by Steve HueyThe Lootpack were one of several old-school revivalist crews to come out of southern California during the '90s, and recorded some of the most underappreciated music on the revitalized West Coast underground scene. The group was formed in 1990 in Oxnard, CA (a smaller beach town about a hour outside of Los Angeles), by longtime friends Madlib (producer, MC, b. Otis Jackson Jr.), Wildchild (MC, b. Jack Brown), and DJ Romes (scratching, b. Romeo Jimenez). The trio members had been trying their hand at hip-hop since junior high, and formed an official group while in college. Their demo tape caught the attention of King Tee and Tash of Tha Alkaholiks, and soon the Lootpack joined the related collective the Likwit Crew; they also produced two tracks on Tha Alkaholiks' 1994 debut, 21 & Over, and appeared on the follow-ups Coast II Coast and Likwidation. In the meantime, the Lootpack found it difficult to land a satisfying deal of their...