The Beatnuts (Dominican Republic/Colombia)
Hip-hop has long had a Latin flavor, from its early days in the heavily Puerto Rican South Bronx. Hailing from Queens by way of the Dominican Republic and Colombia (a country technically located in South America but with its own deeply rooted Black/Caribbean culture), respectively, core Beatnuts members Juju and Psycho Les brought Afro-Latino flavor to ‘90s New York hip-hop, as both a self-contained rap group and a freelance production unit working for the likes of Fat Joe, Kurious and Big Pun. Though they never experienced major commercial success, they were one of the most beloved groups from the pre-Rawkus ‘90s-rap underground, bringing infinite credibility and a great ear for samples to every project they worked on, while their ‘90s hits like “Off The Books” and “Watch Out Now” (with Big Pun) are certified classics immediately recognizable to anyone who lived through the era.