Forget the GOAT, the title of BROETM is where it’s at. The Best Rapper On Earth That Month has no bearing on past or future standings, rather it’s simply recognizing that everything came together for a ‘perfect storm’ of rap excellence on a particular project to the point where said rapper seems invincable for a moment. It’s not always a phenemon reserved for debut albums either – in the case of MC’s such as Rakim, KRS-One and Kool G Rap, they had already made their mark but it was the second LP where they really nailed it. It’s also not entirely based on technical skill either, but a combination of impact, buzz, influence and ability. In the name of scientific accuracy I’ve also included some artists that I don’t even personally care for because I’m just a swell guy like that.
Grand Puba Maxwell – All For One
Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele
Roc Marciano – Marcberg Reloaded
Raekwon The Chef – Only Built For Cuban Linx…
Pharoahe Monch – Organized Konfusion
Prodigy – Hell On Earth
Biggie Smalls – Ready To Die
Kool Keith – Critical Beatdown
KRS-One – By All Means Necessary
Rakim – Follow The Leader
Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
Dres – A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing
Redman – Whut? Thee Album
Kool G Rap – Wanted: Dead Or Alive
Big Daddy Kane – Long Live The Kane
Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
Method Man – Enter The 36 Chambers
Nas – Illmatic
Chuck D – It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
LL Cool J – Bigger and Deffer
Posdnuous – Bahloone Mindstate
Jay Z – The Blueprint
Treach – Naughty By Nature
Run – Raising Hell
MF Doom – Operation: Doomsday
Ka – Grief Pedigree
Big Pun – Capital Punishment
Slick Rick – Great Adventures
EST – Original Stylin’
Schoolly D – Saturday Night! The Album
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly good kid. MAAD City
Kanye West – My Beautiful, Dark Twisted Fantasy
GZA – Liquid Swords
50 Cent – Get Rich Or Die Trying
AZ – A.W.O.L.
Andre 3000 – Aquemini
Lauryn Hill – The Score
Inspectah Deck – Wu-Tang Forever
Lord Finesse – Return of the Funkyman
Scarface – The Fix
Black Thought – Game Theory
Big L – Lifestyles Ov Da Poor and Dangerous
*Updates from comment section suggestions*
A-Plus – ’93 Till Infinity
Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle
O.C. – Word…Life
B-Real – Cypress Hill
Brother J – To The East, Blackwards
Tim Dog – Penicillin On Wax
The D.O.C. – No One Can Do It Better
Sean Price – Monkey Bars
Cam’Ron – Come Home With Me
Ice-T – OG: Original Gangster
MC Ren – Efil4zaggin
Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Return to the 36 Chapters: The Dirty Version
CL Smooth – The Main Ingredient
MC Lyte – Lyte As A Rock
Please add on or subtract where appropriate.
50 Cent – Get Rich Or Die Trying
Kanye West – My Beautiful, Dark Twisted Fantasy
Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
Nope!!!!
Pretty accurate except I would bump Cube, Kool G Rap & Kane up an album and Jay-z, Scarface & Kendrick down 1 or 2
Wow… what a fun thread! Here’s some off the top:
Del the Funky Homosapien — No Need for Alarm
Snoop Doggy Dogg — Doggystyle
Sticky Fingaz — Bacdafucup
O.C. — Word… Life
Tupac Shakur — Me Against the World
Busta Rhymes — The Coming
Cormega — Mega Philosophy
Oh… and A-Plus — ’93 ’til Infinity
So glad to see Black Thought from Game Theory on here he absolutely crushed that album.
Definitely agree that Snoop with Doggystyle gotta be up there.
Jay also had a second run with The Black Album I’d say.
imo…Roc Marciano-Reloaded
Large Professor-Breaking Atoms
Beanie Sigel-The B. Coming
@oska: Def. a strong case for ‘Reloaded’…Beans I’m not so sure about.
@Slappy: Agreed regarding A-Plus.
@hotbox: Which Jay-Z and ‘Face would you suggest? You’re totally right about Kane and Kendrick. Cube I’m on the fence about.
Subtract Kanye, always, and add
B-Real – Cypress Hill s/t
Brother J – Seeds of Evolution
Tim Dog – Penicillin on wax
MC Eiht – Music to driveby
Edan – Beauty and the beat
@Arson: I’ll give you B-Real and Brother J circa X-Clan, but if I add Tim Dog then surely Willie Dee from the ‘Controversy’ era qualifies and this whole system goes to shit.
hahaha, whats wrong with Willie D now? – Tim Dogs impact though, cant be understated, that is one hell of an album. And ol Timothy never sounded better, not before or after haha
@Arson: Willie D is one of the greatest in terms of content and attitude, as is Tim, but I feel they were too niche to be claim ‘Best of the Month’ status.
