Besides the upper-middle-class frat-punks-in-rap-clothing shtick of and emissary/producer , who both gained a legitimate, earned respect in the rap community, there were very few white kids in rap's first decade who spoke the poetry of the street with compassion and veneration for the form. That is, until . Matching 's bombastic, goofy good nature and 's gritty, English-trained wordsmithery (sounding like a young Don in training), ' debut album is revelatory in its way. For one, it is full of great songs, alternately upbeat rollers ( ), casual-but-sincere disses ( ), razor-sharp street didacticism ( ), and sweaty city anthems ( odes to day and night, respectively), with A-plus production by heavyweights and , as well as the surprising, overshadowing work of . The duo may not have come from the streets, but their hearts were there, and it shows. The album embodies New York life. Not every single idea plays out successfully -- 's impression on is on the wrong side of the taste line, and is a puzzling Western-themed insertion -- but they are at least interesting stretches that add to the dense, layered texture of the album. was also important because it proved to the hip-hop heads that white kids could play along without appropriating or bastardizing the culture. It may not have completely integrated rap, but it was a precursor to a culture that became more inclusive and widespread after its arrival. ~ Stanton Swihart