153. Eazy-E - Eazy-Duz-It 1988 4.5/5

 

Highlights: Ruthless Villain, Eazy-Er Said Than Dunn, 2 Hard Mutha's

 

 

Released just months after 'Straight Outta Compton', Eazy-E released the only solo album of his lifetime and while it was not a commercial and critical thunderstorm in the same way as the group's effort, it is no doubt still a massive influence on the culture with tracks like 'Boys-N-The-Hood' feeling as relevant today as ever with it's frequent use as a sample or interpolation. While still releasing two more albums with N.W.A. before their very public split and beef, Eazy's only other solo release, 'Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton' was released posthumously in 1996 after his death at age 30.

 

Eazy is such a legendary name in gangsta rap, it's almost surprisingly how much of this album is just straight up jokes. I wouldn't argue if you were to say that this a comedy album. The lyrics to this album were mostly written by MC Ren, so it's no shock to see that he is featured on both of my favourite tracks on the album. Throughout my listen, there were two names that I couldn't help but think of as having really obviously been influenced by Eazy and this album. The first of these is Kanye West. The tone of this album with constant jokes but still maintaining a cool persona is exactly what Kanye mastered with his early releases. The second name is another legend but it's also the reason why this album sounds so dated. Aside from one track that has a pretty horrible verse (Nobody Move) there's not really many homophobic jokes like you might imagine if you hear '80's gangsta comedy album' but violence against women is certainly the topic that Eazy get's the most millage from for his jokes. Not a track goes by without some sort of joke (I might be a woman beater but I'm not a pussy eater) and in this way you can't help to compare with peak-controversy era Eminem. Like with Em, the jokes are too over-the-top to take serious, but the sheer volume of them feels unnecessary.

 

I obviously knew the title was a nod to Eazy-E but I didn't realise the hook to The Game's hit from earlier this year was actually sampled from the first 3 seconds of the intro to this album's title track :lol:

152. Rae Sremmurd - SremmLife 2015 3/5

 

Highlights: No Type, Come Get Her, No Flex Zone

 

 

Rae Sremmurd are a rap-duo consisting of brothers Slim Jxmmi & Swae Lee. As a duo they have released 3 albums and Swae Lee has found solo success as a singer providing hooks on massive hits such as Unforgettable and Sunflower. I don't mind Rae Sremmurd; No Type was a massive guilty pleasure for me in 2015. But they have absolutely no business being included in a list like this. This is a party album, which is fine, but I don't even think it's even the strongest in that genre.

 

I was very familiar with three tracks off this album before today and they are by far the three strongest tracks so I guess that's why. 'No Type' is not a great song by any metric but it has something special that makes it a classic anyway. This album is only 7 years old but already sounds so of it's time. The majority of the album is produced by Mike WiLL Made It who hasn't really produced anything great since his work on 'DAMN.' and I think this is one of the main reasons for its dated sound. That and having a song called 'Up Like Trump'. :lol:

 

Sorry Eazy-E, Little Simz and Cam'Ron but Rae Sremmurd apparently a better album that you as their debut. Looking around this has seemed to get pretty much all positive reviews so maybe I'm the crazy one and Slim and Swae really are rap geniuses.

Rae Sremmurd had some great singles later on ('Black Beatles' and 'Powerglide' are both absolute bangers) but I really can't stand either of the big hits from their debut oops.

151. Lil Nas X - Montero 2021 3/5

 

Highlights: INDUSTRY BABY, DEAD RIGHT NOW, SCOOP

 

 

Lil Nas X is a singer and rapper from Georgia who rose to fame with the success of his debut single 'Old Town Road' a country-rap hybrid that is the longest running #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 of all-time at 19 weeks.

