I was musing about the fact that EPMD had an amazing run of three four cutting-edge albums before they parted ways the first time, which is almost unprecedented. However, as Old Man Rap Twitter pointed out, there are a few other contenders:
Run-DMC – Set the pace on their first three LP’s, although Tougher Than Leather was merely playing keep up thanks to the delay and time hasn’t been kind to much of King of Rock.
Gang Starr – After a patchy start, Guru and DJ Premier delivered four outstanding LPs between Step Into The Arena and Moment of Truth, equally EPMD’s run but more content to lay in the cut rather than kicking down doors in the way that the brothers from Brenwood, LI did.
Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, Kill At Will and Death Certificate made for an amazing solo run. The Predator was strong musically but it felt as if he lost his spark on the mic a little.
De La Soul – Tough to fault their opening three LP’s in terms of breaking new ground. Things got a little too earnest once Prince Paul left, however.
Outkast – The rap internets insists that their first three are greatness, so I’ll have to take their word for it.
A Tribe Called Quest – Phife’s underwhelming performance on Instinctive Travels drops it from ‘classic’ to ‘really good’ status, while Beats, Rhymes and Life was creatively treading water.
King Tee – His first three albums are great, but perhaps not in the same way the other contenders were setting the standards.
M.O.P. – Their first album was musically monotonous outside of the lead single, but Firing Squad, First Family 4 Life and Warriorz were all amazing.
N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton, 100 Miles and Running and Efil4Zaggin still hold up well to this day, with Dre’s beats compensating for his rapping once Cube flew the coup.
Schoolly-D – The Philly legend gave us four superb albums in a row before he signed with Capitol and seemed to lose his mojo somewhat.
Ice-T – From Rhymes Pays to OG – Original Gangster, Ice continued to up the ante.
Redman – His first three albums were well received, but I have a complete mental blank when it comes to Doc’s Da Name 2000 for some reason. Maybe it was that shitty cover art?
Too $hort – His first five albums are Jive are all great, and if you count his first three self-released tapes then Short Dog has a run of eight winners in a row.
Kanye West – I’ll include his first three for the same reason at Outkast, since they seem to get a lot of luh in certain quarters.
Compton’s Most Wanted – A strong opening trio of albums, although Straight Checkin ‘Em is arguable the worst of the three.
Kool G Rap and DJ Polo – Fans are divided over Live and Let Die, but I rate it as one of the most effective cinematic crime rap albums ever made. Plus ‘Operation: CB’ is comedy gold.
DJ Quik – While the late Tim Dog might disagree, there’s no denying that Quik delivered a strong opening of quartet of albums for his fans.
Above The Law – From Livin’ Like Hustlers to Uncle Sam’s Curse, Cold 187um and ’em were holding it down for west coast.
MF Doom – That terrible second Viktor Vaughn ruins an otherwise strong solo run from Operation: Doomsday through to Born Like This. As a result, his debit, only Take Me To Your Leader and Vaudeville Villain count.
Public Enemy – While Yo! Bumrush The Show was a little dated by the time it dropped, it was still great, and Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Back stayed in rotation partly thanks to those Pete Rock remixes giving it extra legs.
Pete Rock and CL Smooth – An EP and two great albums made for a nice little run, especially considering that the every rap fan on earth was playing Mecca and The Soul Brother until the tape popped in 1992.
Showbiz & AG – From the Soul Clap EP to Full Scale, this Bronx duo had a very solid run and solidified the DITC name.
Lord Finesse – While The Awakening was a little short for my liking, there was no denying Finesse had delivered three timeless projects in a row.
EPMD – As previously mentioned, each of Erick and Parrish’s first four LP’s broke new ground and set the standard at the time they dropped. Remember the first time you heard ‘It’s My Thing,’ ‘So Whatcha Sayin’,’ ‘Rampage’ and ‘Boondox’?
*Updated*
Cypress Hill – Although the first two albums are virtually interchangeable, the beats on Temple of Boom were some of the best of the time when it dropped.
