Back when your boy Larry had the Gumby fade, a Crenshaw swap-meet black Bart Simpson T-shirt (damn, I'm getting' on eBay right now), and a leather Africa medallion, I was steady bumpin' my brother's cassette of One for All, Brand Nubian's classic debut. One of the pillars of the early '90s Afrocentric rap movement, Brand Nu (former Master of Ceremony Grand Puba, Sadat X, Lord Jamar, and DJ Alamo) articulated fiery Five Percenter lessons, milky flows, and black consciousness--along with smatterings of skirt-chasing lyrics and dabs of the prerequisite homophobia--that influenced everyone from the hardrocks to the kids in the flavor-starved burbs. Puba went solo after the first platter, taking DJ Alamo with him and enjoying some success on his own (not to mention becoming a hiphop fashion plate, bringing Tommy Hilfiger to the game and doing 'hood prep waay before Kanye). Meanwhile his former bandmates released In God We Trust, arguably their best effort, which featured the bulletproof classic "Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down." More albums followed from all, until the group reunited for '98's dope and somewhat slept-upon Foundation, which was a much-needed dose of real hiphop in the thick of the jiggy era. After that, there wasn't much great Brand Nubian stuff to check for--but it cannot be forgotten that Lord Jamar brought the incendiary Dead Prez into the game and executive produced their landmark debut. So at the very least, all you revolutionaries buying Che shirts at Journeys owe BR a debt of gratitude.

I say all this to bring the uninitiated up to speed--and to remind those who know how dope the Gods from Now Rule (that's New Rochelle, NY) truly are--because for the for the first time in, like, ever, Brand Nubian are coming to town. Their first LP in six years, Fire in the Hole, is pretty damn tight, sporting some nice production from Jamar and the indelible chemistry we've come to expect. Do the knowledge, and come out to Chop Suey Friday, September 10--I fuckin' mean it.

Okay, so I happened to hear the new De La Soul joint "Rock Kokaine Flow" and it's one of the best songs I've heard from them in a minute. It doesn't hurt that the song features the hardest working man in the underground, MF Doom ("a good combination!"), and none other than Seattle's own motherfuckin' Jake One on the boards. This cut should definitely get heads eagerly anticipating the seventh De La album, The Grind Date, released on their own AOI Records in conjunction with Matthew Knowles' (Beyoncé's daddy) Sanctuary Urban Records Group--not to mention fuel the already considerable demand for Jake's ill compositions. Speaking of which, look out for the upcoming LP from Boom Bap Project; boasting beats from Jake and Bean One, and improved flows from the already-sick Karim and Destro, this oughta be a helluva good look, as they say, for the town in this next year. Swayze.

hiphop@thestranger.com