Ethan's #6 Pick: The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death (1997)
The dramatic storytelling starts off immediately, as the Intro (which has a hint of theatricality itself) is followed up by “Somebody’s Gotta Die”, an engrossing tale complete with one of the greatest twist endings in rap history (perhaps second only to “Stan”). The narrations continue throughout the two discs, on gripping songs like “Niggas Bleed”, “I Got a Story To Tell”, and “Miss U”. Other tracks seem more traditional at first glance, but also incorporate the style in the rhymes. Songs like “My Downfall”, “Sky’s The Limit”, “You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)”, and “Fuck You Tonight” (“…we be lucky if we find a spot next to your sister, damn I really miss the/way she used to rub my back when I hit that…”) are significantly enhanced by Biggie’s use of storytelling.
The genius of Biggie lies in the fact that these songs are captivating, even if you don’t follow the story. The sex and street crime-themed lyrics hold up against the best non-story songs with similar subject matter. The beats are also strong in their own right, so you can vibe to the songs without listening to the lyrics. But the instrumentals complement the lyrics so well that they actually draw the audience in and promote a closer listen. Even those that might normally skip story tracks will let these songs play, because, above all else, they are just good songs.
Furthermore, as great as Biggie was at creating these absorbing fictions, he could also tear up the charts and spit fire with the best of them. While other artists spend their entire career trying to create a single like “Hypnotize”, “Mo Money Mo Problems”, or “Going Back to Cali”, Biggie made all three on a single album. And while other artists are rapping about the drug game and having beef, Biggie is defining them! Other artists love the dough? Not as much as Big. He even keeps pace with (perhaps even surpasses) Bone Thugs-N-Harmony at their own game on the astonishing standout (and my favorite song) “Notorious Thugs”. Biggie holds nothing back on this album, going harder and delving deeper into the music than most artists ever do.
Ready To Die is cool, but Life After Death is Biggie’s legacy. It was released during an era in which rappers were dropping double albums like they were going out of style (causing them to do just that). It didn’t seem to matter whether artists had enough good music to fill two discs (or one for that matter), and the fact is, most didn’t. Yet, Biggie didn’t do it because it was popular. He did it because he was at the top of his game and the great music was just spilling out. Life After Death is the rare example of what a double album should be: two full discs worth of strong music with no fluff or filler. It’s hard enough to make a classic CD. One this album, Biggie did it twice.
Scott's #6 Pick: Mos Def - Black on Both Sides (1999)
Rewind back to the end of that year. Hip-hop was stuck in a post-Puffy, shiny suit hangover that was even worse than that era itself - as evidenced by Puffy's own dismal follow-up. Pac and Big were long gone. Jay-Z and Nas, hip-hop's newly anointed kings, released arguably the worst records of their respective careers. To everybody's chagrin, Master P came out of his retirement to drop an album with a very original title. Oh, and rap's biggest single was a Will Smith and Sisqo collaboration. Needless to say, things were bad.
Somehow, out of this abyss came Mos Def's amazing Black on Both Sides, an album both old and new. Mos' debut is old in the sense that it is entrenched in classic hip-hop linchpins like black righteousness, social awareness, and, of course, great production and emceeing. However, despite its seeming familiarity, Black on Both Sides also manages to sound completely fresh and new through live instrumentation and Mos' own ingenuity and vast skill set. Upon your first listen, it sounds like something you've heard a thousand times though nothing before has ever sounded like it - the mark of a true classic.
Mos Def sounds so natural on the mic that it is easy to take his ability for granted. This man can rap his ass off, and songs throughout the album flaunt his excellence. The Diamond D produced "Hip-Hop" finds Mos speaking on the state of rap, spitting, "The industry is just a better built cell-block/ A long way from the shell-tops and the bells the L rocked". He touches on nearly everything, from rapping about water on "New World Water", to using numbers to drop science on the Primo-banger "Mathematics". Perhaps the most poignant of all his lyrics are found on "Mr. Nigga", which describes the veiled white racism present in America at the end of 20th century.
Mos can also be a wonderful, soulful vocalist when he isn't trying to be a rock 'n roll front man. Whereas his follow-up was bogged down by misguided crooning, Mos merely sprinkles his singing throughout Black on Both Sides to great results. Album stand-out "Umi Says" finds the rapper at his most inspirational, singing of freedom and unity for blacks. "Climb" is a spacey, intimate duet with longtime Tribe collaborator Vinia Mojica. And choruses throughout the album, such as on "Love" and "Habitat", benefit from his singing vocals.
The production on Black on Both Sides is lush and varied. From traditional boom-bap provided by the aforementioned Diamond and Premier, to the organic, Native Tougne-esque "Got", to the pre-Blueprint sped up soul of Ayatollah's "Ms. Fat Booty" and "Know That", Mos is provided excellent beats to rock over. However, it is the live instrumentation present on the vast majority of the album that make it sound home-grown and original.
A manifestation of both hip-hop's past and Mos himself, Black on Both Sides gets everything right. This is the album to give someone who has never heard rap before and wants to know what all the fuss is about.
DOWNLOAD LIFE AFTER DEATH HERE: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=o8anficp
DOWNLOAD BLACK ON BOTH SIDES HERE: http://www.mediafire.com/?vnanmyzlmwa
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