186. Too $hort - Life Is... Too $hort 1988 4/5

 

Highlights: Don't Fight The Feelin', CussWords, I Ain't Trippin'

 

 

This was Too $hort's 5th studio album but was the release that was his breakthrough into the scene. This album can be split in two halves. The opening half of this album is the commercial side with clean, made for radio hits while the second half is dirty and explicit (If anyone knows about the meme that was going about Twitter about Nancy Reagan being the throat goat, well Too $hort confirms the case on 'CussWords') and all the better for it. The first half of this album feels dated with too many basic, old-skool flows that sounds like any generic 80's rap song. The rest of the album feels so dynamic and still pretty fresh. The stand-out track 'Don't Fight The Feelin' feels like an early precursor for what Kendrick and Taylour did on 'We Cry Together', with Too $hort and the rappers 'Entice and Barbie' from rap-group The Danger Zone throwing some pretty insulting (and witty) verses back at each other. Entice & Barbie are easily the highlights on the whole album. Their style sounds lightyears ahead of any verse $hort drops that it's hard to believe that it was recorded at the same time.

 

Despite having only 9 tracks, this album is fairly lengthy (55 minutes) which means that every track on here is pretty long. Unfortunately, this means that most tracks feel like they drag a bit. Even the best tracks feel over-indulgent and a minute could have been cut easily. This is what really bogs down the overall score of this album, especially on the first half that is just not as good. There are 5/5 moments on this but the unnecessary length averages it out to be a low 4.

I haven’t heard of alot of these older artists albums like the one above but interesting to read. I mean the above was his fifth album in 1988, wonder if his previous ones are rap if they’re from earlier in the 80s!

I haven’t heard of alot of these older artists albums like the one above but interesting to read. I mean the above was his fifth album in 1988, wonder if his previous ones are rap if they’re from earlier in the 80s!

 

I haven't listened to any of his earlier albums but his 1983 debut was called 'Don't Stop Rappin' so I'm pretty sure all his albums have been pure rap.

185. MC Lyte - Lyte As A Rock 1988 4/5

 

Highlights: I Cram To Understand U, 10% Dis, Lyte Thee MC

 

 

Back to back albums from 1988 and, according to Wikipedia, this is the first solo album ever released by a female rapper and that in itself makes this an important piece of rap history. But it's also a really solid album too that helped launch MC Lyte as being one of the names often quoted as being inspirations for many of today's top female rappers. Lyte was only 17 years old when this album was released which is something I didn't known when I was listening to it and it's something I never would have guessed. In fact, the album's standout track 'I Cram To Understand U', her debut single and a cautionary tale about some of the negative social effects of Crack, she is said to have written at the age of 12.

 

Proving that samples are no modern invention is rap music, every track on this album includes at least one sample. I don't know if it's just Spotify but some of the production on this album feels really off. The mixing is poor: the vocals on 'I Am Woman' & 'Lyte Thee MC' sound too quiet and then the instrumental sounds too quiet on the album closer (Don't Cry Big Girls).

184. Saba - CARE FOR ME 2018 5/5

 

Highlights: BUSY / SIRENS, PROM / KING, SMILE

 

 

Saba is an artist that I'm very aware of through his appearances on Dreamville memeber's projects and, in fact I was a big fan of his latest album released earlier this year titled 'Few Good Things' but I'd never gone back to listen to hear any of his earlier projects. And what a mistake that was because this album absolutely brilliant and miles ahead of Few Good Things in quality.

 

CARE FOR ME is a loose concept album about the death of his cousin, fellow rapper John Walt and the mental effects this had on Saba. Throughout this album, you really do feel everything Saba is going through. This is a far distance away from the XXX & Juice WRLD inspired faux-emo rap that is ten a penny nowadays. I love a good story-telling rap track and PROM / KING is a doozy. Telling the story about how his late cousin helped him find a date for prom on the first half of the track and recalling the events that occurred directly before his cousin's death, the track is a real rollercoaster and leaves you on a bitter-sweet note while still feeling like a fitting tribute.

 

I always pick my 3 stand-out tracks to highlight at the top but I also have to give a massive shout out to 'LOGOUT' which is another great track with a solid feature from Chance the Rapper. I always find songs about the woes of social media have the potential to be a bit cringy but this one toes the line really well to end up on more considered side.

183. Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night 1997 3/5

 

Highlights: Luchini AKA This Is It, Coolie High, Rockin' It AKA Spanish Harlem

 

 

Camp Lo are a rap duo from New York consisting of rappers Sonny Cheeba & Geechi Suede. This was their debut album and spawned their biggest hit 'Luchini AKA This Is It' peaking at #50 on the Hot 100 and #74 on the UK singles chart.

 

This is a very funky album and sounds like nothing else I've heard coming out of the late 90's rap scene. The production is constantly interesting but I never really found anything to latch on to with the album aside from thinking that one of their unorthodox styles reminds me a lot of Kano.. It was pleasant to have on in the background while I was working but nothing made me sit up and take notice. Aside from a slur that's repeated twice, I can't really remember any lyrics or even a melody from this album which is a bad sign for an album I only listened to earlier today. This feels like an album I should have loved but there was just something about it that never really sat well with me.

182. Gucci Mane - Chicken Talk 2006 4/5

 

Highlights: Street N****z, 745, Plug Talk

 

 

This was the first of over 70(!) mixtapes that Gucci Mane has released in his career and is widely considered to be his best work. This was released before he really hit the mainstream but certainly highlights what he had to offer.

 

One thing you will definitely notice if you listen to this project is that it is long. The mixtape has 25 tracks and runs for just under 2 hours. But to be fair, it never felt like it was dragging at any point even if it doesn’t feel like it’s necessary an mixtape you have to listen to from start to finish. It feels more like a collection of songs that he wanted to release and out of 25 there is surprisingly few duds. Swing My Door would be an absolute highlight if it wasn’t for the awful blown-out distorted bass throughout the track.

 

181. Rawkus Presents Soundbombing II 1999 4/5

 

Highlights: Any Man, Chaos, Patriotism

 

 

Soundbombing II is a compilation album released by indie record label Rawkus and includes their whole roster and some big name features. Rolling Stone said the album wasn't on steamers but fortunately it is on Spotify with just the Intro unavailable to play.

 

The whole album is solid with everybody taking it seriously and nobody feeling like they're saving their best for solo projects. Any Man is the first proper track on the album is is by a just pre-blowing up Eminem. This is trademark early Slim Shady with high-pitched nasaly vocals and obnoxious, problematic lyrics. Chaos is the only track to feature a female rapper in Bahamadia and she sounds great trading lyrics with the duo of Reflection Eternal. Patriotism is by the group Company Flow and features vocals from member El-P who is now better known as being one half of critically acclaimed duo Run the Jewels.

180. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert 2021 4.5/5

 

Highlights: Rollin Stone, Two Worlds Apart, Fear No Man

 

 

Certainly one of (if not) the most recent albums in this countdown and one of the very few celebrations of none American talent. Listening to this album makes the Americas bias very evident. I enjoyed the 25 track Gucci Mane mixtape but you'd be crazy to say that project had any of the craft, creativity or brilliance of this album. Even with it's recency, this placing seems odd because it's hard to argue that some of what I know to come is stronger in any metric than this.

 

This album starts brilliantly with a run of high-concept, cinematic tracks that all leave a large impact. From 'Introvert' to the second interlude, the first few tracks are all in distinct styles while remaining completely cohesive and introducing us to the main theme of the album. After that there is a little run of tracks that didn't hit as much until some new genre's start appearing and the album picks up again. The first half of 'Rollin Stone' where she sounds very Stormzy over a grime-influenced shows that she could easily have a bunch of hits if she ever wanted to go a bit more mainstream.

That album is fantastic!

I like Bandana and Astroworld, and find Goodbye & Good Riddance and Meet The Woo to be pretty solid

 

Edit: Just missed your post on Introvert. That's a fantastic album

Edited July 9, 20223 yr by DalekTurret32

179. Freestyle Fellowship - To Whom It May Concern... 1991 4/5

 

Highlights: 7th Seal, 5 O'Clock Follies, Sunshine Men

 

 

Freestyle Fellowship is the coming together of four conscious rappers: Aceyalone, Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E. & Self Jupiter. There not so much of a group as this album is more a collection of solo tracks from each member more than any collaboration. As their name suggests, they favour the freestyle technique and you can hear their influence in a lot of the more conscious rap of today.

