So these are three songs I’ve found incredibly enjoyable; two are past hits that deserve canonization but have yet to receive it (although it’s certainly not too late!) and the third is a song from this past year that deserves more widespread attention. I hope everyone gives them a chance, it’ll be worth your time.

N’Tyce feature Method Man– Hush Hush Tip, [Wild Pitch Classics]

This song sounds so beautiful to me even now, one of those perfect pop songs that should have been. N’Tyce was a rapper from the ill-fated Wild Pitch label whose charm comes from her supreme confidence and almost hauntingly ruthless approach to cheating on her man. The production is sublime early 90s sample-based work. The technology of the time gives the beat a flawed, lo-fi feel, almost like it is being heard over AM radio.

[buy Wild Pitch Classics here, read my Stylus Top Ten of Underappreciated Early-90s Hip-Hop Summer Jams here]

Trick Daddy– Nann Nigga, [www.thug.com]

I mentioned elsewhere that I though this song reminded me of Otis Redding’s great duet with Carla Thomas. It still does, to an extent—sexual politics between Trick Daddy and Trina over this bass-heavy roll may be a bit more intense with profanity and overt sexuality, but it certainly brims with energy and good-humored rivalry in a similar regard. Trick Daddy vs. Trina, sexual politics 101.

[visit Trick Daddy’s website here, buy www.thug.com here, read my further revisions to Crunk Classics here]

Devin the Dude– The Briar Patch, [To Tha X-Treme]

Devin the Dude’s new album is one of the best of the year, certainly one of the best albums that seems to have been conceived in a cloud of weed smoke. (Madvilliany is the only real competition). This song is a recounting of the famous story of Breir Rabbit, although it is particularly thin on story and heavy on character. Devin’s enthralling falsetto and the slow, funky production creates a languorous atmosphere, like a really comfortable chair. This song is really great.

[visit Devin the Dude’s website here, buy To Tha X-Treme here]