On another forum I frequent, a member asked

'I've been listening to a bit of the old hip-hop recently and didn't think we had a good thread about the real essentials. The stuff everyone should have. There is this one down in Classic Threads, but it's more an examination of the genre's appeal, and doesn't go into so much depth about key records and so on. That's what I want to do here: there's loads of stuff I don't know about. So, trying to avoid a few hip-hop thread clichés - ignorant bollocks about it all being violent and misogynistic, middle-aged white guys trying to get away with using modern black slang - what would you say are the records anyone who's interested should own?'

So far, the usual suspects are being thrown up, but I think the demographic of this forum is a little different so I'd be interested in you guys opinion on this...

Tupac Shakur - Me Against The World

2-Pac doesn't seem to get a lot of love round here, but there's no denying this album as a classic. Lyrically it's one of the greatest rap albums of all time, and though the production isn't the greatest, it's certainly serviceable, and Pac puts so much into the delivery that it doesn't matter if the beat is slightly weak. Good use of samples, great flow, lyrical genius, don't think you can ask for much more with your hop hop albums. 'So Many Tears' is a personal highlight.

Nas - It Was Written

Awesome follow up to the equally good but much more talked about Illmatic. This is crediting with starting the whole mafia style rap thing for a while. From the moment he samples himself for the first chorus to the hymn like finish of 'I Ruled The World' this is a stellar piece of music.

Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt

Definitely Jay's best effort, really mellow at parts and he is the consummate wordsmith, reaching heights with his rhymes that he would never match. Amazing to think he didn't even write any of it down. Has funky stuff like 'Ain't No Nigga' interspersed with the tales of gangster street life.

Mobb Deep - The Infamous

Dark and moody masterpiece, the drawled delivery and atmosphere of trouble run throughout, it's a little long but it's one of the rap albums I feel like playing the most, especially if I'm in a bad mood.

Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner

Probably the only UK hip hop classic, grimy industrial sounding beats, angry delivery of lines about violence and one night stands and all the other things that define the disgruntles inner city London youth.

^some good albums, but I'm assuming most/all of those would qualify as usual suspects

I would guess the OP is looking for stuff more like Main Source/Black Sheep/etc.

Deej/Midnite Vulture to thread

Yeah, they are all fairly widely regarded, I can't really help with rarer 'forgotten classics' as I'm not an avid enough follower of the genre. It's still my second favorite though, behind EDM.

Listen to KMD.

yeah

Souls of Mischief- '93 to Infinity

Fishscale.
Hell Hath No Fury.
A Grand Don't Come For Free.
Late Registration.
Blueprint III.
DangerDoom.

what, no asleep in the bread aisle?

The usual suspects that cropped up immediately were:

PE
Wu Tang / Ghostface / GZA / Raekwon
Quest
Beasties
De La Soul
Run-DMC

Main Source's Splitting Atoms turned up when a more in tune member arrived to the thread.

The Black Sheep name is new to me, tell me more...

Thanks, the only one of those previously suggested was Mobb Deep.

On BCB, the members were going for Illmatic from Nas. As a board originating in the UK I'm surprised nobody has gone for Dizzee so far...

Mr. Hood had been suggested, I'll have to investigate...

I'm honestly not trying to be a dick here, but this seems pretty awful to me. An "Essential Rock 'n Roll" thread or "Essential Pop" thread would get laughed at, no? "Hip Hop" is a pretty broad category, and to list the essential albums is to marginalize it, cheapen it, in the sense that we're implying it's a slight enough genre that its important shit can just be listed in some message board thread. Could be I'm just being obtuse, so I'm open to hearing a good counter here, but Hip-Hop is a deep enough genre at this point - with tons of variation - that we should probably be discussing albums through a finer screen - styles, locales, etc. - rather than lumping everything into an amorphous mass.

Regardless, deej to thread.

Where the original question came from I guess is pointing someone in the right direction to build a collection?

Many folks have some hip hop in their collection, but as you rightly point out the genre is so deep, that it's a minefield as to where to go after you've got to grips with PE, Quest or Wu-Tang.

Discussing through a finer screen would be really interesting. Looking at my iTunes I tend to group through Abstract, East Coast, West Coast, Southern, Instrumental etc.

I'm happy to be educated as to where to venture further.

