives were tragically cut short.  Fortunately, through music, they will never be forgotten and will always be appreciated.

Dare Iz a Darkside (Def Jam, 1994) by Redman

The darker vibe of this album doesn't detract from it as much as some argue.  I think this album is actually very good.  Redman's sense of humor is still there.  Sermon's beats are different, but Redman is talented enough where The Green-Eyed Bandit can experiment.  The album's first single, "Rockafella," is great.  Unfortunately though, given the Leon Haywood sample on the record (the same one used in the iconic "Nuthin' But a G Thang two years earlier), it was seemingly overlooked.  It would be fair to say that this album was a minor misstep in Redman's career.  But he came back stronger than ever with Muddy Waters in '96 and that would help propel him to become one of biggest rap stars in the late 90s.

It Takes a Thief (Tommy Boy, 1994) by Coolio

Coolio's debut album is a very interesting one.  West Coast hip hop was very gangsta at the time, and Coolio's subject matter covered some of the same topics.  Yet, he spoke about these things with a sense of humor, vulnerability, and humility that a lot of hardcore rap didn't.  "County Line" discussed standing in the welfare line and "I Remember" is about getting shot by a gang member for unknowingly wearing the wrong colors.  Gangsta's Paradise is a great album too, has a great deal of sentimental value to me and was very successful.  Perhaps though, the only downside to its achievements is that it overshadowed Coolio's great piece of work from a year earlier.

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (LaFace, 1994) by Outkast

One of the things that make this album so incredible, in addition to Andre 3000 and Big Boi's outstanding rapping ability, is that Organized Noize used more live instrumentation.  And to complement the superior production, the ATLiens kick rhymes that are wise beyond their teenage years.  "Git Up, Git Out" discourages drug use, "Crumblin' Erb" addresses violence, and "Player's Ball" explains how, because of poverty, Christmas is just like every other day in the ghetto.  If anyone questioned the validity of Andre 3000's statement, "The South got something to say," all they'd have to do is listen to this album and they would be a believer.  The Source gave the album 4.5 Mics out of 5.  I respectfully disagree; I would have given it 5.

Hard to Earn (Chrysalis, 1994) by Gang Starr

There is nothing I can say about Gang Starr that has not already been said.  Premier is one of the best producers of all-time and Guru's (R.I.P.) way of sounding like he's talking to you when he raps is truly unique.  Gang Starr is legendary.  But Hard to Earn means a lot to me though-beyond  just  the music.  When I first learned to rap (I never got very good at all), it was Hard to Earn that I was lent and instructed to study- as far as keeping rhythm and counting bars.  Yet my shortcoming on the microphone turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I ended up digging Gang Starr so much that the producer I was working with saw my enthusiasm and still gave me encouragement to still be a part of hip-hop, even if I wasn't a rapper.  I couldn't rap or produce like Guru and Premo, but I could sure explain why they were awesome.  In a round-about way, Gang Starr's Hard to Earn was the first time that anyone ever took me and rap seriously and I am forever grateful for that.  It really helped build my confidence as a human being.  And as a generally shy person, that meant the world to me!

Tical (Def Jam, 1994) by Method Man

Considering that a flood destroyed a lot of beats that RZA created for the album, it is incredible that the majority of this album was created quickly because it is a great debut.  One track that was fortunately not damaged during the flood was "Meth Vs. Chef", my personal favorite cut on the album.  Tical and Warren G.'s Regulate definitely helped Def Jam during a time when Death Row was dominating hip-hop.  The Wu-Tang Clan still ain't nuthin' ta fuck wit.

The Diary (Rap-A-Lot, 1994) by Scarface

"Imagine life at it's full peak/Then imagine lying dead in the arms of your enemy/Imagine peace on this earth when there's no grief/Imagine grief on this earth when there's no peace/Everybody's got a different way of endin' it/And when your number comes for service then they send it in/Now your time has arrived for the final test/I see the fear in your eyes and hear your final breath/How much longer will it be til it's all done?/Total darkness and ease be at all one/I watch him die and when he dies let us celebrate/You took his life, but his memory you'll never take/You'll be headed to another place/And the life you used to live will reflect in your mother's face"

-Scarface, "I Seen A Man Die"

Illmatic (1994, Columbia) by Nas

"I rap for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners/Henessey holders and old school niggaz, then I be dissin a/unofficial that smoke woolie thai/I dropped out of Kooley High, gassed up by a cokehead cutie pie/Jungle survivor, fuck who's the liver/My man put the battery in my back, a differencem from Energizer/Sentence begins indented.. with formality/My duration's infinite, moneywise or physiology/Poetry, that's a part of me, retardedly bop/I drop the ancient manifested hip-hop, straight off the block/I reminisce on park jams, my man was shot for his sheep coat/Childhood lesson made me see him drop in my weed smoke"

-Nas, "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)"

Ready to Die (Bad Boy, 1994) by The Notorious B.I.G.

Biggie Smalls is still the illest.  The introduction on this album is the best intro ever, and the first time I listened to "Gimme the Loot" I thought it was two different emcees.  His flow on Ready to Die is absolutely ridiculous and the beats perfectly accentuate his grim lyrics.  Culturally, this album, along with Illmatic and Enter the Wu-Tang, helps shift attention back to New York hip-hop after years of West Coast dominance.  And even though Biggie is not the first emcee to die at the end of their album (see Scarface's debut), "Suicidal Thoughts" is the first time that I hear someone take his or her own life.