Music for the People

Before he blew up as a Calvin Klein model and word-renowned movie star, Mark Wahlberg hit the scene as a rugged but radio-friendly MC, on this album originally released in 1991. Fronting the Funky Bunch (alongside Scottie Gee, Hector the Booty Inspector, Ashley Ace, and DJ-T), he dropped this collection of 11 tracks that run the gamut from club-approved party anthems (smash hit "Good Vibrations") to syrupy romance raps ("Make Me Say Ooh!") and excursions into the short-lived "hip-house" movement ("On the House Tip"). White rappers were still pretty rare back then, and Mark fits in somewhere in the middle of the spectrum – not quite Vanilla Ice, but not quite Beastie Boys. Heavily influenced by LL Cool J, his style is semi-gruff yet unthreatening, while the production (mostly from brother Donnie) is very much early ‘90s, with plenty of hype breakbeats, squealing sax snippets, and familiar samples of the era. Don't miss the P-Funk-inspired "Bout Time I Funk You" and Lou Reed-sampling second single, "Wildside."