Best Rap Album

[bigted]

Comin' from MTV this was pretty impressive, but it's far from a perfect, some of those artists there that wasn't even their best albums(2Pac, NWA), and Fugees "The Score" deserved to have been mentioned if "Reasonable Doubt" was mentioned 'cause that was the album of the year in '96, and I was rather impressed that they didn't mentioned any albums from 2000 and after 'cause this is the worst decade in hip-hop so far.

[fan 4ever]

That 2 pac album didn't deserve to be on there! 2 pac doesn't deserve to be on a Best Hip Hop Album list! I also think that Slick Rick needs to be on that list! "The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick" is classic! And I would have put The Blueprint on it instead of "Reasonable Doubt". The Blueprint made Kanye West big! After album everybody wanted a soul sample...the impact of that album was way bigger!

"Illmatic" should be number 1 in my eyes! Great production from great producers and lyrics that can't be touched!

It's a nice list, but it's far from perfect! Where's JJFP? Albums like "He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper" and "Code Red" are classic! Where's LL Cool J? Where's De La Soul? Where's Snoop Dogg?

When I read the list on MTV.COM I was glad that they didn't put Em or 50 on it..that would have been a slap in the face towards Hip Hop!

Edited May 5, 2005 by fan 4ever

[fan 4ever]

2000s Top Five

1-Will Smith "Lost and Found"

2-Nas "God's Son"

3-KRS-ONE "Kristyles"

4-Common "Like Water For Chocolate"

5-LL Cool J "G.O.A.T."

I agree with you on this list...but God's Son doens't deserve to be on there! "Stillmatic" is way better then "God's Son" in my eyes! God's Son only has a couple of great songs. You got "Get Down", "The Cross", the classic single "Made You Look" and that's almost about it!. The rest are filler tracks man! "I Can" was corny as hell! "Zone Out" was just plain wack!

If you look at "Stillmatic" it's another case! "Ether" is a classic battle song! "One Mic" is a classic! "You're Da Man", "Smokin", "My Country" are all great songs! "Rewind" is a great way of story telling! This album is way better then God's Son! Only thing you could say is that the first single was kinda corny! "Got Ur Self A Gun" isn't on the same level as "Made You Look"!

[bigted]

2000s Top Five

1-Will Smith "Lost and Found"

2-Nas "God's Son"

3-KRS-ONE "Kristyles"

4-Common "Like Water For Chocolate"

5-LL Cool J "G.O.A.T."

I agree with you on this list...but God's Son doens't deserve to be on there! "Stillmatic" is way better then "God's Son" in my eyes! God's Son only has a couple of great songs. You got "Get Down", "The Cross", the classic single "Made You Look" and that's almost about it!. The rest are filler tracks man! "I Can" was corny as hell! "Zone Out" was just plain wack!

If you look at "Stillmatic" it's another case! "Ether" is a classic battle song! "One Mic" is a classic! "You're Da Man", "Smokin", "My Country" are all great songs! "Rewind" is a great way of story telling! This album is way better then God's Son! Only thing you could say is that the first single was kinda corny! "Got Ur Self A Gun" isn't on the same level as "Made You Look"!

Yeah I love "Stillmatic" too, I was listening to that yesterday, but I say "God's Son" is one of the best albums he ever made 'cause of the tracks that he made about his mother, I thought "I Can" had a great message for the kids so even though it ain't my favorite song from him I can't put that down 'cause it wasn't your average hip-hop single with money talk, you didn't like "Warrior's Song" with Alicia Keys which I thought would've made a better single than "I Can" 'cause that was a powerful song, "Last Real N--- Alive" which was a story about his career, "Thugz Mansion" with 2Pac which was a hot single, "Book Of Rhymes" which was a witty track, or "Dance" and "Heaven" that he made about his mother passing which put the album at the top for me? The only track I skip over is "Zone Out", which I agree with you should've been off the album. I thought he poured his heart in that album, that album should've went mulitplatinum and won a Grammy, I thought "Stillmatic" was overhyped 'cause of the Jay-Z beef and "God's Son" deserved more recognition but they're both great albums that solidify him as one of the greatest mcs who ever touched the mic, if anyone doubted him before 2000, although I think "Illmatic" can't possibly be #1 'cause there were quite a few albums that set the standard in hip-hop before that album, it still deserves to be in the top 10, besides "Paid In Full" is flawless, it was made 20 years ago almost and still sounds great today, don't sleep on Marley Marl he was a legendary producer in hip-hop, the production on LL's "Mama Said Knock You Out" is also flawless, JJFP should work with him one day, I don't get either why Slick Rick's and KRS debut albums weren't on the list either?