I beg to differ sir, imo Tim rode those Ultra-beats lyrically like a bat out of hell, straight into the sun hovering the shores of seldom seen town BROETM…
@Arson: Strong argument, you’ve convinced me. A quick listen to the ‘Bronx Nigga’ remix leaves no doubt.
The D.O.C. – No One Can Do It Better
@Blobby: Good call.
Hahahaha!!Good one Robbie, made my day!!
Common on ‘Be’ and Currensy on ‘Covert Coup’. Yeah I said it.
Possibly Gibbs on Pinata too. Certainly more so than Kanye anyway.
grand daddy i u – smooth assassin
chill rob g – ride the rhythm
Sean Price on Monkey Barz
Cappadonna on Ironman
Cam’Ron on Come Home With Me or Diplomatic Immunity (whatever came first)
@stick: I’ll pay Sean P and Killa but no dice on Cap.
@Robbie: It’s a weird coincidence, because before I saw this thread yesterday I was listening to that Souls of Mischief freestyle on Stretch & Bobbito. In-fucking-credible.
Also, I’d like to nominate Big L — The Big Picture.
I know that’s a real stretch for a number of reasons, but I stand on it.
Pos K – Skills Dat Pay?
Rakim – Paid In Full? or Follow the Leader?
Melle Mel – The Message
Just Ice – Kool and Deadly
Sticky Fingaz – All We Got Iz US
LL Cool J – Walking with a panther
Ice T – OG Original Gangsta
Cosign Sticky on All we got iz us(Onyx best album)
+ I forgot about adding: A.G on Runaway Slave
CL Smooth-The Main Ingredient
pMd-Business Never Personal
@Arson: I always thought Onyx brought it best on their debut LP. Also, while Runaway Slave is a masterpiece, I think AG came harder on Goodfellas. Different strokes, I guess.
Jeru circa his debut could be on there.
Guru also??
Not one of those tragic stans but nas circa live at the BBq / illmatic also.
Sorry just saw nas already there.
Ol Dirty Bastard -Return/36 Chambers ….After Enter The Wu-Tang ……When Brooklyn Zoo( all-time classic) video came out and he did the MTV Interview getting his Food Stamps in a Limousine ….definition of BROETM
Phife – The Low End Theory
@robbie: As for Scarface I would go with The Diary and Jay-Z it’s the Dynasty but that’s a personal choice that absolutely nobody will back me up on. Also like to add
Ice-T – OG
MC Ren – efil4zaggin
Gotta throw Kurtis Blow, Kool Moe Dee, and MC Lyte up in there too.
Robbie, u were right on Long Live The Kane. It’s A Big Daddy Thing is where dudes were starting to call Kane soft for that Smooth Operator, I get the job done, To be your man stuff.
@Rashiiiid: Moe Dee really peaked before the album era, although he def. is one of the best ever. I’ll add Lyte though.
I always considered Onyx, Jery and AG to be a complete package with the music, rather than standing out specifically as rappers.
Word. You can’t get a G without showbiz.
Good read! A couple come to mind:
Jeru – Sun Rises in the East
Geto Boys – Til Death does us part
Mr Scarface – Mr Scarface is back
Beastie Boys – Licsense to Ill
Just off top. I wonder how many Emcees have two or more albums on this list.
Redman – Whut the Album, Muddy Waters
Mobb Deep – The infamous, Murda Muzik
Ice Cube – Amerika’s Most, Death Certificate
Geto Boys – Til Death, Geto Boys
Add on….
Saafir at time of boxcar sessions.
Ras kass when remain anonymous dropped.
Yeah, Jeru without Premier is nothing really. And while Sticky Fingaz is mad underrated as an mc, he needs that sparring energy from Fredro (mostly) to truly shine…although A.G can sound tight on a Lord Finesse beat, a Premier joint or a Diamond D production, so I dunno. Runaway Slave is that perfect storm tho
Conway – Reject 2
Mos Def around Soundbombing time. And yeh, Conway and Westside Gunn now.
Ill work on artist on debut albums
Mobb deep
Fabolos
Cnn
Ice cube
Pharcyde
Bdp very first single
Lord finese funky technician
Jeru da damaja
eric sermon solo lp
An MC who is never mentioned as a GOAT, but had at least 3 runs which fit the perfect storm description is Chuck D. I remember PE ruling the world for well over a month in terms of radio play and props with:
Rebel Without a Pause
Fight The Power
Welcome to the Terrordome
It took me all weekend to decide on this!
Chuck d is a great call!
Funny how overlooked chuck is these days.
In recent years I’d say the following artists kinda splashed onto the scene in that exact fashion:
Action Bronson – Doctor Lecter
Ka – Grief Pedigree
Conway – Reject 2
WESTSIDEGUNN – FLYGOD
Masta Ace – Take a look Around or Slaughtahouse
Intelligent Hoodlum – Intelligent Hoodlum,
Chuck D
Has he ever produced something wack? No.
