Hip Hop Records That Shaped Our Ears pt.1
Before Village Live existed, and before either of us were making beats, we were just digging records. Our tastes stretch across a lot of music, but here we’re focusing on ten hip hop albums that had a real impact on us at the time, and still do.
The list below is a quick snapshot of what shaped our ears over the years. It’s by no means a best-of list, just records that left a mark and continue to do so today. These albums helped form the foundations of both our own music and what we put out on the label.
If you’re unfamiliar with any of them, get stuck in and let us know which records had an impact on you in the comments.
🎧 Remulak’s Picks 🎧
Cypress Hill – Temples of Boom (1995)
“Once again the powers of the herb open up the mind.” As soon as this went into my Walkman I was hooked. Dark, cinematic and eerie, with hypnotic loops, booming 808s and that heavy stoner vibe, I was fully in from the intro.
The beats are the standout for me and the main reason I keep coming back to this album years later. It’s all about mood and atmosphere, and Temples of Boom still nails both.
Favourite tracks: Throw Your Set in the Air, Stoned Raiders, Make a Move
Busta Rhymes – The Coming (1996)
Instant buy after hearing Woo Hah. I had this one on CD and it got rinsed daily on the school bus for a long time. Another album that grabs you straight from the start with its bizarre intro, “He must bring the ruckus, to all you motherf**kers.” How could you not be fully in after hearing that for the first time.
The variation of beats and producers across the album is spot on, and Busta’s energy and unpredictable rhyming are just so contagious. Rah raaah rah!
Favourite tracks: Everything Remains Raw, Ill Vibe, Still Shining
The Wiseguys – The Antidote (1998)
What a great record this is. Once again they kill it with the uptempo intro, going straight into the classic Ooh La La, which was a massive tune at the time. It’s not my personal favourite on the album, but it definitely did the job of bringing in the masses.
Funky breaks and cuts throughout, this record merged hip hop, big beat and club culture, and had such a great sense of fun from start to finish. A sampling masterclass, really. I still listen regularly.
RIP Paul Eve, “Regal” in The Wiseguys.
Favourite tracks: We Be the Crew, Start the Commotion, Face the Flames
Xen Cuts (2000)
Just thinking about this compilation makes me smile. It instantly transports me back to a time when I was hanging out with a great group of friends, putting this on and bashing buttons on the PlayStation or Dreamcast, with very few cares in the world.
It’s such a diverse comp. Hip hop, trip hop, downtempo, cinematic jazz and everything in between. A deep label sampler packed with so many great tracks that still feel timeless. Hard to pick favourites really, there are so many.
Check out: The Herbaliser, Latyrx – 8 Point Agenda, The Irresistible Force – Nepalese Bliss (Jimpster Mix), Luke Vibert – I Hear the Drummer
Roots Manuva – Brand New Second Hand (1999)
I hadn’t heard anything like this at the time. It felt different. Raw, strange, and just super fresh. The opening track Movements is fully captivating with its moody, hypnotic vibe.
I love how wonky some of the beats are, and how Roots just kills them all with his unique voice and delivery. The dirty bassline on Juggle Tings Proper is fire. A big UK record, this one, and one I often come back to.
Favourite tracks: Movements, Juggle Tings Proper, Clockwork, Cornmeal Dumpling
🎧 Hairy’s Picks 🎧
OGC – Da Storm (1996)
This album had an enormous impact and was a huge inspiration on my journey into learning how to produce hip-hop. The rappers themselves are in a category of their own -dope, with different voices, styles, and content - yet they work together perfectly over these deadly Beatminerz beats.
The beats are dark, minimal, and smoky - perfect for MCs to just go off on. To me, the MCs on this production feel incredibly cohesive.
Track: Hurricane Strang
A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory (1991)
Such a timeless LP, and again, the cohesion is everything: Q-Tip, the production, Bob Power, Phife, the whole chemistry.
This album impacted me deeply. Even though I was already listening to jazz, I didn’t yet realise how important it would become to the way I approach hip-hop production. The samples, the breaks, the punchlines - there was nothing like it at the time, and there will never be anything like it again, because it’s already been done.
Track: Scenario
Jeru the Damaja – Wrath of the Math (1996)
I remember my friend getting this on cassette the day it came out. We sat in a car park late at night, rolled one up, and played it through his Alpine cassette stereo with a huge subwoofer in the back. I remember it vividly - it was a turquoise late-’80s Ford Sierra.
We listened to the whole album straight through, just shaking our heads in disbelief.
It felt like Premier was trying new things here, and I always loved playing the non-singles out in DJ sets. I felt like every month there was a new favourite track on the album.
I also remember, long before the internet, finding a couple of samples from this record on digging excursions in London. You’d put a record on just to listen or search for samples, and suddenly something would jump out - something you recognised from Wrath of the Math - and it would give you this anxious shiver of happiness. Like, oh my God, what a piece to use.
Track: Black Cowboys
Show & A.G. – Goodfellas (1995)
Man. I’m not saying this to be righteous - I’m saying it because people did the same for me in the early ’90s with ’80s hip-hop and schooled me. In recent years, I’ve been playing this record to a lot of cats 15–20 years younger than me who grew up on hip-hop, and every time it gets a “god damn!”
I don’t even know where to start. The drums might be a good place - they’re so hard.
The sample choices, Showbiz with the horns, A.G. so raw - what cadence.
Again, another album where, in DJ sets, I’d ignore the singles and play something else, because it’s just a great album from start to finish.
Track: Medicine
The Sound Providers – An Evening With… (2004)
Top-tier jazz sampling over gritty SP-1200 and MPC2000 beats. As a big jazz fan who buys a lot of jazz records, every now and again I’d find something from this album while digging, and it always made me smile.
The album is presented like a live-in-the-jazz-club experience, with a clear homage to Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch! LP.
It also introduced me to some really nice MCs. If I’m out DJing and playing hip-hop, I almost always have this record with me.
Track: 5 Minutes
Check out the projects on this playlist. We’ll be adding more over time.
What records had an impact on you? Let us know below.