Amazon.comNineteen ninety-eight witnessed a cavalcade of independent hip-hop compilations, shining light on labels (Bomb, Rawkus) and artists (Ed O.G., Talib Kweli, Mike Zoot) that badly needed the exposure. In the second installation of its Independents Day series, Nervous reaches the apex of the genre nearly perfectly. DJ-producer Spinna weaves together some of the year's finest, most notable underground talents, among them Houston's K-Otix, Toronto's Frankenstein, and Virginia's Unspoken Heard. The emphasis in this collection is on elevated thought from all corners; in doing so, they help to fill the Native Tongue void and raise the stakes for the entire genre. --Jon Caramanica