10) All Eyez on Me : When deciding on a top ten, its always hard to select the #1 spot. But it's also really hard to decide on the #10 slot as well. Most people think that the #10 slot isn't really that good, which is a very obscene misconception. Tupac's All Eyez on Me is in my opinion, the most awaited and criticized album of all time. Most critics consider it one of the, if not the best, album of the 1990s. Released right after Tupac was bailed out of jail, there was a lot of media hype behind this album. It remains one of the top selling rap albums of all time, going NINE TIMES platinum, that's crazy.
9) Straight Outta Compton: The Godfather of all of gangsta rap albums. NWA showed just exactly what they were made of when this mind- blowing, controversy sparking, media attracting piece of art was dropped. With classic Hip Hop tracks like "Straight Outta Compton", "%*$@ the Police", and "Gangsta Gangsta", they basically took a sledgehammer to the brittle glass window that was separating the negative stereotypes thugs from Hip Hop artists. And they loved it. Every rapper gives thanks to God every night before they sleep that this album was released. Only a few artists could have the balls to do what NWA did on this album, and their work has produced one of the most respected, often replayed albums of all time.
8) The Chronic: Dr. Dre's debut album, its hard not to place this album much, MUCH higher than what I have it. Dr. Dre is easily one of the most respected men in the entire game as a producer, but many people don't realize the outstanding rap performance on this artifact of the golden age of Hip Hop. With funky, "G- Funk" beats and a really tough gangsta style tone, Dr. Dre shoved aside the hodgepodge that was known as East Coast rap and elevated the West Coast to a peak it would never reach again. "Ain't Nothing But a G Thang", a single featuring Snoop Dogg was easily the most important, pivotal song in this album, making its mark in history and still remains one of the best music videos ever produced.
7) The Diary: Scarface, King of the South. This album was released right in the midst of the rise of Nas, Biggie, Tupac, Dre, all of them. Underrated as it was, The Diary is nothing short of a masterpiece. With stunning, eye opening tracks like "Hand of the Dead Body" which really articulated the prejudice and racism in this country, Scarface was someone who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty so to speak on this album. Everything that he saw in the United States that he didn't like, he explictly stated that in this album. Recognized as a classic, it recieved top ratings from both The Source and XXL magazines. Very, very few albums achieve either one of these awards, let alone both. Its most famous for the featuring of its song "No Tears" in the hit movie, Office Space.
No comments:
Post a Comment