Coast II Coast

The Alkaholiks are nothing if not dependable. They became one of the best rap groups in the world for a time, a west coast equivalent to The Beatnuts, by sticking to a winning formula: raps about beer you can afford over beats built from samples of records that you cannot. This album has been the soundtrack to countless house parties, cookouts, and kick-backs, and these days sounds almost quaint in its portrayal of the MCs’ quests to drink, smoke, and get laid, a document of a simpler time with banging beats from group member E-Swift and hired guns Diamond D and a young upstart called Madlib.