@Chris: Agreed, which is why Chuck was on the original list.
Guru – Hard to Earn
Funny how people are quick to discredit Jeru’s BROEM Moment. Preemo only punctuated the wordplay that ran the golden era! Come Clean was a BROETY!
Give the man his due!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHyQ14zEZls
You’ll laugh, but Greg Nice had it on lock … Aint a Damn Thing Changed
Just to clarify … how do you pronounce BROETM, does it rhyme with scrotum?
@Oneam: Nailed it.
@esto @Frank Zito: Thanks for reminding me about that Conway album, I didn’t give it the attention it deserved when it dropped last year.
KOOL G RAP – WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
CHUCK D – YO! BUM RUSH THE SHOW
RAKIM – FOLLOW THE LEADER
EST – ORIGINAL STYLIN’
TRAGEDY – THE REBEL & LIVE MOTIVATOR
T- LA ROCK – LYRICAL KING
LORD FINESSE – RETURN OF THE FUNKY MAN
CHILL ROB G – Ride The Rhythm
KOOL KEITH – Critical Beatdown
BIG PUN – CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
LAKIM SHABAZZ – PURE RIGHTEOUSNESS
NAS – ILLMATIC
AZ – DOE OR DIE
LL COOL J – MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT
JADAKISS – WE ARE THE STREETS
PHIFE – MIDNIGHT MARAUDERS
KRS 1 – BY ANY MEANS
M.F. DOOM – OP DOOMS DAY
BIG L – LIFESTYLES OV DA POOR
BIG DADDY KANE – LONG LIVE THE KANE
PARRISH SMITH – BUSINESS AS USUAL
Bollocks! I apologise Robbie. My eyesight is failing me in middle age. I now have the kudos of that bodypart which rhymes with BROETM.
This thread’s too positive for me. How about a wackest of all time thread. We can all spew hate and negativity.
Prince Markie Dee — The Fat Boys Are Back
Steady B — Let the Hustlers Play
Queen Latifah — All Hail the Queen
MC Serch – The Cactus Album
Fat Joe — Jealous One’s Envy
Keith Murray — The Most Beautifullist…
Wise Intelligent — Killin’ U…for Fun
@Caeser: Agreed. Let me cook up something more spiteful before everyone starts toasting marshmellows on the campfire.
Large Pro- Breaking Atoms
Blu- Below The Heavens
Phonte- The Listening
Oddisee-The Beauty in All
Skyzoo – The Easy Truth
Word up. Hey Robbie, I know you spotlighted some of their joints earlier, but it’s time to jump all the way on that Griselda train, cuz they are making that CRC approved shit right now.
BROETM?
Vanilla Ice “Bi polar”
Richard Blackwood “You’ll love to hate this”
PJ & Duncan “Psyche”
U God “Golden Arms redemption”
Xzibit – At The Speed of Life?
john barnes verse on ‘Anfield Rap’ around that time big influence on UK rap at the time.
Cormega- The Realness
Del- Deltron 3030
Cage- Movies for the Blind
Ill Bill- The Future is Now
Yeh don’t think Griselda records got the props they deserved this year, lots of tight projects. Reject2 is flawless though, especially in CRC terms ;-)
Yeh man Dr Lecter really put me in to AB, as well as your other choices, have you heard the Westside Gunn and Purist ‘Roses are Red and so is Blood’?
GOAT status off one verse.
Killer Mike – RAP Music
Juvenille – 400 degreez
Not really CRC-approved but I would put Slug circa God Loves Ugly there. Dude fathered that regular-boring-guy routine for every indie white rapper afterwards.
@Frank Zito: I’m revisiting the entire Conway discography this week as pennance.
Volume 10-Hip-Hopera
Instead of a BROETM you should forget that best album shit, this only goes for the “old school” 85-01 In these day and age you can toss the album format! I totally agree w your list BTW but… As far as newer rappers why not forget best albums? And then go for best song (catalogue)! Not many make good albums anymore, other than ROC Marci, Ka and (maybe) Agallah. And 4 newer rappers that fuckin rock I would go for Conway, Westside, Ka, ROC Marci, Hus Kingpin, SmooVth, Buze Bruvaz and the list goes on. If these cats where to compete w masters like Kool G or Big Daddy or Boogie Down Kris they will fall short. But as far as fuckin great songs they are killing it out there right now!
treach-naughty by nature
buckshot shorty -enta da stage
kurupt-dogg food
tash- coast2coast
raskass -soul on ice
Some ideas, late, but keenly pondered…
Black Thought – Illadelph/Halflife
Tash – 21 & Over
K-Rino – Stories From The Black Book
Sugar Ray – Ruff, Rugged & Raw
PS. All my crew thought Inspecta Deck was the illest from 36 Chambers!