THE ULTIMATE (MOSTLY) 90'S RAP/R&B PLAYLIST!!

Dear Beloved Reader,

I love my blog. I know I neglected it for almost a year but I really do. My favorite posts are usually my favorite songs of the year posts. Why? Because I get to rank and write blurbs about tunes I love, duh. Like... who WOULDN'T love doing that? But I have to say... I think this one tops all of those posts combined.

A lil' backstory: First, you must know that I'm an 80's baby. While I appreciate 80's culture, I spent my glory years(?!) in the 90's. I have a special admiration for that decade and, for some odd reason, I've recently regressed to my teenage years. I started collecting baseball cards again. I copped Mortal Kombat for my PS3 (if any of y'all wanna buy me a PS4, please feel free). But most of all, I've been listening to 90's music non-stop. The reasoning? A combination of those songs being legendary, the reminiscing and reliving memories as I get older, and today's music (especially rap) being pathetic and brainless.

A few months ago, I started working on an iPod playlist that featured my favorite songs from that decade. Initially, I hand-picked about 150 songs I had in my personal collection. I was so excited about it, I posted a Facebook status mentioning it. And I may have told some folks in my inner circle. And outer circle. Basically, anyone who was willing to listen to me, I was telling them about this playlist. You may have expected people to tell me to stfu, but no! They were actually interested! They wanted a copy of it! Begging! Pleading! Well... maybe not all of that... but the point is, they were intrigued, curious... for many of the same reasons I made the playlist in the first place. Their excitement got me even more excited, and I felt it was my duty to release this list to the masses. The world needed this.

I felt a huge responsibility before I just leaked this list out there. While I was perfecting it, it became quite clear that 150 songs wasn't gonna cut it. The 90's was packed with so many timeless tunes that I had to increase the capacity. And I did, adding 50 more songs, making it an even 200. But wait, what about this song? And that song? Surely, I can't leave those off. Let's add them! OK, now I'm up to 250. I was still missing songs. Shit, this isn't easy. The truth is, I could make this playlist 500 songs and still miss some crucial material, but I had to draw the line somewhere. And that line was 300. For Sparta, muthafuckas.

So here we are. 300 of the 90's finest jams. A few things you should know before I present the list: This is strictly a rap/R&B playlist. I think that should be clear by the title but you know there's gonna be some oblivious asshole asking 'where's Madonna?' You should know I'm more of a rap head, so this is a rap-heavy list. No H-Town, Shai or Silk here, ladies. Your panties will likely have to get moist elsewhere.

Also, I'm a born and raised New Yorker, so there is some regional bias here. There's a lot more NY/East coast shit because that's what I listened to growing up. So yes, your list, depending where you're from, is likely to vary from mine. And that's cool. If you're from the Midwest, South, West coast... shit, if you're from another country... feel free to share some of your favorite songs that I missed. I'll check them out if I haven't heard them (who are we kidding? I'm a 90's rap guru. Of COURSE I've heard them!) and maybe I'll even revise my list.

Two strict guidelines I also enforced: 1) No more than 10 songs per artist (not including features) and 2) No hokey songs. Even though the latter may sound that way, I don't mean it as disrespectful. I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of those songs. Coolio's 'Fantastic Voyage', Skee-Lo's 'I Wish' and Naughty By Nature's 'OPP' will always hold a special place in my corazon, just not a special place on my playlist. Basically, if it gets played in a sports arena, you won't see it on here. If you're not a hardcore 90's rap addict, a lot of these songs will look unfamiliar to you. And I love that. In my world, being obsolete is a good thing.

Lastly, while I made sure not to include any songs that were released after December 31st, 1999, I MAY have snuck in some 80's songs on there. Sue me. It's a handful, I promise. I didn't do this to complicate the list, just that the specific 80's songs on there were too good to leave off a playlist that ultimately is meant for me to recapture the feeling of that era. When you're making your playlist, leave them off if you're a stickler for the rules. If anything, use my list as a template... of complete and utter awesomeness.

