50 Greatest Hip Hop Albums of all time....oh yea...its here baby..

[street_burial]

if i don't see Dr. Dre on this list then i will be thoroughly disappointed

[Epidemic Reign]

Originally Posted by ryan_streets

if i don't see Dr. Dre on this list then i will be thoroughly disappointed

Yes. And Tupac, and Tech N9ne, and Busta.

[Wizard in Black 666]

38. Cypress Hill

Group: Cypress Hill
Members: B-Real, Sen Dawg and DJ MUGGS
Producer: DJ MUGGS
Recorded:1989-1991
Released:1991
Album title: Cypress Hill



"This pig harassed the whole neighborhood,
Well this pig worked at the station.
This pig he killed my Homeboy,
So the fuckin' pig went on a vacation.

This pig, he is the chief.
hes Got a brother pig, Captain O'Malley.
He's got a son that's a pig too,
He's collectin' pay-offs from a dark alley.

This pig is known as a Narco,
If he's a pig or not, we know that he could be.
This pig, he's a fuckin' fag,
So all his homepigs they call him a pussy.

Well this pig, he's really cool,
So in this class we know he rides all alone.
Well this pig's standin' eatin' donuts while some motherfuckers out robbin' your home" - B Real.

"Born to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother, B-Real moved with his sister and mother out of his father's home to South Gate before ending up in South Central Los Angeles. Before dropping out of Bell High School, he befriended future Cypress Hill members Sen Dog and Mellow Man Ace (who forwent staying with the group to go solo). Sen Dog, who was affiliated with a Bloods gang set known as "Neighborhood Family", later introduced B-Real into the set. B-Real's career as a drug dealer and gangbanger ended after he was shot in the lung in 1988.

After being introduced to DJ Muggs by Julio G the KDAY Mixmaster, B-Real and Sen gained interest in Muggs' concept of an album based on experiences from Cypress Ave in South Gate. The group was signed with Ruffhouse/Columbia records in 1991, and made their influential debut that year. B-Real would use his life-threatening experiences as material for the group's self-titled debut album, and subsequent releases.

Cypress Hill's trademark sound - an eccentric combination of B-Real's exaggeratedly high-pitched nasal vocals and DJ Muggs' distinctive beats - led to the trio becoming the first Latin rap group to have Platinum and Multi-Platinum albums. They remain the best selling Latin rap group to date"

Some say these guys were the first to start "weed rap songs" and songs solely based on cannabis but who knows, that's not the point. The point is..Cypress Hills first 3 records are classic hip hop records that should be in everyones hip hop stash box. When these guys blew up in in the early 90s there was no group in the rap scene that sounded like these fools or touched their originality, flow, beats and voices. Sen Dawgs rugged latino rhymes and lyrics, B-reals high pitched nasal flow backed up by DJ Muggs dusted Blunted ass mellow instrumentals creates a sound that would be copied by many rap acts in 91-96. DJ muggs started his career on this record but he would go on to perfect his skills and create some of the greatest tunes in hip hop. DJ Muggs would also go on to break off the group and go solo(Like working with Planet Asia and legendary GZA the genius of the Wu Tang Clan).

Also what makes these guys stand out is how original they were. There were tons of rappers talking about life threatening stories, fuck the police, holding down the fort on the there block and not letting anyone make what % they make,. But alot of those acts were generic and lame ass hats. I cane name tons of groups that came out in 90-91 that were nothing "Zzzzz" to my ears. Cypress Hill rapped and flowed in away that was a step away from what other cats were spitting about. And my God, DJ Muggs just diggs through those dusty crates and vinyls to create some really blunted weeded ass instrumentals and beats. Also their latino/black/cuban hertiage and stories of suburban hoodlum latin life adds a nice little "niche" to it, really makes the group stand out. Very unique. Muggs, b-real and sen dog come hard. Not as hard as the next two classics but this album will go down as a very influential album to spawn many carbon copy cats during the early 90s...but none could match these cats.


Pigs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEWXNeXwly8

How I Could Just Kill a Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2wJS3zRx1I

Hand on the Pump
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAo-MvFr-Bk

Stoned is the way of the Walk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TxgXmNpSN8

"Steve Huey of Allmusic calls Cypress Hill's debut "a sonic blueprint that would become one of the most widely copied in hip-hop.