Eric B. & Rakim – Despite being dragged down by the horrible DJ tracks, the first three LP’s had enough heat to make them worthwhile, while their final effort still had some highlights.
Mobb Deep – From The Infamous to Murda Muzik was a triple threat, even though the bootleg version of the latter album was better.
LL Cool J – Despite the frosty reception to Walking Like A Panther, in retrospect it still stands up, which gives Uncle L four winners in a row.
Cormega = Testament – Realness – True Meaning
Ghostface = Ironman – Supreme Clientele – Bulletproof Wallets (if we count the songs that couldn’t get cleared)
basically all 3 Organized Konfusion albums are great
one could say Masta Ace has 3 in a row
same goes for Mobb Deep
The first three Cypress Hill albums was a good run imo
I’d add Eric B and Rakim… They had a nice run!
Even with the deleted songs, Bulletproof Wallets isn’t a very good album. The third O.K. was a huge let-down, save for a few songs. Ace is disqualified on account of Sitting On Chrome. I guess Cormega counts but since Testament didn’t come out properly until years later it’s kinda void. I’m going to say no on Mobb Deep as well – Juvenile Hell was decent and Murda Muzik wasn’t as good as the bootleg.
No bdp ?
@robbie Docs Da Name was pretty good not classic like his first three but that the last time Redman sounded hungry before he switched up to the goofy style he started using
@oneam: ‘Ghetto Music’ wasn’t so great.
Reminds me of an interview with Q Tip in HHC in the very early 90s where he floated an idea of a crew’s second album usually being the best of the series. The reasons are that the first album is mostly the demo tape redone, so the second album is really the first proper album and gets all of the creativity and excellence, while the 3rd effort provides more of the same isht.
@Robbie
Revisit BDP/KRS-One, I don’t think you would count the live album, so really it’s Edutainment to I Got Next…
That’s a skrong run, b.
Sean P had an amazing solo run….
Kool G Rap and DJ Polos 3 albums rock hard IMO and Kools 3 albums (from 4,5,6 to the G. story)after Polo I like as well!
M.O.P.
If we talk non 90s rappers I havent really heard a bad record from Roc Marcio yet!
and nowe I see you did put Kool and MOP on the list, dont know why my comp didnt show the Whole list before,well well. I kindda agree on the Outkast (kindda) but Mr West? naaah….
Thought I would see Large Pro or Sean Price as well.
Breaking Adams, The LP & 1st Class were dooope, the rest of his catalog is strong.
P got that run from Donkey Sean Jr to Songs in the Key of Price, none of his solo mixtapes/albums were average.
You truly are buggin. Straight checkin em’ is a gangsta rap clinic on wax.
@Dmfslimm: Not saying it’s wack but I prefer the other two.
What about LL? I know Walkin With A Panther slips but still?
Whodini?
Jungle Bros – J’Beez wit a Remedy mmmmm, okay but you let Cube have 2??
@SeanG: You have a point regarding LL. Cube had a dope EP, JB’s didn’t.
What about Naughty By Nature?
Showbiz & A.G.? Runaway Slave, Goodfellas and Full Scale are all top notch.
BDP no doubt. Ghetto Music is a dope album. What about Beastie Boys? License To Ill to Ill Communication.
@Robbie – good shout, I missed the inclusion of Kill at Will and I rate Predator also.
BDP does warrant including also. And the Beasties.
possibly…
Alkaholiks
Beatnuts
Bootcamp (Black Moon, Smif N Wessun, Heltah Skeltah, OGC)
Roots
Little Brother !!!
Somewhat surprised no Big Daddy Kane – Long Live The Kane, It’s A Big Daddy Thing, & Taste of Chocolate (minus the sappy shit) all got heat.
And DEFINITELY surprised no Nas – Illmatic (hip hop perfection), It Was Written (lyrically/thematically improvement) and I Am (IMO, on par & just as consistent as the 1st two)
OR….Tragedy Khadafi – Intelligent Hoodlum, Tragedy: Saga of a Hoodlum, and Against All Odds are all fire.
