'The Diary Volume 1.5 (Twenty Years of the Remix)' - VA - Chris Read (free download)

'The Diary (World's Greatest Rap Megamix)' dropped in 2007 and it was a 800+ track mix that really really did what it said on the proverbial cylindrical metal container. If you missed that one, then you can download it for nothing at Music of Substance's downloads page.

As a stop gap between that and the second volume, which is currently being worked on, Chris has put together 'The Diary Volume 1.5 (Twenty Years of the Remix)'. This time the tracks are split and named (an easier task than splitting and naming hundreds of tracks!) and it features Chris Read's own remixes of tracks from Eric B & Rakim, Nice and Smooth, Heavy D, Beatnuts, Jurassic 5, Jay Dee, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Busta Rhymes, Mobb Deep and loads more top quality names.

The idea of this latest work is: "one iconic hip hop track from each of the last 20 years, remixed paying tribute to the prouction style and sampling trends popular at the time of the original release. From the James Brown influenced style of the late 80s, to the jazz sampling trends of the mid '90s, to the iconic and distinct sounds of DJ Premier and Jay Dee, all the cornerstones of the genre's development are touched upon." A mixtape with a great concept!

HHC Top 100 rap singles 20-11

#20, 17 & 14 - Eric B & Rakim

Onwards and upwards: (Please use the zshare links, not the fileden ones because of this.)

20. Eric B & Rakim – Paid in Full (zshare) – 1987 – Paid in Full (buy album here)
The first rhyme I ever learned – I didn’t have to try. The words of Rakim’s rap seem to naturally flow; it’s almost as if all these words exist just to be in this exact order. This is probably one of my favourite rhymes ever along with the part of Rappers Delight that begins “Well I was coming home late one dark afternoon”.

19. LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out (zshare) - 1990 – Mama Said Knock You Out (buy album here)
“Don’t call it a comeback! I’ve been here for years.” LL used to rhyme hard, now he rhymes for the girls in the clubs – Shame. (Generalisation I know)

18. Slick Rick – Children’s Story (zshare) – 1988 – The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (buy album here)
The be-patched one does what he does best with this track, he tells a story in his lazy London/New York accent. This track, which bore some resemblance to a later misdemeanour and arrest (he shot his cousin), was self produced.

17. Eric B & Rakim – Eric B is President (zshare) – 1986 – Paid in Full

16. A Tribe Called Quest – Can I kick it? (zshare) – 1990 – People’s Instinctive Travels… (buy album here)
I’ve recently been thinking of making a range of products with rap lyrics on them. The inspiration for this was ATCQ, can you imagine a doormat that quotes “Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug”? It would be my pride and joy.

15. Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel – Whitelines (Don’t do it) (zshare) – 1983
1983! Mental. I can’t believe that this is that old. So many people review old albums and the same old quote comes out: ‘it hasn’t aged’. Often writing that is a blatant lie; I read a recent review of ‘It takes a nation…’ which included those overused words, that album has aged! However, I feel it is justifiable to say that ‘Whitelines’ hasn’t aged, it’s still relevant and it’s still unequalled sonically.

14. Eric B & Rakim – Follow the Leader (zshare) – 1988 – Follow the Leader (buy album here)
The fattest bassline to ever grace a classic hip hop track? You decide. On its own it would be menacing but coupled with the jaunty brass stabs it makes perfect music to saunter down the street to. Be careful what your face looks though; those lyrics will provoke a scowl that frighten the average old lady.

13. Wu-Tang Clan – Protect Ya Kneck (zshare) – 1994 – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (buy album here)
I love that guy who rings up the radio station, he has the coolest ever way of saying ‘because’. This is another Wu track that displays how their unique lyrical stylings fit the gritty beat in a way that other MC’s could only dream of.

12. Boogie Down Productions – South Bronx (zshare) – 1986 – Criminal Minded (buy album here)
Fresh for 86, suckers. For ’07? Not so fresh but good nonetheless.

