Mixtape: Native Tongues

The late 1980s through the early 1990s were some of the most creative and fruitful years of hip hop. Jazz-based samples, clever videos, excellent beats and production. Who knew back then all that Prince Paul had up his sleeve? Most of what I was into seemed to revolve around a few groups and MCs that were part of a loosely formed collective known as Native Tongues. Native Tongues were different somehow from other Afrocentric groups of the time (Brand Nubian, Grand Puba, X-Clan, Poor Righteous Teachers, BDP, etc.) and not really part of your basic old-school hip hop (MC Lyte, Special Ed, EPMD, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, etc.), but this should not be considered, by any means, a thorough or even accurate list. It's just based on my memories and watching "Yo! MTV Raps" with my brother Jedi during the Fab 5 Freddie years and into the Ed Lover and (the other) Dr. Dre era. Hip hop was more School House Rocks than school of hard knocks back then. Corny, yet true! But as the West Coast busted out with the hugely popular and influential NWA, it was clear that the D.A.I.S.Y. (Da Inner Sound, Y'All) Age was on its way out. It's like butter, baby. Not no Parkay, not no margarine, strictly butter. (Note: I'm working on a Mac and I have no idea how to add links or change the font or any of that. As soon as I figure it out, I'll fix it.)

A Tribe Called Quest - All of their records pre Beats, Rhymes & Life. That album is kind of a dog. Everything else is brilliant.

Monie Love – "Monie in the Middle"
Monie Love – "It's a Shame (My Sister)"
Black Sheep – "The Choice Is Yours"
Black Sheep – "Strobelite Honey"
Black Sheep – "Similak Child"
3rd Bass – "The Gas Face"
3rd Bass – "Steppin' to the A.M."
3rd Bass – "Pop Goes the Weasel"
3rd Bass – "Portrait of the Artist as a Hood"
Leaders of the New School – "Case of the P.T.A."
Stetsasonic – "Talkin' All That Jazz"
Stetsasonic – "A.F.R.I.C.A."
1987 brought some serious knowledge to my small town in the form of this classic, with its memorable hook: "Angola, Soweto, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, and Botswana, so let us speak about the motherland! Free South Africa!"

De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising
The entire album belongs on this list because of jams like "Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge)," "Me, Myself, and I," "Eye Know" with that ill Steely Dan sample ("Peg" from the album Aja), and "Buddy," the video for which featured a reasonably sedate and relatively unknown Busta Rhymes. I don't know if they were the first group to put skits on a record, but they sure are one of the funniest.

Queen Latifah – "Ladies First"
Queen Latifah – "Latifah's Had It up 2 Here"
Queen Latifah – "U.N.I.T.Y."
Queen Latifah – "Come Into My House"

Jungle Brothers – "Straight out the Jungle"
Jungle Brothers – "I'll House You"
Jungle Brothers – "Tribe Vibes"
Jungle Brothers – "J. Beez Comin' Through"
Jungle Brothers – "How Ya Want It We Got It (DJ Andy Smith's Remix)"
This song appeared on 1997's Raw Deluxe, but DJ Andy Smith's remix is so much better.