Best Foot Forward

Дебютный альбом выпущенный 19 ноября 1996 года, является первым в мире полностью сэмплированным альбом, общепризнанным шедевром инструментального хип-хопа, изменившего жанр раз и навсегда.
На обложке альбома изображены участники группы Solesides Chief Xcel (слева) and Lyrics Born (справа) в магазине звукозаписей "Village Records".( Сакраменто, Калифорния).
Критики Европы и США были довольно единодушны в оценке альбома, «гибрида красоты и паранойи», который «звучал как ни одна другая запись на тот момент». Выбрав хип-хоп не как орудие социального протеста, а как новаторский стиль, музыкант скомпоновал целый альбом из чужих сэмплов, по большей части извлеченных из старых виниловых пластинок. Из этого интригующего коллажа, растворившего все жанры и смешавшего все краски, рождается нечто совершенно новое, непредсказуемое, но смутно знакомое, благодаря крепкому «историческому» фундаменту.
Альбом включен в список 300 лучших американских песен и альбомов 20-го века по версии NPR
Треклист:
01. "Best Foot Forward" – 0:47
02. "Building Steam With a Grain of Salt" – 6:39
03. "The Number Song" – 4:34
04. "Changeling" – 7:16 + "Transmission 1" – 0:35
05. "What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)" – 5:02
06. " " – 0:25
07. "Stem/Long Stem" – 7:47 + "Transmission 2" – 1:29
08. "Mutual Slump" – 4:00
09. "Organ Donor" – 1:57
10. "Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96" – 0:44
11. "Midnight in a Perfect World" – 4:58
12. "Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain" – 9:21
13. "What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1 - Blue Sky Revisit)" – 6:17 + "Transmission 3" – 1:11

Ниже перечислены используемые семплы.
Best Foot Forward
* "It's My Turn" by Stezo
* "Real Deal" by Lifer's Group
* "He's My DJ" by Sparky Dee
* "Poison" by Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo
* "Dynamite" by Masters of Ceremony
* "Cold Chillin' in the Spot" by Jazzy Jay
* "Do or Die Bed-Stuy" by Divine Sounds
* "Party's Gettin' Rough" by Beastie Boys
* "You Can't Stop the Prophet" by Jeru the Damaja
* "Concerto for Jazz/Rock Orchestra, Part 2" by Stanley Clarke

Building Steam with a Grain of Salt
* "I Worship You" by Lexia
* "I Need You" by H.P. Riot
* "I Feel a New Shadow" by Jeremy Storch
* "Planetary Motivations (Cancer)" by Mort Garson
* "Music Makers: Percussion" by the Chevron/Standard Oil Company of California (1974) From an interview with George Marsh, jazz drummer, percussionist

The Number Song
* "Orion" by Metallica
* "Been Had" by Sapo
* "Breakdown" by T La Rock
* "AJ Scratch" by Kurtis Blow
* "Quit Jivin'" by Pearly Queen
* "Baby Don't Cry" by The Third Guitar
* "8 Counts for Rita" by Jimmy Smith
* "Sexy Coffee Pot" by Tony Avalon & The Belairs
* "Back to the Hip-Hop" by The Troubleneck Brothers
* "Bad Luck" by Don Covay & the Lemon Blues Band
* "Can I Kick It (Spirit Remix)" by A Tribe Called Quest
* "Who Got the Number" by Pigmeat Markham & the B.Y.
* "Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie" by DJ Grand Wizard Theodore
* "Corruption is the Thing/Chrystal Illusion" by Creations Unlimited
* "Flash it to the Beat" (Live), & "Freelance" by Grandmaster Flash

Changeling/Transmission 1
* "Soft Shell" by Motherlode
* "Klondyke Netti" by Embryo
* "Invisible Limits" by Tangerine Dream
* "Imagination Flight" by Chaffey College Jazz Ensemble
* "Here Comes the Meterman" by The Meters
* The Dream Message from Prince of Darkness
* "Inner Mood I" & "Touching Souls" by Kay Gardner
* "The Man Who Couldn't Cry" by Loudon Wainwright III

What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 4
* "The Vision and the Voice, Part 1 - The Vision" by Flying Island

Untitled (Track 06)
* "Grey Boy" by Human Race

Stem/Long Stem/Transmission 2
* "Love Suite" by Nirvana
* "Tears" by Giorgio Moroder
* "Linde Manor" by Dennis Linde
* "Dolmen Music" by Meredith Monk
* "The Human Abstract" by David Axelrod
* "The Madness Subsides" by Pekka Pohjola
* "Freedom" (spoken word) by Murray Roman
* The Dream Message from Prince of Darkness
* "Variazione III. (Tredicesimo Cortile)" by Osanna
* "Blues So Bad" by The Mystic Number National Bank
* "Oleo Strut" by Steve Drews (as part of Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co.)
* "1-800-Suicide" by Gravediggaz
* Background synthesizers from "Blade Runner"

Mutual Slump
* "Possibly Maybe" by Björk
* "Love, Love, Love" by Pugh Rogefeldt
* "More Than Seven Dwarfs in Penis-Land" by Roger Waters & Ron Geesin
* "Xanadu" (spoken word) by Olivia Newton John from Xanadu

Organ Donor
* "Someone" by Bill & Tim
* "Tears" by Giorgio Moroder
* "PM or Later (Instrumental)" by The New Breed
* "There's a DJ in Your Town" by Samson & Delilah

Midnight in a Perfect World
* "Soul" by S.O.U.L.
* "Outta State" by Akinyele
* "Sower of Seeds" by Baraka
* "Life Could" by Rotary Connection
* "California Soul" by Marlena Shaw
* "The Human Abstract" by David Axelrod
* "The Madness Subsides" by Pekka Pohjola
* "Dolmen Music" & "Gotham Lullaby" by Meredith Monk
* "Releasing Hypnotical Gases" by Organized Konfusion
* "Summer Breeze" by The Isley Brothers

Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain
* "'Pon a Hill" by T. Rex
* "Walk on By" by Joann Garrett
* Dialogue from The Aurora Encounter
* "Moment of Truth" by Charles Bernstein
* "A Funky Kind of Thing" by Billy Cobham
* "Let the Homicides Begin" by Top Priority
* "2001: A Space Odyssey" by The Daly-Wilson Bigband
* "Soul Brothers Testify" by The Original Soul Senders

What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 1: Blue Sky Revisit
* "All Our Love" by Shawn Phillips
* "Joe Splivingates" by David Young
* "Nucleus" by Alan Parsons Project
* "Edge of Time" by Growing Concern
* The Dream Message from Prince of Darkness
* "Voice of the Saxophone" by The Heath Brothers
* Voice of the "The Giant" from episode 14 of Twin Peaks