The 100 Greatest Hip Hop Albums (25-21)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 |
25. Ultramagnetic MCs
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"The 1988 debut album by the Bronx's Ultramagnetic MC's was the first full-length showcase for wack-job Kool Keith… Critical Beatdown remains the quintessential release from the late-Eighties "fast rap" era, providing the source material for the Prodigy's contentious "Smack My Bitch Up" and the break-beat blueprint for Fatboy Slim." ~ Peter Relic, Rolling Stone |
24. D.O.C
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"An early landmark of West Coast rap, the D.O.C.'s debut album, No One Can Do It Better, remains sorely underheard today, largely because the car crash that destroyed the rapper's voice also cut short his time in the spotlight before he'd had a chance to really cement his reputation among the general public… It's a shame that the D.O.C. never got the chance for a proper follow-up, but in No One Can Do It Better, he at least has one undeniable masterpiece." ~ Steve Huey, All Music |
23. EPMD
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"Imagine a time in history when artists didn't have to clear any samples in their music. EPMD's 1988 debut, Strictly Business, like the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique, was recorded during the clearance-free sample heyday, and we're all a lot better off because of it. Long before Dr. Dre and Digital Underground were doling out legal cash to George Clinton and Kool and the Gang, EPMD was sampling them--and others--brilliantly on tracks like "You Gots to Chill" and "It's My Thing." (They even double-sample "Jungle Boogie," using it on both "You Gots to Chill" and "You're the Customer"--that takes some damn nerve.) The EPMD production sound gets in your pants and moves things against your will, making Strictly Business an essential time capsule from the Wild West-era of sampling." ~ Todd Levin, Amazon |
22. Common Sense
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"Whether or not Resurrection is a classic will be decided in the future, but for now it's indisputable that Common Sense has succeeded in creating that rare thing: a solid hardcore hip-hop album. Hardcore not for the verbal body count but for the confluence of phat beats, smooth flows and dope rhymes. Resurrection belongs among the best recent hardcore albums: Illmatic, by Nas, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), by Wu-Tang Clan, and Ready to Die, by the Notorious B.I.G." ~ Toure, Rolling Stone |
21. Afrika Bambaataa
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"As a major architect of early hip-hop, Afrika Bambaataa is perhaps more deserving of a respectable compilation treatment than anyone. And while his considerable influence has largely been brushed aside by a rap world that sadly ignores far too many of its innovators, Looking for the Perfect Beat may help to change that. Whatever your opinion on the shelf life of his music, Bambaataa was an innovator of the highest order." ~ John Duffy, All Music |
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