The 100 Greatest Hip Hop Albums (80-76)by Henry Adaso, About.com 100-96|95-91|90-86|85-81|80-76|75-71|70-66|65-61|60-56|55-51 |
80. 2Pac
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"Simultaneously serving as both endless fodder for intellectual debates and the album most likely to be blaring out of the adjacent car's window, All Eyez on Me is a phenomenon that packs a wallop with every listen. Unquestionably the most nihilistic album to top the Billboard charts--and it's doubtful that any will match it--Eyez also manages to dish out the good-times dance tunes and still flow seamlessly. Recording commenced within hours of Tupac Shakur's release from prison, and a year's worth of pent-up ideas are unleashed with a fury akin to lifting the lid on a box of plutonium. The line between high art and insufferable reality, possibilities and self-destruction, has never been so blurred. Eyez is a landmark achievement that is unlikely to be topped by any heir apparent to the hip-hop crown." ~ Gregg Turkington , Amazon |
79. Diamond
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"Diamond D had quietly provided some exciting production work and made strides within the rap music industry and community throughout the early '90s, but his name didn't become immediately recognizable until his classic guest appearance rapping on A Tribe Called Quest's "Show Business"...Hip-hop heads waiting to hear more from him were rewarded with a veritable wealth of treasures when Stunts, Blunts & Hip-Hop, Diamond D's debut album, was released the following year. The album instantly became -- and remains -- something of an underground masterpiece. Stunts is a hugely sprawling, amorphous thing... after several listens, is so ingratiating that the album would seem incomplete without it, and it helps the album to actually be listenable in its entirety, as a single, long, whole statement." ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music |
78. Kanye West
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"West isn't quite MC enough to hold down the entire disc; carefully sprinkled A-list guests such as Jay-Z and Mos Def help. His ace in the hole is his signature cozy sound -- dusty soul samples, gospel hymns, drums that pop as if hit for the very first time. He has also succeeded in showing some vulnerability behind a glossy mainstream hip-hop sheen. On "All Falls Down," he says, "We all self-conscious/I'm just the first to admit it." Let's hope he's not the last." ~ Jon Caramanica, Rolling Stone |
77. Reflection Eternal
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"Lyrical prodigy Talib Kweli and extraordinary underground hip-hop producer DJ Hi-Tek comprise Reflection Eternal. Kweli -- who's name literally means "seeker of truth" -- also owns a small bookstore in Brooklyn and is more than just an average MC, being also a key to the Mos Def collaborational LP Black Star... The best way to describe Talib Kweli is as an erudite wordsmith prodigy; he incorporates political issues, complex metaphors, vivid imagery, a braggadocio rhyme style, and an overall charisma into his precise lyrical presentation. Although Reflection Eternal is an "underground" hip hop group in principal, the relevance of Kweli's lyrics and the resonance of Hi-Tek's production propelled them to the forefront of quality hip-hop." |
76. Eminem
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"A hip-hop disciple inheriting a twisted American racial history he didn't create, Eminem probably speaks for a lot of his fans when he asks, "How the fuck can I be white?/I don't even exist." Other white people are incomprehensible to him; cowboys, hippies, ravers, frat boys and British twits all appear on Slim Shady as cartoon stereotypes, barely worth the trouble of laughing at. Eminem doesn't have many peeps to shout out to, not even his old hood, and there's something lonely about the sound of one voice rapping for nearly a whole album -- he has hardly any homeys making cameos. Eminem is clever enough to make a running gag out of his cultural alienation, but that doesn't mean it's not real. For all the alienation on Slim Shady, Eminem earns his buzz as a bona fide rap star one tasteless insult at a time, battling the world with a mouthful of adjectives and a boxful of laxatives. " ~ Rob Sheffield , Rolling Stone |
100-96|95-91|90-86|85-81|80-76|75-71|70-66|65-61|60-56|55-51 |
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