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Celebrity Playlist

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2Pac's mind may have been preoccupied with homicide and honeys, but his peers also heard the sound of clicking triggers and ladies whispering sweet nothings into their ears. During the early '90s, hard-core, iron-tongued rap grabbed the mic from the paisley-dappled Afrocentric era. Admittedly, no one brought more bloody-shirt aggression than 2Pac, but the Geto Boys certainly came close. Their 1991 classic, "Mind Playing Tricks On Me," remains one of hip-hop's most haunted cuts. Fact is, 2Pac once called Bushwick Bill & co. his favorite group — a declaration easily understood in the context of the ferociously violent visions of their Houston 'hood. And don't knock the impact of the Notorious B.I.G: Though famously rivals, 2Pac and Biggie were once close friends. In fact, it was 2Pac who advised Christopher Wallace to cultivate a ladies' man image — hence "Big Poppa," the soundtrack of a deliriously smooth seducer who devoured T-bone steaks, cheese and eggs, and Welch's grape soda. Nor was the West won alone — other kings vied for the Left Coast throne, including the steel-scepter funk of Westside Connection, whose trunk-rattlin' "Bow Down" is featured here. After all, 2Pac's predatory poems may have spearheaded rap's run in the '90s, but artists like Ice Cube, Jay-Z, Nas, Mobb Deep, Tha Dogg Pound, and DJ Quik all brought their own pimp cup and machine gun funk.