Pyro "Propaganda" (1999)

Goodvibe Records is responsible for at least one certified classic (Mystic's "The Life"), but this Pyro 12" never got the play it deserved. Political/cultural criticism isn't anything new in a hip hop record, but former Kraken-member Pyro's "Propaganda" is a meticulously-crafted thesis attacking the hip hop music industry, while promoting his own vision of the world.

Pyro "Propaganda" (with instrumental)

Pyro's opening line is the foundation from which he builds: "If I ruled the world, and everything in it/It would not be a twenty-year-old's dick trip, laced with with misogynist bullsh*t".
The only argument I can see being made against Pyro as an MC is that he's not willing to sacrifice vocabulary if it gets in the way of flow, but dude drops some gems:

We've gone from share-cropping on borrowed land
To running around Hollywood with hat-in-hand
Without so much as a muthaf*cking plan
As to what we gonna do when they digitize distribution
In organized pushers of conglomerized content
The fact that I see this, and most of y'all don't
Exemplifies our absolute ignorance of a fundamental shift
In the entertainment industry's paradigm
But we won't see a muthaf*cking dime
Because we've allowed Masta to master the art of owning the masters to our rhymes
Let me bring that back one more time
We've allowed Masta to master the art of owning the masters to our rhymes

The chorus features a well-chosen Mobb Deep sample ("Your simple words just don't move me..."), and the track itself (care of DJ Khalil, who's done some bangers for Self-Scientific) is dark and sinister but not overpowering; Pyro's commanding voice and lyrics remain the centerpiece. Includes the instrumental.

[UPDATE, 7/12, 10pm: Re-archived, re-upped file]