 

This is a weird album to listen to. It just turns to interlude junction in the middle of the album. There is a run of 5 tracks in the row where each skit has a 2 minute run length or under and it completely ruins the flow of the album. Sike is one of the most annoying tracks I've heard for ages. The beat is the absolute hardest on the album and then it's wasted on a 34 second interlude.

178. E-40 - In A Major Way 1991 4.5/5

 

Highlights: Sideways, Dusted 'N' Disgusted, Smoke 'N' Drank

 

 

I'm most familiar with E-40 for his appearance on Big Sean's 'I Don't F**k With You' where he provides a fun verse where he sounds very Obama-like so it's interesting to go back and hear his earlier stuff and find out that he always had this unique flow. This was his 2nd album and was released in 1995 when Tupac & Biggie were ruling the scene. In fact Tupac himself makes an appearance on one of the albums killer tracks 'Dusted 'N' Disgusted'. This album is very west-coast

 

This is a really solid album with 40's buttery flow making the decent production sound even better. What stops it from reaching the highest heights is that the second half of the album is a step down from the first half and you've heard the best of what the album has to offer by the 30th minute.

 

 

177. Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep 1994 4.5/5

 

Highlights: Nowhere To Run, Nowhere To Hide, 1-800 Suicide, Graveyard Chamber

 

 

Gravediggaz were a supergroup made up of legendary Wu-Tang member RZA (the RZArector), DJ Prince Paul (the Undertaker), Frukwan (the Gatekeeper) and Too Poetic (the Grym Reaper). Their debut album '6 Feet Deep', titled N*ggamortis in Europe, is credited as being one of the pioneering releases that created the 'Horrorcore' genre of rap with heightened, over-the-top violent lyrics that resemble the imagery of a horror film. Despite the titles that comprise this album's track list, the album is surprisingly mild and commercial compared to what I was expecting. The late Trinidadian 'Too Poetic' was the clear stand-out on the album. He has a very unique style that really adds in to the macabre tones the album is trying to produce.

 

This album is not available on Spotify so I have had to resort to YouTube to listen to this album which I will put the slight poor production choices down to. This was a really fun album to listen to so I would be very interested in a remaster appearing on Spotify at some point. 2 Cups of Blood has a very familiar sounding instrumental. However, I do have to say that I prefer what Tyler, The Creator did with his use of the beat.

176. Westside Gunn - FLYGOD 2016 3.5/5

 

Highlights: Hall, Mr. T, 50 In. Zenith

 

 

After a few mixtapes and EPs, FLYGOD was the debut studio album from Westside Gunn and it was got him signed to Shady Records. This album has tonnes of features and they mostly outshine Gunn; including his brother 'Conway the Machine' and cousin 'Benny the Butcher'. However it is two solo tracks that really stood out to me the most in Hall and Mr. T. Both these tracks have a wonderful soulful samples that's so different to anything else on the album and makes you wish for a project of just that.

 

Gunn & Conway both feature on one of the best tracks from Kanye's recent Donda album so I was really intrigued going into this album as I hadn't heard much else from Gunn before and unfortunately I have to say I was a little disappointed. This album is completely fine, every track is solid but Gunn isn't the most proficient rapper in the game and I think he didn't do enough with mixing up the flows to really impress. I had assumed he was pretty young when he released this but I've just seen that he was 32 when this was released which does surprise me. Overall, I'd say this a decent album and I wouldn't put anyone off listening to it but compared to quality of some of the other albums we've already seen, this doesn't compare.

175. Roxanne Shanté - Bad Sister 1989 4/5

 

Highlights: Feelin' Kinda Horny, My Groove Gets Better, Go On Girl

 

 

Released at 19, this was released as the first of two albums Shanté released before her retirement from rap at 25. She certainly sounds young on this album, she has a nasally voice that gives her a distinct style. Shanté appears to be best remembered for being a pioneer in the diss track genre in what is called as the 'Roxanne Wars'. One of the MCs who also got caught up in the battles was MC Lyte whose album we've already seen make an appearance. I have to say that I agree that this is the better project. The flows are better, the lyrics are punchier and there's less filler. I might have to go back and listen to some of the other disses to further my understanding.

 

The only real negative thing I would say about this album are that the hooks are pretty weak compared to how strong the verses are. Also, one of my favourite tracks was 'Knockin' Hiney' but I just couldn't get over the use of the word 'Hiney', it just sounds so wrong.

 

There is a biopic based on her life titled 'Roxanne, Roxanne' that is available on Netflix and got some acclaim.

