Chino XL-Kreep
Removed

I've decided today is underated hip hop day. So to start off, this is taken from Chino XL's 1996 album 'Here to Save You All', which has now been deleted but you can it pick up on some second hand websites such as this one. When I first heard this song on a tape someone made for me I was drawn in by Chino's clever lyrics and use of Radiohead. The rest of the album is good but the beats are a little bland, which lets Chino down a bit. He seems to generally fall under the category of underated hip hop on most of the websites I've read about him. It's hardly surprising that in the mid-late nineties many decent hip hop artists were overlooked, what with the rise of jiggy-centric rappers. However in my opinion by 1999-2000 the underground hip hop scene was looking a bit over saturated and there were way too many backpacks around. Anyway, back to the man himself a good review of the album and a much better explanation of why you should check it out is here. Also a fan website which has some up to date information and content on his more recent releases.

No I.D-Fate or Destiny
Removed

No I.D produced much of Common's stuff back when he was still called Commom Sense, this is from 'Accept Your Own & Be Yourself (The Black Album)' (hey, it's one to add to the list of coloured titled albums, anyone want to attempt at bootlegging this with one of the many others out there?) which was released in 1997 on Sony. His MC skills aren't the greatest and the album does sound a little dated but its still very enjoyable, mainly for his brilliant production skills. Chino and No I.D should've done a collaboration it would be the perfect hip-hop. I actually remember listening to this album on rotation for quite a while, it definitely has something about which really sticks in your mind. It is available here but it seems to be decidedly more expensive in the US. No doubt a quick trip to Gemm will sort you out. I don't think he ever released another album by himself but he recently produced two tracks on Ghostface's latest 'The Pretty Toney" album, check 'Metal Lungies' and 'Love'. He has also produced tracks for G-Unit, DMX, and The Madd Rapper leaning toward more thugged out MCs, I've yet to check any of these out, but if you're interested-go seek.