Welcome to Who Killed It?, our column where we rank the verses on classic posse cuts from worst to first. For the last go-round, we took a look at the West Coast All-Star's seminal collaboration, "We're All in the Same Gang," which featured appearances from California reps Dr. Dre, MC Ren and Eazy-E of N.W.A, Ice-T, MC Hammer, and other luminaries looking to shed light on the gang-related violence contribution to destruction within the inner-city community. For our latest edition of Who Killed It?, we take a gander at another standout selection from one of the greatest years in hip-hop, the Lost Boyz's 1997 battle royal, "Beasts from the East," one of the standout tracks from the group's sophomore album, Love, Peace & Nappiness. Produced by Bink!, "Beasts from the East" was released in what is now regarded as a golden era for posse cuts, with many of the game's top emcees battling it out on records for sole purpose earning the bragging right of having the best verse in the eyes of the people.

"Beasts from the East" was no different, boasting a lineup of contestants that included the Lost Boyz's lead lyricist Mr. Cheeks, New Jersey's own Redman, Hempstead phenom A+, and Canibus, one of the bigger enigma's in all of rap at the time, giving the song the potential for rewind-button mashing punchlines, similes and couplets. And when all was said and done, all of the artists mentioned showed up in a big way, resulting in a posse cut that may get slept on in comparison to other definitive joints of its time, but can stand up with the best of them, even 20 years later.

The Boombox takes a trip down memory lane and provides a tale of the tape as we dissect "Beasts from the East" and determine which spitter had the best verse.

 

 

More From TheBoombox