Yeah I think you're being a bit obtuse. Guy in the OP sounds like he would earnestly appreciate a starting point, not a treatise on No Limit Records or delineations of the Diggin' in the Crates scene.

I know we spend a lot of time maligning canons around here but they have their uses.

^good point. FTR, wasn't trying to malign the canon. I know very little about rap/hip-hop, etc. and could probably learn a lot from this thread. And any point I might've had was pretty well negated by John_K's statement that this thread came from the place of someone trying to build a collection. Sometimes forget what it's like to just be curious.

I'd quite like to see one actually.

Don't think this thread is redundant, there are genres people generally avoid and then want to get into, and need suggestions. Yes, Hip Hop is a broad category but it has a canon and hopefully if everyone chips in you get a wide spectrum of suggestions to listen to, and can work from there into the stuff you most like.

absolutely absolutely absolutely

Gang Starr is essential hip hop.

Black Bastards is excellent, too. I've also been playing Kurious - A Constipated Monkey lately. That CM Crew stuff is great "classic" sounding early '90s East Coast hip hop. Probably would work for somebody who digs Main Source... or maybe that comparison is completely off, I don't know.

Raj's first post on page one made me associate this thread with that general sound/era but I guess that's just my tastes and not anything specified in the OP.

Slum Village, DJ Quik, UGK, Camp Lo, those are good artists. Essential, even. And then there's modern sounding radio ready hip hop from the '00s, which is as worthy as the more canonized artists. Albums in that vein that I've enjoyed include 50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin', David Banner - MTA2: Baptized In Dirty Water, and Young Jeezy - The Recession.

This is still a genre that I'm completely clueless about, though. Deej taught me everything I know and he likes the Beatnuts.

end of discussion....

dj quik is a strong suggestion. essential artists within hip hop really need to include dudes like prince paul, who really sketched a lot of the blueprints for hip hop, moved between street rap and socially conscious realms.

as far as modern stuff goes, i'd suggest bubba sparxx's deliverance as a really important, but mostly overlooked album. moreso than any of eminem's albums. also, a lot of the minor figures within the rocafella scene, like beanie siegel and freeway put out really great, but totally forgotten albums between 2000-2009.

if you really want to know the genre, read up on it. jeff chang's can't stop won't stop is a good primer, and third coast by roni sarig is a pretty great overview of the history of southern rap, which is just as important to what rap is now, as the traditional coastal narrative.

Cee Lo

Slum Village

Dillanthology Vol. 1

some good stuff but i should be ridiculed for my lack of knowledge

MMMM FOOD is great

i don't like madvillainy a whole lot..overrated imo

madlib is great though

great summer music, all of the above

king geedorah makes great beats and that album is good

Don't know if I would consider this 'essential' but it kicks the shit out of the rest of the Doom catalog, imo.

I'd consider Donuts - J Dilla to be pretty essential as far as instrumental hip-hop goes.

You might want to check out some of the Pharcyde catalog as well.

Who Is Mike Jones? is legitimately excellent for the most part, IMHO.

Not at all kidding:




Best of the decade? Well, it's certainly my favorite.

Word to my grandma he one bad mamajamma- damn

the shit

eric b and rakim- paid in full
casual- fear itslef
Digable Planets- blowout comb
digital underground- sex packets
devon the dude- the dude
eminem- slim shady lp/ marshal mathers lp
ugk- ridin dirty
slick rick- great adventures of slick rick
prince paul- a prince among thieves
Brand Nubian- One For All

other de la like De La soul is Dead, AOI Bionix, Stakes is High, and Buhloone Mind State

Good call, I have the Chang book on my shelves, and dip into it from time to time, but with other distractions I'm struggling to get into it...

Mixtapes seem important now within the hip hop community, and I notice collaborations with some of the bigger names to produce these.

Any recommendations for notable ones?

One of my personal favourites that doesn't seem to get much discussion...

Clipse - We Got It 4 Cheap series
Diplomats - Vol. 1-3
Max B & French Montana - Coke Wave, Cocaine Trafficking
Fabulous - There Is No Competition 1-2
Gucci Mane - The Movie 1-11
Joe Budden - Mood Muzik 2
Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3, Dedication II
etc

essential

Beasties?

Paul's Boutique has been suggested to me, would you go further?