The only tracks I have are Thou Shalt Always Kill, The Beat That My Heart Skipped and Letter from God to Man. I've heard Look For The Woman too, all great. Scroob's poetry is tidy also.

I haven't heard much old school rap but from what I've heard I'd say:

Jay-Z's Black Album
Talib Kweli's Eardrum
Nas's Untitled (haven't heard illmatic)

^ Do not ignore this man's post if you havent heard those albums. If you have, then well free free to move on with your day.

To the quality albums already mentioned I'd like to add:

Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Non Phixion - The Future Is Now

And I want to say Kanye West - College Dropout, but the absurd amount of skits on it ruins it every time.

FAO Jay-Z fans.

Last Monday, I saw Jay-Z live. I lucked out, got tickets from work. Until then, I was a casual fan, but boy, can he put on a show.

I've purchased The Black Album, American Gangster and The Blueprint. Where should I go next with this?

Not that that isn't a good album, but that kind of defence would kind of imply that the rest of rap isn't real music, wouldn't it?


Anyway... some good nominations in this thread but frankly I amazed at the lack of support for Snoop Dogg's classic 1993 debut Doggystyle. Along with Dre's The Chronic - on which Snoop featured heavily - this album really set the tone for so much of rap that has come since. Snoop's work dropped off in quality quite sharply from this point on, which I think is a great shame because holy fuck, this is the G-Funk album and hot damn is it a good one. (Incidentally I think Snoop's 2006 Tha Blue Carpet Treatment is the closest thing to a return to the form of his debut; apparently he was inspired to make it after his son didn't name him when asked who his favourite five rappers were).


From a different angle Wu-Tang have of course been massively influential and just massive in general; if I had to pick a favourite album of theirs it would really have to go to Wu Tang Forever, probably because For Heaven's Sake on the first CD is hands down the best Wu song ever made. However, my opinion of the Wu Tang is that, at the end of the day, they were just the beginning stages of the evolution of the man we know today as Method Man. He was always the best wordsmith in the group, and I think the amount of success he has enjoyed in his solo career compared to other Wu members shows this. Tical 2000: Judgment Day is, for me, an absolute blow-your-face-off tour de rapping force.


I'll just turn briefly to the UK scene because I feel obliged to, and, you know, because there's some good stuff going on in grime that doesn't get much global recognition because of the whole scene's inward-looking isolationist nature. Which is the scene's own fault entirely, but still. Dizzee Rascal gets a fair bit of stick both from inside and out of the "rap community" as it were but I am a huge fan of his newest album, Maths + English. Admittedly his debut Boy in da Corner had his two best tracks in Jus a Rascal and Fix up, Look Sharp, but I think for overall quality Maths + English takes the prize.

I am also a massive fan of Lethal Bizzle, partly because he isn't afraid to try new things musically - which, for a grime artist, marks him as exceptional - and partly because he's got a pretty decent sense of humour on him. Oh, and he can rap okay too I guess. His second album Back to Bizznizz (see, this is another reason why grime music doesn't get much respect) has some killer tracks on it.

If I had to organise the albums I've talked about into a top five - and I'm going to, because I like lists - it would go a little something like this:

5. Lethal Bizzle - Back to Bizznizz

4. Wu-Tang Clan - Wu Tang Forever

3. Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English

2. Method Man - Tical 2000: Judgment Day

1. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle

Indeed I did, Bond. Thanks for that.

I don't really agree that The W sucked, though; it was more of an album aiming for chart success than a traditional Wu-Tang CD, but it still had some decent tracks.

why the fuck is the marshal mathers lp on this poll?????
LIQUID SWORDS MOTHA FUCKAZ!!!!!!!!!

Also because it's a pretty good rap album.

I really can't stand that song.  They just bit the beat from Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid In Full" and shoehorned in awful, awful bleeding heart lyrics about refugees over the top.

If we're talking Oz hip-hop, I'd have to say my favourite albums are The Calling by Hilltop Hoods (beats The Hard Road in my book, although I haven't heard Restrung), TZU's Position Correction, and When The Dust Settles by Downsyde.  Resin Dogs and Koolism released some mighty fine stuff, too.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I despise the Liberal party.  I just hate hippies more.


(I vote Labor, by the way)