Released on May 5, 1998, Lyricist Lounge, Volume 1 was another scene defining release within underground hip-hop as much like Soundbombing, it was released at the height of bling rap’s popularity. It is centered around the concept of being a lyricist at a live lounge hosted by De La Soul on disc 1 and Kool Keith & Sir Menelik on disc 2. This album features guest appearances from Q-Tip, O.C., Ras Kass, Mos Def, Common, Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli, KRS-One, Company Flow, Jurassic 5, Zack De La Rocha, The Last Emperor, and more.