While we recover from the collective circle jerk that has been celebrating Nas’ first album, let us consider some long forgotten rap essentials that should be mandatory listening to any music fans under 25 in order that they don’t repeat the same mistakes from the past and understand what good rap music should sound like.
I’ll set it off and suggest Akinyele‘s Vagina Diner for starters…
OK – Stress: The Extinction Agenda
Hard Knocks – School Of Hard Knocks
Scarface – Mr Scarface Is Back
The first schoolly d album & main source “breaking atoms” with an additional disc of instrumentals + remixes.
Do you think the young people even pay attention to all these 25th anniversary, hip-hop classic, documentary retrospective special reissue stuff, or is just us old folk entertaining ourselves?
@Werner von Wallenrod, sadly, mostly us old folks entertaining ourselves.
Any Gang starr album (except “No Mr Nice Guy” which by the way is 25 years old!!) or Jeru the Damaja’s primo produced albums. ATCQ’s “midnight marauders” or “low end theory”. For west coast’s soon to be forgotten classics, I’d add one Alkaholiks album (too many dope albums to mention)
Apart from anything else, this needs to happen so the youngins know that golden era hiphop is more than the same 10 fucking albums
PRT – Black Business
Digital Underground – Sons of The P
Nice & Smooth – Ain’t A Dam Thing Changed
Digable Planets – Blowout Comb (not just baiting Robbie either)
Mistser me and dj 20/20 let me explain….diamond d passions hatred and infidelity the chosen ones album all the king tee albums deadly threat siccindahead that knucklehedz album that never dropped in 93 …..
That Knuckleheadz album did drop cuz I got a copy! It’s not that good…
Hijack – The Horns Of Jericho
plus any Gunshot LP
big mello – bone hard zaggin
EPMD – Business as Usual
pete rock & cl smooth main ingredient ta mention one only…
O.C. – Word… Life
Showbiz & AG – Runaway Slave. And the Soul Clap EP too. Not listed as one of the downloadable albums on DITC’s new website. Heads need to know that record front to back.
Dare Iz A Darkside – Redman
19 Naughty III – Naughty By Nature
Stunts Blunts & HipHop – Diamond D
Amerikkka’s Most Wanted – Ice Cube
Guerillas In The Mist by Da Lench Mob with “Pin The Tail On The Honkey” bonus cut.
Boogie Down Productions- CRIMINAL MINDED !!!
Wise Intelligent – Killin U for Fun
Dougie Fresh – Play
Illegal – The Untold Truth
Bahamadia – Kollage
Keith Murray – Enigma
Fat Joe – Jealous One’s Envy
Special Ed – Revelations
Common – Resurrection
godfather don–hazardous
Nice & Smooth -ST
Organized Kunfusion-ST
Anything Cold Chillin
MF Grimm-Scars and Memories
Anything Native Tongues
All the Rawkus, Fondle Em, and Dolo singles god damn it
Raekwon “Only built for Cuban Linx”
Wu Tang ” 36 chambers”
M-O-B-B ” The infamous”
Black Moon “Enta da stage”
Company Flow “Funcrusher plus”
Smif n Wessun-Dah Shinin
D.O.C – no one can do it better
Geto Boys – The Geto Boys
PHD “Without Warning”
Organized debut plus “Stress” double vinyl pressings
Redman Dare Iz A Darkside double vinyl pressing
Grand Puba “Reel to Reel”
Slick Rick’s “Great Adventures” double vinyl pressing
Main Source “Breakin Atoms” double vinyl pressing
masta ace slaughtahouse
ugk ridin dirty
king tee at your own risk
yout rappers and beat makers 11 80s relic choices not including ‘critical beatdown’
Last Poets Delights of the garden lp
wildstyle soundtrack
Enjoy! label box set lps
Flash & Furious 5 ‘the message’ lp
Street Sounds Electro compilations
LL Cool J Radio
Lyrical King T La Rock
YO! Bumrush the show PE
Criminal Minded BDP
Follow The Leader Eric B & Rakim
Road To The Riches Dj Polo Kool G Rap
By Any Means Necessary BDP
Godfather Don “Diabolique”
Boogie Monsters “Riders On The Storm:The Underwater Album”
Mannish “Audio Sedative”
Nine “Cloud 9”
Smoothe Da Hustla “Once Upon A Time In America”
good suggestions so far, (tho some have been reissued in the last 10 years) I would add
The Bizzie Boyz – Droppin’ It
MC Lyte – Lyte As A Rock + Eyes On This
Three Times Dope – Original Stylin’
X-Clan – To The East, Blackwards SISSY!!!!
