Diana King "Shy Guy"

Album: Bad Boys-Music From the Motion Picture/ Tougher Than Love (Work/ Sony; 1995)
Songwriters: Kingsley Gardner, Diana King and Andy Marvel
R&B Peak Position: #21

"A me dem love/ Yes a me dem love"

Through the late '80's and early '90's, Jamaican-born singer Diana King made her way through the industry performing as a session vocalist on a series of reggae albums and compilations, but she didn't register with most American audiences until 1994 with an appearance on Notorious BIG's "Respect" (from the classic Ready To Die LP) and a solo cover of Bob Marley's "Stir It Up" for the Cool Runnings soundtrack. Within the next year, she had snagged a record deal and recorded her first album, Tougher Than Love, which included her breakout global smash, "Shy Guy".

An infectious reggae and R&B-pop molding that caught the attention of masses, "Shy Guy" had the big-voiced King dealing with an issue few women would complain about. Everywhere she goes, "a whole eep a pretty boy" seem to slobber all over her. She completely understands their attraction, aware of her undeniable sex appeal, so what's the problem? She's just not feeling them, assuming that they are man-sluts who'll jump on any willing woman that's around. No, the one's that she finds attractive are the mute cats in the corner too intimidated to confront her.

"I don't want nobody/ Who's loving everybody," she soulfully protests on the pre-hook, "I need a shy guy/ He's the kinda guy who'll only be mine". Forget about the "roughneck man" who'll probably "beat up me body lick off me head top", it's the bashful dudes that only get her pot a-boilin'.

Featuring a vocal display that bounced back-and-forth from echoing island chanting to soaring R&B yowls, "Shy Guy" had King seemingly tailor-made for superstar success, especially as the record (also featured on the soundtrack to the Will Smith/ Martin Lawrence "buddy cop" action vehicle Bad Boys) exploded on the international music scene. Successive projects (including a #1 Reggae album charter with 1997's Think Like A Girl, and 2002's Respect, her first release for Madonna's Maverick label, as well as remakes of "Ain't Nobody" and "I Say A Little Prayer") would bear a minor commercial impact, but she would continue to maintain a cult following over the years all the way through her recently adopted indie moniker of Kingsinga.

Best Moment: Lawrence and Smith's comedic antics in the video.

DIANA KING-SHY GUY (BAD BOYS VERSION)
Uploaded by pierrot77

DL: "Shy Guy" (YFH)

The Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley "Let's Lay Together"

Album: Don't Be A Menace...-The Soundtrack/ Mission To Please (Island; 1996)
Songwriters: R. Kelly
R&B Peak Position: #24

"Heaven's to blame for this love affair..."

R&B legends The Isley Brothers were brought back to the forefront of the genre in the mid-'90's thanks to a slew of urban contemporary acts/ fans who either sampled or covered their classics or utilized their talents in brand-new collaborations. As another nod of appreciation, decade A-listers like R. Kelly, Babyface and Keith Sweat would be tapped to contribute to the band's first studio album in five years, 1996's Mission To Please, a solid collection of sensual slow jams that brought their influential bedroom sound to welcoming current audiences. The first single (also found on the soundtrack to the Wayans Brothers' inner city drama spoof, Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood), was the Kelly written/ produced romancer "Let's Lay Together".

Robert took great care of the Isley's on the track, wrapping Ronald's delicate croon in the silky-smooth comforts of languid pianos and a subtle drum track. The singer once again pours into his mastered mack role, managing to relax some "unsure" woman and successfully woo her into his awaiting bed. "Step into my room and I'll take your fears away," he softly sings in her ear, "Put your trust in me and all that I say". Delivered in that signature soothing tenor of his, Ron unleashed come-ons that few, if any, women would be able to resistance ("You took my heart and made such a sexual burning flame") and granted R&B lovers with a mood-setting soundtrack that many babies were surely conceived to.

