"INTERNETS!" -Dallas PennA temporary week-long break from half-thought essay posts and me trying to figure out what I'm doing in terms of writing as a hobby, this blog (the almost two year old manifestation of my efforts to improve my non-academic writing), and a few other things. In the meantime, I'm combining my two loves as a blogger, ripping off my blogroll favorites and being reactionary to rapblog-centric events, and taking cue from Joseph in posting my completely personal and subjective top 60 rap albums. And like all my lists, the ranking ain't mean shit 'til like 15-1.*
Also, since I forgot to do my yearly end-of-year shoutouts, I send mostly non-sexual internet feelings towards Dallas Penn, Combat Jack, Ron Mexico, Brandon Soderberg, Jospeh Oheghyi (hope I spelled that right), B.J. "DocZeus" Steiner, Jay Smooth, Metal Inquisition, and Frank Leon Roberts who are not only all my favorite bloggers/writers/intangible ghost-like internet personalities, but people whose writing, worldviews, and dedication or lack thereof are not only inspirations but antagonizing roadblocks to my success. I don't actually interact with half of those names listed, but fuck it, well-wishes travel.
1. Fishscale
2. Supreme Clientele
3. Graduation
4. Be
5. Donuts
6. The Marshall Mathers LP
7. Temporary Forever
8. The College Dropout
9. Late Registration
10. Da Unbreakables
11. Waitin’ To Inhale
12. The Renaissance
13. The Weather
14. Cosmic Cleavage
15. Fear Of A Black Tangent
16. Food & Liquor
17. The Pretty Toney Album
18. Original Pirate Material
19. No Said Date
20. Made In Brooklyn
21. Deltron 3030
22. Underground Kingz
23. None Shall Pass
24. Hell Hath No Fury
25. Disposable Arts
26. Phrenology
27. The Dynasty: Roc La Familia
28. Dedication 2
29. The Blueprint
30. Madvillainy
31. Take Me To Your Leader
32. The Big Doe Rehab
33. The Cool
34. Back For the First Time
35. American Gangster
36. She’s Mature
37. Liberation (Talib Kweli/Madlib)
38. Johnson&Jonson
39. The Ghost Sessions
40. To Tha X-Treme
41. The Black Album
42. A Long Hot Summer
43. The Eminem Show
44. Jesus Price Supastar
45. The New Danger
46. Blazing Arrow
47. Nigga Please
48. The W
49. Warriorz
50. Grandmasters
51. Lets Get Free
52. Word of Mouf
53. Die, Rugged Man, Die
54. Back To The Traphouse
55. YoYoYoYoYo
56. Violent By Design
57. The Mouse & The Mask
58. Speakerboxxx
59. Under Construction
60. 8 Diagrams
*It should be noted that its hard enough to compare things you actually enjoy, buy like my end of the year list, 60 through 30 are albums that are good but not all the way through. 29 through 1 is based upon a completely subjective blanket assessment of how much I enjoy the albums relative to each other as of the two and a half hours it took to make this list. By tomorrow afternoon, I'll probably feel entirely different about my top 30 which was really difficult to compile in a short time without listening to every record in full.
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6 comments:
Seems like you and I (and noz) all like 'The Dynasty' most. I remember I had this CD-R copy of it that I drew the Rockafella logo on w/Sharpie. Definitely Jay-Z's most fun album. It's a good example of the 2000s formula gone right. Lots of diff. producers, R&B choruses, lots of guests, but it works.
Anyways, you had me checking Wikipedia to see what some of these albums were, I wasn't aware of a few of them. Is 'Temporary Forever' the best place to start w/Busdriver?
Hey, thanks for the love. Keep up the good work, and keep in touch.
Warmly,
Frank
Joseph- It was hard trying to rank the four (of six) good Jay records from the decade. American Gangster is good but lyrically he only hits it some of the time and that Beyonce intro is still one of the worst ideas ever. The Blueprint, to me, still has 3 or so kind of underwhelming early 00's pop-rap songs on it (typified by "Jigga That Nigga") and I've never actually been into that record as I have like a Vol.1, Reasonable Doubt or a Dynasty:Roc La Familia. The Black Album just always felt a little weak despite being really consistent. And the Dynasty is pretty much something I hated when I bought it 7 years ago but has grown as me as I've listened to better and more difficult music. Plus, its his hardest record, I'd say.
Definitely. He claims Fear of a Black Tangent is his most accesible, MTV2-friendly record, which it might be, but his rhymes are still hard to get in one listen. A good order is Temporary Forever->Cosmic Cleavage>Fear of a Black Tangent>The Weather. The Weather is probably my favorite thing ever because its a ridiculously trippy prog-rap album where him and Radioinactive soung like they're having the most fun anyone's ever had making an album ever.
Frank- Thanks for returning the love (and for introducing me to Leyomi Mizrahi!)
Dog...
Death Certificate, Return of the Boom Bap, Do You Want More?, lot of hot shit didn't make your list.
Curls- Its limited to just the 00's, though.
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