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.

Curtain Call: The Hits (Aftermath, 2005) by Eminem

Three of the four new tracks here are nothing spectacular at all.  "When I'm Gone" plays like an inferior sequel to "Mockingbird."  "Shake That", even with strong contributions from Nate Dogg, comes off as too silly and playful.  And "Fack" is just weird.  The one highlight of new material is the previously unreleased live version of "Stan" that Eminem performed with Elton John at The Grammys in 2001.  It was a legendary performance, moment in Eminem's career and event in hip hop history.  I'm glad it was finally released on record.  The only thing a recorded version of the performance doesn't capture is Mr. Mathers throwing his middle fingers in the air at the end.

No Limit Top Dogg (No Limit, 1999) by Snoop Dogg

Mystikal and Snoop were the only two No Limit soldiers whose albums didn't sound they were recorded factory-line style.  Even Da Game is to be Sold Not Told sounded a little unique (i.e. the "Gangsta Gangsta" cover "DP Gangsta").  However, Top Dogg made up for Da Game and then some.  Not only did Snoop reunite with Dre and bring Xzibit to the mainstream with "Bitch Please", but he also crafted stellar songs with Raphael Saddiq ("Somethin' Bout Yo Bidness") and Sticky Fingaz ("Buck 'Em").  And "Don't Tell", a DJ Quik-produced track featuring Mauseberg, Warren G and Nate Dogg, is so good that the music held my attention even more than the visuals of the XXX-rated hip hop themed film that it was featured in.