Proving that kids didn't mind the age of the performer if the music sounded this inviting, "Let's Lay Together" launched a new era of hit singles for a group that had been featured on the charts since the late '50's. Mission To Please, fueled by the success of "Lay" and Top 20 follow-ups "Floatin' On Your Love" (a duet between Ronald and then-wife Angela Winbush) and "Tears" (a Babyface composition), would go on to become their first Platinum-certified album in over ten years.

Best Moment: Ernie's whining electric guitar solo as Ronald strips his lady down ("Let me help you with your stockings, girl") (2:30)

Isley Brothers - Let's lay Together
Uploaded by giorgioard

DL: "Let's Lay Together" (YFH)

Brownstone "If You Love Me"

Album: From The Bottom Up (MJJ Music/ Sony; 1994)
Songwriters: Gordon Chambers, Nichole Gilbert and Dave Hall
R&B Peak Position: #2

"If you want my heart/ Then it's time that you start/ To act like you're mine in the light and the dark"

L.A.-born R&B trio Brownstone (originally Monica "Mimi" Doby, Charmayne "Maxee" Maxwell and Nichole "Nicci" Gilbert) might not be one of the more heavily-referenced girl groups to latch onto success in the '90's, but the ladies' church-groomed pipe game made them a vocal force to bow down to during their brief spell in the limelight. From '94 to 97, Brownstone (who were signed to Michael Jackson's MJJ Music label) dropped still-appreciated favorites like "Grapevyne" and "5 Miles To Empty", songs with so much throat firepower that they could easily crush most of the inferior-voiced female collectives that made up their competition. Their greatest (and most remembered) record will always stand as their breakout hit, though: 1994's "If You Love Me".

A delicate foundation of lightly layered keyboards provide the opening third's musical backdrop, kicking things off with a woman confronting her partner over the status of their relationship. She desires something deeper than a fling, "a love that is based on truth not just dare", and unwilling to dally around any longer, issues an ultimatum: If you really wanna be with me, let's get serious; if not, allow me to look for that ideal man elsewhere. A minute into the record, a hip hop drum beat arrives, adding some punch underneath the hook's nail-hitting demands ("If you love me (Say it!)/ If you trust me (Do it!)...").

What really made this record so incredible was the awe-inducing talent of the women presenting it. Each member had the kind of voice that could bring down buildings all on their own, but when they combined them in this impenetrable wall of wail, it felt more powerful than anything that had ever come across your ears. Thanks to their hair-raising performance, not only was a raw spirit brought to the song's simple romantic plea ('Love me in the right way or leave me alone'), but Brownstone were given an instantly top-notch ranking in the then-world of R&B by critics and soul-lovers alike; it felt like legends were being birthed.

Best Moment: The glass shattering harmonic peaks that come forth in the bridge. (2:41)

Brownstone - If You Love Me
Uploaded by slzaza

DL: "If You Love Me" (YFH)

Lil' Wayne featuring Juvenile and BG "Tha Block Is Hot"

Album: Tha Block Is Hot (Cash Money; 1999)
Songwriters: Dwayne Carter and Byron Thomas
R&B Peak Position: #24

"And we like, to dress in all black up in my residence/ Ain't got on no suits/ 'Cause we ain't tryin' to be presidents"

Back when selling over a million copies in one week had only been done by Garth Brooks and the only lollipop-lickin' happening on a rap record were delivered to "this kid named Scott", a pre-Martian Lil' Wayne officially made his solo debut to the world with Tha Block Is Hot. He was hardly an unknown newcomer, stealing the show on the hookiest parts of the Cash Money Records' clique's biggest records "Back That Azz Up" and "Bling, Bling", but Block marked the infant steps of the stand alone superstar he would come to be in less than a decade's time.

