I would like to know your opinions on this one.

I'm working on a article for a task.. about hiphop. and i'm highlighting THE 5 essential hiphop albums..

these are my 5

Fear of a black planet - Public Enemy
3 Feet high and rising - De La soul
The low end theory - A tribe called quest
Straight outta compton - NWA
The message - Grandmaster flash and the furious five

Don't forget:

12 Inches of Snow - Snow
To The Extreme - Vanilla Ice
Goldnigga - New Power Generation (Actually I dig this album alot)

Actually:

I would have to include "The Chronic" somewhere on that list (probably in place of De La Soul) .

Eraserhead said:

Oh yes
It makes a nice change to hear about Jenny who lost her penny, Daisies, and that 3 is a magic number, as opposed to murder, drugs and sex abuse like on nearly all rap / hip hop albums that r brought out these days.

(PS Another thing I hate about these particular rap albums is that they're not even as shocking as the originals. eg NWAs efil4zaggiN was class.)

ESSENTIALS:

Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded
Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full
Nas - Illmatic
Grand Puba - Reel To Reel
Brand Nubian - One 4 All
Run DMC - Run DMC (1982)
EPMD - Strictly Business
MC Lyte - Lyte as a Rock

1. cypress hill- 1st one
2. wutang - 36 chambers
3. de la soul- 3 feet high and rising
4. pete rock and cl smooth- (the one with "reminisce")
5. epmd- strictly business

IAM said:

OH MY GOD HOW COULD I 4GET

NAS_ ILLMATIC!!!

Eraserhead said:

Bingo...a mix of New York with some of the west

add Ice T's debut with 6 In Tha Mornin

De La Soul is Dead
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Beastie Boys-Paul's Boutique
The Roots-Things Fall Apart
Run DMC-King of Rock

lovemachine said:

I know.. the chronic is also a classic. But i'd still go 4 NWA.

It's hard 2 chose only 5

For any of U Public Enemy fans, I have a size small, black hooded, knee length tour coat...PE on the left breast, target logo on the right. If anyone wants it (never been worn) make an offer.

Add these:

Cypress Hill- Black Sunday
ONYX- Bacdafukup
Eminem- The Eminem Show

JANFAN4L said:

!! 1nce again I can't believe my eyes, Janfan, as we agree on hiphop. How can we best tell people what style we like?? ie. "true school"?

(I cannot find the thread, but I also agree that Rah Digga's Dirty Harriet was intensely underrated!)

EvilWhiteMale, I do not agree with your "essential" picks. While they are um noteworthy and were successful, I think Cypress Hill's most essential album would be their self-titled one, and would make it on a list of maybe 50 essential albums but whoa not 5. Do your homework.

Do my homework, why, because my taste in music differs from yours? I have my preference and you have yours, so eat it.

Kurtis Blow
Kurtis Blow
1980 Polygram Records
The first full length LP by the first "King of Rap" Whether you are picking 5 or 55 albums, this is where you must start.



Run-D.M.C.
Raising Hell
1986 Arista
Hip-Hop crosses over. Rap's first real super group at their peak, makes this a good choice for album #2 on your list.



Public Enemy
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
1988 Def Jam
Some people will tell you to go with "Fear of a Black Planet" but "It Takes A Nation..." is pure PE chaos! The Bomb squad's sounds was born here. Some, no many, weren't ready for this. Ground-breaking, creative and funky in it's own way. PE is one of hip hop's most important acts and no album showcases Public Enemy at their radical best as does this album.


NWA
Straight Outta Compton
Priority 1988
The birth of gangsta rap. For better or good, this album changed hip hop forever. One thing that is not debatable is the tight production and dynamic personalities on this record. Dre, Cube, and Easy are all hip hop legends. Any list of important hip hop albums that excludes this is a joke.



MC Hammer
Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em
1990 Capitol
Make no mistake, Hammer has had a huge impact on Hip Hop. People like Nelly, Ja Rule and Jay-Z have benefited from Hammer opening up top 40 radio to "party" or "club" oriented rap. I think it's fitting to round out your five albums with this one. "Don't Hurt Em" brings it full circle back to Kurtis Blow with the use of live instruments and the whole party vibe Kurtis had with "The Breaks" but taken to another level. Anyone who saw Hammer live during this period can't hate on the man.



