Toppa Top 10: Caribbean Hip-Hop Pioneers

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September 20, 2011

Honorebel Mention: Just-Ice and KRS-One

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These two half-Caribbean MCs (Just’s mother was Jamaican, KRS’ father was Trini) were the first rappers to make Jamaican fashions, patois and reggae references a staple part of their repertoire. Their adaptation of deejay-style gun talk also laid the blueprints for gangster rap. Before the Bronx pair inevitably hooked up for Just’s sophomore album Kool and Deadly, Just got his beats from Jamaican-born producer Kurtis Mantronik, who is certainly deserving of an extra extra honorable mention here.