Haha yeah totes
not a problem at all! big part of the reason i wanted to do the list was because when else are we going to talk about that scaramanga album, so all this is good!
4 Likes
If you don’t want to derail with lost rap chat, then this thread is good…
2 Likes
84. Compton’s Most Wanted - Music to Driveby (1992)
gyeah! seminal west coast gangster rap, mc eiht provides a more grounded perspective of gang life than the cartoonish violence of spice 1. “when you grow up in the hood, you gots to claim a set” he explains on standout track ‘hood took me under’, “it’s not that you want to, but you have to”
eiht is a compelling storyteller with a great voice and a smooth flow. the production is really great too, particularly love the rolling groove of ‘n 2 deep’ and the ominous march of ‘def wish II’
7 Likes
Great one! 
This thread has got me trying to pull a list together myself and I popped this on for the first time in ages a few days ago. Had forgotten about the Tim Dog diss. I hate all this subliminal nonsense you get these days. I liked it when rappers would go at each other for an entire track.
6 Likes
oooh, looking forward to this
3 Likes
83. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition (2016)
i hate ‘ain’t it funny’, let’s get that out of the way first. just an awful, irritating mess of a song, i’ve no idea why you all love it. don’t care for ‘white lines’ either… luckily the rest of the album is GREAT. the woozy ‘rolling stone’, the explosive ‘really doe’, the spaced out ‘get hi’… all great.
the album covers a lot of ground sonically but at the centre of it all is brown, rapping his ass off. his late career squawk voice is better deployed here too, called upon when needed rather than crow-barred into every song.
9 Likes
Only have a part-time interest in rap nowadays, but enjoying this. Can tell it’s a great list because though I’ve heard some of the names before I’ve listened to virtually none of the records. Your explainers are really accessible but at the same time really lucid and descriptive which is great. Good stuff.
1 Like
And may I also add…
i just don’t get it and never will, but more power to anyone who does
Nah, it’s fair, completely understand why it can irritate people.
1 Like
82. Beanie Sigel - The Truth (2000)
hardnosed street rap from the philly bruiser, notable for early productions by kanye (the awesome title track) and just blaze (the raucous ‘who want what’). he’s a good writer but how he says things is equally important: anyone could have written “you gotta move what I’ve moved, use what I used / use tools how I use, use fools how I use” but sigel’s delivery is what elevates it.
the only low point is the jay-z song tacked onto the end, an attempt to repeat the trick of hard knock life but with an oliver sample. it sucks, and beans isn’t on it.
5 Likes
Really enjoying this list. Great reminder of how good those vince staples and commin albums are so been listening to those over the last few days. Haven’t heard most of these records but will be digging in. Listened to the killer mike in your list for the first time today and its probably my favourite thing he’s done now. Bang!!! is huge.
1 Like
Reckon I prefer the B.Coming but the first three Beanie Sigel albums are all v good
2 Likes
Beanie, Freeway and Bleek all had that thing you mentioned. They had the delivery that elevated songs. Jay had a ear for that.
2 Likes
Criminally, I’ve never listened to any of Beanie’s albums, only ever heard his features. May change that tonight.
i go on vacation and jamos decides to pop off… cant even send a heads up dm huh smh. suga free, ice t, cmw, 8ball/mjg, spice 1, vol 3, etc. hell yeah. i imagine at least 20% of your list to align with mine, and probably above 50% artist alignment.
8 Likes
81. Z-Ro - Let The Truth Be Told (2005)
soul, jazz, disco, funk all play a huge role in hip hop, mined for samples, their ideas reinterpreted and reimagined to create something new. the blues doesn’t get as much of a look in. z-ro though, he’s a blues man through and through.
also, he’s an all time top 5 ‘rapper who sings their own hooks’
1 Like
really hope we get the two album rule in effect here, and XXX shows up too
1 Like