A firm favourite amongst the Native Tongues crew, Ms Mojica added some extra flavour to tracks from De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers (most notably providing the catchy hook for ‘A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturday’) while also blessing Pete Rock, Heltah Skeltah, Mos Def, N.O.R.E., Common, and The U.N. The question remains as to why she never embarked on a solo career when she had the chance. With only a 2003 solo single to her credit, via Bobbito’s Fruitmeat imprint, it’s possible that she had no interest in pursuing a full-time music career and just provided vocals for friends in the rap game as a hobby in between overseeing corporate mergers as a high-powered investment banker. Or maybe Jill Scott just took her whole steelo and ran with it before she could finish her demo tape.

As the resident vocalist for the mighty Juice Crew, Swan made a name for himself providing the hooks for many of Biz Markie’s early hits, most notably on ‘Make The Music With Your Mouth, Biz,’ ‘Nobody Beats The Biz’, and ‘Albee Square Mall.’ He also provided whiney choruses for rap ballads from MC Shan and Craig G, but his finest moment was undoubtedly when he teamed up with everyone’s favourite black Italian, the one and only Kid Capri, for ‘This Is What You Came Here For.’ Marley Marl spoke about working on a TJ Swan solo album in a 1991 interview with The Source, and several demos from that project have since surfaced which make it clear why the LP never got a commercial release. Legend has it that Marley sold some of the best beats to Bel Biv Devoe, which was probably wise in retrospect.

As part of the LOUD/RCA stable, Yvette was tacked onto songs from several of the label’s roster in a cynical attempt to garner her some ‘street props’ before her album dropped. Clearly aimed at the same market that lapped up Mary J. Blige’s What’s The 411. With her inferior re-working of the ‘Love Hangover’ for the All-Star Remix of Akinyele and Sadat X’s wonderfully mental duet for a Funkmaster Flex album (‘Loud Hangover’) and the pedestrian vocal stylings she added to O.C.’s ‘Far From Yourz’ (which replaced the original DJ Roc Raida scratch hook), it was pretty clear that she was headed for the cut-out bin by the time her solo album dropped.

Best remembered for providing the vocals for Outkast and Goodie Mob singles ‘I Like The Way You Move’ (which I consider to be one of the most annoying songs in years), ‘Elevators’, and ‘Soul Food’ this Dungeon Family stalwart was most likely cast aside like yesterday’s spoilt milk once Andre 3000 decided that he had a gift for harmonising. Apparently he dropped a solo platter in 2006 titled Mr. Brown but I’m yet to meet anybody who has heard it, much yet owns a copy.

The late, great master of G-Funk hooks made a huge splash when he teamed up with Warren G for the international mega-hit known as ‘Regulate’ and proceeded to deliver the heat for Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Eminem, making him the official go-to guy for such matters. Sadly, he was initially unable to match that success as a soloist after his debut was delayed several years due to the standard Death Row Records fuckery, but 2001’s Music and Me fared better thanks to a strong line-up of of guests and the resurgence of everyone associated with Dr. Dre.

This Shaolin songstress was touted as the next big thing by The RZA, who claimed her album would be a showcase to his ‘blunted soul’ style after she made a name for herself on tracks for Method Man, Cappadonna, and Raekwon. Perhaps the LP was lost in the infamous flooding of RZA’s Wu Mansion basement? Her only release seems to be a self-released CD-R named Out Of The Blue from 2005 which has no involvement from any core Wu members at all.