Each week the Stacks Manager adds 4-6 albums we call P-cuts. Their aim is to dig up those forgotten gems that have been lost in obscurity, and to spotlight the innovative and influential works that have inspired the artists we enjoy now. If you would like to suggest an album/artist/or theme, please write to the Stacks Manager.

Week of 10/6 - 10/11: "YO! KCPR Raps"

Mantronix - The Album (Warlock, 1985)
Curtis Khaleel, a.k.a. Mantronix, must have arrived to New York city through some back-through-time teleport technology way beyond our imaginations. With a rhyming style akin to that of Run-DMC or LL Cool J, Khaleel's first album fared much better with the club crowd than with the tight knit hip-hop circle due to its dancier, electro-funk vibe. Released in '85, The Album sounds as futuristic as he, what with all the synthesizers and robo-voice samples thrown in. MC Tee's beats are thick, machine-like stomps that perfectly accompany the Mantronix delivery: aggressive, adventurous, and always on the beat.

Eric B. & Rakim - Follow the Leader (Uni, 1988)
Rakim drops his rhymes like a ninja throws a killer star, and on Follow the Leader, the follow-up album to the landmark Paid in Full, his razor tipped tongue is continuously clever, direct, and dangerously deft. Trailblazing beatsmith Eric B. lays heavy funk samples over raw, rocking beats, and on instrumental cuts like "Eric B. Never Scared" he exercises his skills and defines the beat that made the Golden Age of Hip-Hop so luminous.

Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Mercury, 1991)
Part of the Native Tongues crew, Black sheep share the similar laid-back organic sound that set De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest apart from the rest of their hip-hop contemporaries. Dres and Mista Lawnge may rap for the intelligent, socially conscious listener, but they sure don't want you to think they're a bunch of stuffy jelly-doughnut-making suckas. An album of tremendous energy, imagination, and content, the duo laces their smooth jazz-beat rhymes with humor ranging from biting social commentary to adolescent pleasing potty-humor. (listen to - but don't play over the air! - track 2)

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca and the Soul Brother (Elecktra, 1992)
With an excellent backdrop of horns, R&B and soul samples, and smooth organ lines, Pete Rock raps his reflective and intimate rhymes with confidence, assertiveness, and graceful ability. The 80 plus minutes of music cover a remarkable scope of ideas, emotions, and hot MC production skills making Mecca and the Soul Brother one of the strongest albums of early east coast hip-hop.

9/28/03: "We Put the ROCK in Cleveland Rocks"