Wu Tang’s run from 36 Chambers to Iron Man. Most of them are solo lps but most of their group is on all and it’s mainly one producer. Hard to include but it is a strong run plus they were a pretty strong force. Nas, yeah to GNG.
@silent minority
Most definitely, I’d consider the Wu-Tang run pretty much impeccable too. Solo projects, still seem like group efforts. From Enter The 36 Chambers to Wu-Tang Forever, EVERY album in between is classic.
Cypress Hill IV was the last good album by the group. Very slept on, came out when everybody had moved on.
Too Short “Cocktales” is one of his greatest albums.
Scarface’s Mr. Scarface, The World Is Yours, and the Diary is a solid trio.
Artists who’ve dropped consecutively good/dope albums: The Coup, Kool Keith (until Mathew), Murs, K-Rino,Masta Ace, The Roots, MC Frontalot, Poor Righteous Teachers, Parklike Setting, McEnroe, John Smith, Buck65, Wu (93-7), BDP, Beastie Boys, 2pac, Paris (1st 3), Gunshot, Dead Residents, The Procussions/Mr J Medeiros, E40 (up till Element of surprise),
MF Grimm (American Hunger alone is a solid 3 disc set), Digital Underground.
Damn! Nearly forgot. Tech n9ne is another artist who never drops an album any less than solid.
Roc Marciano – Marcberg, Reloaded, The Pimpire Strikes Back & Marci Beaucoup is a good run even though the last two are mixtape/comp.
Ka – Grief Pedigree, The Night’s Gambit, 1200 B.C. (EP) & Days With Dr. Yen Lo.
Black Milk – Popular Demand, Tronic, Album of the Year, No Poison No Paradise, Glitches in the Break (EP) & If There’s a Hell Below.
Oddisee – People Hear What They See, Tangible Dream & The Good Fight. Oddisee gets better with every release.
There are other “new” artist, but I’ll leave it at these four.
O.C. dropped two great solo lps with his debut and Jewelz. The latter was very underrated when it was released, mainly by the press.
Forgot The Roots. Their disco is great top to bottom, but the run of: Do You Want More?!!!??!, Illadelph Halflife & Things Fall Apart is tough. TFA is probably my fav album with IH coming a close second.
If Cormega’s Testament doesn’t form part of a beginning run due to being released later, then it still forms a three lp run after his first two releases. Realness to Testament or Testament to Realness.
Jeru dropped two dope albums in a row.
Definitely The Roots. Do You Want More?!?!?, Illadeplh Halflife and Things Fall Apart were all dope top to bottom. I skipped school just to cop Things Fall Apart when it dropped. Then they went on to repeat the threepeat with Game Theory, Rising Down, and How I Got Over.
Poor Righteous Teachers
I think with some of these suggestions they’re forgetting who they’re talking to. CRC!
Masta Ace (Take A Look Around, Slaughtahouse, Sittin On Chrome, Disposable Arts, A Long Hot Summer)
DEFINITELY BDP FROM CRIMINAL MINDED TO EDUTAINMENT..
ACTUALLY EVERYTHING UP UNTIL I GOT NEXT AND THAT HAD JOINTS ON IT..
According to the comment section every rapper that has released consecutive albums has released great consecutive albums
If u can let Run DMCs K.O.R., Gang Starr (1st album!?) and West slip through the eye of the needle I dont understand U cant accept Master Ace? (Sittin on Chrome is not dope, but the rest of his catalog more than makes up for that, dont u think, really really really??)
And Again
-Sean P from Monkey B. to Songs in the Key of P. RIP
-Roc Marciano Best debut album (ever?)
-Ka’s 3 album plus 1200 BC and the Dr Yen Lo shit is close to a perfect back catalog.
Killa Sha (well ok maybe he did die a Little to soon to really say if he Counts? RIP Sha Lumi)
Brand Nubian and Sadat X
Geto Boys
Am I the only one who really digs ALL of X Clans LPs?
