Malcolm Venable

Malcolm writes about music, style and pop culture in the pages of The Virginian-Pilot. Look for his stories in Entertainment.

Category: Music and Style

Really?

Sep 08

1:53 PM

It's kind of a slow news day today. (That, or I'm too tired to blog, which is odd because despite some small breaks for meals, Spongebob and the gym, I slept through Labor Day 2008 almost entirely.)

Anyway, thanks to the good old random press release, I have something to blab about. AOL's hip hop and R&B site The Boombox.com (who knew?) just named the 20 hip hop albums of all time. Since I'm not in the mood for creating faux suspense, I'll just tell you that their #1 pick was Nas' "Illmatic."

Thoughts? I typically don't bother with the 'Who's the greatest emcee?' debates cause they're too many people to choose from -- Soulja Boy, Da Brat and Will Smith! -- but I'm not entirely thrilled with this choice.

Don't get me wrong, "Illmatic" is a really, really good album. At at least my contenders -- "Ready to Die" and "Only Built for Cuban Linx" -- did make the Top 20. I just don't know about "Ilmmatic" as the best hip hop album of all time. (My personal all time favorite rap album ever, FYI, is the Digable Planets' "Blowout Comb.")

Anyway, thoughts?

"The Score" didn't even make the list!

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Hip Hop Album of All time.

Submitted by NewNewVa on Sat, 09/06/2008 at 8:31 am.

I think that there has to be a criteria set for this and I'm not sure what the site used in it's criteria. I think the greatest album would have to have lyrics, timeless material (beats/samples/songs), longevity (does it hold up?), cultural significance/importance, a talented/original artist with an album you can listen to all the way without skipping a track. After that, you rank based on personal tastes (ie your most favorite to least favorite). It's also very hard to compare eras. Are you really going to compare The Fugees The Score to Bigger and Deffer?

I'll have to go off the top myself.

Only Built for Cuban Linx---I think this album solidified Wu as a movement. Tical and 36 Chambers was the setup for this album. This disc also showed that Rae could flow on any type of beat and fully introduced Ghost (the most consistant Wu-member) and his slang terminology

Doggy$tyle---You could argue and say The Chronic could go in place of this but Snoop was in full swing on this. West Coast was King. Dre was the leadoff.

Ready to Die---Or as Delvin used to call it "Ready Todie", I love this album from top to bottom. Showcased one of the games best emcess at t

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good comments, all

Submitted by Malcolm.Venable on Tue, 09/02/2008 at 5:34 pm.

I dont think I saw Paid in Full on there and I am too lazy to check right now. If not, I think I see some hanging chad...

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same boat

Submitted by parkerp63396 on Tue, 09/02/2008 at 5:02 pm.

i'd have to put "Ready to Die" up there as well. I have issues with having "The Chronic" in the top 5. From a production and influence standpoint...maybe. But, Dre doesn't impress me behind the mic. My top 5 is always fluctuating: Ready to Die, It Takes A Nation..., 36 Chambers, Paid In Full, Illmatic.

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I can't argue

Submitted by William J. on Tue, 09/02/2008 at 3:15 pm.

I would have to view Nas' Illmatic as the best hip hop album of all time. It captures the true essence of hip hop with strong production, originality, storytelling and it is flawless lyrically from start to finish. Nas raps with such vividness and detail that you can actually see the story he is telling in your head. If you doubt what I'm saying then refer to songs like NY State of Mind, The World is Yours or my personal favorite Memory Lane. Its the type of album where you may be able to find other albums (Jay-z - The BluePrint, Biggie - Ready to Die, Outkast - Aquemini, etc) maybe as good as this album but definitely not better. I agree with this choice completely.

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I like The Fugees

Submitted by clewis on Tue, 09/02/2008 at 2:28 pm.

However, considering the fact that their most commercially successful song on the entire album was an R&B hit in Killing Me Softly, I can see why it wasn't on the Hip Hop list... I'd have to go with Talib Kwali's Beautiful Struggle as the best Hip Hop album but Illmatic is always going to be considered the best as it's unquestionably a classic in every sense of the word. Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt can also make a case in my opinion.

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