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It's difficult to assemble this collection without immediately running into something from Virginia Beach natives The Neptunes and Pusha T.
After their original debut album Exclusive Audio Footage was shelved and unreleased, Pharrell Williams signed the duo to his label Star Trak Entertainment through Arista. Once there, Clipse released their debut album Lord Willin' and became a commercial and critical hit. With singles "Grindin'" and "When The Last Time" the album sold 122,000 copies in it's first week.
This was an exciting album for a lot of people in the area at the time. People were proud that they were from VA Beach and were gaining success at the mainstream level. Every time I saw the video for "Grindin'" I got a little smile on my face when I saw Pusha wearing a Virginia Squires jersey, an ABA basketball team that used to play at the Hampton Coliseum in the 1970s. They weren't just repping VA Beach but Hampton Roads as a whole. Their success combined with the influence and success of the The Neptunes production team, VA Beach was making a mark in the world of hip hop.
Fourteen years later this album still holds up.
