Wow! It feels like I haven’t posted in forever. Well, here is the best and worst of 1993. Let me know your thoughts.

I’ll be doing some house cleaning before we dive into 1994, so the next few post will be new additions to the collection that were released prior to ’94. Stay tuned!

Worst Moniker: 2 Clean the 5-year-old bubblegum-kid (he or she appeared on “Comin’ Up” from 2 Low’s Funky Lil Brotha) – This one pretty much speaks for itself. Honorable Mentions: DJ Ralph The Mexican (Funkdoobiest).

Worst Song Title: “Another Wild Nigger From The Bronx” (Fat Joe, Represent) – The song title is super generic and uncreative, and adding the “er” at the end of “Nigger” just makes it that much worse. Honorable mentions: Pink Cookies In A Plastic Bag Getting Crushed By Buildings (LL Cool J, 14 Shots To The Dome) – This title is the most ridiculous metaphor for sex that I’ve ever heard, and it comes in a close runner-up to the winner of this award. “Fuck That Motherfucking Bullshit” (MC Lyte, Ain’t No Other) – Lyte commits profanity overkill. “Boom Shake The Room” (DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Code Red) – I don’t know what’s cornier: the song itself or the song title.

Worst Album Title: Look Ma Duke, No Hands (Mad Kap) – 1993 didn’t really give us terrible album titles so, Mad Kap takes this one home by default.

Worst Album Artwork: In A Word Or Two (Monie Love) – Monie’s orange rain suit mixed with purple balls and the yellow lettering of her name bring back embarrassing memories of Cross Colours (if you don’t know what Cross Colours are, Google it). Crazy corny. Honorable Mentions: Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z (2pac) – I love Pac too, but you’re in denial if you think the hologramish-multi-colored Pac on the album cover looks cool.

Worst Song – Three way tie between “J.Beez Comin’ Thru” , “Wicked Randomness”, and “Man Made Material” (all from the Jungle Brothers’ J.Beez Wit The Remedy – These three songs are the perfect example of when experimentation goes wrong. These songs are truly the Incredible Hulk of 1993, folks. Honorable Mentions: “Bop Gun”(Ice Cube), “Close The Crackhouse”(Professor X).

Worst Album: J. Beez Wit The Remedy – Any album that has three songs in the running for worst song of the year has to take this award home. I’m sure Kristian Keddie won’t agree, but whatever. Honorable Mentions: No Pressure (Erick Sermon), Which Doobie U B?(Funkdoobiest), Dust To Dust(Pete Nice & Daddy Rich) – All three are clinics in monotony.

Best Moniker: I got nothing, bro.

Best Song Title: “Electric Relaxation” (A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders) – The adjective and the verb sound ill together. Plus, the title describes the vibe of the song, perfectly. Honorable Mentions: “Blue Funk” (Heavy D, Blue Funk), “My Jimmy Weighs A Ton”(Jungle Brothers, J.Beez Wit The Remedy), “Black Hand Side”(Queen Latifah, Black Reign), “Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'”(Wu-Tang Clan, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)), “Mortal Thought”(KRS-One, Return of the Boom Bap), “The Rebirth of Slick”(Digable Planets, Reachin’).

Sleeper Album: In God We Trust (Brand Nubian) – The once three-man crew, loses their chief emcee, but fret not. Puba’s absence only provokes Lord Jamar and Sadat X to dig deeper, as they show and prove that they’re both formidable emcees. Pound for pound, In God We Trust is better than their heavily praised debut, One For All, and one of the best hip-hop albums of 1993. Honorable Mentions: Black Reign (Queen Latifah), Contemporary Jeep Music (Da King & I).

Best Album Artwork : A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders – The concept isn’t complex. Matter of fact, it’s quite simple, but how cool it was (and still is) to look behind the sexy virtual tour guide and name the list of Hip-hop Hall of Famers on ATCQ’s third album cover. Honorable Mentions: Leaders Of The New School, T.I.M.E., Freestyle Fellowship, Inner City Griots – Because I’m a sucker for cartoon album cover.

Best Album Title: Bacdafucup (Onyx) – It’s equally comical (when you read the four words squashed together as one and then realize what it’s really saying), brash and in your face, and clever. Honorable Mentions: Blue Funk (Heavy D), Midnight Marauders (A Tribe Called Quest), Kill My Landlord (Coup).

Best Song: “Electric Relaxation” (A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders) – From beginning to end, Tip and Phife sound superb, as they spit pick-up lines over an infectious bass line and sick Ronnie Foster sample. Honorable Mentions: “Down With The King”(Run DMC), “Chief Rocka”(Lords of the Underground, Here Come The Lords), “93 ‘Til Infinity”(Souls of Mischief, 93 ‘Til Infinity), “Shiznit”(Snoop Dogg, Doggstyle), “I Feel Ya”(Scarface, The World Is Yours), “God Lives Through”(A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders). 

Best Album: (Midnight Marauders (A Tribe Called Quest) – I may be a little bias because it’s A Tribe Called Quest, but you’re dead wrong if you don’t put this in your list of ten greatest hip-hop albums of all time. Honorable Mentions: Doggystyle (Snoop Dogg), Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (Wu-Tang Clan), Enta Da Stage (Black Moon), Reachin’ (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)(Digable Planets) – All great albums. They just happen to come out the same year that ATCQ decided to peak and flirt with perfection

-Deedub