Tag: Hip Hop
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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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Bone Thugs-N-Harmony ‘E. 1999 Eternal’ (1995)
There’s a handful of artists that when you hear a song come on you immediately know who it is. Louis Armstrong’s gravelly croon, the wistful falsetto of Alt-J’s Joe Newman, the punch of Angus Young’s guitar, and Bob Dylan’s nasal pitch are all distinct calling cards. And in the world of hip hop, there’s nothing…
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Beastie Boys ‘Paul’s Boutique’ (1989)
Beastie Boys cover immense sonic ground in their 1989 sophomore effort. It’s a record that celebrates abrupt dynamic shifts, sampling a grand total of 105 (!!!) songs plucked from a massive grab bag of funk, prog, punk, and rock influences. You have what sounds like a MIDI keyboard played underwater in “Car Thief” as well…
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