Category: Hip Hop
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Joey Valence & Brae ‘NO HANDS’ (2024)
NO HANDS sounds like a time machine transported the Beastie Boys to 2024 and let the boys rip with modern trance rock sounds. Joey Valence & Brae self-admittedly take a ton of inspiration from the boys from the 5 boroughs, but in the end it doesn’t really matter cause this shit is simply just fun…
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JID ‘The Forever Story’ (2022)
Penned as a spiritual follow up to his 2017 debut studio album The Never Story, JID’s 2022 cut The Forever Story is an ambitious project that chronicles the life experiences over the past 20 years that brought him to where he is today. In the vein of hip hop giants Kendrick Lamar and J Cole,…
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Conway the Machine ‘God Don’t Make Mistakes’ (2022)
As part of a Buffalo-based hip-hop duo alongside his paternal half-brother Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine has built up a loyal and dedicated fanbase of hardcore hip hop heads since first entering the scene during the mid-2010’s. His life story is reminiscent of 50 Cent’s in many ways– Conway was shot in the head and…
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Ghostface Killah ‘Supreme Clientele’ (2000)
As a member of the venerable Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah’s credentials are cemented without even taking his solo career into account. But with Supreme Clientele everything that made Ghostface such a massive figure in hip hop were taken to the next level, delivering one of the best solo albums from the group that effectively invented…
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N.W.A. ‘Straight Outta Compton’ (1988)
From the first spoken words of Straight Outta Compton (“You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge”) the tone is set. And as the bars unwind, starting with Ice Cube’s iconic opening line (“Straight outta Compton, crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube / From the gang called N**** with attitudes”), to MC Ren’s…
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Future ‘DS2’ (2015)
DS2 kicked off an epic run for Future that saw him release three platinum albums in a row, solidifying him as the face and voice of Atlanta trip hop that has been a constant on the hip hop charts since its genesis in the mid 2010’s. Say what you will about the aesthetic qualities of…
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Run D.M.C. ‘Run D.M.C.’ (1984)
Run D.M.C.’s self-titled debut was a watershed moment for hip-hop in many ways and within a historical context has remained one of the most influential hip hop albums to ever be released. It was the first hip hop album to be certified Gold by the RIAA, introduced the first song ever in the rap-rock genre…
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ScHoolboy Q ‘Oxymoron’ (2014)
When ScHoolboy Q set out to release his first major label record distributed to music retailers (his first two albums were digital only) he had a clear vision of what he was looking to accomplish– a true gangsta rap album in the vein of late 90’s greats like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg that represented…
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Earl Sweatshirt ‘Some Rap Songs’ (2018)
Some Rap Songs is a study in restraint and artistic performance. Featuring one of hip hop’s most well regarded contemporary lyricists, everything from Earl Sweatshirt on Some Rap Songs feels effortless and yet purposefully designed. His laid back flow, dragging behind the beat in a relatively monotone delivery, sounds like he’s recording in his bedroom…
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Trinidad James ‘Don’t Be S.A.F.E.’ (2011)
When I was in my young 20’s fresh out of college there was probably a three-week period where I listened to “All Gold Everything” 10 times a day. I don’t know what exactly it was about that song that captured my attention so much, but much like the meteoric rise of Bobby Shmurda during that…
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JUVENILE ‘400 Degreez’ (1998)
When I was in middle school our local community center held dances once every few months. These were exciting days for a handful of reasons– the onset of puberty was in full overdrive, hormones raging, and there was an electricity in the air about meeting and dancing with girls at these mixers. And it was…
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2Pac ‘All Eyez on Me’ (1996)
Generation-defining artists like Tupac Shakur naturally get the benefit of contemporary listeners seeing their material with rose-tinted glasses on their material as the years go by. That benefit certainly applies to the final album released during their lifetime as well– that final release is typically put on a bit of a pedestal, even if the…
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Chance The Rapper ‘Acid Rap’ (2013)
