Dope Shit From The Chi

Chicago hip hop is a bit strange to me, you'd think that it would be bigger than it is considering that it has produced both dope underground artists like the South Park Coalition's Point Blank (who grew up there before moving to Texas) and His Majesti (long disbanded with Cyco and DJ Streek forming Insane Poetry in LA), as well as a good balance of more known artists like Twista, Common and of course Kanye West. To be honest I'd love to learn a whole lot more about Chicago hip hop and other artists from there because most of the underground artists and groups that I have heard from there are dope.

O.C.U. are a good example of some dope older underground Chicago hip hop. O.C.U. are a group from the Southside of Chicago that consists of Homicidal MC, Impact, Murder 1, Sudden Death and DJ Tragic. O.C.U. (Organized Crime Unit) play on the whole Mafia gimmick, as you can see just by looking at the cover. The group came out with 'Stronger Than The Mafia' in '91 which was a follow on from their debut E.P. 'Penetentiary Bound' on Kapone Records. The EP had some different versions of tracks that later featured on the album that were actually a little bit better. There are alot of quality tracks on both the EP and the full length album, but I've decided to chuck up 'Proud To Be A Gangster' as it sums up the groups style and mentality pretty well.


This next track is by a group called Tha Chamba which is made up of Toxic, Chainsaw and DJ Riot One. The dopely titled album, 'Makin Illa Noize' is pretty crazy but I wouldn't have a clue about them other than what's in the artwork and on the disc, which is all impressive. This '95 album is on Coroner Records and distributed by the classic Ichiban company. The track for download is 'Hardcore Kru', it's a quality track and a good representation of the rest of the album. Unfortunately thats where I'm gonna have to leave it with this album, as I know nothing else.

Do Or Die consists of the three members, Belo, Nard and AK-47, they were a pretty sick group who were definately worthy of carrying the legendary Rap-A-Lot Records label printed on the back of their albums, that was until 2000 when they released the wack 'Victory' album. I know people who say I'm too hard on that album, but to me it's absolute shit and an embaressment to Lil' J's empire. However, that is 'Victory'. 1998's 'Headz Or Tailz' and 1996's 'Picture This' are completely different. The track I put up for download is 'Shut Em Down' from the latter, a track produced by The Legendary Traxster. The album has a couple of tracks featuring Tung Twista (now known as just Twista) who back in the early 90's found himself in the Guiness Book Of World Records for being the fastest timed rapper on the mic, he may no longer hold the record but his flow still can't be fucked with.

Next up is another group who were a part of the Rap-A-Lot Records family, Snypaz, consisting of 2/4, Chilla, R-O-B, and Sic Wic. Hailing from Westside Chicago, the group originally came out as the Westside Connection, but before dropping an album Cube, WC and Mack 10 used the title, probably a complete coincidence but this is Ice Cube we're talking about, so who knows? Anyway, the group then decided to dub themselves as Snypaz and went on to release some locally released product and then the 1997 EP 'My Life as a Snypa'. The group then dropped 'Livin' In The Scope' in 2000 and later 'Snypaz' in 2002, both on Rap-A-Lot. The track I've put up for download is the short but sick 'Kamakazi' which is off of their 2000 album and is produced by Mike Dean.

Last up are a group who sound nothing like any of the aforementioned artists, this group in question being Los Marijuanos. I first became aware of this group thanks to SPM's 'Latin Throne' DVD's and I soon ordered one of their albums. Pony Boy takes care of the majority of rhyming duties for the group, while still managing to incorporate some singing into the album here and there. As the group's name suggests, they primarily make weed tracks, although they do branch out on tracks such as 'Brown Pride' and 'Watch Yo Back', the latter of which you can download below. I can't speak on the group too much as I've only heard their 'Puro Pleito/Pure Drama' album, but from that album alone I can definately say that they make some dope music. The only other group from Chi Town that I can think of that sound anything like these guys would be Kinto Sol (who've worked with Los Marijuanos) and I highly reccomend those guys if you haven't heard them already.

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Article From: Rap Pages (December '92)

If you're interested in the Chicago hip hop scene then here is a quality site you should check out, they do miss out on a few artists however it is pretty comprehensive.

MP3's:
O.C.U. - Proud To Be A Gangster
Tha Chamba - Hardcore Kru
Do Or Die - Shut Em Down
Snypaz - Kamakazi
Los Marijuanos - Watch Yo Back
>> DOWNLOAD <<