The 10th Best Hip-Hop Album EVER MADE

Illmatic.  36 Chambers.  The Chronic.  Reasonable Doubt.  Every time we hear these few words strung together, the first thing that pops into our head is not "best hip-hop albums ever made".  Instead, it's "someone must have Googled 'best hip-hop albums ever made'".  Just because every rap fan is supposed to jock certain albums endlessly doesn't mean we have to.  Over the next few days, both of us (Ethan and Scott) will reveal our own top 10 hip-hop albums, starting off with #10.


Ethan's #10 Pick: Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (1993)

Call me sentimental, but I get nostalgic whenever I listen to Mr. Doggy Dogg’s classic debut. Doggystyle is the first album that I can remember being really excited about even before its release. As soon as it did drop, I remember running straight to my friend’s house to dub it local record store to purchase a legal copy of it. I remember returning home and listening to it again and again in my headphones (if I played it out loud, mom would’ve taken the tape). I was spellbound by every word as a kid and even today whenever I hear that bathtub skit my balls get so wet… 

The thing that is so great about this album is the way the gritty and unrefined sounds of Snoop and his featured guests blend seamlessly with Dr. Dre’s elaborate and polished production. “Tha Shiznit” is a perfect example of this, with Snoop spitting some straight gangster shit over an instrumental that is seemingly just as gangster until those flutes come in and just smooth that thing out. It’s these little details and intricacies throughout that make the album shine. This is Dre and Snoop at their best.

Also at their best are the featured artists and friends with whom Snoop shares the album’s spotlight. After George Clinton kicks it off as only he can, rappers like Warren G (“get on your knees and then start jugglin…”), Kurupt (“if you ain’t up on thangs…”) and, to a lesser extent, Daz (“hey, Kurupt, can you help me write my verse?”) killed all the verses that they contributed. Nate Dogg sufficiently did his thing (“when I met you last night babaaaay”), establishing himself as west coast rap’s hook guy. Even the artists that didn’t experience as much personal accomplishment afterwards added their own flavor to (Mr. Malik is sick), or at least didn’t detract too much from (RBX, I’m looking at you Mr. “not pic-a-nic baskets, but pic-a-nic caskets”) the greatness of the final product. 

The themes of the album vary from gangster shit to pimp shit to… well that’s about it, but that’s ok. By keeping their focus narrow, Snoop and Dre were able to really perfect the formula. This is not at all to say that the album becomes repetitive, though. The feel of the album is as dynamic as can be. “Gin and Juice” is fun street single, “Lodi Dodi” is a chill throwback story track, “For All My Niggaz & Bitches” is hardcore lyrical gangbanging at its finest, and “Doggy Dogg World” is just funky as shit. But arguable the two most memorable songs (and my personal favorites) are “Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None)” and “Murder Was The Case”. The former will have people that never listen to rap singing along with the quickness and the latter is simply put the best song Snoop has ever written.

Doggystyle represents the perfection of the new G-Funk sound created on the Chronic and the best of west coast rap, gangster rap, and 90s rap in general. Even though Snoop was never able to recapture the hunger, passion, and inventiveness displayed on this release, it doesn’t matter. In fact, that he has remained one of hip-hop’s biggest names despite a decade and a half of mediocre music is a testament to how amazing this album actually is. So enjoy this album before he literally swizzes it up by making a sequel.

Scott's #10 Pick:  Kanye West – Graduation (2007)

Kanye West has yet to deliver an album that lives up to his immense talent.  However, unlike similar criticisms levied against rappers like Ludacris and Jadakiss, this is more of a testament to the risk-taking rapper/producer’s extremely high ceiling than it is an indictment against his current cannon. 

College Dropout, West’s fine debut, was loaded with production similar to his previous work with artists like Jay-Z and Talib Kweli, and boasted guest appearances from a countless number of hip-hop’s elite. Late Registration, West's second album, began to take steps into new musical terrain, due in large part to Jon Brion's cinematic instrumentation.  However, the album sounded bloated and too large in scope at times, thanks to numerous (mildly funny) skits, unnecessarily long song outros and, sometimes, the cinematic beats themselves.

Kanye West’s third album, Graduation, is perhaps his most overlooked and underappreciated release.  It is also his best.  Some of the album’s brilliance is found merely in what it doesn’t do.  The shortcomings of his first two releases are circumvented here, as Graduation has an economical 13 tracks, no skits and only one guest rapper.  Of course, the majority of its strength lies in what the album does do.

West and his guest producers take his music in a new sonic direction, layering on melodic, lush synths over his traditional sample-based foundations.  Perhaps exemplifying this new sound best is “I Wonder”, which takes a disarming and sparse Labi Siffre sample to vibrant heights distant from anything West produced during his College Dropout days.  The album also contains West’s arguably best song, “Flashing Lights”, an electronically pulsing yet soulful collage lamenting the highs and lows of a relationship.   

Other highlights include odes to Jay-Z and his hometown, and the album ranges from a Daft Punk-powered, futuristic single to a Common-inspired, mellowed out affair.  This breadth makes Graduation’s scope seem even more expansive than Late Registration's, but instead of bloat, West's tact and sonic exploration make for a thoroughly succinct, vivacious listen.  It also signals that the best could still be yet to come from Kanye-to-the.

Don't keep your hopes up for Jadakiss, though.


DOWNLOAD DOGGYSTYLE HERE: http://www.mediafire.com/?zimmwcmuzzn
DOWNLOAD GRADUATION HERE: http://www.mediafire.com/?chbmoo1nczt