May 1, 2025

Checking out a couple albums tomorrow, and I think one of them is going to make @Minato very happy...

 

Apr 29, 2025

215. Joey Bada$$ - 1999 (2012) [April 29th, 2025]

1999 holds a strange place when it compared to early 2010's rap projects. Records like Live.Love.A$AP, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Take Care etc. are still commonly talked about and revered today because of how they pioneered the greater hip-hop sound. 1999 does the opposite, as it very clearly harkens back to an earlier 90's-2000's era of primarily boom bap beats and atmosphere. While this definitely serves as one of the projects strong points, I do think that it might've hurt Joey's mainstream-appeal, but I'll go into that later.

Rap-wise, Joey and the rest of Pro Era are great on this record. STEEZ absolutely shines on "Survival Tactics" and tracks like "Snakes" and "Suspect" contain some incredible verses from everybody involved. 1999 also shines in its production. Seriously, Statik Selektah, MF DOOM, J DILLA!!!! This project has an incredible atmosphere, and its a great throwback to the 90's era of hip-hop...

...but I feel like being a great throwback to the 90's era of hip-hop might've slightly hurt Joey's career. I started feeling this way after he dropped "The Ruler's Back" last year, but despite being an absolutely killer MC, it feels like Joey's at a strange place compared to other rappers. Artists like Kendrick, Rocky, Danny etc. feel like they've made a much greater impact, even though Joey's been around for about the same amount of time. I probably could've worded this better, but despite Joey's strange place in modern hip-hop, I still think that 1999 is a great project, and a must-listen when it comes to the early 2010's era of hip-hop

 

Apr 21, 2025

Rap God? d---, you're right, its about time I check out a NAV record

 

Apr 21, 2025

189. Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992) [April 21st, 2025]

The album that pioneered, and shot G-Funk through the mainstream. The Chronic holds a very special place in Dre's greater discography. The sound is much funkier than his Ruthless Records era prod, but it still isn't "futuristic" like 2001.

In a lot of ways, The Chronic feels much more like a blueprint for an entire subgenre, than a full on solo album. Basically all of Snoop's appearances are great, and the rest of the Death Row roster does a great job as well. I gotta give special shout outs to Kurupt and RBX, who absolutely k--- tracks like "The Day The Niggaz Took Over" and my favorite track on the record, "Stranded on Death Row."

I also have to single out "Lil Ghetto Boy" which is by far the saddest track on the record. The whole track feels very juxtaposed with the rest of the record, which is especially notable since it comes right before "A n----- Witta Gun".

There are very few negatives with this album thankfully. I do think that it is strange that the entire project ends with Jewell rapping about how great she is at sucking d----s, but its nothing too major. Overall, The Chronic is a defining hip-hop record, and there's no denying that its one of the most influential albums ever/

 

Apr 13, 2025

My spellcheck is so bad that "yet" turned into "yeat" istg

 

Apr 2, 2025

129. GZA - Liquid Swords (1995) [April 2nd, 2025]

OB4CL has always been my favorite Wu solo album from the 36 Chambers - WTF era, but recently, Liquid Swords has been catching up!!! RZA's production is top notch as always, and GZA is f---ing AWESOME. Classic song after classic song. "Liquid Swords" "Living In The World Today" "4th Chamber" "Shadowboxin" dear God. Gotta give a quick shout out to Killah Priest's "B.I.B.L.E.", which has some of my favorite opening lines to any rap song ever.

"Knowledge this wisdom, this goes back when I was 12
I loved doing right but I was trapped in h---"

 

Mar 31, 2025

125. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata (2014) [March 31st, 2025]

I usually don't rank albums on here, but this is a 10. No doubt about it. Only complaint I have is that the skit at the end of Robes goes on too long. Aside from that? Masterpiece, Hip-Hop Classic etc. etc.

 

Mar 26, 2025

100. Weezer - Pinkerton (1996) [March 26th, 2025]

Pinkerton is an album that I have listened to so much, that I've stayed away from it for a while. At only 35 minutes, the record is jampacked with Weezer's best. As much as I like Blue, this is their best album in my view. The simultaneously relatable/cringeworthy lyrics, the darker sound compared to its predecessor, its incredible. Is it a perfect album though?? Not really. I feel like adding some of the bonus tracks like Tragic Girl and Devotion into the main album could boost it up a bit, and "Why Bother?" is a tad too short for my taste. Still, this is an amazing record, and one of my all time favorites. Even though the band has dropped great records after it, (especially EWBAITE, White and OK Human) the fact that Rivers strayed away from this type of songwriting after the album's initial reaction is truly saddening.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank everybody who's kept up with this thread so far, especially @DiggleDogg69, @Allis Mines , @Jimmy Jazz and @Minato (an Em album is going on here eventually, I promise).

 

Mar 11, 2025

50. Danny Brown - --- (2011) [March 11th, 2025]

50 Albums In!!!! I view --- kinda like how I feel about Mobb Deep's Infamous. Even though they're both sophomore albums, they exhibit their respective artists in a more "fully-formed" way than their debuts. There's always been tracks on here that I revisit frequently, but I really enjoyed songs like "Monopoly" and "Detroit187" this time around. Surprising to see that Paul White produced 3 tracks on here considering that he's one of the reasons I enjoy AE so much. Great record

 

Mar 11, 2025

49. Jay Electronica - A Written. Testimony (2020) [March 11th, 2025]

Similarly to LUV's Eternal Atake, this albums reminds me of the last few weeks before COVID really shook things up. I think its a great album. Sure, Hov is on it a lot, but as a fan, I'm not complaining. Stellar production, and some incredible tracks. "Ghost of Soulja Slim" "Flux Capacitor". And of course there's "A.P.I.D.T.A"... such a sad closer for this record. Incredible track. I wasn't one of the people who had to wait 10+ years for a proper Jay Elec record, so I can't really speak on if it lived up to the hype or not, but I like it a lot personally.

 

Mar 5, 2025

26. The Avalanches - Since I Left You (2000) [March 4th, 2025]

Incredible record. It never fails to put a smile on my face.

 

Mar 3, 2025

19. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (2010) [March 3rd, 2025]

Did Demon Days last week, so I bumped PB again. Great f---ing album, my fav from the band by far.