Fools from the Streets

Dru Down’s 1993 debut was the underground release Fools from the Streets, which became a big hit in the rougher parts of the Bay Area. Its success won Dru a major record deal, but more importantly, the album helped establish a blueprint for the sound of California hip-hop in the years to follow. Fools from the Streets came out six months before Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, and in many ways Dru offered a more venomous corollary to the style that Snoop would take to the masses. The beats are smooth but aggressive; the rhymes are fun but edgy; and the overall aesthetic flows from an individual whose personal style was formed by '70s culture but whose mind was stoked by the violence of the crack era. “Pimp of the Year” became one of Dru’s signature songs—an immortal Oakland rap anthem—but the lesser-known tracks are even better. “Dru Rules,” “No One Loves You,” and the gorgeous “Weak Moves” are as poignant as they are angry, and their beats speak to a homemade simplicity that would be lost when the major labels got hold of gangsta rap.