3 Classic Hip-Hop Tracks From 1996 That Make You Want To Get Up and Dance

By 1996, hip-hop had become a dominant force in culture. With its use of sampling, the genre helped break down the walls between various types of music. In any given track, one might hear classic soul, funk, jazz, or rock and roll, revolutionizing how records were made.

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However, beats are the foundation of hip-hop’s legendary tracks. The beat sets the rhythm for the rap. It also makes you want to get up and dance, as these three classics from 1996 certainly do.

“Killing Me Softly With His Song” by Fugees

The New Jersey trio of Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Prakazrel (Pras) Samuel Michel were nearly dropped from their record label following the modest sales of their debut album, Blunted On Reality. Then Salaam Remi’s remix of “Nappy Heads” not only saved Fugees’ career but also gave them a new stylistic direction.

When they released The Score in 1996, the blockbuster follow-up became the new standard in hip-hop. Socially conscious and musically virtuosic, the album, which features an unbeatable cover of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song”, remains a defining moment of 90s hip-hop. It also introduced the world to Hill’s singular voice.

“California Love” by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman

Without soul and R&B, you don’t get to hip-hop. And without Roger Troutman and his band Zapp, you don’t get to G-funk. And without the G-funk era, West Coast hip-hop would have sounded very different. “California Love” encapsulates this history in a single track. It’s built atop multiple samples, which all seem to lead back to Troutman and his iconic talk box.

I don’t know that you’ll find a groove deeper than this. This is Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur at the top of their game. And if Dr. Dre’s production doesn’t make you move, then you should immediately call a different doctor.

“Get A Hold” by A Tribe Called Quest

Writing about A Tribe Called Quest’s Beats, Rhymes And Life, a contemporary review in Spin magazine put it this way: “If hip-hop had a Grand Ole Opry, Tribe could be the house band.” The Queens group emerged in the late 80s as part of Native Tongues, the hip-hop collective they co-created. The collective pioneered alternative hip-hop while Tribe connected the genre’s past with its future.

Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White combined rap battle culture with jazz and introspective lyrics, giving listeners an alternative to gangsta rap. Tribe influenced the likes of Pharrell Williams, Outkast, D’Angelo, and many others. Meanwhile, the group was so crucial to The Roots’ Ahmir Thompson that the drummer adopted his stage name, Questlove, as an homage. Listening to the beat in “Get A Hold”, you understand Questlove’s love for A Tribe Called Quest.

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