ip-hop often conjures up images of summertime—pick-up games of hoops, El stop tar sticking to your sneakers, and sweat dripping down your face while you check out the females (or males, as the case may be) strolling down the street. These are songs that invoke these images for me personally—I have no recollection of what time of year they were actually released, or whether or not they were literally summer classics. I do know, however, that they are all memorable and underappreciated and that they recall the intangibles of the summer season.

10. DITC – All Luv (12”)
The Digging in the Crates crew was easily one of the hottest and most underrated groups of the early 90s. Characterized by top-notch lyricism and the best beats on the block, a DITC joint was guaranteed heat. The “All Luv” single is no exception—the beat is a sparse, percussive summertime banger and the verses (by Fat Joe, Lord Finesse, Big L and A.G.) are exceptional—especially what may be the most unintentionally homoerotic line of all time, Finesse’s casual dismissal of the unappreciative hip-hop head: “You know our names, we don't play jokes / Niggas ain't feeling us? You ain't supposed to, that's for gay folks.”

09. Organized Konfusion featuring Large Professor – Stress (Extra P Remix) (Stress 12”)
Organized Konfusion was the superduo of Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po, two ridiculously talented rappers whose second album Stress: The Extinction Agenda is a classic that epitomized the magnitude of the 90s NYC underground scene. The casually hooky vibraphone chords of Large’s remix that drive the verses are met with a magnificently funky sax sample for the chorus—the incredibly anthemic chant “Crush! Kill! Destroy! Stress!” Pharoahe opens, the Large Professor rips a verse in the middle, and Prince Po tears through his own with fervent energy. As opposed to the original version of the song, a dark and sinister track that would frighten the bravest of slumming suburbanites, this remix is full of optimistic bounce. Large Professor’s verse sums up the vibe completely with an allusion to his legendary Main Source single: “everybody knows my solution to being stressed is looking at the front door.”

08. Original Flavor – Can I Get Open? (Beyond Flavor)
Original Flavor was a group of New York Das EFX-inspired heads who dropped a decent album of solid tongue-twisting material in the early 90s. The most fascinating aspect of the song, though, is that it features Jay-Z, pre-Reasonable Doubt. Jigga says it best: “Brotha's who running the crack down I stutter that-that niggas fast”. Pizzicato strings and hip-hop equals hotness.

07. Boogie Monsters – Honeydips in Gotham (Honeydips in Gotham 12”)
The perfect laid-back summer salute to checking out honeys from the stoop, “Honeydips in Gotham” has lush, spacey production that mimics the submerged feeling of summertime humidity; you can hear the heat waves as the girl of your dreams appears like a mirage through a cloud of summertime smog: “I’m not the man, she has an aura of intimidation / If I could know your name perhaps tomorrow we could grow…”

06. Domino – Sweet Potato Pie (Domino)
“I’m all messed up and I don’t know why / Feelin’ kinda freaky and it’s no lie…” Domino was Def Jam’s first major artist from the West Coast, although he’s largely been thrown to the dustbin of recent hip-hop history. As a result of his bi-coastal origins, the production seems an interesting combination of west coast G-funk and the more NYC-style hip-hop sound. The beat is jangly, airy and most of all, the ultimate gesture to summertime fun and the “sweet potato pie” that goes along with it (hint: he wasn’t talking about food). His flow was smoove, Slick Rick-inspired and entertaining. His biggest single was “Ghetto Jam”, although “Sweet Potato Pie” remains, in my eyes, the highlight of his career. All I can say is—man, do I wish I coulda gone to that barbecue.

05. Notorious B.I.G. – Who Shot Ya? (“Big Poppa” 12”)
This song flips the trend as far as summer jams—this is a dark, oppressive and deadly hostile track that exemplifies the lyrical prowess that Biggie displayed on virtually every song he recorded. The beat relies primarily on a single, sparse, haunting keyboard melody that gives Biggie the space to lyrically rip apart his enemies. And as always with B.I.G.’s tracks, the imagery is what makes it come together— “I can hear the sweat trickling down your cheek / Your heartbeat sound like sasquatch feet.” If that doesn’t scare you, check your pulse.

04. O.C. – Born 2 Live (Word…Life)
O.C.’s Word…Life featured one of the biggest singles of the early 90s, the confrontational classic “Time’s Up”. This album track is a more reflective, wistful look at summer’s past, the innocence of childhood and the unfortunate reality that is emphasized in the mournful chorus: “We’re born to live a life then die, life’s so damn short man I wonder why?”

03. Black Moon – I Gotcha Opin (Remix) (I Gotcha Opin 12”)
Yeah you know they keep it real in Bucktown, especially when they take an almost regal-sounding sample from Barry White’s “Playing Your Game” and turn it into one of the chillest summertime evening classics—banging Beatminerz production, cool horns sizzling and the self-styled “original heads”? Duck down! Don’t front…

02. Ahmad – Back in the Day (Ahmad)
This tale of nostalgia for childhood, innocence and youth is, hands down, one of the most beautiful reminiscences outside of “T.R.O.Y.” The chorus— “Back in the days, when I was young I’m not a kid anymore, but some days I sit and wish I was a kid again”—is topped only by the sharp lyrics and clever cultural references. I wasn’t conscious of most of the 80s paraphernalia he mentions from his youth when I was a kid—“basket weaves, Nike Cortez and footsie socks”—but the aching nostalgia came through loud and clear.

01. N’Tyce featuring Method Man – “Hush Hush Tip” (Hush Hush Tip 12”)
A dark trumpet sample, jazzy piano and mournful vocal choir opens this under-recognized classic. The production is pure early 90s: the samples sound as if played over a short wave radio, and the casual breakbeat emphasizes the rough, laid-back vibe of the song. N’Tyce was a member of Deadly Venoms, a largely forgotten all-girl MC trio that recorded for Wild Pitch. But this song, in which N’Tyce represents for all the women cheating on their men, is a highlight of early 90s hip-hop and an easy summertime classic—and a good counter to the playa-posturing of many of the men who dominate this list. “I won’t tell if you won’t tell, nowadayyyys you gotta keep it on the hush-hush.” Pure summertime hip-hop: hot, funky and unpredictable.