Hip Hop/Rap Albums Opinions?

DRakE

Anyone any opinions on some good albums to buy/dl?

I've bought the Bluerprint (Jay-Z) and Countery Grammar (Nelly) and downloaded The Genesis (Busta Rhymes)

Any more good albums? I've heard that Stillmatic (Naz) is good, but I'm not sure..
Any ideas ?

chernobyl

Early days Dre such as the chronic are excellent.
I love any PAC album.

JayZ used to be very good, but he has really changed/stolen his new crappy rap style.

yellum

Lets Get Free - Dead Prez , my fav hiphop album.

No lyrics about big cars, big lifestyles or pimpin. Very refreshing.

Get some Jurassic 5 for yourself as well.

king of fifa

for something with a political and biting edge try early ice cube the predator, lethal injection,bootlegs and b sides; the new stuff is rubbish.

gangstarr east coast rappers very good "gangstarr; one of the best yet"

any thing to do with 2 pac

ditto jurrasic 5

Da_Kid

If you want a good Tupac album, get 'R u still down (remember me)' -- all that new $hit is just recycled commercial crap, DMX's albums are always good (especially 'And then there was X' -- v.good album ). Common's stuff is very refreshing too, get 'Ressurection'. Canibus's new album, whatever it's called, is lyrical heaven (beats are average). Oh and Dilated Peoples are nice.

For some of the best stuff ever, I'd have to choose A Tribe Called Quest's 'Midnight Marauder's' or 'The Low End Theory' -- absolutely groundbreaking albums.

Best recent albums...well, now isen't a great time for Hip Hop / Rap...there's a lot of crap coming out and staining the industry even more. But Outkast are good and from what their new greatest hits style album sounds good if you haven't heard 'ATLiens', etc, etc. Nas' 'Stillmatic' was good too...

...that should be enough to keep you busy...

yellum

Speaking of Gangstarr, look up Jazzmatazz by Guru and guests. Great albums, theres three albums so far.

stresslemania

the blueprint is a great album alright.
the songs i've heard off Stillmatic are pretty terrible. buy Illmatic instead. that's a really great album. having gospel singers sing the music to the sopranos is just horrible. nobody wants to ****ing hear that. worst idea ever.

i'd a reccomend the following:
Kool Keith albums (particularly Octagon and 'First Come First Served'),
Cannibal Ox, Aesop Rock, Def Jux Presents 2, (def jux **** is ****ing expensive in tower - buy it off the internet - the cannibal ox album is probably my favourite hip hop album ever)
Anticon ('Music for the Advancement of Hip Hop')
and MC Paul Barman (smart ass jewish guy with prince pauls beats).

none of that **** is 'thuggin' in anyway, before any meathead metal fan pipes in with "raps all the same it's all about their lexus' and their bitches" or the usual asanine comment one comes to expect from the likes of that pantera loving kid. phil anselmo is gay anyway.

I guess you could check out the N.E.R.D album too - they're the producer guys behind the likes of Noreaga, Jay Z, ODB, Britney Spears etc. etc. - you'll know their sound as soon as you hear it.

I personally find 2Pac pretty boring.

2040

i was feeling alone in my taste in music until that last post there.

The Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox is probably my favourite album ever. Dr. Octagon LP is excellent, i advise it. Another automator produced gem is Deltron 3030. Ones to look out for in the coming months are Fantastic Damage by El-P (Cann-ox producer) and The Future Is Now by Non-Phixion. First single off the album is out now, it's called Rockstars and is produced by dj premier of gangstarr fame.

stresslemania

know what you mean - it gets a little tiresome to see so many threads about hip hop degenerate into nonsense. DMX is pretty hilarious and all..............buy it's like going to the phantom board and saying "you're all smelly rockers who only like korn" or something non representative.

the El P track on Def Jux 2 is really good. so yeah that album should be dope.
i got the cLOUDDEAD album at the weekend and i'm thinking it's pretty ****ing good.
Smut Peddlers / High and Mighty coming up - might be decent.
did you see Can-Ox when they played here? Amazing ****. Shame Aesop Rock couldnt make it.

Kopf

Get "The Sun Rises In The East" by jeru the damaja, a classic . 36 chambers by the wu-tang clan is something you'll wonder how you lived without. after that i'd just go with everyone else's suggestions, J5, gang starr, etc..

