One of the production groups who I've always thought defined the New York hip hop sound as I know it, of heavy drums, classic loops and raw sound, along with Premier, The Beatnuts, RZA, Large Professor and others. I respect the Beatminerz sound whether as DJs or producers, and they provide good discussion of hip hop every time I've heard an interview from them. This is an interview from around 2005 during their promotion of Fully Loaded With Statik, their 2nd album. There's good points made in the interview about what defines the sound of hip hop both past and present, also some comedic moments as they retell stories about the industry and a weird moment that happened while record shopping with Kool Keith. The Beatminerz express knowledge of the culture's important foundations from day one and a good opinion about the present cultural/musical climate as well.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/640103285c95adff/