In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Rolling Stone called it "an album that is innovative and engaging in spite of its hard-core messages."

* Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's".

* Ranked #57 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s"

* Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s".

[Wizard in Black 666]

37. Pauls Boutique

Group: Beastie Boys
Members: Mike D., MCA(aka adam Yauch), Ad-Rock
Producer: The Dust Brothers
Album title:Pauls Boutique
Recorded 1988-1989
Released: 1989



"Roses are red
the sky is blue
I got my barrel at your neck so what the fuck you gonna do
It's just two wheels and me the wind in my eyes
The engine is the music and my nine's by my side
Cause you know Y. A. U. C. H.
I'm takin' all M.C.'s out in the place
Takin' life as it comes no fool am I
I'm goin' off gettin' paid and I don't ask why
Playin' beats on my box makin' music for the many
Know alota def girls that would do anything
A lot of parents like to think I'm a villain
I'm just chillin' like Bob Dylan
Yeah I smoke cheeba it helps me with my brain
I might be a little dusted but I'm not insane
People come up to me and they try to talk shit man
I've been making records since you were sucking on YOUR MOTHERS DICK" - Adam Yauch aka MCA


"Derided as one-hit wonders and estranged from their original producer, Rick Rubin, and record label, Def Jam, the Beastie Boys were in self-imposed exile in Los Angeles during early 1988 and were written off by most music critics before even beginning to record their second studio album, Paul's Boutique. Following the commercial success of Licensed to Ill, the Beastie Boys were focusing on making an album with more creative depth and less commercial material. The group's previous album had been enormously popular and received critical acclaim among both mainstream and hip hop music critics, although its simple, heavy beats and comically juvenile lyrics led it to be labeled as frat hip hop. The group signed with Capitol/EMI Records, and Paul's Boutique was produced with the Dust Brothers, whose extensive, innovative use of sampling helped establish the practice of multi-layered sampling as an art in itself. While the Dust Brothers were set on making a hit record, the duo agreed with the group on producing a more experimental and sonically different record. In total, 105 songs were sampled on the album, including 24 individual samples on the last track alone. The backing tracks were allegedly produced with the intention of being released as a Dust Brothers instrumental album, but the Beastie Boys convinced the duo to use the tracks as the basis of its follow up to Licensed to Ill

Paul's Boutique was initially considered a commercial failure by the executives at Capitol Records, as its sales did not match that of the group's previous record, Licensed to Ill, and the label eventually decided to stop promoting the album. The album's popularity continued to grow, however, and it has even been touted as a breakthrough achievement for the Beastie Boys. Highly varied lyrically and sonically, Paul's Boutique secured the Beastie Boys' place as critical favorites in the hip-hop genre, and has been widely recognized as the group's magnum opus. The album's rankings near the top of many publications' "best albums" lists in disparate genres has given Paul's Boutique critical recognition as a landmark album in hip hop."

This is not only the best Beastie Boys album ever but it's also a landmark-hip hop album that is recognized highly by zillions of critics in the music industry. It goes with out saying that the production handled by the Dust Brothers is just absolutely phenomenal. Every single song on this album is sampling another songs from the past. In fact...what makes the production on this album stand out from other hip hop records is the fact that the Dust Brothers soley rely on heavy sampling and the use of taking other musicians
music and twisting it around in their own little "niche". In other words, 99% the beats that they make on this C.D are technically not theirs..per say.

heres a good example of what the fuck i'm talking about..

What they do is take a piece of an instrumental from a "beatles song", a small little guitar lick from a jimmy hendrix tune, layer it in with some random sound bits from the soundtrack to the movie jaws and BOOM You got your beat. The beats and music that they lay out is very original and was definitely ahead of its time. It's just none of the instrumentals on this album were made from scratch...EVERYTHING YOU HEAR was basically made from an artist/musician from the past.