For the first single and title track, a then-seventeen year old Wayne quickly proved he needn't any track co-stars. Yeah, Juvenile and BG trade rhymes on the hook, but it was Weezy's rip and roar through three fiery verses that gave the record it's muscle. Matching Mannie Fresh's near-delirium Dirty South crackle of uzi-fire drums and scary movie keys in maddening intensity, Weezy hits heavy, barely seeming to breathe through narratives detailing the inner-city warfare and kilo-pushing celebrity of the New Orleans streets he calls home.

With proud boasts concerning his intimidating hood terror status ("See where I'm from we keep our guns out/ Dodgin' cops and burnin' blocks, cause we be thugged out..."), Wayne wards the weak-kneed away from his region. "Tha block is hot, tha block is hot hot hot...", he hisses from his porch, while decked out in all black and surrounded by a crew of the toughest looking baddies. Yeah his rhymebook was riddled with gangsta rap cliches, but beneath all the vicious threats and trap game talk, he nursed an old-soul confidence and hook-smart charisma that singled him out as one to watch.

It was clear, even back then, that this teenaged emcee was something special; little did we know just how special he was about to be.

Best Moment: The creepy chants that end the record (3:47)



DL: "Tha Block Is Hot" (YFH)

SWV "Anything"

Album: Above The Rim: The Soundtrack (Interscope; 1994)
Songwriters: Caleb Tyrone Armstrong, Brian Alexander Morgan and Ray Smith
R&B Peak Position: #4

"It feels so right baby/ That it can't be wrong"

In 1979, a little known Jackson, Mississippi R&B-funk act named Freedom scored a regional hit with "Get Up and Dance", the kind of feelgood, "candy and b" entry that Mariah Carey would swarm over for first single material. While the Freedom song wasn't a major nationwide hit (it peaked at a low #82), it was a DJ's favorite, and the following year, it became the focal point for the Grandmaster Flash & Furious Five's breakout record, "Freedom". After that, the instrumental earned recognition as a classic hip hop beat and

With that one sampling, the instrumental was recognized as a classic hip hop beat and saw future spins as a part of the musical backbone for cuts from KRS-One, LL Cool J, MC Shan, Positive K and Beck, just to name a few. It was it's use on a hip hop-ified version of the SWV tune "Anything" (originally a slow jam ballad from their '92 debut, It's About Time) that generated it's biggest success as a sample, though.

Remixed for the Above The Rim Soundtrack, "Anything" married the party-centric tones of the Freedom record and glued them to the double-entendre-esque lyrics the Sisters With Voices gained enormous popularity with in their early days. "Anything you want me to do I'll do it," sung the wail-favoring Coko, in one instance of many lyrical snippets that anyone with a gutter-y mind could burst into giggles from ("Anticipation of what's to come/ I'm so happy that I'm the lucky one"; "Whatever method is used is alright with me/ As long as you get to where you need to be").

"Anything" helped Above The Rim become one of the biggest soundtracks of the decade. Featuring other mega-hits like Warren G's "Regulate", H-Town's "Part Time Lover" and Lady of Rage's "Afro Puffs", the compilation would eventually move over two million units and win the 1995 Source Award for Soundtrack of The Year. For SWV, it would land as their fifth consecutive Top 10 R&B single in less than a year.



DL: "Anything" (YFH)

While the record was fine as-is, there's nothing like the rugged addition of the Wu-Tang Clan to really get things on fire. Another version of the Above The Rim version of "Anything" threw in Wu members Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard and U-God (still smoking from the explosive success of their 1993 debut, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)) for a memorable cameo performance that proved the NYC troupe knew how to have a good time.



DL: "Anything (Remix)" (YFH)

Faith Evans "Love Like This"

Album: Keep The Faith (Bad Boy/ Arista; 1998)
Songwriters: Sean "Puffy" Combs, Schon-Jamel Crawford, Bernard Edwards, C. Emery, Faith Evans, Ron Lawrence and Nile Rodgers
R&B Peak Position: #2

"Baby try to understand/ I'll be crazy if you leave/ Cause you compliment my style"

On the surface Chic might have seemed like yet another producer-driven disco act, but once anyone became aware of the glittery, uptown-soul-meets-downtown-funk arrangements behind the image, they were instantly sold on one of the best musical teams to ever cater to the dancefloor. After commanding the interest of the club scene with their 1977 eponymous debut and it's singles "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" and "Everybody Dance", the band returned a year later with C'est Chic, home to their gargantuan staple "Le Freak" and the scrumptious opening number entitled "Chic Cheer".