Now do I think these are the best hip hop albums ever made, outside of the PE and Run DMC albums I mentioned, no. But they are the 5 most important albums in hip hop history IMO. Everything today can be traced back to one or more of these albums. If I could have included three more they would have been Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (The Message), Whodini (Back in Black) and De La (3 Feet High) These 3 albums marked important milestones in hip hop but since you limited it to 5, I'll stand by my list above.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 24 15:45:36 PDT 2003 by intha916]

My essential hip-hop 5:

Eric B & Rakim: Follow The Leader
Boogie Down Productions: By All Means Necessary
Public Enemy: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us back
Tribe Called Quest: Low End Theory
The Roots: Do You Want More?!?!?!?
[This message was edited Thu Apr 24 18:39:53 PDT 2003 by codshort]

I can't reduce it to five, but these are my favorites (I know my list tilts heavy towards the early 90s, but this is simply the golden era or hip-hop IMHO):

PE--It Takes a Nation of Millions...
De La Soul--De La Soul is Dead
ATCQ--People's Instinctive Travels...
ATCQ--Low End Theory
Cypress Hill--Cypress Hill
Gangstarr--Daily Operation
Black Sheep--A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Pete Rock & CL Smooth--Mecca and the Soul Brother
Dr. Dre--The Chronic
Pharcyde--Bizarre Ryde...
Common Sense--Resurrection
Digable Planets--Refutation...
Nas--Illmatic
The Roots--Illadelph Halflife
Mos Def--Black on Both Sides

I'd like to put Outkast on the list... but I feel like every album they've done falls in that 4.5 star category.

BanishedBrian said:

Great list. Oh yeah.

People who know what's up know these are gems..

Diamond D - Hatred, Passion & Infidelity
Main Source - Breaking Atoms
Gang Starr - Hard To Earn
Boogie Down Productions - Edutainment
Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet
Sadat X - Wild Cowboys
De La Soul - Stakes Is High
Mobb Deep - The Infamous...
Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Mecca & The Soul Brother
Queen Latifah - All Hail The Queen
Salt N Pepa - Hot, Cool & Vicious
Whodini - Back In Black

EvilWhiteMale said:

Sorry, I was being condescending.

*pulls chair up to a plate of

BanishedBrian said:

Stankonia was very innovating and had a real experimenting sound. I think it deserves 5 stars. One of the freshest hiphop albums of the last couple of years.

Eraserhead said:

It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back -- Public Enemy

The Low End Theory -- ATCQ

Blowout Comb -- Digable Planets

Death Certificate -- Ice Cube

Ready To D.I.E. -- Notorious B.I.G.

my mind changes on this allatime.

Carmen Electra... just kidding.

MC Hammer??? Jeeezzz...

mc hammer seemed like he was gonna be cool when he dropped "Turn this mutha out" the song and video, but it all went to disney hell...

Supernova said:

ufoclub said:

Agreed. Even his dancing was better during that time.

ufoclub said:[quote]mc hammer seemed like he was gonna be cool when he dropped "Turn this mutha out" the song and video, but it all went to disney hell...[quote]

The most accurate two-sentence description of MC Hammer's career.

here are my picks.
1. geto boys- we cant be stopped (perhaps the best horror core rap album ever)
2. LL cool j- bigger and deafer (say what you will about Ll now but he was the man back in the day imo)
3. 2pac- strickly for my ... (2pac at his best imo)
4. paris- bushkiller ( this one has great beats and his lyrics cant be ignored nto that i agree with them. does anyoen ahve a copy of this album... mine is long gone. org not me if you do )
5. ice cube- death certificate (i dont think people were ready for cubes lyrical assaults on this one) peace all

Lords of the Underground- Here come the Lords
Ice T- Original Gangsta
Wu Tang Clan- Return to the 36 Chambers
Pharcyde- Bizzare Ride 2 The Pharcyde
Redman- The Whut

ATCQ - the Low End Theory
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
Common - Like Water for Chocolate
The Roots - Things Fall Apart
De La Soul - Stakes Is High
Tupac - All Eyez On Me

On a longer list, I'd include more ATCQ, De La, PE... as well as old stuff like Run DMC, Grand Master Flash, Afrika Bambaataa etc.

Actually now that I think of it... "There's a Poison Goin' On" is actually Public Enemy's greatest album. I know the other albums are classics, but Poison for me is their strongest musically and lyrically.