One bill that shouldn't be missed In the hip-hop pantheon, California will forever be linked to gangsta rap. In 1991, N.W.A. released the landmark Efil4zaggin, Ice Cube dropped Death Certificate, and Compton's Most Wanted debuted with Straight Checkn'Eem. At the same time, in a crowded South Central café called The Good Life, the Freestyle Fellowship were creating a new sound that stood in stark contrast to the nihilism that ruled the day. For many, the Fellowship's first LP, To Whom It May Concern, remains one of the most influential California hip-hop albums of all time. To Whom It May Concern established Fellowship emcees Aceyalone, Mikah Nine, PEACE, J Sumbi, and Self Jupiter as the Ornette Colemans of hip-hop, but it wasn't until their sophomore release, Inner City Griots, that heads outside of Cali began to take notice. Griots was packed with aural delights, namely Aceyalone's futuristic-yet-old-school "Cornbread": "Mr. George Bush was on my floor/cracked out butt-naked watching Cosby show." After the Fellowship disbanded in '94, Aceyalone went on to release a number of quality albums, including All Balls Don't Bounce (1995), Accepted Eclectic (2000), and Hip-Hop and the World We Live In (2002).
— M. Solis
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