Do I dare to mention Guilty Simpson? He is kindda my guilty pleasure…
But I do agree with u bout the GF Killah album, I dont feel Bulletproof W. at all.
What about a most bumby/shitty/wack album run list?
@hotbox and Steven – ha ha!
@pete conrete – it’s already begun.
If you go by the music and not what magazines and media speak, LL’s First slip was Phenomenon. Every album before got crazy heat on them. Nothing was wrong with 14 Shots or Mr. Smith. 20+ years since they dropped, peeps are a lot older. Go back and take a listen.
I agree with the majority of what you wrote Robbie.
I disagree though that the first two Cypress Hill LPs are virtually interchangeable.
The first LP is a funky beast of a record that rivals Paul’s Boutique in its choice of samples.
I recall reading that when it came out, MCA played it from start to finish in a club. Ultimately, “Pigs” aside, it can rock a party.
Cypress Hill, Diamond D & Pharcyde all followed their upbeat 1st LPs with much “darker” 2nd LPs. Probably because they were still waiting to get royalties from the first! Joke!
Great post Robbie.
@Nick
I feel like the first Cypress LP is different too. The song concepts are better IMO. The production is great and i feel like Muggs did a lot of things that RZA got praised for one year before the Wu-Tang debut…Also, I used to love playing Pigs when I DJed, but to your point it wasn’t a party rocker.
Also, cosign on the Alkaholiks and Roots first 3 (not counting Organix)
@Turd Ferguson I agree completely with you.
As an aside, with the NWA revival going on, I revisited the NWA and DOC LP’s recently and the tracks that don’t sound dated and are the clear standouts are: “Parental discretion iz advised” and “The Grand Finale”. The one thing they have in common is a band provided the backing instrumental.
I love the way samples have been used in Hip Hop, but I do wonder where Hip Hop would be now if more groups or producers had gone down the same route as the Roots and had become/utilised musicians.
BDP/KRS-One
From Criminal Minded to Return of Boom Bap. That might be the best run by any artist and they all dropped roughly a year apart!!!
Been reflecting on this. I think it’s a stretch to let two albums plus an ep constitute a ‘run’.But at the same time both those artists deserve it. So fuck it.
Ice cube you could count his work With nwa anyway in his ‘run’.
And I wish Pete and cl stayed together for one more. Plus all Of PR’s remix work has to count somehow.
To me gangstarr were always the definition of long haul consistency. Plus so cool the way they Executed each album year in/year out. Look at how raw daily operation is. Even their average ones were still very listenable (their run to me probably finished at Moment of truth but even the owners stayed in rotation for me) .
@ Pete Conrete: You Think the X-Clan discography constitutes a consistently good run? Isis “rebel soul?” Professor X’s “Years of the 9″/”Puss in boots?” Seriously?
Surely the entry level criterium here should be no less than three consecutively good/great albums?
First two Cypress Hill album’s are interchangeable?? I strongly disagree, first one wins. Also, the first three Outkast albums ARE amazing, are you retarded? Have you never actually listened to them? Ghost face Killah has barely ever put a foot wrong, don’t know how you missed that one. Alkaholiks deserve a mention too. And where are the Beastie Boys?! Other than that, nice work.
De La Soul – Tough to fault their opening three LP’s in terms of breaking new ground. Things got a little too earnest once Prince Paul left, however.
^^ Errrr Stakes Is High is a god damn 96 classic, make that 4.
Wow! Surprised no one has mentioned Mr Shawn Carter
@drew nice
Because Hov tends to go back and forth with albums. Classic, alright, classic, alright. Dude does have some joints in his catalog, though…
@Robbie how about the opposite end of the spectrum, dope single album releases?
Apache?
Main Source (technically)
The Sindecut
Krown Rulers
Original Concept
7A3
Black Rock n Ron
Off the dome to begin?
Nobody says Masta Ace yet? 4 (arguably 5) great albums in a row.