Enough talking, here's the list. Hit me up on Twitter (@geequenyc) and share your thoughts!

(In alphabetical order by artist name)

Aaliyah 'Are You That Somebody?'
Aaliyah 'One In A Million'
Adina Howard 'Freak Like Me'
Ahmad 'Back In The Day (Remix)'
Artifacts 'Wrong Side Of Da Tracks'
A Tribe Called Quest 'Electric Relaxation'
A Tribe Called Quest 'Find A Way'
AZ 'Gimme Yours (feat. Nas)'
AZ 'Sugar Hill (feat. Missjones)'
Bad Meets Evil 'Scary Movies'
Beatnuts 'Off The Books (feat. Big Pun & Cuban Link)'
Beatnuts 'Watch Out Now'
Big L 'Ebonics'
Big L 'Put It On'
Big Punisher 'I'm Not A Player'
Big Punisher 'Still Not A Player (feat. Joe)'
Big Punisher 'Twinz (Deep Cover '98) (feat. Fat Joe)'
Black Moon 'Buck 'Em Down (Remix)'
Black Moon 'I Got Cha Opin (Remix)'
Black Rob 'Whoa!'
Black Star 'Definition'
Blackstreet 'Before I Let You Go'
Blackstreet 'Joy'
Blahzay Blahzay 'Danger'
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony 'Thuggish Ruggish Bone'
Boyz II Men 'Motownphilly'
Brand Nubian 'Don't Let It Go To Your Head'
Brandy 'I Wanna Be Down'
Busta Rhymes 'Everything Remains Raw'
Busta Rhymes 'Fire It Up'
Busta Rhymes 'It's A Party (feat. Zhane)'
Busta Rhymes 'Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See'
Busta Rhymes 'Tear Da Roof Off'
Busta Rhymes 'Woo-Ha! (Got You All In Check)'
Camp Lo 'Black Nostaljack (Come On)'
Camp Lo 'Luchini (This Is It)'
Cam'ron '357'
Canibus 'Buckingham Palace'
Canibus 'Get Retarded'
Canibus 'Second Round K.O.'
Capone-N-Noreaga 'T.O.N.Y. (Top Of New York)'
Case 'Touch Me, Tease Me (feat. Foxy Brown & Mary J. Blige)'
Changing Faces 'Stroke You Up'
Channel Live 'Mad-Izm (feat. KRS-One)'
Children Of The Corn 'American Dream'
Cocoa Brovaz 'Black Trump (feat. Raekwon)'
Common 'I Used To Love H.E.R.'
Common 'Resurrection (Extra P Remix)'
Craig Mack 'Flava In Ya Ear (Remix feat. Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J, Rampage & Busta Rhymes)'
Craig Mack 'Get Down'
Crooklyn Dodgers 'Return Of The Crooklyn Dodgers'
Cypress Hill 'Boom Biddy Bye Bye (Remix feat. Fugees)'
D'Angelo 'Brown Sugar'
D'Angelo 'Devil's Pie'
Da Brat 'Da B Side (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)'
Da Brat 'Funkdafied'
Da Bush Babees 'We Run Things'
Das EFX 'Real Hip Hop'
De La Soul 'The Biziness (feat. Common)'
De La Soul 'Itsoweezee (Hot)'
Diamond D '5 Fingas Of Death (feat. Big L, Lord Finesse, AG & Fat Joe)'
DJ Honda 'Travelling Man (feat. Mos Def)'
DJ Muggs feat. Wyclef Jean 'John 3:16'
DMX 'Get At Me Dog (feat. Sheek)'
DMX 'Ruff Ryders Anthem'
DMX 'Stop Being Greedy'
Domino 'Sweet Potato Pie'
Dr. Dre 'Forgot About Dre (feat. Eminem)'
Dr. Dre 'Nuthin' But A G Thang (feat. Snoop Dogg)'
Dr. Dre 'Still D.R.E. (feat. Snoop Dogg)'
Dru Hill 'How Deep Is Your Love (feat. Redman)'
Dru Hill 'In My Bed'
Eminem 'If I Get Locked Up (feat. Dr. Dre)'
Eminem 'Just Don't Give A Fuck'
