Somehow I’ve actually managed to listen to a substantial portion of Outkast’s catalogue at this point. But I’m sorry to say I’m still not really in a position to evaluate this album (or any of them) in relation to the catalogue simply because it’s usually a year or so between listens. Unfortunately, I don’t remember …
Tag: Hip Hop
Cypress Hill (1991)
So I thought Cypress Hill were East Coast, which tells you everything you need to know about my knowledge about hip hop and Cypress Hill in particular.
Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience (1991) by P.M. Dawn
I don’t know what I would have thought about this if I hadn’t yet heard Dearest Christian already, but I have, and I can’t help but have that experience colour this one.
1st Born Second (2001) by Bilal
Is it just me or does Bilal sound like Snoop on the opening? Maybe it’s just me, but it’s weird. Anyway…
It Was Written (1996) by Nas
This has a reputation, to put it mildly. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the one to sort the reputation from the actual record. But I guess I’ll try.
We Can’t Be Stopped (1991) by Geto Boys
So, for reasons I will never understand, YouTube Music – where I do most of my listening to new music – only has the “screwed” version of this album. I didn’t know that meant something and so I listened to it. And I was extremely confused as you might imagine. I knew I had at …
A Future Without a Past…(1991) by Leaders of the New School
I must admit that I was kind of charmed on the first listen to this album. That charm wore off a bit with repeated listens – why that happened is probably a long story – but that initial positive vibe is pretty rare for me with hip hop, especially hip hop that is this obsessed …
Reasonable Doubt (1996) by Jay-Z
I have listened to hip hop for basically only six years, with somewhat increasing frequency. I feel like I am starting to get a grasp on the flow and technique of rap, and I’ve long felt like I know what I like when it comes to the production side. But I still find myself flummoxed …
Miss E…So Addictive (2001) by Missy Elliot
I have some vague memory of beginning to listen to an earlier Missy Elliot album and then deciding to stop before my three listens because it didn’t seel enough, the reviews weren’t good enough or I felt I didn’t have enough to say (I do not remember why or even which album it was). But …
Raising Hell (1986) by Run-D.M.C.
Full disclosure, as usual: I know little about hip hop. But, that being said, the more I learn about hip hop the more I get at least some idea of what matters and what doesn’t. And I feel like I might be able to say that this has to be one of the most consequential …
And Now the Legacy Begins (1991) by Dream Warriors
I have no memory of Definition, probably because I was not even 8 when it ended its run. But I certainly felt the reverberations because the moment “My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style” came on, I knew it. I’m not sure I had ever connected it and the theme to Austin Powers before, as …
All Eyez on Me (1996) by 2Pac
When I was young, I would eat up everything I thought I should like and this included double albums which, in the LP days, meant a maximum approximately 90 minutes of music. (Usually 88 or less, but often much less, such as Exile on Main St.), which is not much more than an hour.) But …
One for All (1990) by Brand Nubian
Somewhere online I read that this was an early “alternative hip hop” album and that coloured my experience of it, because it didn’t seem that alternative to me. But what do I know?
The W (2000) by Wu-Tang Clang
One of the things I find strange about musical collectives – especially collectives with multiple vocalists – is what the vocalists get out of it. This is somehow my first ever Wu Tang record – I have heard multiple solo records by members, though – and I had no idea how many rappers are in …
Liquid Swords (1995) by GZA
This is reputed to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time and I honestly have no idea why.
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000) by Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit are so monumentally dumb that, while I’m listening to a Limp Bizkit record, I have trouble imagining there are dumber bands. Now, I know there are plenty of dumb bands, but the scale of the Bizkit’s dumbness is so immense that, during the album, you just sort of forget that there could be …
Let’s Get Ready (2000) by Mystikal
When I first started purposely listening to hip hop about 5 years ago, the idea that a rapper had charisma was something I couldn’t really stomach. As a music fan I am primarily a fan of chops and, for me, vocal chops had to do with singing, not rhyming. I didn’t understand flow and I …
The Gold Experience (1995) by O(+>
I can’t claim to know Prince’s catalogue that well, especially since the ’80s. So you can’t take what I say as gospel. But, listening to this, I’m inclined to agree with the critical consensus that says it’s his best record of the ’90s (or one of them). There may well be better ones, of course, …
Mama Said Knock You Out (1990) by LL Cool J
Before he was an actor, LL Cool J always struck me as a rapper with less weight. I don’t really know if I heard much of his music beyond the title track here, but the moment I learned what LL Cool J stood for, I smirked and I couldn’t take him seriously. (Not that this …
To the Extreme (1990) by Vanilla Ice
Poor Vanilla Ice. Prior to the launch of The Vanilla Ice Project (which I have never watched!) the guy was a laughing stock for most people who were alive at the time of this release. (Well, for all the people who didn’t buy this album and likely for at least some of the millions of …
Kurtis Blow (1980)
My understanding is that this is like the second hip hop LP ever. If that’s true, it’s certainly one of the most important albums of its era. It’s also worth noting that it is way better than the Sugar Hill Gang’s debut LP, just by the simple fact that Kurtis Blow is the actual performer …
E. 1999 Eternal (1995) by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
I have had a hard time getting into (and just plain getting) hip hop for basically my entire music-listening life. One of the major barriers to me has been rap – I am a fan of musicality in music, and rap is often not very musically interesting to me. This is especially true of early …
The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) by Eminem
I am always at least partially at a loss with reviewing hip hop records but it’s so much more true with lyrics like this. Fortunately, Eminem is a white guy (like me), so I feel a little less like a jerk writing about what he has to say. My experience is still very far removed …
Sugarhill Gang (1980)
I know just about zilch about the history hip hop which means I know nothing about the history of record labels and producers thinking they know better how to market the genre of hip hop. But I know a fair amount about how they did that to other genres which, I hope, gives me some …
Voodoo (2000) by D’Angelo
I heard so much about this album that I was bound to be disappointed. I had read really positive reviews but also multiple friends of mine told me it was a great album and at least one of these people was not an R&B connoisseur. (Meaning I should take his opinion even more seriously.)
Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995) by The Roots
A friend of mine in university always used to tell me that, whenever I gave hip hop a try, I should start with The Roots. He thought they would be more appealing to me. That was many years ago and, since then the Roots became a household name thanks to Jimmy Fallon. So they’ve gone …
Kaleidoscope (1999) by Kelis
I remember when I first heard “Caught Out There”. I didn’t swear at the time, but imagine it was the polite equivalent of “What the fuck?!?” And I’m sorry to say that was basically the last time I thought about Kelis (whose name I thought was pronounced “Kell Es”). And listening to this record, that …
CrazySexyCool (1994) by TLC
I was 13 when this came out but I was already sort of aware of manufactured pop music. I already sort of got that the Monkees hadn’t evolved like the other bands I listened to, and I was sort of aware that some of the oldies music I listened wasn’t made the same way. I …
It Takes a Thief (1994) by Coolio
I guess serious hip hop fans have strong feelings about Coolio, like he got too famous or something, or he’s not as talented as less famous rappers, or something. I don’t know anything about this and, frankly, I couldn’t care less. I hate arguments about whether or not someone is more authentic than someone else …
Paul’s Boutique (1989) by Beastie Boys
My understanding is that this is the Beastie Boys’ best record. But I have come at it a super weird way, having heard three other records of theirs first, completely out of chronological order. So whatever awe I might have experienced hearing this immediately after Licensed to Ill is just not happening because of this, …