2040

yeah, actually you reminded me there stress. I reccomend Smut Peddlers - Porn Again highly. Its nothing too intense. Just fun hiphop with class rhymes and class beats. It's another one of my faves. The album i look forward to most is Cages LP, which i hear is nearly finished and should be out by the end of the year. Try and find Cage - Agent Orange on mp3, its unreal.

Kali

anything carrying the Ninjatune or Quannum label. one of the few signs of quality in the hip-hop world:

Solesides Greatest Bumps, easily the best money I've ever spent on a hip-hop cd, long-lost beats from Shadow & Chief XL with the rest of the solesides (now quannum) mcs throwing great lyrics on top.
Quannum - Spectrum (as above... only 2000)
Blackalicious - A2G EP and my favourite LP of 1999, Nia.
either of Roots Manuvas albums, the 2001 release, Run Come Save Me is better listening though, an excellent track with Chali 2NA (of J5) is one of the many highlights.

and for godsakes if you like fun hip-hop (e.g. not your gangster ****e) then go buy some Ugly Duckling, Freshmode or Journey To Anywhere, makes J5 look like moany pensioners... great listening.

if you still need more then go get some Aesop Rock tracks.. anything off Labor Day, goy spend some cash on the above before this though

and now for the warning: below is pure flame bait for some of the above posts.

Deltron 3030: oh dear.. while i cant argue with the producing I personally feel my stomach want to retch when listening to that absolutely woeful "rapper" Del tha Funky Homosapien. avoid imo... its painful listening together with some extremely pointless samples thrown in for good measure to break up the album.

36 Chambers: while I have some morsel of respect for a few of the Wus tracks i reckon this is one of the most over-rated albums ever, sure it gave us the now cliched ninja-fighting samples, but whats it all about? they just trade rhymes about how good they are at rhyming.. any group can do that.

DMX? no thanks

Dr. Dre? all well and good, but theres a time and place for that and its called primary school.

stresslemania

Originally posted by Kali
Deltron 3030: oh dear.. while i cant argue with the producing I personally feel my stomach want to retch when listening to that absolutely woeful "rapper" Del tha Funky Homosapien.


36 Chambers: while I have some morsel of respect for a few of the Wus tracks i reckon this is one of the most over-rated albums ever, sure it gave us the now cliched ninja-fighting samples,

re: deltron - i dont like his flow either. or the 3030 album. i dunno the whole concept stinks of kool keith. not really in it's execution...its hard to explain. anyway.

re: the wu - 36 chambers is very of it's time. antidote to west coast rap, holdin it down for nyc etc etc. i dunno - i was 15 when i got it - so it'd been out a couple years - and i just rebought it on CD (the tape was getting kinda worn - yknow..7 years). you put that many good mcs on a record, it's gonna be good.
i still prefer Liquid Swords though and Nigga Please (which is nothing like it..but it's still wu).
recent wu stuff has been pretty terrible. and i dont thing the last album was a return to form at all - i mean anything was going to be better than The W.

go to the guardians website and search for the interview with ODB. it's possibly the most depressing thing i've ever read.
well probably not - but he's tried to kill himself a few times.
people like ODB shouldnt be in prison trying to kill themselves, they should be coked out of their minds on the streets amusing us and threatening to shoot people and signing autographs and whatever.

2040

kali, you were probably expecting too much from 36 chambers. They do rhyme about how good they are at rhyming but they are good at it. It's meant to be solid production with energetic rhymes that make you smile, it's not meant to be like aesop rock (who i think is great btw) with complex rhymes. Theres more to hiphop than rhymes and beats, energy is very important and thats what the boom-bap era (94ish) was all about.

As for not liking deltron 3030, if you dont like his voice, you dont like his voice and it cant be argued with. But id have to disagree with you saying that automator throws in samples for good measure, its original and it works imo (ie. Madness).

And on that note, how about a hiphop board?

alb

The following albums are all solid nearly all the way through and are worth buying

Ice Cube - Death Certificate
Wu tang - Enter the 36 Chambers
2 pac - Me Against The World
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle
MC Ren - Kizz My Black Azz (if you can get hold of it )
Jay-Z - Unplugged
The Roots - things fall apart.