Embedded with an audience's roaring applause, "Cheer" was a self-hyping disco novelty anchored in Bernard Edwards' teasing stop-and-start bass lines and Nile Rodgers' hyperactive lead guitar. Above it's dance-funk playground, the anonymous female vocalists talk-sang their way through spirited cheerleader chants that pointedly laid out the band's entire purpose: to make "everybody strut".

"Chic Cheer" might have carried several musical hooks, but it was arguably nothing more than a disco skeleton in need of some solid song innards. That finally came to pass twenty years later, when Puffy and his sample-crazy production squad tapped it as the Day Glo-lit backdrop for Faith Evans' sophomore album lead-off "Love Like This".



DL: "Chic Cheer" (YFH)

Faith might have gotten a certain amount of respect inside R&B circles (girl could SANG), but it couldn't be easily ignored that the material found on 1995's Faith essentially presented her as a lesser version of Mary J. Blige. Making things worse was that Evans was mostly known in the mainstream world not for her music, but for being a major component in the feud between 2Pac and his rival/ her husband Notorious BIG (she was alleged to have cheated on Biggie with Pac).

By the time Keep The Faith dropped, Evans public image wasn't as tainted. The death of Biggie brought tons of sympathy her way, especially following her heart-breaking performance in the B.I.G. tribute, "I'll Be Missing You", a track that provided her biggest pop audience yet. She was also now remarried, and the newfound happiness that union brought, would become a notable influence on the new album, especially "Love Like This".

With the Chic track deftly illustrating her inner elation and her gospel-tinged vocals sounding re-energized, Evans celebrates the joy of finding love again after suffering through such a devastating loss. "The reasons are because of you/ I can go on and make it through/ I can't even take my mind off loving you," Faith announces with glee, the electric chemistry between her and her new husband reducing her to a giddisome little girl who echoes without irony simple puppy love rhymes like "I like the way you walk/ And the sexy things you talk".

The summation of her powerful vocal, the song's charming lyricism and it's sparkling disco beat resulted in a contemporary R&B monster that brought her career to new heights. Exploding on Top 40 and the Dance charts, "Love Like This" granted Faith's first helping of crossover love via a solo record and would lead to several more respectable dalliances with uptempo material on successive projects.

In 2003, "Love Like This" would earn even more worldwide praise when hip hop hype man Fatman Scoop used it as the base groove of his #1 UK club banger, "Be Faithful".

Best Moment: It's eye-dazzling music video, another visual masterpiece from Hype Williams.

Faith Evans - Love Like This ]
Uploaded by dinidin

DL: "Love Like This" (YFH)

Cam'ron featuring Mase "Horse & Carriage"

Album: Confessions of Fire (Untertainment/ Epic; 1998)
Songwriters: Cameron Giles
R&B Peak Position: #9

"We gonna riiiiiise to the top!"

Originally known as Killa Cam of the Harlem rap crew Children of The Corn before scoring a solo deal through an imprint headed by Notorious BIG's manager Lance "Un" Rivera, Cam'ron's introduction to the masses would come via "Horse & Carriage", a catchy club ditty that paired him with former-groupmate-turned-crossover rap phenomenon Mase and saw him flirting with the more accessible pop-rap flair Bad Boy Records was dominating with at the time.

