Ugk - Ridin Dirty [LP]

Ridin' Dirty is the third studio album by dirty south legends Bun B and Pimp C - together known as UGK. It is easily considered one of the greatest southern hip hop albums ever made, but let's drop all the labels this is just pure good rap music, for any region. It's all right there, everything that people have come to expect from Houston rap: candy-painted cars, wood-grained steering wheels, flashy jewelry, late-night odes to lean and weed, passing references to DJ Screw tapes, those warm funk synthesizers that sound like radio oldies. All of Ridin' Dirty feels iconic now- among other reasons, because so many of it's lyrics have since been cribbed by everyone from Slim Thug to Jay Z. There's the laid-back badassery of "Diamonds and Wood, " the zoned-out celebration of "3 in the Morning, " the ridiculous boasting of "Fuck My Car." Everything here is essential. Ridin' Dirty was produced entirely by Pimp C and features start to finish bangers such as "One Day", "Murder", "Hi Lif" and of course the title track "Ridin' Dirty." Pimp C's makes use of perfectly chosen Soul, Funk and Gospel samples to create a perfect soundscape for he and Bun B to trade verse over. Despite there being no singles or videos released from the album, the set went on to be a pivotal moment in southern hip hop as well as UGK's best selling and most critically acclaimed release.