Though often neglected within the jazz-rap community during their brief, three-album run,
Dream Warriors recorded a legion of interesting tracks, and
Anthology does a better job than either of those albums in summarizing what made them so great. Featuring two versions of their nearest thing to a hit, "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style," the album also scores with a few collaboration tracks including others in the jazz-rap royalty -- "It's a Project Thing" with
DJ Premier, "I've Lost My Ignorance" with
Premier and
Guru (i.e.,
Gang Starr), and "Tricycles and Kittens" with
Digable Planets. Elsewhere,
Dream Warriors salute their Caribbean influences with tracks like "Sound Clash" with
Beenie Man and "Dem No Ready" with
General Degree. It's a great look at one of the better hip-hop groups of the '90s.
–
Keith Farley, Rovi