Eminem 'Role Model'
EPMD 'Crossover'
EPMD 'So Whatcha Sayin''
Eric B & Rakim 'Paid In Full'
Erykah Badu 'On & On'
Eve 'Gotta Man'
Eve 'What Y'all Niggaz Want'
Fab 5 'Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka'
Faith Evans 'You Used To Love Me'
Fat Joe 'Don Cartagena (feat. Diddy)'
Fat Joe 'Envy'
Fat Joe 'Firewater (feat. Raekwon, Big Pun & Armageddon)'
Fat Joe 'John Blaze (feat. Nas, Big Pun, Raekwon & Jadakiss)'
Fat Joe 'Success'
Firm 'Desperados (feat. Canibus)'
Firm 'Phone Tap'
Flipmode Squad 'Cha Cha Cha'
Foxy Brown 'Get You Home (feat. Blackstreet)'
Foxy Brown 'I'll Be (feat. Jay-Z)'
Fugees 'Fu-Gee-La'
Fugees 'Killing Me Softly'
Fugees 'Nappy Heads'
Fugees 'Ready Or Not'
Gang Starr feat. Inspectah Deck 'Above The Clouds'
Gang Starr 'Full Clip'
Gang Starr 'Mass Appeal'
Gang Starr 'Work'
Gang Starr 'You Know My Steez'
Geto Boys 'My Mind's Playin' Tricks On Me'
Ghostface 'Winter Warz (feat. U-God, Masta Killa & Cappadonna)'
Gina Thompson 'The Things That You Do (Bad Boy Remix feat. Missy Elliott)'
Ginuwine 'Pony'
Goodie Mob 'Cell Therapy'
Grand Puba 'I Like It (I Wanna Be Where You Are)'
Groove Theory 'Tell Me'
Group Home 'Supa Star'
GZA 'I Gotcha Back'
GZA 'Liquid Swords'
GZA 'Shadowboxin' (feat. Method Man)'
Heltah Skeltah 'Operation Lockdown'
Heltah Skeltah 'I Ain't Having That (feat. Starang Wondah & Doc Holiday)'
Horace Brown 'Things We Do For Love (Remix feat. Jay-Z)'
Ice Cube 'It Was A Good Day'
Ill Al Skratch 'Where My Homies'
Ill Al Skratch 'I'll Take Her (feat. Brian McKnight)'
Jagged Edge 'I Gotta Be'
Jay-Z 'Ain't No Nigga (feat. Foxy Brown)'
Jay-Z 'Brooklyn's Finest (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)'
Jay-Z 'Dead Presidents'
Jay-Z 'Feelin' It'
Jay-Z 'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)'
Jay-Z 'Jigga My Nigga'
Jay-Z 'So Ghetto'
Jay-Z 'Streets Is Watching'
Jay-Z 'Where I'm From'
Jeru The Damaja 'Come Clean'
Jodeci 'Come & Talk To Me'
Jodeci 'Freakin' You (Remix feat. Raekwon & Ghostface)'
Joe 'All The Things (Your Man Won't Do)'
Junior Mafia 'Get Money (Remix)'
Junior Mafia 'I Need You Tonight (feat. Aaliyah)'
Junior Mafia 'Player's Anthem'
Junior Mafia 'Realms Of Junior Mafia'
Juvenile 'Ha (Remix feat. Jay-Z)'
Keith Murray 'Most Beautifullest Thing In This World'
Keith Sweat 'Nobody'
Killarmy 'Fair, Love & War'
Kool G Rap 'Fast Life (feat. Nas)'
KRS-One 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know'
KRS-One 'Step Into A World (Rapture's Delight)'
Lauryn Hill 'Lost Ones'
Lil Kim 'Crush On You (feat. Lil Cease)'
LL Cool J 'Doin' It'
LL Cool J 'Hey Lover (feat. Boyz II Men)'
LL Cool J 'I Shot Ya (Remix feat. Keith Murray, Prodigy, Fat Joe & Foxy Brown)'
LL Cool J 'Loungin' (Remix feat. Total)'
LL Cool J '4, 3, 2, 1 (feat. Method Man, Redman, Canibus & DMX)'
Lord Finesse 'Hip 2 Da Game (Buckwild Remix)'
Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz 'Deja Vu'
Lost Boyz 'Beasts From The East (feat. Canibus & Redman)'
Lost Boyz 'Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless'
Lost Boyz 'Jeeps, Lex Coupes, Bimaz & Benz'
Lost Boyz 'Music Makes Me High'
Lost Boyz 'Renee'
Lox 'If You Think I'm Jiggy'
Lox 'Money, Power, Respect (feat. Lil Kim & DMX)'
LSG 'My Body'
Luniz 'I Got 5 On It'
Mad Skillz 'The Nod Factor'
Mariah Carey 'Breakdown (feat. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)'
Mariah Carey 'Fantasy (Remix feat. ODB)'
Mary J. Blige 'Be Happy'
Mary J. Blige 'I Love You'
Mary J. Blige 'Real Love (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)'
Masta Ace 'The I.N.C. Ride'
Mase 'Feels So Good'
Mase '24 Hours To Live (feat. Lox, DMX & Black Rob)'
MC Lyte 'Cold Rock A Party'
Method Man 'All I Need (Remix feat. Mary J. Blige)'
Method Man 'Bring The Pain'
Method Man 'Make Ups 2 Break Ups (feat. D'Angelo)'
Method Man 'Release Yo Delf'
Method Man & Redman 'Da Rockwilder'
Method Man & Redman 'How High'
Mic Geronimo 'Masta I.C.'
Mic Geronimo 'Shit Is Real'
Missy Elliott 'All N My Grill (feat. Nicole & Big Boi)'
Missy Elliott 'The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)'
Missy Elliott 'Sock It To Me (feat. Da Brat)'
Mobb Deep 'Drop A Gem On 'Em'
Mobb Deep 'Give Up The Goods (Just Step) (feat. Big Noyd)'
Mobb Deep 'Hell On Earth'
Mobb Deep 'Quiet Storm (Remix feat. Lil Kim)'
Mobb Deep 'Shook Ones (Part II)'
Mobb Deep 'Survival Of The Fittest'
Mona Lisa 'Can't Be Wasting My Time (feat. Lost Boyz)'
Monica 'Don't Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)'
Monica 'Like This & Like That'
Monifah 'I Miss You (feat. Heavy D)'
Mos Def 'Ms. Fat Booty'
Mya 'Best Of Me (Remix feat. Jay-Z)'
Mya 'It's All About Me (feat. Sisqo)'
Nas 'If I Ruled The World (feat. Lauryn Hill)'
Nas 'It Ain't Hard To Tell'
Nas 'The Message'
Nas 'Nas Is Like'
Nas 'One Love'
Nas 'Sweet Dreams (Remix feat. R. Kelly)'
Nas 'The World Is Yours'
Next 'Too Close'
Nine 'What Cha Want'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Big Poppa'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Hypnotize'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Juicy'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Mo Money, Mo Problems (feat. Mase & P. Diddy)'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Notorious Thugs (feat. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)'
Notorious B.I.G. 'One More Chance (Remix)'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Sky's The Limit (feat. 112)'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Unbelievable'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Warning'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Who Shot Ya'
Noreaga 'Banned From TV (feat. Nature, Big Pun, Cam'ron & Lox)'
Noreaga 'Super Thug'
NWA 'Straight Outta Compton'
