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)
The Definitive Hip-Hop Collection (Part 5)
This album is probably the most raw, and ostensibly the most disarming album to be released since Wu-Tang released Enter the 36 Chambers. What 50 does in this album is let everyone know how hungry he is for success, as well as attention. His constant beef with just about every other rapper is evidence of that. I am not sure where Eminem found 50, but by putting him on, we are all eternally grateful.
Eminem is far and away the best lyricist that is currently on. In a battle, he will destroy any rapper that approaches. On I Still Don't Give A F**k he delivers one of the best put-together flows I have ever heard.
The basic problem is the same one that happens to most anyone else who is successful and has no real competition. They get lazy and release basically garbage. As a result this album stands as, lyrically, probably the best album on the list.
2-Pac has to be one of the most prolific hip-hop artists ever. I'm sure the number of songs he has written number in the thousands. However, with all of that volume, there have only been a few quality albums. This was his best. The title track sounds like warfare, and he doesn't stop there.
Every song on this album would be a single on any other hip-hop artist of the era's albums. The only song that is out of place is I Get Around with Digital Underground. The song is a little too playful for the album, but is still an outstanding track.
Ghostface Killah is my favorite rapper, and that bias should be known, but his lyrics are insane, he can deliver fast, he can deliver slow, basically if you have a garbage track you can throw him on it and he will save the track.
If there is a problem with Ironman, it is too much of a good thing. Many of the gems Ghostface drops are lost in the flow of the album, and the RZA's hard beats. The Pretty Tony album and Fishscale should get honorable mention.
Blowout Comb was a very moody album, and a departure from Digable Planets' mainstream style. I get the impression from listening to it that the success of Reachin' made them uncomfortable, and they wanted to go back to their revolutionary roots.
Many would probably wonder why I didn't put Reachin' on the list, but I think that artistically, Blowout Comb is a superior effort
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Definitive Hip-Hop Collection (Part 4)
This album was sort of an odd-ball. Not directly responsible for the blunted Hip-Hop movement, these guys were definitely the weed poster children. Their somewhat silly and serious style of making up words and sound effects, combined with their quick delivery over PMD's hard hitting beats were a recipe for success.
I don't know why they didn't really get the critical acclaim they deserved, it could have been becuase Kris Kross had a similar style, and they were forever associated with the Miggety, Miggety Mack.
Honestly, I didn't like Bone-Thugs when they first came out, but when I got this album I knew that hip-hop had changed. I'm not sure if they were the first to come out with the singing hip-hop style, but I know that after they did it, everyone wanted to sing-rap. I still think this album was by far the best sing-rap album and so it gets the nod.
Big Daddy Kane's first album, largely on the strength of Raw, was groundbreaking, but the entire album wasn't great. Contrast that with Big Daddy Kane's sophmore effort which left you begging for more. I Get the Job Done was probably one of Teddy Riley's best tracks, unless you really like Rump Shaker.
The Chronic was a ground-breaking album. Nuttin' but a G Thang set the reference for a summer jam. This album set the stage for Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle and set the direction of West Coast hip-hop for a decade.
I absolutely love this album, even if Jay-Z calls Prodigy a ballerina, every single track is bangin', and the arrangement is top notch. Shook Ones Pt. II could be one of the best East Coast hip-hop songs ever. Eye-for-an-eye is the illest track on the album. With NAS shining on this one, from the first track you know Mobb Deep mean business. Their first album, Juvenile Hell was somewhat misunderstood, and the next album sounded too much like The Infamous, however G.O.D. Pt. III is an incredible track that one could listen to over, and over again.