Chance The Rapper’s 2013 mixtape Acid Rap celebrated its 10-year anniversary earlier this year. I remember first being turned onto Chance after his initial mixtape 10 Day by two old friends who run Oxalis restaurant in NYC. One of the founders had spent a lot of time in Chance’s hometown of Chicago (where Chance was…
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De La Soul ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ (1989)
De La Soul’s debut album was a complete novelty in 1989. In stark comparison to the overtly political It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy that dropped a year prior, as well as the burgeoning Gangsta Rap scene that was experiencing a meteoric rise towards the end of the…
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DMX ‘It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot’ (1998)
There’s few hip hop artists in history that can get me hyped as much as DMX could. The dude brought an intensity to his music that worked on every single level– his flow that sounded like gravel dragged through broken glass, his intensely muscular physique, his barking backing vocals courtesy of the Ruff Ryders, and…
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Jay-Z ‘The Blueprint’ (2001)
New York City has long been a landmark in hip-hop, from its humble beginnings during the early 70’s in The Bronx to the infamous East/West feud in the late 90’s to the NYC Drill Movement that’s been prominent since Bobby Shmurda’s rise to fame in the mid-2010’s. Put simply, New York City is the home…
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The Streets ‘Original Pirate Material’ (2002)
British hip hop has always been a sort of guilty pleasure of mine. As a high schooler my brother and I had a side project called “The Wankers” where we threw down silly rhymes and rapped in faux British accents, a project based off our shared love for the wonderfulness of the British accent and…
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Will Smith ‘Big Willie Style’ (1997)
Long before Will Smith became infamous for losing his mind and slapping Chris Rock onstage at the Academy Awards, he had cultivated a public persona of being a gentle soul and a generally stand-up guy. All those things can be true at the same time of course (as Walt Whitman once said “I am large,…
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Aesop Rock ‘None Shall Pass’ (2007)
Aesop Rock has been a fixture on the alternative/underground hip hop scene for years. His 2007 album None Shall Pass lays out all the traits that have made him such a fixture in that scene– his cavernous vocabulary, dense musical arrangements, and production style that mimics the sound of an artist recording alone in their…
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Eric B. & Rakim ‘Paid In Full’ (1987)
Noted for its revolutionary lyrics and complex rhyming schemes, Eric B. & Rakim’s Paid In Full stands one of the most influential hip hop records of all-time. Released during the golden age of hip-hop, an era loosely defined by hip hop music released from the mid-80’s to the mid 90’s, Paid In Full and its…
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D Smoke ‘Black Habits’ (2020)
D Smoke gets a lot of comparison to Kendrick Lamar which is probably annoying and flattering for him all at the same time. But the similarities are striking— both are from southwest LA (Inglewood and Compton respectively), heavily incorporate jazz samples into their compositions, run through bars with a frenetic flow, and are gifted storytellers…
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Cardi B ‘Invasion of Privacy’ (2018)
A few months back we talked about how Lil’ Kim paved the way for female empowerment in the largely male-dominated world of hip hop, and it’s clear from the outset that Cardi B is an obvious benefactor of Lil’ Kim’s trailblazing ways. Much like Lil’ Kim, Cardi B combines an undeniably dynamic vocal flow alongside…
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Andre Nickatina ‘Conversation With A Devil’ (2003)
Yesterday we discussed Mac Dre’s massive influence on putting Bay Area Hyphy music on the map. In re-listening to that album it brought back a ton of memories surrounding Bay Area hip hop during high school and sent me off on a quest to find a lesser-known rapper I couldn’t immediately place but knew was…
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Mac Dre ‘Ronald Dregan’ (2004)
Growing up in the Bay it was impossible to avoid Hyphy music during its heyday during the mid aughts, which coincided perfectly with my formative years in high school. And Mac Dre along with E-40 were indisputably the most influential figures in that scene. I honestly don’t know how much the Hyphy movement translated nationally…
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Clipse ‘Lord Willin’ (2002)
