Brace yaselves! In my aspirations to make the Digital Undaground one of the premiere blogs on the internet, I gotta continue to keep this place fresh and deliver some exclusive content that you won't find at every other blog on the 'net. I know most of y'all are here for new music, but I also know that a lot of you dig the features that are unique to the site like those Ego Trip Top 40 lists, Rap's Best Kept Secrets series, new artist spotlights etc. etc. So with that being said, tonight I'm gonna introduce a new weekly feature called "Digital Crate Diggin". I'll essentially be digging through my external hard drives and unearth some classic albums/mixtapes, rare gems, slept on tracks, or just anything ill I feel like y'all should hear. Considering the fact I have about 500 gigs worth of music both downloaded and ripped from CDs/tapes in my collection, I've got more than enough to spread around. Besides, when I first started this blog, I intended on posting a lot more old school/90's hip-hop than new music, so this segment will give me an excuse to work some more of that into the equation. I'm also brainstorming and developing a few more features to bring to y'all, so feel free to suggest some ideas of anything you'd like to see added here at the Undaground. I'm always open to constructive criticism and comments good or bad, just leave a reply below, in the c-box, or via email (JohnVega@tmail.com).

Now lets do it to it...



For this first installment of Digital Crate Diggin', we're gonna take a trip to the year 2000 and revisit Roc-A-Fella's historical takeover at NYC radio station Hot 97. If you aren't familiar with what exactly went down that night...It was one of the most memorable radio freestyle sessions of all-time as the big homie Jay-Z rounded up his freshly signed stable of Roc-A-Fella artists, marched the troops down to Funk Flex's show at Hot 97's studio and let them introduce themselves to the world. And introduce themselves they did. Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Oschino, Sparks, & Young Chris stepped up to the plate and proceeded to rip the mic to shreds one after another. The historical cypher lasted well over an hour and featured all seven emcees ripping apart classics like "Who Shot Ya", "Oochie Wally", "Dead Wrong", "Y'all Don't Wanna", "Keep It Thoro", "Quiet Storm" and more. The Roc Boys were definitely in the building that night and instantly established themselves as a new force in the game. Of course later that year the Roc La Familia album dropped followed by solo albums from Beans, Bleek, & Freeway and the Young Guns. Although Beans & Freeway have been able to firmly establish themselves as bonafied stars in the game, the sheer energy and hunger that collective of young emcees displayed that night has been unmatched by any crew since.

Below you can download the entire session from start to finish and hear for yourself just how hungry the young Roc-A-Fella roster sounded as all six were on the verge of proving themselves to their new boss and the game...