O.C. 'Time's Up'
OGC 'No Fear'
Ol Dirty Bastard 'Brooklyn Zoo'
Ol Dirty Bastard 'Shimmy Shimmy Ya'
Onyx 'Last Dayz'
Onyx 'Shut 'Em Down (Remix feat. Noreaga & Big Pun)'
OutKast 'ATLiens'
OutKast 'Elevators (Me & You)'
OutKast feat. Goodie Mob 'Git Up, Git Out'
OutKast 'Skew It On The Bar-B (feat. Raekwon)'
OutKast 'Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik'
OutKast 'Wheelz Of Steel'
Pete Rock & CL Smooth 'I Got A Love'
Pete Rock & CL Smooth 'They Reminisce Over You'
Pharcyde 'Drop'
Pharcyde 'Runnin''
Pharoahe Monch 'Simon Says'
Playa 'Cheers 2 U'
Public Enemy 'Public Enemy No. 1'
Puff Daddy 'All About The Benjamins (Remix feat. Lox, Lil Kim & Notorious B.I.G.)'
Puff Daddy 'Been Around The World (Remix feat. Mase)'
Puff Daddy 'Can't Nobody Hold Me Down (feat. Mase)'
Puff Daddy 'Victory (feat. Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes)'
R. Kelly 'Bump N' Grind'
R. Kelly 'Your Body's Callin''
Raekwon 'Criminology'
Raekwon 'Ice Cream (feat. Ghostface, Cappadonna & Method Man)'
Raekwon 'Incarcerated Scarfaces'
Rakim 'It's Been A Long Time'
Rakim 'New York (Ya Out There)'
Rampage 'Wild For Da Night (feat. Busta Rhymes)'
Ras Kass 'Soul On Ice (Diamond D Remix)'
Redman 'Da Goodness (feat. Busta Rhymes)'
Redman 'I'll Bee Dat'
Redman 'Time 4 Sum Aksion'
Redman 'Tonight's The Night'
Roots 'Clones'
Roots 'Concerto Of The Desperado'
Roots 'Proceed'
Roots 'What They Do (feat. Raphael Saadiq)'
Roots 'You Got Me (feat. Erykah Badu)'
Royal Flush 'Iced Down Medallions (feat. Noreaga)'
Royce Da 5'9 'Boom'
Show & AG 'Next Level'
Slick Rick 'Children's Story'
Slick Rick 'Mona Lisa'
Slick Rick 'Sitting In My Car'
Smif-N-Wessun 'Bucktown'
Smif-N-Wessun 'Sound Bwoy Bureill'
Smif-N-Wessun 'Wreckonize (Remix)'
Smoothe Da Hustler 'Broken Language (feat. Trigga The Gambler)'
Snoop Dogg 'Gin & Juice'
Snoop Dogg 'Who Am I (What's My Name?)'
Sparkle 'Be Careful (feat. R. Kelly)'
Subway 'Fire'
Soul For Real 'Candy Rain'
Soul For Real 'Every Little Thing I Do'
SWV 'Can We (feat. SWV)'
SWV 'Right Here (Human Nature)'
Tha Alkaholiks 'Daaam!'
TLC 'Creep'
TLC 'Red Light Special'
Total 'Can't You See (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)'
Tracey Lee 'The Theme (It's Party Time)'
Usher 'U Make Me Wanna'
Warren G 'Regulate (feat. Nate Dogg)'
Westside Connection 'Bow Down'
Wu-Tang Clan 'Ain't Nuthing To Fuck Wit'
Wu-Tang Clan 'C.R.E.A.M.'
Wu-Tang Clan 'Protect Ya Neck'
Wu-Tang Clan 'Triumph'
Wyclef Jean 'Gone Till November (Remix feat. R. Kelly & Canibus)'
Wyclef Jean 'Guantanamera (feat. Celia Cruz)'
Xscape 'Just Kickin' It'
Xzibit 'Foundation'
Xzibit 'Paparazzi'
112 'Only You (Remix feat. Mase & Notorious B.I.G.)'
2 Pac 'Dear Mama'
2 Pac 'Hail Mary'
2 Pac 'So Many Tears'
2 Pac 'Temptations'
702 'Steelo (feat. Missy Elliott)'

Thank you for the read and God bless the 90's!

Sincerely,
GeeQue
90's Rap Guru