Above The Law was one of the earliest signees to Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records, and its second full-length, Black Mafia Life, is quintessential post-Chronic West Coast rap: It has gleefully misogynstic (and, like N.W.A., darkly cartoonish) lyrics incorporate copious references to pimping, drugs, murder, and money; sinuous synth lines; and nary a second independent of a ’70s/early-’80s funk sample. DJ Total K-Oss makes sure to incorporate more than enough Parliament/Funkadelic influences (matching Cold 187-Um’s Bootsy timbre), starting with the album’s first track, “Never Missin’ a Beat.” The song is a two-parter, opening with a looped quote from Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow before giving way to the “Atomic Dog”-biting first cousin of Snoop Dogg’s “Who Am I (What’s My Name)”. Later, “G’s and Macaronies” lifts the important parts of T.S. Monk’s “Bon Bon Vie” in service of BML’s most infectious track:

Above the Law – Never Missin’ A Beat [MP3, link expired]
Above the Law – Gs and Macaronies [MP3, link expired]