Ok i think we can all agree on 3 certified classics:

in addition to these compact, coneptualized LPs that certainly had an influence one way or another on hip hop and rappers.

any additions are welcomed

but over all don't this look like a much better decade for hip hop than the 00s or the 90s?? The evolution is crazy, everyone is embracing this particular medium as an unapologetic, uncompromising form of self-expression. Tyler the Creator basically created the very first LGBT Rap album with Flower Boy, The Death Grips inspired a whole generation of industrial hip hop musicians, including Kanye himself... The art form never had a better cultural and social exposure than in the last 8 years.

Hip-Hop has at most 2 or 3 classic albums this decade. 4:44 ain't one of them. GKMC and TF for sure. TPAB, maybe. Everything else is just stuff you like.

The best album by a rapper this decade does not count, because he decided to sing and thank God he did. Awaken my love by Childish Gambino was the greatest thing done since Prince's untimely passing. And come on, his America joint is all that.

RJOrion said:

those might be YOUR favorites, but theres no "classics" in that list...

Agree to disagree; GKMC is a classic and as good or better than many "classics" from years past. I feel TYFYS could be too.

No classics here, especially for the legacy artists who already have real classics.

But you need to add the following - Straight outta Compton, Strictly 4 my Niggaz, Doggystyle, the Chronic and the best rap album of all time - Ready to Die, biggie baby baby.

what the hell is Money Store

Purplegarden said:

RJOrion said:

the meaning of "classic album" seems to have changed over the years....especially as it pertains to hiphop lps... albums like "Illmatic", or "Only Built 4 Cuban Links", or "Blueprint" are the hiphop standards for classics...hasnt been a hiphop lp with the same sort of universal acclaim (critical & commercial) in several years

Seems to me that this thread reveals a generational split.

Many albums, like Illmatic and Cuban Linx, were instant classics when they dropped in the 90's, while many of the heads that revere them were in their teens and 20s. We're harder on the albums that come along now.

Even though it's only 5 years old, GKMC has been universally acclaimed, sold well, launched K.Dot into superstardom, and stacks up well against a lot of the "classics" any of us could name. As an older head who doesn't listen to much of the product these days, I can hear K-Dot's first album and say that he would be a great MC in any era.

[Edited 9/11/18 9:46am]

Cinny said:

what the hell is Money Store

oh. Death Grips. (Snore)

I basically skipped right over Freddie Gibbs' Pinata too, and bought Madlib's Pinata Beats.

I enjoyed Tribe. Not their worst, not their best.

I don't go back and listen to Kanye's albums like a normal classic. I don't find there is much to chew on. Zero mystique in his beats. They were anticipated and eventful at the time, but they are disposable. I liked his 2000s albums more than any of those.

Tyler the Creator basically created the very first LGBT Rap album with Flower Boy

Unfortunately, he did very little to appeal to LGBT listeners. (I would know!)

Cinny said:

I basically skipped right over Freddie Gibbs' Pinata too, and bought Madlib's Pinata Beats.

I enjoyed Tribe. Not their worst, not their best.

I don't go back and listen to Kanye's albums like a normal classic. I don't find there is much to chew on. Zero mystique in his beats. They were anticipated and eventful at the time, but they are disposable. I liked his 2000s albums more than any of those.

Agree, College Dropout and Late registration are amazing stuff, so much promise (I'll never flip sides like Annikin).

Colleg Dropout & Late Registration are great albums...Late Registration is arguably a "classic"

Purplegarden said:

But you need to add the following - Straight outta Compton, Strictly 4 my Niggaz, Doggystyle, the Chronic and the best rap album of all time - Ready to Die, biggie baby baby.

For me, it's "36 Chambers" & "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back"

Nothing I've heard post-2000 comes close.

uPtoWnNY said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Purplegarden said:

But you need to add the following - Straight outta Compton, Strictly 4 my Niggaz, Doggystyle, the Chronic and the best rap album of all time - Ready to Die, biggie baby baby.

For me, it's "36 Chambers" & "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back"

Nothing I've heard post-2000 comes close.

Nation of Millions is the greatest hip-hop album ever made.

uPtoWnNY said:

Purplegarden said:

But you need to add the following - Straight outta Compton, Strictly 4 my Niggaz, Doggystyle, the Chronic and the best rap album of all time - Ready to Die, biggie baby baby.