Edited May 5, 2005 by bigted

[Bracesup]

I can't believe that Eric B. and Rakim's "Paid In Full" is positioned in 1. For some reason I am not able to enjoy their music. Oh well....

[bigted]

Well looking over the album lists I made it's obvious why I think FP, LL, KRS, Rakim, and Chuck D are the greatest mcs ever since their longevity to dominate is similiar to Michael Jordan playing in an All-Star in the beginning of his career with Dr. J to ending his career competing with Allen Iverson, they've gone from the Run-Dmc era to the Nas era and still have the same power now like they did back then, 2Pac deserves to be ranked high 'cause the impact he had on such a short-period was amazin', but I think Biggie's overrated 'cause he bit 2Pac's style and there were many other rappers on the east-coast like Pete Rock and CL Smooth and Tribe Called Quest who put out great music that was underrated when the west coast gangsta rap was dominating in the early '90s, if "Mecca and The Soul Brother" was released now, it'd be the best album this decade, that album was very much slept on, "Low End Theory" would be #2 and I didn't even put it in the top ten in the '90s, which tells how much better it was then compared to now, "Willenium" and "Big Willie Style" were also classics but "Code Red" is just a lil' bit more timeless, it's amazing though not many hip-hop critics give JJFP the respect they deserve, but they could be compared with the best hip-hop artists in any era. :blabla:

Edited May 5, 2005 by bigted

[fan 4ever]

I'm sorry to say this but Big Willie Style ain't a classic! Songs like "Candy" and "Men In Black" are nice songs but they aren't classic! BWS has some great moments like "Don't Say Nothing", "Big Willie Style", "It's All Good" and " I Loved You" but songs like "Miami", "Candy", "Just The Two Of Us" are just okay! For an album to be classic every song has to be great! And I think "Code Red" is a classic! The same with "Lost & Found"! In a couple years peeps on this board will tell you that "Lost & Found" is a classic album! I can put that CD in my player and play it from start to finish without skipping 1 song! The same with "Code Red", "Illmatic", "Stillmatic", "The Blueprint", "The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick"!

About 2pac..I never liked his style! He just had this big ego! If you look at him, he's trying to be all gangsta and thug! I don't like that! The same with Ja Rule and 50 Cent, but they are biting Pac's style! I don't know, there's just something I don't like about Pac! He has some dope songs, but he will never be in my top 10!

[danielm23]

i think i gotta go with ILLMATIC (nas) and MOMENT OF TRUTH (gang starr). those are cds i never get tired of listening to. the K-OS album ive just gotten last week (JOYFUL REBELLION) is also one of the dopest things ive ever heard. yall really got to check this album out, hiphop as real as it gets. time will tell, but i feel it has classic potential.

[bigted]

Hey I think all of us have different opinions so on that note I'm gonna say that Jay-Z' overrated, he took most of his punchlines from Biggie and that's a fact, what makes him so conscious anyway? I like "Reasonable Doubt" but I wouldn't say that's better than the best albums that legends like Slick Rick, JJFP, Rakim, KRS-ONE, Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy, and all the other great legends did and are still doing, I heard "Blueprint" one time and I don't see what's so conscious about it, the only great song I felt was "Blueprint"(Mama Loves Me) but KRS' worst stuff is more conscious than that, Jay-Z dumbs down his music too much considering that he's a consious rapper, "Just The Two Of Us" and "Tell Me Why" even have more consciousness than Jay-Z' whole catalog not counting "Reasonable Doubt" and Will ain't even a conscious rapper like that supposedly, he don't have to be either when every rapper's supposed to have their own style. 2Pac wasn't a gangsta rapper, you might say that 'cause of his Death Row work, I think if he didn't diss Biggie, you wouldn't have to say that 'cause he made a lot of deep songs before that moment like "Dear Mama", "Brenda's Got A Baby", and "Keep Ya Head Up", he had a lot of heart. Personally to me "Big Willie Style" has a special place in my heart 'cause that was around the time I started getting to him, but if I critically look at it, I'd say "Lost and Found" is better than that album, but "Big Willie Style" is better than most albums comin' out now, the only weak song on there was "Men In Black", which should've been left off since it was on the MIB soundtrack already, ol' school artists make more classics now than newer artists comin' out 'cause they don't make just singles with filler tracks in between, they know how to make albums, De La Soul's last album "The Grind Date" even sounds more classic than Kanye's "College Dropout" 'cause you could listen from start to finish without skipping tracks the way it should be, back in the golden age, a classic album would come out once a week, now barely one a year, so far "Lost and Found" is the only one this year, I heard Common's new single "Go" and that's so annoying with Kanye yellin' "Go!" in the background, I wish Common could go back and make songs with DJ Premiere, at least Premiere doesn't yell over records, Kanye reminds me of P. Diddy a lot . "He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper" is one of the greatest albums ever made with all those Jazzy Jeff scratching and Fresh Prince storytelling, that's hip-hop creativitity at it's finest.

Edited May 6, 2005 by bigted

[sonic1988]

damn fav. albums............

hmmmm.........

kid n play: 2 hype

JJFP: Code red

beastie boys: to the 5 boroughs

will smith: big willie style

[fan 4ever]

Yo Ted, I never said Jay-z is a conscious rapper! Where did you get that? :confused3: And if you are talking about the fact that Jay dumbs down his music too much, here's a lyric for ya:

I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars

They criticized me for it yet they all yell "HOLLA!"

If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be

lyrically, Talib Kweli

Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense

But I did five mill' - I ain't been rhymin like Common since

When your cents got that much in common

And you been hustlin since, your inception

**** perception go with what makes sense

Since I know what I'm up against

We as rappers must decide what's most impor-tant

- Jay-z - Moment of Clarity-

And if you are talking about the fact that he doesn't have much consciousness, here's another quote:

Mother****ers -

say that I'm foolish I only talk about jewels (bling bling)

Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?

-Jay-z - Renagade-

If you have listend to "The Blueprint" then you know that there are some dope songs on it! "Never Change", "Heart Of The City", "Song Cry", "U Don't Know"!

So you saying that Jay-z is a conscious rapper makes no sense at all!

I understand your point when it comes to BWS! I love that album to! That album made me listen to Hip Hop and made me a JJFP: Hip Hop fan! It will always be a great album for me, but there is no way it's classic! The same with "Willennium"! "Willennium" is way better album then "BWS" but it's no classic! Songs like "Freakin'It", "Will 2K" and "Wild Wild West" shouldn't be on there! They are okay songs, they just don't get to the same level as "So Fresh", "I'm Coming", "Potnas", "The Rain", "Uuhh"! If "Holla Back had been on there it would have been a better album, not a classic! In my eyes, the only classics Will has made are "Code Red" and "He's The Dj, I'm The Rapper" Time will tell if "Lost & Found" will be a classic Will Smith album or not!

