In our final Dream Team episode of the series, we bring you a special show recorded in front of a live audience at St Paul’s Cathedral, London.
Admittedly, the audience was there to watch BBC’s Question Time being filmed and they seemed confused – occasionally angry – but we soon won them round with our lively debate over the top hip-hop tracks from 1995.
And what a year it was. On the east coast, the Wu-Tang boys spoiled us with classic albums from GZA, Raekwon and ODB, which cemented RZA as the dominant force in hip-hop – challenged only by DJ Premier, whose brand of quirky head-nodders made him the go-to guy for the best beats in the business.
Meanwhile Dr Dre kept our heads ringin’, Masta Ace gave us da answer and Show & AG took us to the next level. Throw in lesser-known bangers from the likes of Shabazz The Disciple, Mic Geronimo and Double XX Posse and it’s easy to see why some consider 1995 to be the low-key greatest year of hip-hop's golden era.
To celebrate the 30-year anniversary of these songs, Danny, James and Steve attempt to knock a squad of 22 down to 11 by drawing them against each other in a series of one-on-one matches and using the three-man vote to decide the winner each time.
The 11 winning tracks earn a place on our Spotify playlist, the losers get an early bath. We also decide on the team's name, manager and star player.
THE 1995 SQUAD:
DREAM TEAM 1995 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ApwFBhKQFq2RNvRJyLBWj?si=R6Hq6a2BSIaWQUwutcDuEw
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SOCIAL MEDIA
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Beats and stings by Danny Phillips: https://soundcloud.com/dannyphillips1978