It's disco-y throb helmed by the always slick Trackmasters production team, the song had Mase pulling out a lovably dumb hook in between Cam'ron's Big Willie boasts ("You might see Cam in designer underwear") and groupie adventures, featuring an (even way back then) lyrical obsession with the oral talents his female fans carried ("If you'll sex in the Lex and your head be the bomb/ I'll get you that shit that Gretzky skate on"). Complete with lessons in "judo" talk ("And 'judo' know?") and "Mr. Me Too" humor, the song is notably fluffier than what he would accomplish on future albums (and it's amazing how young he sounds), but it provided a decent enough premiere, making it into the R&B Top 10 and helping his debut album, Confessions of Fire, reach Gold status.

Best Moment: The all-star remix, which threw Cam, a Diana Ross-channeling Wyclef Jean, Big Punisher, Silkk The Shocker and Charli Baltimore (Aww...remember her?) together over a loop of the "Night Court" theme song (Cats would sample anything back then!).

Cam'ron - Horse and Carriage
Uploaded by Thug

DL: "Horse & Carriage" (YFH)

The Family Stand "Ghetto Heaven"

Album: Chain (East West/ Atlantic; 1990)
Songwriters: Peter Lord, Sandra St. Victor and V. Jeffrey Smith
R&B Peak Position: #3

"Ghetto heaven/ I need a little ghetto heaven"

Originally known as Evon Geffries & The Stand (the moniker behind their 1988 debut Changes) before taking on the much simpler name, The Family Stand, the trio of acclaimed vocalist Sandra St. Victor and instrumentalists/ producers Peter Lord and V. Jeffrey Smith scored a major urban radio hit in the summer of 1990 with "Ghetto Heaven", a club favorite that combined the ashen bump of Euro-centric soul with message-oriented content.

"Heaven" was a burbling funk mess in it's original album version (one of many moments in which the band's over-ambitiousness led to off-putting results), but when released as a single, it was awarded a trendy remix-ing by Jazzie B and Nellee Hooper, the production duo behind the Soul II Soul classics "Keep On Movin'" and "Back To Life". Their skilled re-production took looming synth lines, a rattling drum beat and a haunted bass underlining then sprinkled randomly scratched-in vocal bits all through it, forming this dense collage of atmospheric noise that felt otherworldly, yet miles more appealing than The Family Stand's confusing preceding version.

Lyrically, the song centered on the human being's pursuit of their own individualized ultimate high, or "ghetto heaven", with little vignettes that dealt with addiction of the alcoholic, love or drug ("Sister needs her sugar/ To get her through the day") variety. Some of the words were downright silly (especially the story about the God-loving Nana with the peach-flavored brandy by her side), but St. Victor sang them with the straightest of conviction, her hysteric high notes perfectly honing in on the desperate nature of addiction with tingling cries of "Baby baby baby/ All I need in this world is you".

If the song's elementary attempts at Marvin Gaye/ Stevie Wonder R&B consciousness didn't grab you, St. Victor's penetrating vocal did, and paired with Jazzie and Hooper's remixed beat, "Ghetto Heaven" worked as a B-rate Soul II Soul offering, reaching #3 on the R&B singles chart.

A year after "Heaven"'s peaking, The Family Stand drew massive attention for their input on Paula Abdul's Spellbound album (to which they created the hit singles "Rush Rush" and "Promise of A New Day") with production work on releases from Daryl Hall, Corey Glover, Tamia and Heather Headley following over the next decade and a half. While they never nabbed another strong radio hit, the Stand would continue to release new material (from '91's rock-heavy Moon In Scorpio to their '07 independent comeback Super Sol Nova), keeping them in favor with cult audiences who enjoyed an alternative spin to their R&B.

In 2000 a whole new generation of listeners would embrace the Family Stand cut when rapper Common sampled it for two different versions of the Like Water For Chocolate single, "Geto Heaven": one that was a duet with D'Angelo, and it's remix, which featured Macy Gray.

Best Moment: St. Victor's electric performance and the speckles of JB mixed into the track.