11. O.C. – Time’s up (zshare) – 1994 – Word…Life (buy album here)
This was one that I hadn’t ever heard until I decided to compile this top 100. I can’t be bothered to go and check but I’m pretty sure this is the hypnotic, heavy beat they use in the battles in 8 Mile.

HHC Top 100 rap singles 30-21

#27&28 - A Tribe Called Quest

I’m back, hope you’re hungry. This is probably one of the best run of 10 songs in this countdown so far. I suppose it is expected as now we are nearing the top of the charts. 30 songs to go and I bet most heads could predict which tracks are contained in the higher end of the rundown. The thing I want to know is; what do you think the top 3 will be? Leave me a comment with your predictions.

30. Run DMC – Sucker MC’s (zshare) – 1983 – Run DMC (buy album here)
Personally I welcome the presence of instrumentation and melody in Hip Hop but I would never discredit the minimalist production styles of the 80’s. For younger Hip Hop fans Run DMC aren’t always easy to listen to, let’s face it in this day in age they are dated. Your lil’ sis could do these beats on a casio keyboard, anyone and their dads turntable can do baby scratches and the lyrics are not complex. Having said that, this song has something, that important je ne sais quoi and it is a classic.

29. Onyx – Slam (zshare) – 1993 – Bacdafucup (buy album here)
Woah, 10 years later and my, haven’t things changed? This song displays an entirely different vocal style to that of Run DMC; it’s altogether rugged and raw and downright hard to decipher. The beat is sample-tastic and very 90’s in a ‘mean muggin’ in the club’ kind of way.

28. A Tribe Called Quest – Electric Relaxation (zshare) – 1993 – Midnight Marauders (buy album here)
Hang on, 1993 also? Yes, and as far removed from Onyx as could be possible. It is sample driven but an entirely different vibe lounges around this track with it’s feet up. The tribe come totally horizontal here with some rhymes about getting girls. This is why all those other bloggers have ATCQ so high in their top albums lists.

27. A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario (zshare) – 1991 – The Low End Theory (buy album here)
Even the Tribe could produce something on its way towards the banging end of the 90’s Hip Hop spectrum. 2 minutes and 40 seconds in and, who’s that? Busta Rhymes! And he’s bringing it raw - pure rawness, rawity, rawkussnes and rawful. Bussa Buss entirely switches the Tribe vibe up and kills this track. This is why it’s hot.

26. De La Soul – Me, Myself and I (zshare) – 1989 – 3 Feet High and Rising (buy album here)
The more I immerse myself in this top 100, the more I realise that De La were visionaries. 3 Feet…really paved the way out of the 80’s for Hip Hop. If I weren’t only 3 when this came out I’m sure I would have appreciated its freshness and its change of direction even more than I do now.

25. Souls of Mischief - 93 til Infinity (zshare) – Ummm, 1993! – 93 til Infinity (buy album here)
Say wha’? It’s 1993 again, what a year and again another vibe. SoM bring us some sort of a sweltering, in the park tinged track. Basically, if you have a skateboard (you know one of those fat 80’s ones?) get it outta the cupboard and go and rip up a drained pool whilst playing this on your big shiny ghetto blaster or your prototype walkman.

24. Big Daddy Kane – Raw (zshare) – 1988
Sorry about the quality of this and that it has Kool G Rap on it. Ah no, that’s nothing to apologise for. If you were on the receiving of these rhymes, man, you’d be crushed.

23. Eric B & Rakim – I know you got Soul (zshare) – 1987 – Paid in Full (buy album here)
Rakim is the epitome of cool, which US rapper wouldn’t cite him as an influence or idol? The answer: One who models himself entirely upon Rakim. Respect Rakim.

22. Xzibit – Paparazzi (zshare) – 1996 – At the Speed of Life (buy album here)
To quote HHC (circa March 2002) ‘[Xzibit] will never be a part of the paid up superstar fraternity’ – Ha! How times have changed, how wrong they were. I believe I recently read that Xzibit was one of the many sellouts in the game and to me that equals ‘paid up’! I like Xzibit, I like his tunes and this is one of the best; the beat is so melancholy whilst X to the Z is agitated, furious and hungry.