[bigted]

I've heard people say that "Blueprint" is a conscious album though and I'd have to disagree about that, that was the point I was making, that's not saying the album's wack, there's some good tracks on there, one great track, I think I'm just spoiled listening to so much ol' school hip-hop that I have too high expectations to what a great album is, so in that I say the album's good not great, this is how I feel about it 'cause to me "The Ruler's Back" was a weak attempt to remake Slick Rick's classic as the album opened, "Ola Hovito" was weak, I think I even like "La Fiesta" as a better Latin song, "Song Cry" sounds like "No More", which isn't one of my favorite Will song, "Girls Girls Girls" is but it's not as good as Slick Rick's storytelling about women, and those club songs "Jigga That N***" and "Izzo" don't bring as much energy as Will does when he does club bangers, so needless to say if people think this is classic, they should consider "Willenium" to be classic too, they're just good albums not great albums, ain't nothin' wrong with putting out a good album, Nas' "Street's Disciple" is a good album, LL's "The Definition" is a good album(I'd prefer those 2 over "The Blueprint" though along with "Willenium" but that's my personal taste, everyone's different) considering all the wack s*** comin' out in recent years people might say that "Blueprint" is classic, they might say Eminem's "Marshall Mathers LP" is also classic too just for a few good songs on it, but if you weigh them against late '80s/mid '90s classics, it wouldn't stack up, 'cause back then every song mattered. To me Jay-Z has a lot of skills but I don't think he's as great as KRS-ONE, LL, Rakim, FP, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, or a lot of the ol' school veterans, but it's safe to say that he's one of the better mcs out now, it's hard to compare different eras though realistically, that's why it'd be better if they made lists for each time period 'cause hip-hop is different now, but Will's legacy is safe already and it's amazing he's still dominating after 20 years in the game, this is Hank Aaron longevity.

Edited May 6, 2005 by bigted

[bigted]

Hey I just put on Public Enemy's "Yo! Bum Rush The Show", they're debut album, it wasn't as revolutionary as "It Takes A Nation Of Millions...", but it was still a masterpiece, there were a lot of tracks where Chuck D and Flava Flav would go back and forth and spit, rather than just them doing solo tracks, that was awesome, they put a lot of hip-hop battle tracks on there too like "Miuziweighsaton", "Time Bomb", and "Public Enemy #1", that'd be dope if Chuck D and Flava Flav went back and forth like that on this album.

Edited May 7, 2005 by bigted

[mfuqua23]

Well, I ran across a list at MTV.com. Here's what they said, but they still argued these picks amongst themselves.

10. It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy

9. The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory - Tupac

8. Death Certificate - Ice Cube

7. N****z4life - N.W.A.

6. Reasonable Doubt - Jay-Z

5. Raising Hell - Run DMC

4. Ready 2 Die - Notorious B.I.G.

3. The Chronic - Dr. Dre

2. Illmatic - NaS

1. Paid In Full - Eric B + Rakim

Backpack Rap

A Tribe Called Quest/De La Soul/Leaders Of The New School/Black Moon/Wu-Tang Clan - The Love Movement

The individual picks varied some too.

[bigted]

Well, I ran across a list at MTV.com. Here's what they said, but they still argued these picks amongst themselves.

10. It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy

9. The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory - Tupac

8. Death Certificate - Ice Cube

7. N****z4life - N.W.A.

6. Reasonable Doubt - Jay-Z

5. Raising Hell - Run DMC

4. Ready 2 Die - Notorious B.I.G.

3. The Chronic - Dr. Dre

2. Illmatic - NaS

1. Paid In Full - Eric B + Rakim

Backpack Rap

A Tribe Called Quest/De La Soul/Leaders Of The New School/Black Moon/Wu-Tang Clan - The Love Movement

The individual picks varied some too.

Thanks for posting that, but I posted that a few days ago on this thread. :toetap: :kekeke: This ain't no all-time hip-hop list since this doesn't include LL Cool J, KRS-ONE, JJFP, and Queen Latifah, there would be no Nas, Jay-Z, 2Pac, and Biggie if it wasn't for them, there's not enough respect for the ol' school, a lot of these new mcs bite off the ol' school and they get all the credit, they act like hip-hop began in '93, underground mcs get no respect either, Hieroglyphics deserves more mention than some of those on there too.

Edited May 8, 2005 by bigted