Ghetto Heaven
Uploaded by ice1906

DL: "Ghetto Heaven" (YFH)

Babyface "For The Cool In You"

Album: For The Cool In You (Epic; 1993)
Songwriters: Babyface and Darryl Simmons
R&B Peak Position: #10

"I wanna thank you, girl, for the chill in you/ Especially for you being so cool"

In the years prior to 1993's For The Cool In You, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds seemed to rule the industry, not only as co-CEO behind the blooming Laface Records but also as the Midas-touched songwriter and producer behind ginormous, Billboard-dominating and Grammy Award-winning smashes from Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, TLC and Bobby Brown, amongst others. But while he was busy beefing up his behind-the-scene credentials, his own solo career seemed to fall by the wayside. Needing a strong re-entry into the artist game, he ended up conjuring up one of the classiest R&B records of the day.

A suave, sleek and sexy stand-out that combined a light New Jack lean with an old jazz swing, "For The Cool In You" offered the type of sophisticated soul setting that best fit the singer's lightweight caroling and gentle loverman role. It also served as an inspiration for the lyrics, in which Face equated the track's chilled-out groove to his woman's constantly even-tempered persona.

After all the strain their relationship has endured (to which he admits to being the main stress source), Face is left in awe at his girl's unfaltering devotion to their coupling. "Thinkin' about how you made it easy/ Always there for me/ Never once did you turn your back and leave," he sings, fully aware that most other women would have deserted him long ago. Obviously this girl is special, remaining composed even in their most heated arguments with nary a inkling that she's thinking about running off. Realizing how lucky he is to have what sounds like the ultimate Stepford Girlfriend in his life, Face uses the record to pay tribute to her and her laidback demeanor: "This is for the cool in you/ This is for the chill".

With R&B growing more and more raunch-minded and hip hop-influenced, "For The Cool In You"'s sax-accented elegance came through as a very refreshing change of pace. The single peaked in the R&B Top Ten, acquired a Grammy nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal and assisted in the selling of over three million copies for the Cool album, making it the biggest LP of his solo career. But it'll probably always be remembered as the jam that was playing when Laura Winslow and Steve Urkel's smooth ladies' man alter-ego Stefan UrKell enjoyed a lil' house party grind and shared their first kiss.

Best Moment: The lackadaisical way he croons the hook.

Babyface - For the cool in you
Uploaded by welcomeback

DL: "For The Cool In You" (YFH)

Mariah Carey featuring Bone Thugs N Harmony "Breakdown"

Album: Butterfly (Columbia; 1998)
Songwriters: Mariah Carey, Anthony Henderson, Stanley Howse, Stevie Jordan and Charles Scruggs
Peak Position: #4

The "Fantasy (Remix)" might stand as Mariah Carey's greatest hip-pop confection, but when it comes to her best marriage of urban-soul and rap, that honor should be bestowed on "Breakdown", a typically overlooked gem from Carey's 1998 "bye bye marriage"/ "hello bootie shorts" LP Butterfly that found her trading vocal melodies with Grammy-winning Cleveland rap collective Bone Thugs N Harmony.

Once again her collaboration choices were questionable (could you imagine the diva rocking E. 1999 Eternal in her CD collection?), but Mariah was definitely on to something, recognizing that the combination of Bone's intricate four-part harmonies and her eight octave vocal histrionics could result in a highlight musical moment for her.

She was right.

Sublimely produced by Mariah alongside Puffy and one of his top Hitmen Stevie J., "Breakdown" continued Carey's journey into heavier R&B/ hip hop sounds with it's massive chord drops and typewriter-esque drum track evoking a shadowy hue of gloom-filled days and teary-eyed nights (The track slightly favored the funeral stalk of Bone's "Crossroads"). Why the depressing mood? Carey's boyfriend has just revealed to her that he's "just not in love" with her. To his face and to her friends, she feigns understanding ("Immediately/ I pretended to be/ Feeling similarly/ And led you to believe it was okay..."), but beneath her smiling facade his confession has completely shattered her, leaving her to spend many sleepless nights alone trying to figure out what she's supposed to do next ("Do you cling to your pride?/ And sing 'I Will Survive'/ Do you lash out and say/ 'How dare you leave this way?'/ Do you hold on in vain as they just slip away?").