I've listened to all of the above(cept Jay Z) for years and not tired of any of them.

For some decent recent stuff try ugly duckling, blackalicious, cannibal ox. I like this stuff right now but I may tire of it in time.

Makaveli

For some quite good mellow hip hop check out The Poets of Rhythm - Discern \ Define. It's quite laid back, a bit jazzy/funky/bluesy very percussive.
Latyrx and Blackalicious cant go wrong there.
SSGB is a superb album, I think you can get it in Tower dunno about HMV.
Company Flow are good too, more likely to get their albums in Tower too.
You should check out Public Enemy too, maybe a little dated at this stage but still great.
Kali listed basically everything I'm into right now.
Quannum Spectrum is good but SSGB is a better album. The Spectrum instrumental only album is good listening too.
The obligitory 2pac album is needed to I suppose. I'd have said All Eyez On Me, but I reckon the best by far is Thug Life.
Try Mos Def aswell.
Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek too, although I find that it takes a while to get used to Kweli's voice.
If you're into Wu-Tang go for Gza's solo albums by far the best.
Outkast for diversity.
IMO Stillmatic is better than The Blueprint.
De La Soul are good too, and The Pharcyde.
The Roots are quality aswell.
A lot of this is repetition anyway.
From what you got it looks like you're more into the mainstream anyway, so I dunno Xzibit? Ja Rule's first album.
Oh get Bone Thugs N Harmony - E.1999 Eternal.

king of fifa

must thank yellum and alb for remembering jazzmatazz and ice cubes death cetificate.i thought of another old school favourite public enemy ANYTHING OF THEIRS IS TOP NOTCH

Makaveli

Originally posted by 2040
yeah, actually you reminded me there stress. I reccomend Smut Peddlers - Porn Again /QUOTE]

The Smut Peddlers, have they been in the Pod yet or is that still to come?

Makaveli

Oh do yourself a huge favor and stay away from Cash Money Millionares and Hypnotize Minds, unless you are into songs about *bling bling*
I really hate Cash Money, how the hell did that ****e get so popular in the states

Fidelis

What Kali and Mak said.

The Slate descibed Ugly Duckling as "F*cking annoying" - but what do they know Handsome Boy Modelling School is quite good with some big names contributing to it, fun hip hop is the name of the game.

Souls Of Mischief, Eyedea, Herbaliser, Roots Manuva, Jurassic 5, Neptunes, Pharcyde & Stetsasonic are all damn good.

I generally try to stay away from the gangsta element of hip hop but there are some gems from the likes of Jay-Z(I Just Wanna Love U), 2Pac and Biggie (Hipnotize/Mo Money). Nas (New World, Nas Is Like) Mos Def & Massive Attack (I Against I, I Umi Says).

Try the oldskool material first so that you can appreciate how good it is compared to most of todays bling bling wánk.

Makaveli

Forgot Afu-Ra.
And Tha Liks - XO Xperience.

MindPhuck

But,

Try NWA, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, ICE-T. Old, but cool

Lucutus

Originally posted by MindPhuck
Try NWA, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, ICE-T. Old, but cool

You should have that as your sig MP.

MindPhuck
Old, But Cool.



Luc

2040

most of eastern conference records (including the smut peddlers) will be playing in dublin soon in the pod 4th may at 7:30. And heres a very badly spelledPress Release .

stu_69

Pharcyde - bizzare ryde 11
De la soul - first
outkast - ATliens
the root - their live album or things fall apart
rakim and eric B - Rakim's the master is one cool album
J5- the j5 ep
and the ultimate in hip hop gods has to be A Tribe called quests the low end theory.

I was in the states a few months ago and if you go into any of the big stores the rap/hip hop sections would be as big a the virgin megastore. The shelves are full of fu(kin crap stuff (a lot of stuff from kid's "lil bow wow and master p's kid were fighting for top position when I was there). It's really annoying that was once a music scene that was free of the bubble gum variety and was shunned by the majority of people( i remember a few years back in the states the government were trying to outlaw rap (after Ice-T's kop killer)) now it's getting as bad as the boy band/britney lot. It's a shame good hip hop the likes of which have been named in the thread are virtually unknown (which can also be a good thing i suppose).

