The Beatnuts - Street Level [The Samples]

The homie Rizoh recently dropped a great post titled The Case Against Lyricism, discussing the cold hard truth about true hip hop heads: we're still stuck in the '90's. Lyrically, the 21st century just ain't fuckin' with the era of hip hop's infancy and adolescence (the '80's and '90's), although I'd have to say that this decade has produced some of the more childish shit imaginable. But it's not just the lyricism that's fallen off. Jazzy, thumpy, head-boppable (word? ...no) beats just ain't en vogue no more, thanks in part to the death of the heavily sample-laced album. Boom-bap was alive and kickin' back then, as exemplified by this brand new sample set I've cooked up for you: The Beatnuts' 1994 debut record, Street Level.

You asked for it, you got it! It was a pleasure to tackle this set because, like A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing, Runaway Slave, and only a few others, this set is steeped in a wide array of oldies classics and, most importantly (for me), jazzy samples! I first heard this album before I even knew who Hank Mobley was. Later on, as my musical spectrum broadened, I saw the cover of Mobley's The Turnaround! and I was shook - in a good way - just like Showbiz & A.G.'s Stone Alliance art-mitation (word? ...no) on Runaway Slave. Oddly enough, there is no sample listing for any Hank Mobley tracks on this Beatnuts record. But I can't complain because the tracklisting's got a lush 2+ hours worth of great music. And at just below 200 MB, there's only one R-Share link. Perfect! Enjoy... and turn it up!!