A few days ago I found out I have been a huge fan of someone for a long-ass time without even knowing it. Dude's supplied some of the most definitive beats for more than a decade and is every bit as responsible for carving the classic East Coast flavor as damn near anybody out there. I'm speaking of Domingo, the Latin New York producer who has been sitting behind the board for some (see: a lot) of the greatest mic controllers ever to do it - past and present. Since passing a demo to Marley Marl back in the '80s, the man has produced for KRS-One, Rakim, Pun, Eminem and many more. He's even produced for Shaq Diesel himself! Unfortunately, he's never gotten the attention he deserves and with his March release (aptly titled) The Most Underrated, Domingo looks to step up and take what's his.

From jump, we get one of the purist examples of East Coast boom bap in recent years with Big Daddy Kane ("Bed Stuy"), Ortiz ("Exactly"), and Guru ("Major Game") setting up the first handful of tracks. Canibus, Termanology and Immortal Technique form the meat of the lineup as Domingo switches the sound up to fit the deeper, more reflective rhymes of "All Clap," "Cold War" and "Street Hustle." Every time I hear Termanology the dude blows me away. Take my advice and stay awake on this man.

Top to bottom, the production is just ridiculous. You have to love the track to Born Unique's "2 Step." Domingo murders the "so current it's old" sped up sample as to tell beat makers who've been milking this sound to death as of late that it's been done way before them.

Oddly enough, with the retarded amount of icons on cast, the show is definitely stolen by the independent route in this particular case. Fellow QN5 member Tonedeff dances around one of the more melodic instrumentals of the record and drops a narrative like only he can. "Easy Now" is definitely a standout track,; but still, nothing comes close the curtain-closing "Fuck You Mean." With the help of another QN5er PackFM and Rhymesayers co-captains Slug and Brother Ali, Domingo builds something as close to perfection as anything can possibly be. Nothing more can be said about this than that.

Really, just look at the artists lending their voice to this record and you'll know how serious this is. There's Kane, Kool G Rap, Guru, Immortal Technique, Ras Kass, Joell Ortiz, Beatnuts, Rugged Intellect, Born Unique, Precise, Canibus, Deacon The Villain, Termanology, Non Phixion, Tonedeff, Sluggo, PackFM, and Brother Ali. Take a minute to catch your breath.

Now, I'm not oblivious, a lot of the love this record could very well be nostalgia talking. And given the times, those who do not have that natural affinity for pre-'93 New York Hip Hop are bound to think this record sounds a little dated. In which case, Gino The Ginny(of YouTube fame) has a message just for you: Go fuck yourself.