KMD – Mr. Hood

In my top ten hip hop albums I've ever heard. Every facet of this album is fantastic, from the production and beats to the sound of Zevlove X and Onyx's voices, their lyrics, the rhymes. No two songs sound the same on this, and the sample sources used in building up the tracks are bonkers. Language translation LPs, Sesame Street records? (SD50s and Prince Paul were kind of on a similar trip back then with the wacky-but-funky sonics.) Some tracks are more topical, some tell stories...the in-between skits are hilarious and thought-provoking at the same time. The Brand Nubian guest appearance on "Nitty Gritty" is unreal it's so good. And the CD bonus track "Gasface Refill" is a dope sequel to KMD's debut on wax, on 3rd Bass's single "The Gas Face". (It wasn't originally on cassette or vinyl versions, but later appeared on the vinyl reissue.) Pound for pound, this thing was almost better than "De La Soul Is Dead" or "The Low End Theory", which dropped the same year (that amazing run of unstoppably creative 1991 hip hop albums). ...Almost.