Some would argue and say that "sampling" is nothing more than stealing other peoples music, but It's anything but that!! FAR FROM THE TRUTH, BUDDY! Sampling(as well as jazz) played a huge role in the late 80s to early 90s when it was first being conducted and experimented on by people like Biz Markie or Public enemy. Without heavy sampling or simply "Sampling" other peoples music, we probably wouldn't get thegreat epic classics that we have gotten, like Gang Starrs "Just to get a rep" which heavily samples the same music found in Jean-Jacques Perrey's "E.V.A." Or Biggie Smalls "Juicy" which almost totally relys on the heavy sampling of Mtume's "Juicy Fruit". Meh you guys get the picture. Long story short. "Sampling" is a very important key development AND played a huge role into moving the sound of hip hop during its early carnation up to the late 80s(as well as super early 90s). Sampling brought new doors for people like Q tip and others to take advantage of, and bring in their own new sounds. Sampling is a work of art and takes skills to perfect. Only few of those have perfected it to the best of their abilties and surprass all others in the industry by miles away. Those few people happen to be DJ Premier and the RZA. But what makes RZA stand out from other producers is he actually tries to use little to no sampling at all. Maybe 30% of the time but he mostly makes his music from scratch. Anyways, this goes without question that this album must be listened to by everyone AND more importantly this is the album that proved that Beastie Boys do have a spot in the hip hop hall of fame. Classic material folks, classic
material.

Sounds of Science
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onYwDMnbVCw

3 Minute Rule
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZRULqGkvKk

Egg Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnYgPjYggf8

B-Boy Bouillabassie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLllLS1DoVw

Ranked #37 on Blender's "The 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time"
Ranked #2 on Ego Trip's "Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year (1980-1998)"
Ranked #156 on "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"
Ranked #12 on Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005"
Ranked #74 on VH1's "Top 100 Albums"
Ranked #98 on Q's "Q Magazine Readers' 100 Greatest Albums Ever"
Ranked #3 on Pitchfork Media's "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s"
Ranked #8 on Chris Rock's list of the "Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums"
Selected as one of Rolling Stone magazine's "The Essential 200 Rock Records"
Selected as one of The Source's "100 Best Rap Albums"
Selected as one of TIME magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of All TIME"
Selected by Rhapsody as one of "The 10 Best Albums By White Rappers

[BloodoftheKings]

Paul's Boutique would be #1 for me. Hard to imagine 36 hip hop albums better then it.

[Wizard in Black 666]

Originally Posted by BloodoftheKings

Paul's Boutique would be #1 for me. Hard to imagine 36 hip hop albums better then it.

You better start believing my friend

Chances are you will still disagree with what I will have on my list but oh well, can't please them all

Anyways, i gotta go get ready for work. I will be back later tonight to add some more mutha fuckin' real hip hop for the metal head brothers up in metalsetlist.cool

ROCK ON

[JRA]

Paul's Boutique is a legendary record. Forget the [awesome] beats, this album established the three MC's as world class rhymers. If Tupac or Jay-Z spit one of the rhymes of Shadrach or The Sounds of Science it would be heralded by all the hip hop publications as the greatest rhyme ever.

By the way, I understand you like to cite accolades, but having Rolling Stone and Spin as some of your sources does your argument more harm than good.

[mastodon421]

Paul's Boutique.... Fuck Yeah!

[Wizard in Black 666]

Originally Posted by JRA

By the way, I understand you like to cite accolades, but having Rolling Stone and Spin as some of your sources does your argument more harm than good.

Yeah, I had a feeling posting some of those rolling stones segments would cause some sort of backlash, I'll leave those out from now on. Just trying my best

Also, I'm 100% sure that the next 36 albums are going to disappoint a lot of people here and most likely deem this thread a "fail" because of it, but hey... I'm trying my best folks, If you guys think a certain record shouldn't be on this list, then so be it. Can't win em all'. The next 36 albums will contain some very important records that made hip hop what it is today, some land mark classics that hold a corner stone in rap, Some new school, some old school, and some that were on this more because they were important to me on a "i can relate to this shit" level, Albums that I could relate too, especially when I was living in the shite hole middle East(more specifically Tehran/Iran), some of these certain records hold a special place in my heart, for good reason....that of course...doesn't change the fact that they are amazing records that should be blessed by everyones ear canals. Anyways. Feel free to leave your "ZOMGZ, THIS RECORD SHOULD NOT BE RANKED OVER THIS ALBUM CAUSE THIS ALBUM IS NUMBER ONE IN MY LIST" opinions. I still love all of you even if I do hate ya'll


Anyways...

