The 1990’s was a special decade for many reasons. Fashion wasn’t so jiggy, Michael Jordan was dominating the NBA with ease and Hip-Hop was living through a golden era. Those years birthed several classic albums that would go on to forever shape the culture. But alongside and sometimes behind those rappers who crafted those timeless works of art was their crew.
This includes friends, industry associates, rhyming partners, producers and more. In the 1990’s we saw artists step outside of their record label home to collaborate with other talent and peers in an organic fashion that resulted in some timeless records and moments. So we take a look back at the most important Rap crews and collectives of the 1990’s.
Compiling such a list was no easy feat, but who other than Hip-Hop Wired to step up to plate?
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Photos: Tommy Boy, The Source Magazine, XXL Magazine
Compromised of The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Monie Love and some other notable 90’s acts, the Native Tongues pushed positivity while waving the flag of Afrocentricity that would later influence Common, Mos Def and Pharrell Williams, to name a few.
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Once EPMD blew up they brought Redman, Keith Murray, Das Efx and K-Solo into the fold to form the Hit Squad. While the crew did knock out classic songs including “Headbanger,” the team would soon split in half after EPMD broke up. Red and Keith went with Erick Sermon to start Def Squad and the diggity Das stayed with Parrish Smith in Hit Squad.
In what could only be labeled a supergroup that never was, Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Showbiz & AG, O.C., Fat Joe and the late Big L rolled thick as the Diggin In The Crates crew in the 90’s. While they did release their only album D.I.T.C. in 2000, it was mostly previously released material.
When the Souls Of Mischief hit the scene with their breakoyt single “93 ‘Til Infinity,” we knew they were going to be special. Add Casual, Del the Funky Homosapien and Pep Love and you got one of the most unique crews in the Hieroglyphics, who all still put out music collectively to this day.
Founded by Snoop Dogg, the Dogg Pound Gangstaz was an extension of the Dogg Pound group manned by Daz and Kurupt. Also down with DPG was Warren G., D.O.C. and the late great Nate Dogg.
Riding high from the impact that Black Moon’s seminal Enta da Stage debut enjoyed, Buckshot collected some of the most talented MC’s from his Crown Heights / Brownsville Brooklyn circle and formed the Boot Camp Clik. Compromised of Buck, Smif-N-Wessun, OGC, Heltah Skeltah and The Representativez, this crew would bless the masses with several classic posse cuts including “Headz Ain’t Ready” and “Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka”.
Probably one of the most criminally slept on Rap crews of all time is the Atlanta based Dungeon Family. When Organized Noize, Outkast, Goodie MoB, Cool Breeze, Witchdoctor, Sleepy Brown, Big Rube, Backbone and Slimm Calhoun were all on the same page they created magic. While their debut Even In Darkness fell short of our expectations, we still have joints like “Watch For The Hook” that we can revisit anytime we get the urge.
At the height of the Neo Soul and backpack Rap sounds, Erykah Badu, J. Dilla, Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Bilal, Q-Tip, ?uestlove and James Poyser silently formed the Soulquarians. While a formal group project never saw the light of day, that era produced classic albums including Things Fall Apart, Mama’s Gun, Like Water For Chocolate and Voodoo.
The Wu-Tang Clan spawned so many affiliates and side projects that there are too many to be named here. Just know they aint’ nothing to f— with, still.
Alongside DJ Premier and Guru was Jeru Da Damaja, Big Shug and Group Home aka the Gang Starr Foundation. While the rhymes were not always first class (see Group Home’s lyrically flawed Livin’ Proof (Editor’s Note: still a classic, though), Primo provided the bulk of the crew’s beats in the 90’s. Shouts to Bahamadia who also loosely rocked with them as well.
