During its early years, hip-hop was dominated by New York. But that changed in the late '80s, when an abundance of MCs from the South and the West Coast demonstrated that they were quite capable of going gold or platinum. By 1987 and 1988, it was obvious that a rapper didn't have to be from Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, or the Boogie Down Bronx to sell millions of albums. On the West Coast, the San Francisco Bay Area has been a major player in hip-hop, and rappers from Northern California are the focus of this 2000 collection. Produced by BIG Drawz -- who favors a sleek,
Dr. Dre -- influenced production style,
Lockdown emphasizes gangsta rap and spotlights some established rappers (including Rappin' 4 Tay and E-40) as well as well as some of the Bay Area's lesser known talent. Not everything on
Lockdown (which contains previously unreleased recordings) is about incarceration specifically; however, many of the CD's 20 tracks examine the sort of violent crime that can easily lead to it. Most of the material isn't mind-blowing, but a lot of it is decent. Some of the more memorable contributions come from
San Quinn and Willie Henn on "The Flossy Way," Deranged Lunatix on "Let's Mobb,"
Tabb Doe and Redd on "Misery," and
Neva Legal on "Lawless." As far as West Coast hip-hop goes,
Lockdown is far from essential. But it does have its moments.