Run DMC’s first three albums, Eric B. & Rakim’s first three, PE’s first three, BDP’s first four (well, The Blueprint is optional…), Slick Rick’s first, Critical Beatdown, EPMD’s first three, NWA, D.O.C., Souls Of Mischief, The Pharcyde’s first joints, Ice Cube’s first three (the first two and the EP), Scarface’s first two joints, and that’s where they can START. I’ll be back when I think of more…
…and Gang Starr’s ENTIRE catalog INCLUDING No More Mr. Nice Guy, all three of Pete and CL’s joints, Tribe’s first three, Jungle Brothers’ first two, De La’s ENTIRE catalog and anything the Flavor Unit dropped from ’87-’90…
Defiantly Gangsta Nip (godfather of turn up!).
M.C Rell (Iladel represent)
Tarrie B (for aspiring white chicks)
All those K-Tel records that had my white dude rapping about how to breakdance
Top Quality/Magnum Opus (Just for the title alone)
First 2 Special Ed albums. Cant even find em on torrent. Ed needs to put those on itunes somehow instead of a million new versions of I Got It Made
@Rich
I second slaughtahouse
And Pauls Boutique and am I right in thinking no one has mentioned Ultra Mag…… Shame on us!
Masta Ace – Slaughtahouse and Sittin on Chrome deluxe re-releases are out now; please support so we’ll see more like them. Youngest In Charge was recently re-released with bonus tracks too.
Brand Nubian One For All
De La Soul Me Myself and I
Some of you guys are listig obscure albums that weren’t that good in the first place. If I was going to list some albums for people under 25, I’dpick
1. Ride The Rythym – Chill Rob G
2. It TakesA Nation Of Millins – Public Enemy
3. Criminal Minded – BDP
4. Wildstyle Soundtrack
5. One For All- Brand Nubian
In the years BC (Before Chronic) for me there were 2 definitive West Coast albums that all the young ones should be schooled on – ‘Death Certificate’ which several peeps have already nominated and Above The Law – ‘Livin’ Like Hustlers’ – a PHENOMENAL album which never got the recognition it deserved. I blame the long shadow of NWA and it’s terminally wack album cover. Likewise on the East Coast – Stetsasonic ‘In Full Gear’ needs a reissue – so under-rated and still sounds fresh today. Apart from ‘Float On’.
Wise Intelligent – Killin’ U For Fun
Dark Sun Riders – Seeds Of Evolution
MC Brainz – Brainwashed (don’t sleep!)
Freestyle Fellowship ‘Inner city Griots’
Aceyalone ‘All Balls Don’t Bounce’
any C.V.E. LP
Blackalicious ‘Melodica’
Latyrx ‘The Album’
Loadsa albums named here have been reissued (e.g. those by Jungle Bros, BDP, Eric B & Rakim, Beastie Boys, Ice Cube, LL, PE etc).
Similarly, a lot of artists have made their old albums available via bandcamp, ITunes and Google Music.
Albums that need reissuing to remind oldies and educate newbs:
Fleapit “Music from the Ditch”
The Aspects “Correct English”
London Posse “Gangster Chronicle”
Hijack “The Horns of Jericho”
Gunshot “International Rescue”
Dark Sun Riders “seeds of evolution”
Paris “Sleeping with the enemy”
The Coup “Steal this album”
The Goats “Tricks of the shade”
Braille “Life First…Half the battle”