 

This is one of the more controversial inclusions from what I've seen from discussions about Rolling Stone's rankings. Aside from 'Industry Baby' I wouldn't really consider any of Lil Nas's music to be Hip-Hop so I feel like it feels a bit out of place in this list. He of course takes influence from a whole mix of genres across this album but I feel it plays more pop than anything else, especially with the album's other big singles 'Montero (Call Me By Your Name)' and 'That's What I Want'/

 

I think this album is alright but aside from Industry Baby, there's nothing that I'd really go back and listen to again. I think with Lil Nas, I find his online persona to be more interesting than his music.

Yes, definatly more of a pop record.

150. The Roots - How I Got Over 2010 4.5/5

 

Highlights: Walk Alone, Now Or Never, The Day

 

 

The Roots are a band from Philadelphia formed by rapper Black Thought and drummer/all round musician ?uestlove while they were both at High School in the late 1980s. Over the years the band has included 20+ members (including Scott Storch) according to Wikipedia with the two frontmen being the only constant members. The band are famous for their unique style mixing conscious rap and jazz music and have cemented themselves as legends of Hip-Hop. Since 2009, they have found large success as being the house band on Jimmy Fallon's late night shows. Their album included in this list, 2010's 'How I Got Over' is their 9th studio album and is their shortest to date.

 

I must be feeling in a harsh mood because this is right on the edge of being a 5/5 album for me and on another day, I probably would have given it full marks. The one word that really comes to mind when listening to this is substance. Despite this apparently being a poppier release, with indie-rock influences, compared to their previous work, this album makes no concession when it comes to its themes and lyrical content. It's also incredibly rich in terms of the production and everyone who provides a vocal in on top of their game. Listening to this album and it's clear that its made my professionals, people that really know what their doing making this album of intricate ideas and endless creativity feel so effortless. This album is beautiful and is one to listen for when you just want to just lose yourself into some great music.

149. DJ Screw - 3 'N The Mornin' (Part Two) 1996 4/5

 

Highlights: Servin A Duece, No Way Out, G-Ride

 

 

DJ Screw is a DJ from Houston, Texas who rose to prominence in the 1990's through his pioneering of the 'Chopped and Screwed' technique of remixing where you slow down the original song and add scratches, beat skipping and other effects to create something new and 'chopped up'. His invention of this genre was closely associated with the rise in popularity of 'lean' as a drug of choice in Hip-Hop with both the drink and the music's effect of slowing the brain. Screw died in 2000 at the age of 29 due to a Codeine overdose through his consumption of lean.

 

This album is made up of Chopped and Screwed remixes of 90's Rap track from the likes of Mack-10, E.S.G and 20-2-Life. One thing I will say about this album is that (for the first half) it might be the smoothest I've ever heard in terms of transitions. There was multiple times where I was listening to it where I was 2 minutes+ into a track before I realised that a new song had started. I guess when you slow everything to the same tempo, it makes it easier to make everything sound the same.

 

Your enjoyment of this album will be purely defined on your tolerance for this unique, slower, niche sound the style demands. If this isn't your genre then this album will do nothing for you, but if you can dig it then you will be treated to a very consistent album from the mind a visionary who was an expert in taking something already great and finding something special of his own inside of it.

148. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2 2014 4.5/5

 

Highlights: Oh My Darling Don't Cry, Jeopardy, Lie, Cheat, Steal

 

 

El-P has been popping up everywhere so far in this countdown and now we finally get an appearance for his most celebrated project, Run The Jewels. The duo is made up of the aforementioned El-P a white rapper and producer from Brooklyn and Killer Mike, a black rapper and activist from Atlanta. Or as Gangsta Boo puts it on RT4 "Cause they, one of 'em black and the other one white so if you don't like 'em, you automatically racist".

 

I have ashamedly never heard their debut but from the three that I've heard, I've always thought that RTJ have got better which each release. I would put RTJ4 in this list over '2' any day but that's not to say that this album hasn't earned its place. The chemistry between the pair is insane and they strike the delicate balance between the hard-hitting politically charged topics and laugh out loud witticisms with consummate ease. You wouldn't think a song like 'Early' an uncompromising look at police brutality should exist on the same album as the explicit sex-jam 'Love Again (Akinyele Back)' but they make it work, helped by Gangsta Boo's appearance on the latter making it stand out in a crowded genre of song.

