The Top 100 Hip-Hop Albums (no. 74-50)
74. Notorious B.I.G, Ready To Die
3 or 4 so-so tracks makes this a vastly overrated album, but when the man was on (The What, Unbelievable), he was unbeatable lyrically.
73. 3rd Base, Derelicts of Dialect
I'm still waiting on a reunion.
72. M.O.P., Warriorz
I know Premier didn't produce the entire album, but it sounds like he did. Surprisingly solid from beginning to end. Every athlete should listen to this album before a game. Gets the adrenalin pumping.
71. The Jungle Brothers, Done By the Forces of Nature
They were never as popular as Native Tongue brethren De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, but this album is a nice compliment to 3 Feet High And Rising and People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.
70. Kanye West, The College Dropout
Finds that near impossible to reach middle ground between commercial and hardcore hip-hop.
69. Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique
Every skateboarder's favorite album. I was actually one of about 4 people who bought this on cassette when it was originally released. But I'm not going to lie and pretend I didn't think it sucked at the time.
68. Jay-Z, The Blueprint
See the comment about Kanye's The College Dropout. Takeover is the best dis track since No Vaseline, by the way.
67. DJ Shadow, Endtroducing
THE instrumental hip-hop record. Warning: if you call this alternative hip-hop, or trip-hop, I'll punch you in the sack.
66.Company Flow, Funcrusher Plus
Harbinger for the late-90's underground surge. Only scratches the surface of the talent El-P possesses.
65. Blackstar, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are:
Where's the follow-up, already?
64.Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek, Reflection Eternal
Ditto.
63. Method Man, Tical
The RZA was just warming up here for what would be an incredible run of Wu-Tang solo artist successes.
62. Ice-T, OG: Original Gangster
West coast gangster classic.
61. The Roots, Do You Want More?
Probably the Roots album which best stands the test of time.
60. Geto Boys, We Can’t Be Stopped
Not as shocking as their previous album, but one need only look at the album cover to see that these guys weren't fucking around.
59.KMD, Mr. Hood
A more afrocentric, more esoteric version of De La Soul, if that makes any sense. I always loved that Zev Luv X (MF Doom for you newbies) sounded like he was rapping with a lolli-pop in his mouth.
58. Jeru The Damaja, The Sun Rises In The East
Besides possessing in Come Clean possibly the best hip-hop song not titled "The Message," the album's beats (by DJ Premier) are great from start to finish. And only one guest MC! Goes to show how great an MC Jeru really was. Sadly, a falling out with Gang Starr proved that he needed Primo a lot more than Primo needed him.
57. De La Soul, Stakes Is High
The Plugs proved that -- at least for one album -- they could make it without Prince Paul. Welcomingly not too preachy for an album that was a rebuttal to the "jiggy" style of the mid-90's.
56. Eric B & Rakim, Follow The Leader
This is one of my favorite album covers. Just Eric B and Ra sitting on the hood of a car. Oh, and the songs are dope, too. Microphone Fiend is arguably their best song (not to me, though. My heart belongs to My Melody).
55. Ice Cube, Death Certificate
Probably the last major hip-hop album to scare the shit out of white America.
54. The Artifacts, Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Tame One and El Da Sensei needed each other. They were the perfect lyrical pair. And they needed a surprising production effort by T-Ray (who?) to create this stunning opus about grafitti, weed, and how dope they are and how wack you are.
53. Ghostface Killah, Ironman
No, it's not nearly the album that Only Built For Cuban Linx is, but very few are. Ironman is the best Ghostface solo, and while RZA was painting by numbers on most of the tracks, there are a few outstanding songs where his sound reaches new heights (Soul Controller and the bonus track, Marvel). But who would believe that the album's best track, Fish, was produced by True Master?
52. Gravediggaz, 6 Feet Deep (aka ‘Niggamortis’)
Many wrote this off as a gimmick, but that's because they're stupid and didn't realize the genius of Prince Paul.
51. Black Sheep, A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing
True story: the summer before I started the eighth grade, I bought the Geto Boys' We Can't Be Stopped and my brother, Malcolm, bought A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing. That entire summer we argued which was the better album. OK, Malcolm, I'm finally ready to admit that you were right; A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing is the superior album.
50. Slick Rick, The Great Adventures of...
I don't think any MC will ever come close to being as fly as The Ruler.
3 comments:
I haven't heard "Mr Hood" in... well, eons. I can still hear the clipper samples and "I need a shave and a haircut".
And no way derelicts trumps cactus.
As an aside - I was driving through town the other day and I happened upon on a radio station playing 'this or that'. Dres had aged naught. 'Wolf' was always a vastly underrated album.
are you sure "no vaseline" is better than "takeover?" no vaseline's incredibly angry, but equally moronic at points. "takeover" hit hard and quick, damn near killing two careers in separate eight-bar verses. and it is the best sample choice kanye ever made.
'Takeover' is better than than 'No Vaseline,' for sure (and you're right about NV being pretty moronic -- case in point: "Eazy's dick is smellin' like MC Ren shit". Pretty immature). What I meant was that, until 'Takeover' came along, NV was the most the most recent, memorable dis track.
Of course Common's 'The Bitch In Yoo' deserves some respect, too. But NV and 'Takeover' had better beats, IMO.
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