Taste the Secret (2003)

This sunny underground rap trio from equally sunny Long Beach, Calif., thankfully has little use for the gangsta posturing of the mainstream or the pretense of the art-rap scene: One of the biggest beefs on their sophomore album is with a fictitious fast-food chain where everything's made of meat. That goofiness is served up in a bouncy old-school style, a refreshing cross between Slick Rick's cheeky narratives and A Tribe Called Quest's soothing lyricism. It's an unlikely rap recipe for these sober days, but their Secret sauce makes it work.