Recently, I've started listening to my CDs a lot more. It wasn't a conscious decision; rather it was something that I had to start doing out of necessity.
One of the first things that I noticed about Austin after moving here: no sports radio. Specifically, no ESPN radio. So with no Mike & Mike to listen to on the way to work, and no Galloway and Company to hear on the way home that automatically eliminated any chance whatsoever that I would be listening to the radio. At least until I finally get Sirius.
So that meant that I was relegated to listening to my music. In and of itself, that was nothing new. I listen to music all the time, at home, on the go and in the car. But that was far and away music that I had compiled together myself. At home, it was on my computer. On the go, it was off of my iPod. In the car, I'd listen to mp3 CDs that I'd put together. But that last option isn't currently available to me anymore. In my previous car, I had an mp3 CD player so I could just throw a hundred-something songs onto a CD and be content for a while. But now I have a new car that doesn't have that. And the CD player is one of those funky sizes that prevents me from just going to Tweeter and replacing it.
So with all of these options unavailable to me, I have had no choice but to actually listen to good ol' fashioned, original, artist-made albums. And doing so has caused me to realize something: there are some good albums out there. I also realized something else: there aren't that many.
What I mean is this: there are some talented musical artists in the world. Some of these talented artists are at times able to put together a few quality verses. Sometimes those quality verses are able to be matched with truly great sounds. And sometimes that combination of words and sounds turn into great songs. But to do that several times on one compact disc...that is truly a rare feat. Some of my favorite artists have never, in my opinion, put out a CD that is truly great from beginning to end. So what I want to do now is acknowledge five CDs that I think truly are great. And even though I titled this The Greatest Albums Ever, that's not really accurate. I'm only counting albums that have been released since I was old enough to truly appreciate it at the time of its release. So no Thriller here. And neither am I counting greatest hits or best of compilations, which is why Bob Marley's Legend, etc doesn't make it.
(By the way, I was originally going to title this post The Greatest Hip Hop Albums Ever. But then I realized that, for me, that'd be redundant.)
1992, The Pharcyde, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde
I've said before that more so than anyone else, Freestyle Fellowship deserves credit for spearheading the underground hip hop movement. And while I still believe that, it was their Project Blowed brethren that I feel actually put out the best quality product. The fact that this album did not go multiplatinum is truly a travesty. This is the only album I've ever heard where I can listen to all the skits over and over again and still enjoy them. It was also probably the first album I heard where not only do the emcees not take themselves seriously, they are actually self-deprecating. And the chemistry between all four of them cannot be touched; from Fatlip's more traditional flow to Slim Kid Tre's singsongy style to the helium-inflected voices of Imani and Booty Brown, it all just comes together perfectly.
1994, Nas, Illmatic
This was the first street album that I heard that made me really pay attention to what was being said there. Prior to this, I pretty much stuck exclusively to more abstract stuff like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Outkast, etc. Sure, I dug Scarface and I liked a few songs from The Chronic, but Nas grabbed my attention in a way that neither 'Face nor Dr. Dre had been able. I actually listened to what he had to say and I felt that, in some respects, I understood and could relate. Even if I maybe really couldn't.
1996, De La Soul, Stakes is High
In 1995 I got my undergrad degree in hip hop from LPG's The Earthworm. A year later, De La Soul gave me my Ph.D. This album was different from anything they'd done in the past. They weren't being goofy, they weren't acting silly, they weren't making jokes. They were...pissed off. Hip hop was going commercial and...They. Did. Not. Like. It. This album helped open my eyes to the difference between the culture and the business. It also helps that this album introduced the world to Mos Def and contains my favorite ever verse from Common on "The Bizness."
1999, Soundbombing II
This is simply the greatest mixtape ever released. First is the fact that it's a collection of some of the greatest emcees from all over the country on one album. Not only are they all great, but they're very diverse in their techniques and subject matter. Eminem, Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Common are all here before the mainstream media really knew who any of them were. Second, it was put out by a label, Rawkus, that knew enough to leave these guys alone and let them all do their thing. Finally, and most importantly, it was all tied together by two world-class DJs: J-Rocc and DJ Babu of the World Famous Beat Junkies. I don't know how long I'd had this album or how many times I'd listened to it before it dawned on me: "Wait a second, none of these tracks have anything to do with one another." But because the DJs laced it together so tightly with dope mixing and even doper scratching, I had never noticed. And frankly, even when I did, it didn't matter. Probably the most startling thing about this album is how much it stood out. Soundbombings I pales in comparison and Soundbombing III just plain sucks. I'll never understand why Rawkus didn't allow J-Rocc and Babu back for the third one.
2002, Blackalicious, Blazing Arrow
I liked Nia. I thought it was a fairly good album by a fairly good dj/mc combination. But nothing there prepared me for the transedence that is Blazing Arrow. Although I consider this to be the best hip hop album of the 21st centtury, tt's unfair to limit this to the genre of "hip hop" because it is so much more. It blends so many different styles that there really is no name for it. If I had to think of one adjective to describe it, it would be the inadequate word "soulful." What's probably most interesting to me about Blackalicious is that their next album, The Craft, is probably Blazing Arrow's equal. I give BA the edge though because it was much more revolutionary upon its release.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH2bqTc88ns
I can already think of one album that I wished I could have listed. So I may be doing this again soon...
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
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