V/A - The Fellowship of the Great

Back in the days when Dre could get an album finished, Snoop preferred creating songs to featuring on a homie's record, and Nelly's mommy was putting plasters on his cuts rather than his face, hip-hop was more about the bass than the bling. This compilation journeys through all of the highlights from the early to mid nineties, from overplayed classic California Love to low down dirty tunes, with Compton being a major player. One question – why would anyone who is into rap and hip-hop not have all of these tunes already? This is basically a cash cow for Death Row Records. With 34 tracks on the double album, Snoop Dogg running the show and input from 2Pac, Nate Dogg and JoJo, quality nostalgia is established yet fading by the second CD. One thought may linger however - if only they were making such good tunes these days... [Lara Moloney]