What's worse is people like whore(j) lo and her kind(mariah carey is another one) who get sh!tty, poppy, bling blinging rappers on thier tracks and then get to number so the market then becomes flooded with the same sh!tty, poppy, bling blinging rappers. really gets my goat.

Years ago I was about 10/11 at the time I was given a pirare video and some tapes by my older cousin who had been in the states for the summer. These tapes were of NWA and the video was a live concert of theirs where MC REN actually got a girl from the audience and shagged her onstage!!! I though this music was fu(king cool, but I later found out that NWA were banned in Ireland(It still is now apparently but nobody seems to care anymore), so I became the coolest kid in school for about 3 minutes(my fame went when another kid eat some live worms). the end of my rap memories.

MindPhuck

2040

odb ****.ed an ol doll up the ass in the studio while recording or so i hear..

Clintons Cat

check out mindphucks list first
maybe then add eric b and rakims "paid in full"albumn to the list also big daddy kanes "word to the mother" albumn

Buster rymes "genesis" is pretty good.

alb

NWA are banned in ireland?? are you sure, I bought an NWA album in zhivago's in galway

2040

Try NWA, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, ICE-T. Old, but cool

mindphucks list is the worst list ive seen :P

The Gopher

Originally posted by DRakE
I've bought the Bluerprint (Jay-Z) and Countery Grammar (Nelly) and downloaded The Genesis (Busta Rhymes)

I like Nellys stuff but he deserves boycotting for doing a duet with,shock horror,N-STYNK!!!What the f.uck was he thinking?????

Makaveli

I'd say he was thinking $$$

MindPhuck

NWA are not banned in ireland. Getting their CD's are difficult because their an old group, but not impossible.

Sure, if thats the case, why is virgin selling the NWA 25th Anniversary cover cd ?

Anyway, go to amazon.com, order, sorted.

Dustaz

25th anniversary? wtf?

MindPhuck

Its a set of cover songs for the NWA albumn, NWA. Its done by todays 'cool' rappers, same songs, styled and sang differently.

I can't remember why its called 25th anni at the moment (its my old bones, memory aint as good as it used to be )

Dustaz

I was trying to work out when Straight Outta Compton came out and I thought id aged 10 years over night

Quorthon

I was wondering when someone would mention Straight Outta Compton - IMHO the best of all the "gangster" rap albums. Love also side 1 of Eazy-E's "Ez Duz It". Side 2 is weak tho.

Q

MindPhuck

Originally posted by 2040


mindphucks list is the worst list ive seen :P

My list owns j00 ass!

Its very simple - When LL Cool J Sings 'IM BAD' and when <insert new style f4g0t rap singer here> sings 'IM BAD'....
Who the hell are you gonna believe is really BAD ??


Anyway, yes, worst list ever, but, hey, I was listening to rap when you kids were in nappies.... ppffffttt.. sooo there!

stu_69

Originally posted by MindPhuck
NWA are not banned in ireland. Getting their CD's are difficult because their an old group, but not impossible.

Sure, if thats the case, why is virgin selling the NWA 25th Anniversary cover cd ?

Anyway, go to amazon.com, order, sorted.

I said they were banned when I was a kid when my cousin brought the tapes over from the states about 10/12 years ago. They got banned for 7 or 10 years and then they reviewed again so the ban must have been lifted.

MindPhuck

no no no.

You mean they had an age rating. ie, over 12's or something. Theres a difference to them getting banned. If they were banned, it means you cannot purchase them. And I sure purchased them and subsequent albumns since about 87ish +.

However, you could be right and I was lucky to be able to buy them. Though, at the time, I cant remember having any difficulties getting my hands on them.

stu_69

maybe i'm wrong I was about 9 in 87 so I beleiveed anything I was told :cheeky:

The Gopher

NWA are not 25 years old.They kind of started off back around 1982 when Dre and some of the rest formed the World Class Wreckin Crew.They later became NWA and probably gained and lost a few members.Straight Outta Compton is from around 85/86 i think.
On the subject of a NWA ban,the UK authorities tried to ban them in th early 90s under obscenity laws but failed.Perhaps this had something to do with the confusion.

2040

Originally posted by MindPhuck

Anyway, yes, worst list ever, but, hey, I was listening to rap when you kids were in nappies.... ppffffttt.. sooo there!

respect

MindPhuck

Originally posted by The Gopher
NWA are not 25 years old.