Fluidly intertwining their singsong chants with her sulking coos, Bone spend most of the record instigating Mariah's situation ("Break-breakdown", they hauntingly taunt) before deciding on aiding her out of her funk with some inspiring thug comfort. "It'll break you down only if you let it/ Everday crazy situations rocking my mind/ Tryin' to break me down/ But I won't let it/
Forget it," Wish offers. "Yeah, I can feel pressures ya'll/ But never the less Krayzie won't fall/ It's over, it's ending here," raps Krayzie.

Quite a different look for the previously squeaky clean pop princess, "Breakdown" presented a dark edge that Carey had rarely, if ever, showcased in her music. Released as a double A-side with "My All" to simultaneously target both her mainstream pop fans and more urban-favoring followers, the record didn't get the most airplay attention out of the two, but earned great respect as one of the better recordings of her career. Interestingly, it would also influence a new era of female R&B in which breathy, rapid-fire vocals and more equally-complimenting singer/ rapper partnerships became the norm.

Best Moment: The song's high-note-heavy climax where Carey unleashes a vocal "breakdown" of Academy Award-sized proportion (3:11)

Mariah Carey - Breakdown
Uploaded by farahmi

DL: "Breakdown" (YFH)

Geto Boys "Mind Playing Tricks On Me"

Album: We Can't Be Stopped (Rap A Lot; 1991)
R&B Peak Position: #10

"Day by day its more impossible to cope/ I feel like I'm the one thats doing dope..."

No other rap act was as simultaneously frightening and enticing as the Geto Boys, a no-holds-barred Houston trio whose rhymes spent a considerable amount of vividly-penned focus on misogynist themes and extreme violence scenarios. Their vulgar, "horror-hop" banter made them targets of disgusted politicians, parents and music journalists, but the imagination (and beats) behind those records (not to mention their showing of strong rap talent from the Southern region) earned them critical praise as well. Such positive acclaim would reach an apex with 1991's incredible "Mind Playing Tricks On Me".

"The Twilight Zone" put to a deep funk beat, "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" followed the efforts of Geto Boys' controversial "Mind of a Lunatic" in it's creepy depiction of men losing touch with reality. Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill narrate gothic, street-set vignettes featuring themselves crumbling apart by a growing sense of fear and paranoia.

Day- and nightmares of shadowy figures watching them from afar, tapping their phones and tailing their cars haunt them endlessly. Their attempts at sleep are proving pointless in this heightened sense of panic and even the most innocent of strangers feel threatening. Willie wonders if it's someone from his past coming back for revenge ("Is it that fool that I ran off the block?/ Or is it that nigga last week that I shot?/ Or is it the one I beat for five thousand dollars?/ Thought he had 'caine but it was Gold Medal flour"). Meanwhile, Face, getting little salvation from the church and left lonely after pushing his girl away, is driven to thoughts of suicide until he realizes that he doesn't want to leave his son without a father.

The production's looping of Isaac Hayes' "Hung Up On My Baby" (from the soul icon's 1974 album, Tough Guys) only helps in adding a thickened, spooky air over the proceedings, the vocal-less hook's striking guitar line sounding like cackling taunts from the ghostly monsters hidden in the corners of the Geto Boys' minds.

Accused of glamorizing thug life in the past, "Mind" saw the Geto Boys presenting an intoxicating alternate perspective, casting a gloom-filled light on the mind-crippling after-effects the lifestyle could cause. Hip hop critics and fans took note of this and championed it an instant classic upon it's release; it also broke the group onto radio airwaves for the first time, leading to their first, and only, reaching of Platinum sales for "Mind"'s parent album, We Can't Be Stopped.

Best Moment: Bushwick's verse ("My hands were all bloody from punching on the concrete...").



DL: "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" (YFH)