"Funkship," the Hughes Brothers-directed Nike promo spot featuring Snoop jamming with George Clinton and company that first aired during the 2002 NBA playoffs, was a brilliant bit of filmmaking, especially if you overlook the Lisa Leslie cameo (nothing against Leslie; popular culture has yet to figure out what to do with female athletes, and female rappers). Snoop fit the part like a glove, but as many times as I saw "Funkship," I couldn't help thinking that it should've been Digital Underground's Shock-G up there onstage instead.

Digital Underground – who ushered in the '90s and helped cement Oakland's place on the hip-hop map with the hit single "Humpty Dance," from their outstanding debut, Sex Packets – were so serious about P-Funk that when gangsta came along and mugged 'em a couple of years later, you gotta believe they didn't know what hit 'em. If you're too young to remember, know this: the late '80s and early '90s were a great time for music in the Bay Area, and Digital Underground had a lot to do with it. The D.U. extended family took talent for granted, and when Tupac – who, as Davey D points out in the liner notes accompanying this compilation, first signed on with the group as a roadie – rapped his way into the spotlight, it was just the beginning, or it seemed like it was.