In Los Angeles, the Likwit Crew’s J-Ro, Tash and producer E-Swift were the yin to Freestyle Fellowship’s yang, making tough-minded yet lyrical party raps that countered and often rivaled the Fellowship’s abstractions. Their best album, 1995’s Coast II Coast, was a necessary tribute to hip-hop unity, as the trio recruited East Coast artists like Diamond (“The Next Level”) and Q-Tip (“All The Way Live”) and rhymed over a classic boom bap sound. Check the cipher session “WLIX,” where the Liks and soon-to-be indie rap heroes Lootpack and Declaime go bananas over an early Madlib Invazion.