Top 5 Favourite HipHop Albums

As most people know, I'm a huge HipHop fan. HipHop is music, an art, and is subject to much interpretation. HipHop is expansive as any other genre of music, and shouldn't be treated any different. If you judge it by what's played on the radio, gold and diamond chains, and guns and sex, you're obviously not looking hard enough to what HipHop really is.

HipHop is poetry, storytelling, sampling, mixing, scratching, two turntables and a mic, just a mic, or just two turntables. HipHop is political, apathetic, deep, and ugly. HipHop has its own lingo; if you recognize the real, you'll understand.

I am in no way a music elitist. I like what I like, I don't judge things by their skill level or lyrics. Anyways here are just a few amazing HipHop albums.

5. Quasimoto - "The Unseen"

It's understandable that most people wouldn't take helium - induced rapping seriously, but I think we can all make an exception for this album. Dropped in 2000, this album was the child of Madlib and psilocybin mushrooms. This album goes from jazz to funk to old school HipHop samples. Madlib is a good rapper, but the verses from the ever present Astro Black (his helium induced alter ego) are simple, clever and funny. An awesome album for anyone.

Listen to "Astro Black", "Return of the Loop Digga", "Low Class Conspiracy"

Quasimoto got the ill arsenal

4. Souls of Mischief - " '93 Til Infinity"

Released in a time when mainstream gangsta rap dominated music, this small, obscure HipHop group, provided not nessecarily an alternative to gangsta rap, but a much more progressive style of storytelling, with heavy emphasis on beats and sampling.

Just listen to "93 Til Infinity". It's probably one of the most classic HipHop songs of all time, I've even heard it on Power 99 and 100.3 Da Beat Philly (huge rap stations in Philadelphia. The beat is classic, the rapping dominates.

'nuff said.

3. Bahamadia - "Kollage"

Cool, monotone, afrocentric, and jazzy. That's what I would use to describe this album. It's gotta be something to have GURU introduce it. Did I mention she's from Philly? Probably one of the most chill albums out there.

2. Nas - "Illmatic"

"Got any Nas?" - me

Most people will rate this album as the best HipHop album of all time, and for good reason. Nas rips apart the mic and resassembles it with his raps. It has production from the best of in the business (Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Q tip). This album is known for Nas's storytelling ("One Love"), battle raps ("Halftime"), and simple telling of the reality of ghetto life ("Memory Lane"). Easily one of the best albums in general.

1. A Tribe Called Quest - "Midnight Marauders"

If I've ever spoken to you, I have probably talked to you about this album. If you've ever sat in my car, you've probably heard it playing. If you even know me, you'll know that this is seriously one album I probably listen to every single day.

This album got me into HipHop. I don't even want to explain the greatness of this album to anyone, because honestly if you haven't gotten it, you probably won't get it soon. A Tribe Called Quest was socially conscious, fun, and some of the greatest lyricists of all time. They are cools inspiration.

I had something else to say, but I have become quite frustrated with John Madden's commentary.

PEACE