All right you 1990s hip hop heads – here we go! A couple of months back, I gave you my top 90 R&B songs of the 90s and tonight on the blog, we begin my countdown of this blogger’s personal favorite hip hop singles of that glorious decade.

Some ground rules: notice I said “singles”. It’s an important distinction. I’m not picking deep cuts that weren’t released as commercial radio fare. If you want a list of best underground rap tracks, there are search engines named Google and Yahoo and allegedly Bing. So this is a rather mainstream list… if you don’t think one of the entries on here will begin lyrically with “Stop, Collaborate, and Listen…” – you would be mistaken.

Now that we’ve established the game, it’s time for this playa to start the list. Like the previous list, this will be a nine-part series updated daily (hopefully) giving you ten jams to reminisce over! So let me clear my throat and get this started:

90. “If I Ruled the World” – Nas featuring Lauryn Hill (1996)

Two years after his iconic debut release Illmatic, Nas’s first single off his follow-up album gave him one of his biggest hits with an assist from Fugees member Lauryn Hill.

89. “They Want EFX” by Das EFX (1992)

This duo had their largest hit with this #1 charting hit.

88. “Luv 2 Luv U” by Timbaland and Magoo (1997)

Before he became one of the greatest producers in the world, Timbo teamed up with sidekick and Q-Tip soundalike Magoo for this dance club jam.

87. “How I Could Just Kill a Man” by Cypress Hill (1991)

The cannabis loving group’s debut single is one of their finest.

86. “Get At Me Dog” by DMX (1998)

This one is DMX’s very first single and it’s his second highest charting track ever. It set off a string of memorable tracks from the Def Jam artist.

85. “Nappy Heads” by Fugees (1994)

Two years before they found international success, Lauryn, Wyclef, and Pras had their first hit here.

84. “Ain’t No Future In Yo’ Frontin'” by MC Breed and DFC (1991)

This is seriously one of those songs I completely wore out for the first half of the 90s. For that reason alone, it earns a well deserved spot.

83. “Get Money” by Junior M.A.F.I.A. (1996)

Biggie’s side group that featured Lil Kim and Lil Cease had their best track here.

82. “Let Me Clear My Throat” by DJ Kool (1996)

Simply put, one of those most ridiculously infectious dance club bangers ever created. This DJ gets some fantastic assists from Biz Markie and Doug E. Fresh.

81. “Changes” by 2Pac (1998)

Mr. Shakur makes his first appearance with this posthumous Bruce Hornsby sampling track.

And that’s all for now, friends! Part two covering numbers 80-71 drops tomorrow.