There are few what-ifs in hip-hop more dispiriting than the story behind Deck’s first solo album, which was meant to drop in the mid ’90s amidst all the other solo releases but had to be remade from the bottom up after the studio flood destroyed RZA’s beats for it. What emerged instead was a more modest yet still gripping record that showed Deck and other lesser-feted Wu members Masta Killa and U-God meeting their potential, while affiliates like 4th Disciple, Mathematics, and True Master proved to be a whole bench of sharpshooter 6th men when stepping in for production duties. Deck’s own beats shine, too — check for “Elevation,” which was so immaculate Ghostface reused it the following year for “Stay True."

– Nate Patrin