In today's playlist, payola driven cRap game, sometimes an album's guest features are more interesting than the artist himself. If you read the tracklisting for any mainstream rap artist, you'll probably see a feature on each and every track. This wasn't always the case. Back in the day, most artists albums were only 8-10 tracks deep at the most, often used the same producer for each song, and usually only featured the artist himself. The rare exception to this rule was the vaunted posse cut, in which a handful of like minded artists would drop verses of their own. And no, I didn't make that term up, it's official.
Enough of the talk, let's get to the tracks. Everyone has their favorites, here's a few of mine.
"The Symphony"
The Juice Crew, which consisted of Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Craig G, Masta Ace, and producer Marley Marl among others, ran sh*t in the late 90's. While each artist had solo success, this song presents their collective creative apex. Depending on whom you ask, this might be the first iconic posse cut of note.
"Scenario" (Remix)
Anyone in college in 92' surely remembers where they were the first time they heard the "Scenario" remix. This song was pretty unique because at the time, the term "remix" meant "same lyrics, different beat". This song literally jumped out the speakers at you, and more or less put Busta Rhymes on the map as a solo artist. And with the exception of Hood, who'd died before the song dropped, the same roster as the arguably just-as-good album version returned. Classic material. The opening bars alone song can still get a party started two decades later.
"Crooklyn Dodgers"
Appearing on the soundtrack of the lousy Spike Lee movie by the same name, this was one of the most notable early posse cuts to put completely unrelated artists on the same track. Buckshot Shorty, Special Ed, and Masta Ace were all from different crews, but they combined to rip this Q-Tip production. Like many other classic posse cuts, this one was redone later to far less impressive effect.
Honorable Mentions: "Banned From TV" N.O.R.E. ft. Nature, Cam'ron, Big Pun, Jadakiss and Styles P. "The Headbanger" EPMD ft. K-Solo and Redman. "Trans DF Express" by The Dungeon Family, "Buddy" DeLa Soul ft. Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, "Don't Curse" Heavy D ft. Kool G Rap, Grand Puba, CL Smooth, Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, "Dusted & Disgusted" E-40 ft 2Pac, Spice-1, and Mac Mall.
Question: What are your favorite posse cuts of all time?!?
