This album dropped like a slap upside the head. Distortion to Static was the perfect single to drop first. If they had pushed Datskat out first, it would have earned them the wrong audience.
The organic feel to the album, mainly due to Qwestlove's rhythms and the group's insistence on using only normal musical instruments, gives this album a live feel, even though it is studio album. The Roots always stand out.
MF Doom clearly spends the most time of any hip-hop artist in the "lab." He finds the most obscure jazz loops and works them into beats that are sugary treats. I still have yet to find anyone who can make a beat like Doom. I am not certain what his relationship with Madlib is, but they are very similar in style.
Special Herbs is an album that belongs in any discerning hip-hop listener's collection.
Del is funkee, simply because he was Kanye West, a decade before Kanye West. When he came out, he was just Del. There was no bling, no talking about ho's, money, cars, etc... His beats were eclectic and his lyrics were strong. No Need For Alarm is an important contribution to hip-hop.
It is hard to determine who Octagon is. His flow is stream of consciousness so he isn't for everybody. He hasn't really changed since he was with Ultramagnetic, and they were sick back in the day. Keith is still crazy, but Dr. Octagonecologyst was his best album.
This album is good, but not great, still it was one of the first albums from the Bay Area to achieve mainstream success. Digital Underground's albums were the first. That's When You're Lost was one of my favorite songs for years.
That round out my list. I believe that if you get all of these albums, you will have a good understanding of where Hip-Hop is today, and where it has come from.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The Definitive Hip-Hop Collection (Part 6)
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