I've never really tried to do this before. Of course, I've sat around with friends and said "Yeah so-and-so's CD was cold," or "Man, I could listen to whats-his-name's album for a month straight." But never have I constructed a tangible list of my all-time favorite hip hop albums. Until now. I posted the list as part of a discussion on Okayplayer, but here it is in long form. A disclaimer: These are MY favorites and not a G.O.A.T. list. I'm not claiming these as the 10 albums that have shaped hip-hop as we know it. Still, I'm thinking this will spark some debate from the community, and that is always welcome. Let's go!
10.
Mobb Deep, The Infamous (1995)
The Queensbridge duo, Hav and P, gave us a tutorial in the "Dunn" language and I don't mean Warrick. Stand out tracks like "Shook Ones Pt. 2" and "Survival of the Fittest" took you to the park bench on the 41st side. Pass the Henny and plastic cups.
9.
O.C., Word...Life (1994)
Word...Life was the debut album from Brooklyn rhymesayer O.C., an original member of the Diggin' In The Crates crew. This album was part of the soundtrack to my junior year in high school. I still think "Time's Up" is one of the best rap songs ever made. Proof that music is a teacher, O.C. introduced me to the word "niacin."
8.
A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders (1993)
I very easily could have put The Low End Theory in this slot, but I think the true test of an MC or group is following up a timeless album with another classic. Tribe did that with MM. The long player featured tracks such as "Award Tour," "Electric Relaxation," and the trance inducing, "Lyrics to Go." In my opinion this was their last really good album.
7.
Nas, It Was Written (1996)
In the canon of great MC's, you can't have the discussion without mentioning Nas. Thought to be one of the illest of our time, It Was Written checks in as my seventh favorite album. This album resonates because I'd just gone away to college. While I was in transition, I think Nas was too. Coming off the critical success of his first project, Nas did his best to fight off the sophomore slump. He succeeded. The track , "I Gave You Power," led the way for hosts of other rappers to do songs in which a gun takes on human characteristics. The steel drum infused classic, "Silent Murder," was a bonus cut for those of us who still bought tapes instead of CD's.
6.
Kanye West, Late Registration (2005)
The second album from producer-turned-rapper, Kanye West, is number six on my list. If you notice, this is the first album on the list not released in the 1990's. This is symbolic, because Kanye entering the game was a return to the old school in many ways, as well as giant leap forward. Kanye had love for his predecessors because he was connected to that era. But his vision was light years ahead. To me this is Kanye's best effort to date. There were the soul samples we'd grown accustomed to but he also started to play with sounds and vocal harmonies more than he did on The College Dropout. He introduced pop singer Adam Levine to the hip-hop community with "Heard Em Say" and gave Lupe Fiasco a star cameo on, "Touch The Sky." LR was the sound bed for all his work to follow.
5.
Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)
"The Purple Tape." Do I really need to say more? From the slums of Shaolin, Raekwon and his tag-team partner Ghostface Killah, combined to craft one of hip-hop's seminal albums. Over haunting tracks by the RZA, Rae & Ghost gave us criminology at its best. Colorful nicknames, drug tales, mafia elements: Wu-Tang introduced all this into hip-hop. The other members of the Clan were all over the record, so it was really like a group album in disguise. "Ice Cream" was the most commercially successful single, but OB4CL was full of darts. Raekwon went on to release other solo projects throughout the years, but a sequel was what fans craved. Finally, in September 2009, Raekwon dropped the long awaited Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II to much acclaim. The project was well received, but there can only be one original.
4.
OutKast, Aquemini (1998)
Again, I relate a lot about music to where I was at the time. I'd just turned twenty-one. I walked to HMV and bought this CD. I had friends over and we played "Rosa Parks" on repeat the whole night. I woke up the next morning to find someone had stolen my CD. But I bought another copy, haters. You can't keep me away from good music. By design, this album was meant to show Big Boi and Andre 3000's unique personalities. Big Boi is the game spitter - Dre, the poet. But it's so good when they come together. The Southern bounce of OutKast's music will make you move, but don't miss the social commentary in songs like "Synthesizer" and "The Art of Storytelling Pt. 1." Always respected in rap circles, Aquemini really thrust the group into the public eye.
3.
Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt (1996)
The top three spots in any countdown are usually reserved for the elite members of the club. My list is no different. A man named Shawn Carter is known today as an entrepreneur, executive, an entertainment mogul if you will. As for a kid from Brooklyn's Marcy Projects, whom they called "Jay-Z," the journey all began with an album entitled Reasonable Doubt. True heads know the story: Jay and his friends Dame Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke couldn't get a record deal, so they got the money together and pressed up the album themselves under the Roc-A-Fella imprint. After finding distribution, they released the record that would set the tone for dope boys with dreams of rocking the mic. Now eleven albums deep, I'd argue that RD was Jay's best work. Initially there wasn't much buzz, but the storm grew. Songs such as "Dead Presidents" and "D'Evils" showed that he wasn't just spinning tales about drug dealing. Jay-Z could really rap. They say that you never forget your first. Ironically, the album that brought them together also tore the ROC apart. One of the reported rifts in the well-documented split of Jay and Dame, was a dispute over who was entitled to the masters of this legendary album.
2.
The Notorious B.I.G., Ready to Die (1994)
"Live from Bedford-Stuyvesant, the livest one." Biggie Smalls, as he was originally known, changed the face of hip-hop, literally. With his large size and menacing looks, listeners did not expect the lyrical genius that was released when he opened his mouth. B.I.G ushered in the revival of New York hip-hop that had been taken over by West Coast acts like NWA. B.I.G had a versatility not mastered by many MC's. "Black and ugly as ever," as he would say, Big Poppa spoke to the ladies on songs like "One More Chance" and cautioned his enemies on tracks such as, "Warning." Exemplified by the album's title, Biggie had a fascination with death, almost courting it on "Ready to Die" and the albums eerie finale, "Suicidal Thoughts," in which we hear the rapper take his own life. Biggie was a critical and commercial success. His two multi-platinum studio releases (also Life After Death) prior to his murder on March 9, 1997, make B.I.G. one of the undisputed most successful hip-hop artists in history.
And my favorite hip-hop album of all-time...
1.
Nas, Illmatic (1994)
The only MC with two albums on my list, Nas comes in at number one with his first project, Illmatic. Featuring only ten songs and one guest appearance (frequent collaborator, AZ) Illmatic set the standard in hip-hop for the next decade, and arguably, until today. Championed by by critics for his use of vocabulary and his rhyme style, the album was not a commercial success. Illmatic didn't even reach platinum status until 2001. I took an instant liking to Nas simply because he was different. No one else was rapping like him at the time. They may have been talking about the same things, but they weren't using the same words. Not painting the same picture. I used to ride around in a brown Taurus bumping "One Love" while imagining what it was like to pen a letter from jail. I've heard criticism that the album was too short, that the song sequencing was poor, and that it should have included some of his earlier unreleased material. All those things considered, I once heard a current MC say that Illmatic is the album that today's rappers hope to make when they step inside of the studio.
Photo Credits:
arielsgroove.blogspot.com (Mobb Deep)
1924.iz.piccy.info.nyud.net(O.C.)
blogs.centrictv.com (Marauders)
sleevage.com (It Was Written, Ready To Die)
dance-lyrics.com(Late Registration)
rankopedia.com (Cuban Linx)
images.swap.com (Aquemini)
consequenceofsound.net (Reasonable Doubt)
hiphoponair.ch (Illmatic)