Really Good record. a solid 8/10 from me.

'Oh My Darling Don't Cry' was the first RTJ song I heard and probably still my favourite, what an absolute banger. 'RTJ4' is the only one of their albums I've heard in full though.

147. LL Cool J - Radio 1985 4/5

 

Highlights: I Can't Live Without My Radio, I Can Give You More, That's A Lie

 

 

LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James) is a Grammy Award winning rapper from New York whose career has ran from the 1980s to the current day across music, acting and hosting the TV show 'Lip Sync Battle'. Out of his 13 studio albums, the one included in this list was his very first from 1985. Released when he was only 17, the album not only introduced him to the world but also helped popularise another legendary name in the Hip-Hop industry. All but one tracks from this album were produced by Rick Rubin, whose sparse, laidback production on this album (his official credit on the cover is Reduced by Rick Rubin), alongside LL's considered delivery, has been credited as what moved rap away from the old-school into it's new-school era with mainstream success.

 

This is one of the oldest albums in this list and, at the time, this was considered to have set a new standard for Hip-Hop. LL became the prototype for what every rapper purported to be in his wake. Before this, rap was considered as purely a fun, disco genre but LL's hardcore and cool but still arrogant and cocky demeanour that can only come from someone in their teenage years helped define what we now think of Hip-Hop. This album is the life and times of a b-boy in the mid 80's and LL perfectly surmises all the attitude and perspective you would want to hear coming from someone from that.

 

The question with an album that is now nearly 40 years old is does it hold up and my answer would be yes with some caveats. I don't think anything listening to this for the first time would mistake it a modern record, but Rubin's production still sounds fresher than even some of the albums from the early 90's I've heard. LL isn't super-lyrical here either but it's still impressive when you know it's coming from a teenager and if you think of what most other rap sounded like at the time. Alongside some other Rubin produced albums from around the same time that I suspect may also pop up soon, (Beastie Boys & Run DMC), this is a watershed moment in the history of Hip-Hop and remains highly influential to this day.

146. Black Sheep - A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing 1991 4/5

 

Highlights: Strobelite Honey, Le Menage, Black With N V (No Vision)

 

 

Black Sheep is a rap-duo from New York consisting of MCs Dres and Mista Lawnge. They have released 5 albums from 1991-2018 but their choice in this list is their debut, A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing.

 

This album definitely subscribes to the "we're here for a good time, not a long time" school of thought. Both rappers can't resist a bit of humour and a lot of this album is about girls and fun. This is best represented in the album's standout track, Strobelite Honey, a pre-catfish era song about the dangers of being tricked in a club by the non-perfect visual environment. Aside from a short intro, the album opens up with a parody of gangsta rap where Dres describes a dream he had where he violently murdered his family to prove he was 'hard'. There are plenty other skits scattered through-out the album and they are largely hit-and-miss. I did really enjoy the style of this album. Both rappers had some odd flows and random lyrics that kept you on edge as you are never quite sure where they are going next. I liked a quote that I just read in a review of this album on what separates this from other popular albums at the time "Black Sheep intentionally position themselves as the smart-ass little brother who doesn’t wanna act right".

 

A certain section of this album's big hit "The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)" will be familiar to anyone who knows their 2000's UK #1 singles as it gets a nice prominent sample in Fatman Scoop's 'Be Faithful'.

145. Common - Be 2005 5/5

 

Highlights: Testify, The Food - Live, They Say

 

 

Common is an academy-award winning rapper from Chicago. Out of his 14 studio albums it is his sixth, 2005's 'Be' that gets the inclusion. Common's last album before this was 2002's 'Electric Circus' which was a commercial disaster for Common and divided both critics and his fans by being experimental and incorporating grunge and rock influences. This album was the hailed as a comeback for Common, becoming his best-selling album with it's move to more traditional soulful Hip-Hop. I've always associated Common with conscience rap, possibly due to my hearing the song for which he won his Oscar so listening to this album I was quite surprised with it's sound.

