3rd Eye Vision

Oakland collective Hieroglyphics made for a strong example of what indie autonomy could do for a crew in the late ’90s. Just five years before their first group album 3rd Eye Vision, most of their members were signed to majors — Souls of Mischief and Casual on Jive, Del the Funky Homosapien on Elektra, producer Domino and rapper Pep Love collabing with all of them — who then unceremoniously dropped them when the alt-rap movement failed to rake in the big bucks. This makes 3rd Eye Vision a strong DIY riposte to all that, though it’s nowhere near as bitter as you might think from a whole squad of industry-screwed battle rappers. For one thing, it’s playing to a crowd that already knows about Rule 4,080, so the thematic emphasis on Being A Better Rapper Than You is driven more by the thrill of competition and a conflict-hones-art philosophy than any sour-grapes rejection of popularity. For another, it’s as good at establishing each individual member’s bonafides — every MC in the group gets a brief but stylistically definitive solo showcase — as it is making them all seem like hyperlyrical hydras on mic-passing centerpieces like “Off the Record,” “The Who,” and the all-hands-on-deck showcase single “You Never Knew.” And even though their lyrical approach is peak backpacker, heavy on metaphor-driven punchlines and geek-culture namedrops and Afrocentric politics, it’s all delivered with a high-energy rock-the-crowd force over beats that turn underexplored regions of funk and soul-jazz into unapologetic speaker-throbbing bangers.