Real life brothers Pusha T and Malice started their rap career in 1994 following Malice’s return from serving in the armed forces. However, it would take eight years for their debut album Lord Willin’ to come out after their original LP Exclusive Audio Footage was shelved by then record label Elektra following a disappointing reception…
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Missy Elliott ‘Miss E… So Addictive’ (2001)
From the top of 2001’s Miss E… So Addictive it’s clear Missy Elliott is here to have a damn good time. And have a good time she does, spitting sexual innuendo and club drug references at reckless abandon throughout the 63-minute runtime. The instant classic “Get Ur Freak On” is what Elliott will always be…
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The Pharcyde ‘Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde’ (1992)
There’s an old saying that goes “If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.” When The Pharcyde named their 1992 album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde they certainly talked like a duck. And almost immediately after hitting the first note, it’s clear The Pharcyde is here to also…
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Westside Gunn ‘Pray For Paris’ (2020)
Westside Gunn’s Pray For Paris (along with having absolutely epic album artwork) is a study in mid-90’s hip-hop enunciatioon and flow set in the century of modern musical production elements. For someone who doesn’t listen to a ton of modern hip hop, Westside Gunn provides a convenient portal to the past where hip-hop vocal production…
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Public Enemy ‘It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back’ (1988)
Long before Flavor Flav became a reality show punchline, Public Enemy came out of Long Island and changed the face of hip hop with their socially conscious and purposeful blend of hip hop. Chuck D, Flavor Flav, DJ Terminator X, and production group The Bomb Squad pulled no punches in detailing their version of the…
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Lil’ Kim ‘Hard Core’ (1996)
Born out of hip-hop supergroup Junior M.A.F.I.A. with The Notorious B.I.G., Lil’ Kim’s debut album Hard Core is exactly what the name suggests– a raucously raunchy celebration of sex, carnal pleasure, and female sexual liberation. When your opening track features a minute-long pornographic skit about a guy going to a peep show to watch Lil’…
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Kanye West ‘Graduation’ (2007)
The legacy of Kanye West as a cultural figure is still being written and it’s sure as hell complicated. Following a public break with his long-time wife Kim Kardashian and a failed Presidential bid in 2020, West (who was always a lightning rod for controversy) delved further into the obscene, making numerous antisemitic comments that…
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A Tribe Called Quest ‘Midnight Marauders’ (1993)
A Tribe Called Quest is one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time, contributing an absolutely epic run of three all-time albums in the 90’s. Midnight Marauders is the second album of that run, book-ended by 1991’s Low End Theory and 1996’s Beats, Rhymes and Life. Tribe’s use of jazz, funk, soul, and…
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50 Cent ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ (2003)
Music in the early 2000’s still was largely controlled by the labels– this was the era before the proliferation of mainstream streaming services, and though Napster and other peer-to-peer networks could give artists a grassroots buzz, physical CD’s were still king. In other words, the the right marketing campaign still moved the needle for artists.…
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Drake ‘Scorpion’ (2018)
There’s been no larger mainstream figure in hip-hop over the past decade than Drake. He almost singlehandedly dominated the commercial charts in the 2010’s, appealing to hardcore hip-hop fans, grandmothers, and everyone else in between. Time will tell how well Drake’s prolific output ages in the coming decades compared to some of his contemporaries (see:…
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Metro Boomin ‘Heroes & Villains’ (2022)
Metro Boomin was one of hip hop’s top hitmakers in the mid-2010’s and it shows considering the lineup he trots out on Heroes & Villains— John Legend, 21 Savage, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Young Thug, A$AP Rocky, and Morgan Freeman (yes, that Morgan Freeman) all make appearances. It’s effectively a love letter to the dark…
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Nas ‘Illmatic’ (1994)
Let’s not bury the lead here. Nas’ 1994 debut Illmatic is one of the most honestly authentic albums I have ever listened to. It is strikingly personal. There isn’t a single track, let alone a single bar, that feels out of place or begrudgingly coerced to fit into a specific theme. It’s as raw and…
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