 

Common is great on this album. It's slightly more basic lyrically than I was expecting but his words always land and he explores some interesting concepts. But despite his efforts, he's not the star of the album. This album shines bright because it was (almost fully) produced by, who I would consider my favourite producer in rap, (early) Kanye West. This album is a masterclass in efficiency, it's a pretty lean 42 minute runtime but due to Kanye's innovate beats and samples, it feels like you've listened to a whole opera by the end. The biggest compliment I can give this album is that it fully stands up compared to the masterpieces that Kanye was releasing himself at this time. There's not a wasted second and the album opens up with an incredible 'Intro' that sets up the album beautifully but also serves as just a great Hip-Hop track.

 

I've picked The Food as one of the the strongest moments on the album. This is particularly impressive as the version included on the album is actually a live performance of the song from Comedy Central's 'Chappelle's Show'.

I adore Common's music. "Be" is 100 percent his best record.

I adore Common's music. "Be" is 100 percent his best record.

 

Do you have any recommendations for any of his other albums?

144. Roc Marciano - Reloaded 2012 3.5/5

 

Highlights: 76, Not Told, 20 Guns

 

 

Here is an artist that I had never heard of before today. Roc Marciano is a rapper from New York who started off as a member of Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Squad before forming the group 'The U.N.'. His album in this list is his second solo release, 'Reloaded' that was originally released in 2012 and reached Spotify in 2020.

 

Roc Marciano can definitely rap. He's clearly a good lyricist and can weave in some nice multi-syllabic flows as highlighted in '76' but for whatever reason this album just didn't connect with me. I think the production (which he largely took on himself) is a tad boring and unimaginative and while there's some nice lines, I didn't find anything to particularly latch onto. I'd honestly struggle to recall any topics or themes that were touched on in this album. It just felt like someone was rapping in my face for an hour and it went largely over my head. The only stand-out was the frequent sampling of movie dialogue that gave the album a bit of a Steinski feel. I do seem to be on an island with this one though because this got pretty much universally adored by critics and everyone I see talking about this praises his storytelling and brings up how and vivid his and impactful his lyrics are.

 

I'd probably end up loving this if I spammed it all week but on first listen it left me a bit cold.

143. Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake 2020 2.5/5

 

Highlights: Urgency, I'm Sorry, Bigger Than Life

 

 

Lil Uzi Vert is a rapper from Philadelphia who has, to date, released two studio albums that have both reached #1 in the Billboard 200 charts. The album included here is the 2nd, the highly-anticipated Eternal Atake.

 

Vert absolutely struck with gold for me with XO TOUR Llif3. The 2017 single is one of my favourite songs of all-time; despite appearing largely incoherent at times, the erratic, irregular flow makes it such a standout and after a couple of listens I found that I already knew every word. I bring this up to show that I'm not anti-Vert or cannot enjoy this new-fashion, untraditional style of Hip-Hop but this album is just not that good and it's inclusion in a list like this feels ludicrous. There is nothing on this album that even comes close to matching the originality (or even the catchiness) of XO, not even the official sequel 'P2' that keeps the same beat and structure but lacks all the charm. I have no idea how this album got such overwhelming positive reviews. Over the full hour, the album never goes anywhere interesting lyrically and not even sampling Ariana (on 'Celebration Station') can make the production on any track standout from the others. This album isn't bad but it's just so average that I can't see from where all the excitement surrounding this album comes.

Do you have any recommendations for any of his other albums?

Definatly check out his record - "Black America Again"

Uzi? What were rs thinking?

I don't think 'Eternal Atake' was even particularly well received by fans which makes the rather OTT critical reception even stranger - it does have its moments but I found most of it quite overhyped and underwhelming too.