I forgot to mention the first lp by the

Ghetto Boys

jbchavez said:

oh hell yeah, that shit was hot back in high school, may be a bit negative for most listeners though.....

Some of my favorites:

Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded
EPMD - Unfinished Business
Tori Fixx - The Mochasutra
Soce, The Elemental Wizard - I'm In My Own World
Lost Boyz - Legal Drug Money
Queen Latifah - Black Reign / All Hail The Queen
Grand Puba - 2000
Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather / Run DMC (1983)
Frankie Cutlass - Politics & Bulls--t
Rah Digga - Dirty Harriet
MC Lyte - Lyte as a Rock
Nas - Illmatic
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead

etc. etc. etc.

Oh, man...hearing some of these record titles really takes me back. My best friend and I loved De La Soul in high school. When did 3 Feet High and Rising come out? '89? '90? I know that we were the only two white girls in school that knew who they were!

And I feel a little ashamed saying this, but my sister and I used to love Too Short. He's a big cuss mouth and puts down women, but for some reason, we used to blast his tape out of my car in '89-'90.

Soulchild82 said:

Summed up right there!

Common - "Like Water for Chocolate"
This album is one that I can listen to without a skipping one song. It's truly a classic and i can't wait for Common's next album to drop later this year.

Kanye West - "College Dropout"
Being that he is with Rocafella, I thought that he would talk about the usual, Money, Cars, Clothes, Pussy, Beating Asses, Slinging, Hustling. But its all about everyday life, and i can get with that. Especially college life since i'm in college right now. This album should go down in the history books.

Wu Tang Clan - "Enter the 36 Chambers"
Truly a masterpiece. These guys were the only ones with a different flow lyrics that i had ever heard of at the time. 9 guys rapping and there wasn't one that stood out more than the other (when they first came out) all of them were equally talented...that is until Method Man and ODB became headliners.

Jay-Z - "Reasonable Doubt"
Yeah he talks about the usual, money cash and hoes, but hey this album was a classic. The beats, the flow...he was just different. His style was sharper than any one else's in the game. You gotta give Jay his props.

sinisterpentatonic said:

Blackstar's album is off tha muthafuckin' chain! I'm still addicted to Mackavelli eight years later. Damn, did I miss the anniversary of Pac's passing?

my favorites

Public Enemy - fear of a black planet
Public Enemy - It takes a nation of millions
Public Enemy - Yo! Bum rush the show!
Public Enemy - Apocalyps 91: the enemy strikes black
A tribe called quest - the low end theory
A tribe called quest - peoples instinctive travels and the paths of rhythm
De La Soul - 3 feet high and rising
Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
Ol' Dirty Bastard - return to the 36 chambers: the dirty version
Ice T - OG Original Gangster
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
NWA - Straight outta Compton
Dr Dre - The Chronic
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message
Beastie Boys - Pauls Boutique
Outkast - Stankonia
Notorious BIG - Ready to die
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
Skee-Lo - I wish

Tom said:

D'oh! Sex Packets is one of my favorite albums, not just hip-hop. I think about selling my record collection sometimes, but never that one.

Some of my favorite bests...

Kool Keith - Lost In Space/Black Elvis

Dr Octogon - Dr Octogonycologist

1. COLD AS ICE!!! (Vanilla Ice ... nah just kidding)
2. EASY DUZ IT (Easy E)
3. Loc-ed after Dark (Tone Loc)
4. All Meat No Filler: Best of the Fat Boys (Fat Boys)
5. Raising Hell (Run DMC)

... hey what was the name of that really awesome movie the Fat Boys did a long time ago???

jerseykrs said:

:huh2: eye want cds

okaypimpn said:

gotta disagree with 2 of your choices. Nastradamus was Nas worst LP. In comparison to Illmatic and some of his later work (gods son , Stillmatic). It had a song with ginuwine for cryin out loud. and JayZ BP2. It would have been better as a single LP too much filler. All the others a classics.

I will reiterate some recommendations by top-notch hip-hop artists that you might not typically think of as starting points:

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders --> I have all of Tribe's albums (I even have Kamaal the Abstract), and this is the place to start with them. They put all the pieces together most interestingly and cohesively on this album.

De La Soul - Stakes Is High --> By far my favorite of their albums. This was partially due to the fact that at the time, they were as frustrated with the messages and imagery permeating rap music as I was, and they said practically everything I would have said given a mouthpiece and an audience.

Digable Planets - Blowout Comb --> As much as I love Reachin', I think I like their second album even better.

Eric B. & Rakim - Follow The Leader --> Rakim is IMO the best lyricist to ever touch a mic in the history of rap, and he claimed his crown with this release. He was never tighter and more consistent during his career with Eric B. -- there is one incredible track after another here.

I'd like to recommend a couple of projects that may have already been mentioned here:

Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death --> I absolutely love this 2-CD set. Biggie is his most potent here, and considering its running time, the project is startingly strong.

Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night --> Sure, these guys gave us the party banger 'Luchini (AKA This Is It)', but they had a lyrical flow and style all their own -- truly a breath of fresh air when they came out in '97. They should be huge right now! Butterfly (of Digable Planets) was one of the guest MC's on this project.
[Edited 9/15/04 22:46pm]

I can't believe I forgot about this one.

This is definately deserving of being on a list of top rap lps ever made

The D.O.C.

No One Can Do it Better

Soulchild82 said:[quote]

okaypimpn said:

Nastradamus was Nas's most poetic album and as far as Blueprint 2 is concerned, it's like the perfect double rap album. Anyone else who would try to pull off something like this would just end up looking stupid.

Some of my all-time fav. hip-hop albums:

Gang Starr - Hard to earn
Common - Like Water for Chocolate + Electric Circus
The Roots - any album

You should check out www.okayplayer.com too for some great stuff too!!!

ENJOY!

SEX PACKETS----DIGITAL UNDERGROUND
PUBLIC ENEMY---IT'S TAKES A NATION
ICE CUBE----LETHAL INJECTION

todd305 said:

It's scary how much I agree with you on these three. Stakes is hip-hop's best protest record since Fear of a Black Planet. De La, with the help of Common and the Mighty Mos Def, were like prophets crying out in the wilderness before the plague of the bling era, and unfortunately, few listened.

Blowout Comb is hip-hop's neglected masterpiece. It combines the best elements of hip-hop -- fierce politics, pride in one's roots, and slammin' beats -- in a fantastic avant-garde package. This is my second-favorite hip-hop album ever (hence the avvie).

Uptown Saturday Night: Can't add anything. You nailed it.