Born To Audiomack: Best of Dru Down

~~ The Best of Dru Down ~~

1. Weak Move (1993)
2. Dru Rules (1993)
3. Bigger Than What You Think (1993)
4. Ice Cream Man ft. Luniz (1993)
5. Pimp of The Year (1993)
6. Rescue 911 ft. Luniz (1994)
7. Bad Boys (1994)
8. Rigged ft. Luniz (1994)
9. Playa Fo' Real (1996)
10. Can You Feel Me? (1996)
11. Head & Shoulders (1996)
12. Baby Bubba ft. Bootsy Collins (1996)
13. Hustlin' Ain't No Thang (1996)
14. Breezy ft. Luniz (1996)
15. Deal Went Bad (1996)
16. In Jail (199?/2008)
17. Assassinated (199?/2008)
18. Gangstafied (2002)
19. I Rock (2002)
20. Don't Shoot The Pimpin' ft. AMG & Suga Free (2002)
21. Summer In The City (2005)
22. Hellooo ft. The Jacka (2010)
23. My 501's (2018)
24. Streets Is Cold ft. Mistah F.A.B (2018)
25. Tube Socks ft. The Jacka (2018)
26. Ring Ding Dong (2019)
27. Fitness Funk (2019)



You got me mixed up twisted like an Arabian gymnast if you thought I was never gonna put together a best of Dru Down playlist. If you were to combine the DNA of Hanna-Barbera's Snagglepuss and Pomona, California's Suga Free then you'd end up with East Oakland's D Squared. Deep down and dirty, he grew up hella early, here's a playlist of my favourite song by Pimpy Doo.

Shorty K Back

Robb Bank$ ft. Sir Michael Rocks, Shorty K & Boldy James - Top Shottas 2K25
(From the internet; 2025)


Top notch posse cut belonging to Shaggy's son Robb Bank$. Everybody did their thing and sounded cognizant of each other’s presence over a beat which is effervescently effective. Personally, I'm pretending this is a sequel to Too $hort Back which was recorded for Boldy James' first album.

Dont worry, be Hyphy (part 2)

Seiji Oda ft. Iamsu - HUU!
(From HUU! single; 2025)


That's four hot singles in a row from Seiji Oda: A Gentle Gigg, Last Summer, Peaceful 2 and this new HUU! joint. The kid is back and cooking with Slap-Classico gas again. Someone call up Tariq Nasheed & his FBA cult and tell them Oakland Rap is now a 50% AZN genre.

Iamsu would have won the Worst Rapper's Trousers of February™ award if it weren't for Kendrick Lamar's superbowl flares. Finding the ugliest trousers in the world is now the first element of Hip-Hop kulcha.

Late pass!

Juvenile ft. Mannie Fresh - Party
(From 400 Degreez deluxe reissue album; 2024/YouTube; 2025)



I completely missed last year's deluxe reissue of 400 Degreez featuring a new Juvenile & Mannie Fresh song which sounds exactly how I want a new Juve & Mannietronix song to sound (like an old Juve & Mannietronix song, but not quite.) Luckily it's they've just dropped a video for that very song where Juve & Mannie dreamt of Californication.

Juve definitely missed a trick by not including 187 and Cash Money Gorilla on the 400 Degreez deluxe reissue.

PS: is Skip's verse on the Nolia Clap remix one of the most amusingly violent verses ever on an actual hit single?

"If I catch you on my porch, you gon' die by that
Right there by them leaves, go & lie by that
Right side of that dog doodoo, you gon' dry like that!"

Slicker than a bipper on a rainy day

"Shooter and the driver at the end of the day
Because I had to learn both like it's MMA"

Ezale - Can U Blame Me
(From Town Taxes mini album; 2025)


The cool thing about this new Ezale mini album is that every song is a single - literally since he's shot videos for all nine songs. Ezale videos always draw a vivid picture but the industry makes it hard for him to shoot for the stars. MC Ez' put his daughter in Ezekiel's Bakery as his video co-star like she's Willow Smith. To all you rapper's offspring out there who wanna be on a record label where you're all in the videos cookin'... sweepin'... then go to Foreal Foreal Entertainment! Like I said before, Can U Blame Me is the most DJ Fresh soundin' ass song which wasn't actually produced by DJ Fresh. Pure ToNHTe Show-core which uses some 80s Boogie to recreate the warm glow of MDMA.

The one thing this Town Taxes MLP does lack is a heartfelt jam in the vein of In A Day. Ideally, it woulda been a tribute to Ezale's dearly-departed DJ/best M8 HawkBeatz.

Toot it and shift it

Richie Rich - Wires And Vogues
(From Richard album; 2025)


I've been fiendin' for a new legit choon by Richie Rich after his verse on LARussell & P-Lo's shit, his "rhyme away the pain" incident in LaRussel's backyard and his Splash Bakery live performance. Plz believe Wires And Vogues here will do just nicely as that new legit choon. A grown man's car jam where Richie reflects on life in the rear view mirror. One thing Richie Rich has always had a knack for is rhyming about cars and making them sound like the coolest shit in the world; no mean feat because there's nowt more boring in real world conversation than a bloke telling you about his car. That's the magic of Rap music innit.

Mello Music Group (part 2)

Mello Buckzz ft. Monaleo - Move Pt. 2
(From Move Pt. 2 single; 2025)


Two of my favourite singles of the past five years are Move by Mello Buckzz and We Not Humping by Monaleo. Both songs are my ideal standard for modern Rap singles: high BPM big choonz full of big shit talk. And so it makes perfect sense that Monaleo should be the guest for the remix to Mello's Move. Most modern remixes bring out my John Self and have me thinking "what is the point of you?", but, much like the We Not Humping remix with Flo Milli, you can jam the original Move and the remix back-to-back like late buses. Props to Monaleo for selling that "if you scared, bitch, call ya mom because I'm The Bomb.com" with the sheer chutzpah of a Lyricist Lounge rapper in 1998.

Bonus beats: this Mello single from last year has really grown on me. Back when it first dropped I listened to it a few times and thought it was cool. But now I stay spinnin' this shit like a CD. This shit should be retitled Brrr.. BD because it's some Chicago street-Rap that's colder than no clothes in some place like Nova Scotia.

Mello Buckzz ft. G-Herbo - Hmm.. BD
(From Hmm.. BD single; 2024)


Even when Mello drops a single 4 the streetz she still keeps the video packed with more arses than the women's toilets in M&S. Pray 4 those old dears with weak bladders waiting in the snaking queues for the M&S bogs.

Feelin' James

O.Z. - It's A Black Thing
(From Fever For The Flavor album; 1990)


Discovered via EttelThun's early Chicago Rap mix, here's a nice slice of Lakim Shabazz-core. A notable entry in the canon of Chicago Rap songs with samples from James Brown & affiliated artists. Also historically notable since it might be the first 3rd Bass dis song. Word to the motherland, I wonder what O.Z. woulda thought about Chazmaniia?

Related golden-era white boi rapper thoughts: I heard David Bowie & Queen's Under Pressure in full for the first time ever the other day and was flabbergasted at how unlistenable it is other than the intro break. In hindsight, I shouldn't have been so surprised because Bowie and Queen are two of the worst offenders for middle-class British stageschool music. Hearing that bag of shite song in full only makes me appreciate Ice Ice Baby even more than I already do.