I've always thought that the Brits disliked Prince, but THIS is quite a travesty:

Gaye's Album Tops Poll

Marvin Gaye's classic 'What's Going On' has beaten records by Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder to be voted the best urban album of all time.

The "Sexual Healing" singer's 1971 disc topped the chart of the 100 greatest albums by black artists - compiled by British newspaper New Nation and was chosen by other black artists, DJs and music industry experts.

Jackson's 'Off The Wall' came second - followed by Public Enemy's 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' in third place, and Wonder's 'Songs in the Key of Life' in fourth.

Rapper Nas rounded off the top five with his debut album 'Illmatic.'

New Nation editor Michael Eboda says, "The biggest surprise, considering how far he has distanced himself from the black community in terms of his color, is Michael Jackson."

"He has two albums in the Top 10, but both recorded before Jacko went so Wacko."

The top 10 black albums are as follows:

1. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye

2. Off The Wall - Michael Jackson

3. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy

4. Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder

5. Illmatic - Nas

6. Thriller - Michael Jackson

7. Catch a Fire - Bob Marley and the Wailers

8. Ready to Die - Notorious B.I.G

9. Straight Outta Compton - NWA

10. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill

Almost worse than Prine not being on there is Nas actually being on there! And I like BIG and NWA, but one of the best albums by a black artist ever? Get outta here. What about Young Gifted and Black by Aretha Franklin?

I never understand what these sorts of lists (kinda like the AFI lists) are supposed to do, but there ya have it. Nas...ugh.

Who took this poll? That's ridiculous!!!!!

Anyone ever heard of Earth Wind and Fire?????

DAMN! Why didn't tell anyone me before that Prince is Black?!

I think I'll give up on MJ too then....

laylow03 said:

Why not just congratulate him for having two albums in the top ten instead?

Music greats missing from the list:

Earth, Wind and Fire ["That's the Way of the World"]
James Brown
Aretha Franklin
Sam Cooke
Ray Charles
Miles Davis ["Kind of Blue"]
Little Richard
Tupac

There's many, many more but my brain is too fried to consider...

It'd be nice to know what demographic was polled for this list, and what the criteria was instead of having readers rely on vague assumptions. But those type of things are common for these polls. Having said that, Gaye's WGO is worthy of its place, as far as I'm concerned.

If the poll is top 10 albums by black artists, the list is illegitimate. Miles, Hendrix, James, Sly and Prince, among others, are missing.

Even if the poll is top 10 "urban" albums by black artists, it's pathetic. 5 hip-hop artists on the list? Clearly, they only polled twentysomethings and/or people who don't have great knowledge of music on the whole. Anyone who'd rank Lauryn Hill, NWA, Biggie or Nas ahead of Prince, James, Isaac Hayes, Sam Cooke, The Temps, Parliament, Aretha, EWF, Al or others in the "urban" category is literally ignorant. Woefully ignorant. The hip-hop acts listed are great hip-hop artists, but in my mind, only Public Enemy deserves the spot on that list considering the "urban" artists omitted.

What a crock.
[This message was edited Wed Jul 7 11:18:41 2004 by namepeace]

namepeace said:

Correct! The fact that Ready To Die or Lauryn Hill's ONE album beat out Purple Rain is fucking ludicrious to me!!! About five 25-30 year olds came up with this dumb ass list!!

Supernova said:

Based on the results of this poll, I'm willing to bet the demographic included Crackheads.

NAS, and Biggie. PLEASE!!
Maybe in the top 100, near the end.

Cloudbuster said:

I have to agree with this. They're supposed to be judging it based on the work, not on the creator's racial issues, real or imagined. Plus, the song "Black or White" isn't on either of those albums anyway.

Ladies and Gentlemen.
The Revolution.
Lisa, Wendy, Bobby, Mark, Matt and Prince.
[This message was edited Wed Jul 7 16:57:34 2004 by July]

This list is some bool

this is the second list today that i've seen from a source that i don't even recognize. (the other one was the Diamonds & Pearls news item). if it's a magazine/paper/website/channel/etc. that i don't even recognize the name of, then their list means nothing to me.

Another proof these lists are for wankers. Who the fuck would put even Lauryn Hill -- who is quite good -- ahead of Prince or Aretha?

alexnvrmnd said:

Heck, half the orgers on here have forgotten more about music than I know, and even I can say this list is slaw.

I don't respect a list that even acknowledges hip hop on it. I don't like blues or jazz either but least they are forms of MUSIC and deserve far more respect than hip hop. I would rather see Charlie Pride on the list than a hip hop artist.

vainandy said:

I don't agree with what you're saying, but I think you're referring to rap, not hip hop. Unless you truly mean that any hip hop isn't actual music.

"He has two albums in the Top 10, but both recorded before Jacko went so Wacko."

nobody misses the chance to throw a silly joke at him no matter how bad his life is at the moment, he is one of the bests.

unfortunately Bad is at number 42(my fave album at the moment)

The list is voted for by 100 black artists, DJ’s and music experts btw.

I'm not sure about the whole list but isnt Prince atleast in top 100?