Sunday Music: Some 90's Buckshot Thoughts

Somewhere in the midst of recording an Intentional Investor with Jason Buck AND what will be the first Just Press Record of 2025 (featuring Jason alongside another surprise guest, which was oh so fun), I’ve found myself stuck on…

Buckshot.

There was just no way I couldn’t mix some Buckshot references into the introductions. Partly because Jason Buck appreciates the music of the era, and also because Buckshot doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

Smack dab in the middle of the stylings of Mobb Deep and KRS-One, Buckshot created a totally unique aesthetic that influenced all sorts of other rappers (and entrepreneurs) of the era.

He combined various voices (he could rap, he could toast, he could beat-ride), with an always diverse mix underlying beat selections, that was a perfect expansion in the boom bap era—rich in tradition, and fresh in style.

Off the mic, he was instrumental in putting together the label Duck Down Music, bringing awareness and distribution to an entire scene of underground artists who were never short on ideas of their own.

From Black Moon to Bootcamp Clik, and Heltah Skeltah to Smif ‘n’ Wessun, you might not know all of the names and songs, but these are the movements that drive a whole industry forward. It’s not just about the radio hits. It’s about the journeymen who make the excitement happen AND get the work done.

I love these characters. The underground Talib Kweli’s, and people-serving Questlove’s, and econo-jamming Minutemen who highlight all the other pathless paths we can walk out onto with our people.

Turn these up:

Also, related and well worth a mention, even if Buckshot isn’t on it, his influence is felt: