Best hip Hop Album(s)

[blazingarrow]

Someone has to say it

Lupe is fruity as hell

Same goes for Kanye, N.E.R.D., and all that tight pants wearing, skateboard loving nonsense

[YouveBeenPierced]

Gotta be The Black Album... almost every song is great. most albums now you get maybe three really good songs and the rest are eh. the black album has like ten.

[indeedproceed]

Someone has to say it

Lupe is fruity as hell

Same goes for Kanye, N.E.R.D., and all that tight pants wearing, skateboard loving nonsense

That is crazy. I think rappers are fruity, but I think the 50-cent white tank spritzed down look is way more fruity. Lupe and Kanye aren't fruity, they're classy.

[blazingarrow]

Someone has to say it

Lupe is fruity as hell

Same goes for Kanye, N.E.R.D., and all that tight pants wearing, skateboard loving nonsense

That is crazy. I think rappers are fruity, but I think the 50-cent white tank spritzed down look is way more fruity. Lupe and Kanye aren't fruity, they're classy.

I'm not into 50, I'm into true school dude

[GroverTheClover]

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion to what "true school" is. As long as they can spit it, it doesn't matter how they dress or if they like skateboarding. Not every song needs to be about crack dealing, sticking hot wire hangers up certain cavities or gun clapping. People always forget what hip hop is because they mingle images of "thugs", cash, and violence. Hip hop is a way of people lyrically expressing themselves through poetry and music. There's no right or wrong image/sound.

[blazingarrow]

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion to what "true school" is. As long as they can spit it, it doesn't matter how they dress or if they like skateboarding. Not every song needs to be about crack dealing, sticking hot wire hangers up certain cavities or gun clapping. People always forget what hip hop is because they mingle images of "thugs", cash, and violence. Hip hop is a way of people lyrically expressing themselves through poetry and music. There's no right or wrong image/sound.

Maybe I should have worded what I said differently, because it seems like you got what I was trying to get across twisted

I don't need to be reminded that not every song needs to be about drug dealing. Notice I put Blackalicious, Pete Rock, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul in my list.

I actually only mentioned a few artists who spit violent lyrics.

"True school" is boom bap. Kicks and snares. It's a sound, and that sound is dying off.

A lot of artists I like have made very deep, very soulful music while staying true to that sound.

So maybe I'm just getting too old. The fact is, if you're chopping up techno beats, singing uninspired hooks, I don't feel it.

Let's not also forget that Lupe shamed himself at the Hip Hop Honors show...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-nGtC-5WlY

[LA_33]

I think "Illmatic" is the best hip-hop album ever.  Nas is on the list of the best MCs of all time, and the beats on that album are impeccable. 

Most of the early Wu-Tang stuff is fantastic, but it's all been mentioned  a lot in this thread.  A few great albums are under-represented here, though: 

Not enough mention of Outkast.  "Aquemini" is probably my favorite, but "Southernplayalistic...", "ATLiens", and "Speakerboxx" are all great, too.  Big Boi is the most underrated well-know MCs alive right now. 

I like the first Snoop album ("Doggystyle") better than any other Dr. Dre project.

Del's "No Need for Alarm" is one of my favorite Bay Area albums.  "Deltron 3030" with Automator is even better, though.

The Lootpack album, "Soundpieces: Da Antidote" is another great West Coast album, early Madlib beats.     

I also can't believe no one has mentioned KRS-One (especially in the above post about "Boom Bap").  The BDP stuff is classic, but I prefer the albums he did with Primo in the early-mid-90s, the self-titled "KRS-One", and especially "Return of the Boom Bap".

The Jay-Z album I'd put on a list like this also hasn't been mentioned, Danger Mouse's "Grey Album".

The first Goodie Mobb is fantastic ("Soul Food").  The second Bubba Sparxxx album, "Deliverance" is also really underrated (pretty much no one bought it, which is a shame, because it's really good.)   

Along with the "official" early Wu stuff (I rank "Enter the 36..." "Liquid Swords" and "Cuban Linx" as the unquestioned classics, with the first ODB album close to that) the original Gravediggaz album ("Six Feet Deep" in the U.S.) is fantastic; can't go wrong with a Rza-Prince Paul collaboration.

In a similar "horror-core" aesthetic, I love the first Jedi Mind Tricks album, "The Psycho-Social LP" (and expanded "Psycho-Social CD").     

I also have to mention the 3rd Mobb Deep album, "Hell on Earth", which isn't generally regarded as highly as "The Infamous" but which I think is more consistent.

The Dr. Octogon album is amazing, too (really, really weird, of course, but amazing).

Finally, I have to mention some of the local Minnesota stuff.  Brother Ali's "Shadows on the Sun" is great, and there is a ton of very good Atmosphere stuff.  I like "The Lucy Ford EPs", "Seven's Travels" "HeadShots: Se7en" and the newest, "When Life Gives You Lemons..."


 

[GroverTheClover]

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion to what "true school" is. As long as they can spit it, it doesn't matter how they dress or if they like skateboarding. Not every song needs to be about crack dealing, sticking hot wire hangers up certain cavities or gun clapping. People always forget what hip hop is because they mingle images of "thugs", cash, and violence. Hip hop is a way of people lyrically expressing themselves through poetry and music. There's no right or wrong image/sound.

Maybe I should have worded what I said differently, because it seems like you got what I was trying to get across twisted

I don't need to be reminded that not every song needs to be about drug dealing. Notice I put Blackalicious, Pete Rock, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul in my list.

I actually only mentioned a few artists who spit violent lyrics.

"True school" is boom bap. Kicks and snares. It's a sound, and that sound is dying off.

A lot of artists I like have made very deep, very soulful music while staying true to that sound.

So maybe I'm just getting too old. The fact is, if you're chopping up techno beats, singing uninspired hooks, I don't feel it.

Let's not also forget that Lupe shamed himself at the Hip Hop Honors show...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-nGtC-5WlY

I guess I misinterpreted what you wrote. Then I would agree with you that the sound is dying off because most artists these days have some (over)produced records that tend to "complicate" the songs. I guess I tend to see it as more a departure too. The lyrical content has stayed true for some artists.

[indeedproceed]

If you look at the evolution of the music the songs now make perfect sense.

Listen to Cher Chez Le Ghost and listen to All That I got is you

Same dude, 4 years later. The minimalist back beats and creative drum machine tracks are done now...now its about fusion...now its about something new. Listen to the DJ Danger Mouse mashup up the Black Album. (called the Grey Album)....its about being original now. That old style, nice as it may be...seems played to me.

[rickyfan3.0...]

De la Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising
Gravediggaz- 6 feet Deep
Black Sheep- A wolf in sheeps clothing

(all produced by Prince Paul)
El-P-Fantastic Damage

PE- It takes a nation of millions to hold us back
Wu- The first double CD

[shookones99]

If you look at the evolution of the music the songs now make perfect sense.

Listen to Cher Chez Le Ghost and listen to All That I got is you

Same dude, 4 years later. The minimalist back beats and creative drum machine tracks are done now...now its about fusion...now its about something new. Listen to the DJ Danger Mouse mashup up the Black Album. (called the Grey Album)....its about being original now. That old style, nice as it may be...seems played to me.

I agree 100%.  And I think dudes like Lupe, Kanye and even Nas are trying to take hip hop in another direction.

[celticmaestro]

No mention of Big L - The Big Picture?

Edit - Not as a "best album" but it belongs up there with some of the other stuff mentioned.

[blazingarrow]

Same dude, 4 years later. The minimalist back beats and creative drum machine tracks are done now...now its about fusion...now its about something new. Listen to the DJ Danger Mouse mashup up the Black Album. (called the Grey Album)....its about being original now. That old style, nice as it may be...seems played to me.

I agree 100%.  And I think dudes like Lupe, Kanye and even Nas are trying to take hip hop in another direction.
[/quote]

These things go in cycles. A lot of the stuff coming out now is fad, not substance.

The Grey Album was pretty true to hip hop. It took samples of a familiar album and flipped them, and it was very much an old style hip hop album. Same thing BDP was doing with James Brown samples back in the day.

Hip hop has ALWAYS been about being original.

My beef with Kanye is that his music now either sounds like a hissy fit, a lame ballad, or some whack nonsense about designer clothes and whatever.

My beef with Lupe is that I just don't think he's that good on the mic.

Like I said though, things go in cycles. Watch this video and tell me boom bap is played out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p92_iI5Sy8o

I think "Illmatic" is the best hip-hop album ever.  Nas is on the list of the best MCs of all time, and the beats on that album are impeccable. 

I also can't believe no one has mentioned KRS-One (especially in the above post about "Boom Bap").  The BDP stuff is classic, but I prefer the albums he did with Primo in the early-mid-90s, the self-titled "KRS-One", and especially "Return of the Boom Bap".

Along with the "official" early Wu stuff (I rank "Enter the 36..." "Liquid Swords" and "Cuban Linx" as the unquestioned classics, with the first ODB album close to that) the original Gravediggaz album ("Six Feet Deep" in the U.S.) is fantastic; can't go wrong with a Rza-Prince Paul collaboration.

The Dr. Octogon album is amazing, too (really, really weird, of course, but amazing).

Finally, I have to mention some of the local Minnesota stuff.  Brother Ali's "Shadows on the Sun" is great, and there is a ton of very good Atmosphere stuff.  I like "The Lucy Ford EPs", "Seven's Travels" "HeadShots: Se7en" and the newest, "When Life Gives You Lemons..."

You get a TP for this excellent post.

Illmatic is no question the most solid hip hop album ever.

I felt weird leaving KRS off my list, I just noticed that even in my favorite albums there were always tracks I wanted to skip. He has stand alone tracks I would stack up against ANYTHING that's come out in the last 15 years.

Gravediggaz...dude, that takes me back to middle school. Two cups of blood.

Same goes for Doc Oc.

I'm not into Atmosphere, but that's a matter of personal preferance.

Brother Ali is dope. Shadows was great, and Undisputed Truth is a borderline masterpiece. If you like Ali, check out One Be Lo. Those two are pretty close, and there are rumors of a collab album.

[dark_lord]

i also dig one be lo.  binary star is great stuff!

atmosphere is dope.

[dark_lord]

fyi, jedi mind tricks and reef the lost cauze are coming to the middle east soon. tickets are cheap too