For me, it's "36 Chambers" & "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back"

Nothing I've heard post-2000 comes close.

I agree, and just remember that "Fear of a Black Planet" is nothing to be sneezed at either.

RJOrion said:

the meaning of "classic album" seems to have changed over the years....especially as it pertains to hiphop lps... albums like "Illmatic", or "Only Built 4 Cuban Links", or "Blueprint" are the hiphop standards for classics...hasnt been a hiphop lp with the same sort of universal acclaim (critical & commercial) in several years

Um, where were you when TF, GKMC, and TPAB released?? Each one of those albums is sitting at over 90 on metacritic for both user and critic scores. With TPAB actually being the highest rated album in rap history on the site. Acclaim aside, each one of those albums significantly impacted the game, with Kendrick re-introducing the idea that a mainstream rapper can be technically impressive, have mass appeal, but still release conceptual albums to touch people.

Sure, you may like Illmatic, OB4CL, etc more, but to say TF and TPAB, which are on the list, aren't classics, is crazy when they meet the standards of quality, acclaim, impact, and longevity.

i don't know some of these by the album covers alone. so help please. and some of u didn't pay attention to the time period being discussed. PE of course still tops my list but this isn't an "all time" thread. again, help identifying the non-obvious albums. thx

Yeah what happened, did lazy lyrics lead to forgetting to put names and titles on the covers too?

Dakarai said:

Purplegarden said:

Cinny said:

I basically skipped right over Freddie Gibbs' Pinata too, and bought Madlib's Pinata Beats.

I enjoyed Tribe. Not their worst, not their best.

I don't go back and listen to Kanye's albums like a normal classic. I don't find there is much to chew on. Zero mystique in his beats. They were anticipated and eventful at the time, but they are disposable. I liked his 2000s albums more than any of those.

Agree, College Dropout and Late registration are amazing stuff, so much promise (I'll never flip sides like Annikin).

I lump Graduation and 808s & Heartbreaks in there too. I see why people wanted to get into the next one (My Beautiful....), but to me it is severely overrated. Perhaps it is just aesthetically easier to argue.

RJOrion said:

Dakarai said:

Um, where were you when TF, GKMC, and TPAB released?? Each one of those albums is sitting at over 90 on metacritic for both user and critic scores. With TPAB actually being the highest rated album in rap history on the site. Acclaim aside, each one of those albums significantly impacted the game, with Kendrick re-introducing the idea that a mainstream rapper can be technically impressive, have mass appeal, but still release conceptual albums to touch people.

Sure, you may like Illmatic, OB4CL, etc more, but to say TF and TPAB, which are on the list, aren't classics, is crazy when they meet the standards of quality, acclaim, impact, and longevity.

im very familiar with all those joints u listed...theyre not bad albums...they have moments of goodness and maybe even a few moments of greatness...but the critics u reference are just reflecting what is obvious to the time tested hiphop scholars and students...the bar has CLEARLY been lowered...

The flip side is also true. Let's not overrate the albums that came before.

Take, for example, what used to be considered the bible of hip-hop, The Source. They had published their 100 greatest albums of all time around the end of the 90's. Variations of that list have been published online, but let's take this one.

https://www.listchallenge...rap-albums

Do you really think that all 100 albums on this (dated) list, most of which are considered classics, are superior to GKMC or TPAB? Or even MBDTF? I can't. It's quite possible that the old heads are overvaluing the albums of the past at the expense of the new standouts.

I don't think the bar has been lowered. I just think fewer acts out there have cleared it this decade.

I fucking love that Source list. Those are all still classics, especially regionally.

namepeace says

"I don't think the bar has been lowered. I just think fewer acts out there have cleared it this decade"

--------------------------------

i can definitely soften my stance to agree with this, but that Source list is loaded up with classic joints...i aint mad at it at all...

Cinny said:

I fucking love that Source list. Those are all still classics, especially regionally.

As an old head whose wheelhouse is about 1984-1998, I agree.

I think a few of the albums Shawy listed, though, would beat out at least some of these albums on a 2018 list.

I go back n forth w/ Yeezus, but a few tracks from it r out of this world dope , in fact every song has their "charms". I've been revisiting it as of most recently (am bumping I'm In It atm ) n don't know if it's a "classic", but I think it's damn good . DAMN by Kendrick is awesome also, don't forget that 1 .