09-16-2003, 11:34 PM
1. 2Pac - Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.: Not the most common choice, but it's my personal favorite, Souljah's Revenge alone makes this album great, plus it's 2pac while he was still raw, I know many people like the more polished music that came later, but it's the rawness that puts it at no. 1 in my book.
2. Eric B. & Rakim - Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em: It's sad that most people nowadays don't even know about Rakim, he was so far ahead of his time it isn't even funny. It's also the most solid album these two put out, their others had one or two great tracks, but I think as an overall package this surpasses all of them
3. Dr. Dre - The Chronic: I could put this at 1 and feel fully justified in doing so, it set the benchmark and it's one of the main reasons rap become more polished. Dre made sure you could'nt just pick a beat and spit some rhymes, you had to craft and hone it until it was perfect.
4. Nas - Illmatic: Nas is still great, but he will never be able to duplicate this album. I remember hearing "the second coming of Rakim" when it came out, and it's just so fucking true.
5. Big L - Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous: If only he hadn't been killed, you could tell he was about to hit his prime, if he was still alive he could very well have been the greatest of all time, you can really hear the potential.
2. Eric B. & Rakim - Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em: It's sad that most people nowadays don't even know about Rakim, he was so far ahead of his time it isn't even funny. It's also the most solid album these two put out, their others had one or two great tracks, but I think as an overall package this surpasses all of them
3. Dr. Dre - The Chronic: I could put this at 1 and feel fully justified in doing so, it set the benchmark and it's one of the main reasons rap become more polished. Dre made sure you could'nt just pick a beat and spit some rhymes, you had to craft and hone it until it was perfect.
4. Nas - Illmatic: Nas is still great, but he will never be able to duplicate this album. I remember hearing "the second coming of Rakim" when it came out, and it's just so fucking true.
5. Big L - Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous: If only he hadn't been killed, you could tell he was about to hit his prime, if he was still alive he could very well have been the greatest of all time, you can really hear the potential.