No. 31: Dres

If I were ever to compile a list of the most underrated emcees ever, Dres would be at or near the top.

As the man responsible for roughly 90 percent of the rhyming for Black Sheep, Andres Titus made his mark immediately with a distinctive delivery and clever, humorous verses. The group's debut LP, A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing, was an instant classic, and Dres covered all of the bases — he was hyped up on the intro cut "U Mean I'm Not," mellow on "Have U.N.E. Pull" and "Similak Child" — and right back to hype for the classic "The Choice Is Yours," the group's signature song.

I know you wanna...you know you wanna...

Additionally, Dres made notable guest appearances in the early 1990s with Native Tongue brethren De La Soul...and he provided a great cleanup verse on "Roll With Tha Flava," holding his own with the likes of Treach, Heavy D and Queen Latifah.

A change in styles for Black Sheep's second album, "Non Fiction," proved unsuccessful, as forays into more serious subject matter didn't sit well with a fan base that had become used to Dres' lightheartedly misogynistic rhymes. The duo split shortly thereafter, and Dres has had a rather nondescript solo career since, dropping three albums and making a few more cameos with the likes of Rhymefest and Slaughterhouse.

His star burned out a little too quickly, but when hip-hop was at its absolute apex in the early 1990s, Dres was more than capable of hanging with anyone on the mic. And if you disagree, we can deal with that later, dig?

I said later, man.