Straight up, Atlanta is the most important hip hop city of at least the past decade but little to no national attention is given to the first wave of emcees the city was producing in the late 80s/early 90s. (Look at this dismal wiki.) So here goes.

This is not a random rap compilation. There are a couple lesser known tracks on here, mostly fillers, but the vast majority of these tracks are certified classics from local legends. I’m on the outside looking in here, basing most of my knowledge on dollar bin records and such but hopefully my A-Town heads should be able to confirm this. Kilo/Raheem/Sammy Sam/Shy-D were more or less the Jeezy/TI/Gucci/Shawty Los of their era. (Tell me that Kilo’s “The Piz“* was not an influence on his Bowen Homes brethren Shawty Lo.) In fact many of these records could provide a historical perspective on why certain critically maligned A-Town rappers – Fabo**, Gucci – rap the way they do. Flow wasn’t all the current generation inherited – they also picked up on some old school producers (Toomp) and a penchant for bickering. Roughly one in four tracks on here is a diss to another artist on the tape. But then again what would a local rap scene be without such beef?

It would be nice if someone sat down and wrote a thorough history of all this. Until then it’s just bits and pieces. And, now, this tape. Tracklisting under the hop. (more…)