Here is Rock, a.k.a. "Da Rockness Monstah," one-half of the Brooklyn duo Heltah Skeltah, rhyming over the beat to Tupac's "Ambitionz As a Ridah." (It is, I think, the best beat of any Tupac song; it was made by Snoop's cousin, Daz Dillinger, of the Dog Pound.) Fifteen years ago, Heltah Skeltah was a major part of the Boot Camp Clik, a collective that also included Black Moon, Smif-n-Wessun (who changed their name to the Cocoa Brovaz after the firearms company sued them), and O.G.C. (Originoo Gunn Clappaz), and recorded for Duck Down Entertainment, the label Black Moon MC Buckshot started with his partner Dru Ha. Boot Camp [...]

What is the very best way to make a rap beat? Is it to play lower-register, minor-key piano chords over a throbbing baseline? Maybe accenting same with some tinkling high notes? Yes. It is. (At least, this is the best way to make a rap beat that I will probably have a hard time not liking. And I can never figure out why more rap producers don't seem to be concerned with this question.) Harlem rapper Black Rob, who had a big hit ten years ago for Bad Boy Records with the song "Whoa," but whose particularly grimy style never seemed to fit in [...]