Kidnapper Van - Beats to Rock While Bike-Stealin'

A three-man crew from the Bay Area, Foreign Legion comprises DJ Design on the beats, with Prozack Turner and Marc Stretch rocking the mic. Heavy on the party jams, their debut album Kidnapper Van is a perpetually funky exercise in West Coast independent hip-hop, overflowing with rugged drums, well-chopped samples, and punchline-infused wordplay. Prozack and Stretch bounce off each other perfectly, (both in the booth and onstage), the former a small and skinny, high-pitched white guy, the latter an imposing brother built like a pro linebacker. Highlights here include their breakout single "Full Time B-Boy," the espionage vibe of "Secret Agent," and "Underground," on which they call out self-proclaimed subterranean MCs, taking them to task for using the term as a crutch to disguise lazy production and wannabe intellectual lyricism. The trio returned in 2002 with the solid Playtight, and again (sans DJ Design) with The Secret Knock in 2008, but this remains their most cohesive and exciting work, perfect to play alongside other Cali crews like Dilated Peoples and Jurassic 5.