BACK TO SOME GRADE "A" Hip hop. NUMBER 36.....DRUM ROLL PLEASE..

[Wizard in Black 666]

36. RETURN OF THE BOOM BAP

Artist: KRS-One
Producer: DJ Premier, Kid Capri, and many more
recorded: 1993
Released: 1993
Album title:RETURN OF THE BOOM BAP



"After seven years of rockin'
How do you rate me?
Poorly or greatly?
Everybody seems to be goin' for their's lately
Yo mad heads be needin' money
So listen very close as I conduct this little study
See it's, funny to me, you can watch TV
And give up your life trying to be all you can be
In the Army
Not knowin' your history
You either fight and die or come back home in misery
Yo get with me, I deal with reality
Loosen your mind to the truth, and don't get mad at me
No politican can give you peace
If you trust Jesus, why do you vote for a beast?
Emancipation is long over due
So overcome procrastination
Because freedom is within you
For some reason we think we're free
So we'll never be
Because we haven't recognized slavery
You're still a slave, look at how you behave
Debatin' on where and when and how and what Massa gave
You wanna know how we screwed up from the beginning?
We accepted our opressor's religion
So in the case of slavery it ain't hard
Because it's right in the eyes of THEIR God
Where is our God, the God that represents us?
The God that looks like me, the God that I can trust?
A God of peace and love, not mass hysteria
I don't want a God that blesses America
I could never really vote for the devil
Let me take you to a higher level..." - KRS ONE

KRS ONES Solo debut record. After being with his former Group "Boogie down productions" with his brother Kenny Parker and the late Scott la Rock from 86'-92', we finally see Krs go solo and break off his former rap mates to start working with some of hip hops most legendary of legends to handle the beats horns and turntables. With the help of the legendary DJ PREMIER, Kid capri and many more we see Krs coming off epicly hard on his debut record with hardcore lyrics,boom bap funky bass-filled-jazzy tunes mixed with some real try and truthful rhymes about the history of black police officers, Crack whore prostitutes trying to take a piece of his glory, the history of hip hop and his good ol' days hangin out with public enemy and rakim at block parties all the way down to the the mis treating of African women, Religion, Government, Genocide, Politics. shit, the list goes on. Hell he even has an entire song about about having a dream where he is a blunt and he cant wake up and hes getting smoked by some of hip hops most prominent acts(such as cypress hill, Brand Nubian, Redman, ect). A great album and one of the best debut records to come out from someone who has already came out with 5 great hip hop albums during the mid 80s to early 90s. KRS one had a really great album running streak. And to think he could top it off with this solo joint? Another example to why he is one of the greatest and most original acts to ever hold it down...

I have seen KRS one 3 times in concert and my god he really knows how to put on one hell of a show. Easily one of the top 6 greatest
mcs of all time. For those wondering. 5 GREATEST MCS/RAPPERS of all time...

1.Kool G Rap
2.Rakim
3.Guru *rest in peace*
4.2pac *rest in peace*
5.KRS One.
6.Eyedea *rest in peace*

Anyways, one of the best hardcore hip hop albums to come out of the 90s from one of THEE ORIGINAL to start hardcore-hip hop during its carnation in the mid 80s... Get it.

Outta here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycu7i7hbcFU

Sound of the Police
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oENrgffA5VI

I cant Wake up(I'm a Blunt)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_HWLslfmJI

Higher Level
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFXjtpCFSUc

35 MORE albums to go. Some of the next few records will span from epic important albums to hit the late 80s, early 90s, late 90s to some of the most innovative rap gems to come out of as late as 2001. Some really undiscovered classics and also some already well known albums that we have all been known love and hold dearly in our hearts. Hope everyone is enjoying this shithole as much as I am. KEEP METAL AND REAL HIP HOP ALIVE FOLKS