174. Cam'ron - Purple Haze 2004 5/5

 

Highlights: Get Down, Killer Cam / Roll That Shit, Chi Skit / Adrenaline / Phone Skit

 

 

Until his appearance on '9 5 . s o u t h, the opening track to J. Cole's latest album, I've always associated Cam'ron with 'Hey Ma' and the commercial side of rap that was popular in the mid noughties but this album has been the final piece in completely changing my perception of him. This is full on gangsta rap at times but with a fun, absurd twist in the album's lyrical content that makes it such a fun listen. Just take 'Girls' that has a bizarre Cyndi Lauper interpolation in the chorus that I couldn't imagine NWA ever considering.

 

Most of my absolute favourites on this album came right at the start but that's not to say that it drops off in quality at any point. There's plenty I could have included as honourable mentions aside to the 3 I already picked, especially some soulful sampled tracks that you couldn't mistake the production of an early Kanye West for anyone else.

 

I absolutely loved this album. I mean, did it need 50 skits ballooning the run length? No, not really but the album is just so original and surreal at times that it justifies the time needed to listen to it.

173. Mac Miller - The Divine Feminine 2016 4/5

 

Highlights: My Favourite Part, Cinderella, Dang

 

 

This was Mac Miller's 4th album and the penultimate release before his untimely death in 2018. This is definitely the album of his that I was already the most familiar with but it's inclusion has surprised me because I thought 'Swimming' was his best received album. This album certainly leans more towards R&B than any other album in this countdown so far. I was reading some reviews of this album and in a positive review(!) PopMatters said "Mac Miller isn’t a good rapper, and he definitely can’t carry a note, though he tries to do that a lot on this one" which I think it an incredibly harsh summation. Admittedly, he's not the strongest rapper but he's more than competent and this album lands brilliantly on the ears.

 

The Divine Feminine is what I would call a mood album. This is a really coherent project where you can feel the attention and care that has gone in to producing it with a nice choice of features (Ariana, Kendrick, CeeLo, Anderson, Ty, Bilal and Njomza) that all fit like a glove onto their respective tracks. However, it's not something I can really see myself going back to much. Each track feels long and I'm not sure there's enough variety in each track for every one to be 5 minutes.

172. Flo Milli - Ho, Why Is You Here? 2020 2.5/5

 

Highlights: Weak, May I, In The Party

 

 

I have nothing against Flo Milli, her song 'We Not Humping' has been a big hit for me this year, but come on, this should not be included in a list like this. I find it hard to believe that the Rolling Stone contributors sat down and decided that this deserves to be higher than Little Simz with a straight face. This was Flo Milli's first mixtape released when she was 20 and her song 'Beef FloMix' had success on TikTok. Her full-length debut album is released in two weeks and will be titled 'You Still Here, Ho?'.

 

This mixtape is brisk, it runs 30 minutes and it's pretty dynamic in that time. Most of the songs are under 3 minutes so the album moves fast before anything can get dull but on a whole it's completely lacking in substance. I feel like I could have heard anything on this album in isolation and would have enjoyed it and moved on but hearing them all in a row just highlights how little Flo Milli changes her flow and how surface-level all the lyrics are. I know this was just made for parties and to have fun but there's only so many times you can hear 'Flo Milli Shit' in quick succession before it gets pretty irritating. She's alright but not someone from whom I want to hear full projects.

171. Marley Marl - In Control, Volume 1 1988 4/5

 

Highlights: The Symphony, Droppin' Science, Duck Alert

 

 

Marley Marl is a producer who rose to fame as a member of Juice Crew. This was his solo debut album and features many of the other members of Juice Crew and a few other popular rappers of the time, including Roxanne Shante who had an album in this countdown just recently. I guess this a precursor for albums like 'Major Key' where the person taking the spotlight is not the rapper but the person who makes the beats.

 

The Symphony is a cool posse cut with a lot of the members of the band coming together all on one track but, like most of the 80's albums I'm listening to, this is pretty solid to listen to but feels dated now and is missing the innovations that you hear in the albums from the 90's onwards.

 

The most uncomfortable moment on this album is that (very topically) Tim Westwood get's a shout out by Masta Ace on 'Simon Says'. "Special thanks to DJ Marley Marl and Tim Westwood rockin things out in U.K". Very random as he would have been working for Capital at the time.