Its an album called - 25th Anniversery, their not 25 years old.


1982 when Dre and some of the rest formed the World Class Wreckin Crew.

They didnt form NWA.

NWA was formed when Easy-E tried to sell some records to the Ruthless label and when they refused them, he formed NWA. (Niggaz With Attitude). Dre left WCRC to be part of NWA. Himself and DJ Yella were the only members of WCR to be in NWA. The band was formed in '86. (Dr.Dre, Ice Cube, Easy E, Arabian Prince, DJ Yella and MC Ren)

NWA's first album was called N.W.A and the Posse ('87). It was only when MC Ren joined NWA did they become popular and in '88 they released Straight Outta Compton. In '91 the band was pretty much fubared after a serious fall out between Ice Cube, Easy-E and the bands managment.

Dre left NWA to form a record company called Death Row Records in '92. Easy-E died in '95 from AIDS.

At the end of the day, NWA made gansta rap for what it is today and completely founded the rap/hip hop era of the 90's.

I don't know alot about the new rappers of today, but I know my stuff from the foundations of early Rap.

Makaveli

Originally posted by MindPhuck

At the end of the day, NWA made gansta rap for what it is today and completely founded the rap/hip hop era of the 90's.

Completely founded the rap/hip hop era of the 90's eh?
Public Enemy had nothing to do with it at all then no? Or Run DMC?
I would have thought also that Afrika Bambaattaa and Stetsasonic might have had a bit of an impact on hip hop.

Makaveli

On another point I was in Tower today and I was looking at The Cold Vein and it was like €26 or something. The Company Flow ones (I think there was 2 I cant remember) were about the same and the Aesop Rock one was €28 I think. I mean I cant afford to pay that much on one cd.
It's the same in HMV when it comes to The Roots Cds they are like €26 too. I did however get Do You Want More in Tower for €14.59, I was pleased with that.
I got Jazzmatazz Vol. 2 in HMV for only €12.99.
I also noticed there is a new Herbaliser album out, but I didnt really have a look at it.

stresslemania

Originally posted by Makaveli
On another point I was in Tower today and I was looking at The Cold Vein and it was like €26 or something. The Company Flow ones (I think there was 2 I cant remember) were about the same and the Aesop Rock one was €28 I think. I mean I cant afford to pay that much on one cd.
It's the same in HMV when it comes to The Roots Cds they are like €26 too. I did however get Do You Want More in Tower for €14.59, I was pleased with that.
I got Jazzmatazz Vol. 2 in HMV for only €12.99.
I also noticed there is a new Herbaliser album out, but I didnt really have a look at it.

hey bro - there's a thing called the 'internet'.
it's where i get all my Def Jux **** (aside from CanOx which i got at the show).

try insound.com or hiphopsite.com

**** tower. this **** is cheaper.

adnans

old. but cool. hehe

back to albums... common - ressurection, fugees - the score, tribe called quest - the low end theory, rah digga - dirty harriet, slum village - fantastic vol. 2 ... plus all of the above.

adnans

Makaveli

hey bro - there's a thing called the 'internet'.

Now all I need is a credit card...

stresslemania

Originally posted by Makaveli


Now all I need is a credit card...

you can order with 'money order' from Chunky Records
www.chunkyrecords.com

they're in the UK and pretty cheap.

if you'd rather download it and be mad yidish - email me and i'll hook you up.

MindPhuck

Originally posted by Makaveli


Completely founded the rap/hip hop era of the 90's eh?
Public Enemy had nothing to do with it at all then no? Or Run DMC?
I would have thought also that Afrika Bambaattaa and Stetsasonic might have had a bit of an impact on hip hop.

Read what I said please - NWA made gansta rap for what it is today. The key words here being GANSTA. Public NME and Run DMC were/are NOT gansta RAP, if you think this, you have missed their message. NWA were heavily infuenced by Public NME and Run DMC. Afrika Bambaattaa, as far as I am concerned, is one of THE founders of hiphop.

Whilst I understand your thoughts and agree with what you have added to that, NWA is still the daddeh of Gansta rap, which is what I was trying to say.

Anyway, to leave it on a good note and not get into a silly flame way about whos this, that or the other. I leave you with this