21. Mos Def – Ms. Fat Booty (zshare) – 1999 – Black on Both Sides (buy album here)
If I were to compose one of those question tree things (like they put in tweenage girls magazines) to discern what type of Hip Hop fan the reader was I would definitely have a question that read: Are all 90’s Rawkus releases the definition of real Hip Hop. If the person answered ‘Yes’ they would get this answer in a pink box: ‘True Head: You love Hip Hop more than life itself. You are satisfied only by the best. Don’t listen to the backpack taunts, you know you’re better than the name caller. If the person answered ‘No’ then they would get this in a brown box: ‘Pop Tart: Go and listen to your thousands of bland mixtapes of dross from Dipset, 50 and that weird guy who raps about aliens and abortions. You obviously are happy having your head in the sand.’

Here endeth this post. Your favourite rap single not in here yet? Maybe it’s in the top 20, maybe it’s not – wait and see!

HHC Top 100 rap singles 50-41

# 49, 47 & 42 - Cypress Hill

Now I’d just like to remind you that this list hasn’t been compiled by me. It was made as a result of a poll that the world’s original rap magazine Hip Hop Connection carried out amongst it’s readers. As it happens, a lot of these tracks would be chosen by me if I had the patience to create such a list of my own. I made it my mission to collect all the tunes together and to bring them to the bloggers of the world. Numbers 50 - 41:

50. Nasty Nas - Halftime (zshare) – 1994 – ‘Illmatic’ (buy here)
If only Nas hadn’t departed from this sound, Hip Hop would possibly be alive and kicking.

49. Cypress Hill - How I Could Just Kill a Man (zshare) – 1991 – ‘Cypress Hill’ (buy here)
The first of three tracks in this post means no-one can accuse Cypress Hill of being inconsistent, well, not during the early 90’s anyway, the early 00’s tell a different story.

48. Dilated Peoples - Work the Angles (zshare) – 1998 – ‘The Platform’ (buy here)
Another inclusion of Dilated is welcome here by me, a great track but I’m still not sure how it gets this high in the top 100 of all time.

47. Cypress Hill - Hand on the Pump (zshare) – 1991 – ‘Cypress Hill’ (buy here or up there)
Cypress show off their ability to create unique blunted funky tracks that involve copious amounts of weed and guns.

46. Run DMC - Walk this Way (zshare) – 1986 – ‘Raising Hell’ (buy here)
Pretty much the forerunner of nu-metal (the sort that have ‘rappers’ and guitar riffs). A classic in many circles particularly Dad circles (also affiliated to air guitar circles), rap circles and student night DJ circles.

45. Eric B & Rakim - Microphone Fiend (zshare) – 1988 – ‘Follow the Leader’ (buy here)

44. 2Pac - California Love (zshare) – 1996 – ‘All Eyez on Me’ (buy here)
Big ‘cruising with windows down in the summer’ tune here courtesy of Dre, Pac and Roger Troutman on the vocoder/talk box. You know what to do; go cruise with your windows down.

43. Hardnoise – Untitled (zshare) – 1990
UK, once again, sounding suspiciously late 80’s American.

42. Cypress Hill – Insane in the Brain (zshare) – 1993 – ‘Black Sunday’ (buy here)
Cer-lassic! A point of much reference in pop culture this track has somehow managed to sneak from hyped up stoner track to one of those songs that everybody just knows.

41. The Crooklyn Dodgers – Crooklyn (zshare) - 1994

Buckshot, Special Ed and Masta Ace come together exclusively for this track produced by Q-Tip. If you like ATCQ or Jurassic 5 then this should really tickle your fancy.

40 tracks left. I'm going away next week so wont get to post for that time, I'll try to do one more installment before I leave y'all.