Illmatic vs. Ready to Die in 2013
 

two albums generally considered as two of the best albums in hip-hop, if not THE two best albums. I was cleaning tonight and listened to both straight through, and I can't help but feel that Ready to Die feels a bit dated/didn't age as well. What do you guys think?

Don't make me do this man

DO IT

my prep school roommate played ready to die every night. SMH, fucking brooklyn niggers I swear son. Anyways, I got illmatic on this E.Z. irrespective of black teenage shenanigans...

u dont think illmatic feels dated? i know i aint a nas fan but real talk that shit sounds straight early 90'sish


ready to die to me still sounds hungry and ill as fuck.

i always thought illmatic had the late 80's early 90's sound to it.


and for metts this is M YOPINION METTS so no one whines about the shit

^^agreed

Illmatic as a whole.

Although I'll take "Everyday Struggle" over any song on Illmatic.

Love Illmatic.


But Ready to Die is the greatest hip hop album ever.

You are all wrong. Neither is goat.

Ugk and outkat 2nd and 3rd cds whoop the crap outnof them tbh.

COUNTRY BOY

Ready to die has machine gun funk.

NOW I RECKON HOW YOU MIGHT BE THINKING THAT ROUND YONDER BOY>?

YOU GOT A REAL PURTY MOUTH<

I was talking about ready ti die with my boy a few years back an we were just chillin listened to the whole shit front to back an im listening then im like yo.......sometimes im listening to this an i feel like damn.....this shit is kinda old school but then outta nowhere he would say sum shit an id be like yo.....this shit is crazy how far ahead of his time he was cuz u could tell at parts the time frame and era he was a part of but then he would just go innnn an shit was fresh as fuck to the point u forget it was 93


Ready to die was yeaaaars ahead of its time



I dont be listenin to illmatic like that tho.....

I think both albums r dope still to this day, but I feel as if illmatic will always sound slightly more current bc it deal w more real world sht, while ready to die is a little more story telling... Which can get dated faster Imo as far as content... Both r Fuckin classics tho I their ow right. N I'm not saying big aint speak in problems lol or n as can't story tell, just my take on it.

and as far as ahead of their time is concerned... Both were, however in that aspect neither hold a flame to Big L in that regard

lmao i dont think l was ahead of his time at all

R u joking... Who was using punchlines back in the late 80s early 90s like L man? I mean I'm not speaking on artist sound or delivery but content n ingenuity

lmfao l want even releasing them in the late 80's and tons of rappers was using punchlines when l's first album dropped in when 95? some where around there

L was dope but way over hyped

I disagree w u Gow, with the exception of rakim I can't really recall one that displayed the extent of lyricsism that L processed atm

i dont think he was so insanly lyrical i mean l was dope but not off the wall dope he was a punch line rapper. most punchline rappers dont do well in the major market

his death launched his career way more then his album did

See to me L was like a more street version of Nas... The whole punchline was just an aspect of her sneeze, but still used in a more modern way..
And yes his death blew up his career, but a lot of yngr ppl don't even know of him now a days, so making him an : overnight sensation' happened, but had little staying power..

oh he was def better then nas imo rofl

lol@GOW's Nas hate.

To be sure, I'm not knocking Ready to Die, it's definitely one of (if not the) greatest album of all time. But I do think it didn't age as well, whereas Illmatic comes off as more timeless to me. More artistic. I do think both were ahead of their time, but the production on Illmatic was WAY ahead of its time. To me, at least. Nobody was rapping like either of them back in the early 90s though.

I love Big L, but I can't put him in the same category as Nas or Big. He was dope in his own right, and def took punchline delivery to a new level, but I can't say he resonated with me artistically much. Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane def used punchlines though.

lmfao :D

illmatic is the best album ever maybe can't even front

just cuz of the setting, production (every dope producer from that time frame worked with Nas on the album)

Ready to Die isn't as dope to me.

alos, a lot of biggies songs was straight up corny to me

even as a kid

if hypnotize came out today... blehh

if NY state of mind came out.. the net would go nuts

the net goes nuts when nicki minaj or lil wayne drops a track so thats not saying much

I mean websites boxden, etc

they don't go nuts for YMCB. I've never seen it on the sites I browse.

they hate wayne

eddie my dude, i agree wth you about most of the shit u say hip hop wise. esp with cam, jay etc but i cant get with you on this one im sorry lol biggie was better then nas imo and not just a little better . and ready to die is fucking amazing bro

I sip the Dom P, watchin Gandhi til I'm charged
Then writin in my book of rhymes, all the words pass the margin
To hold the mic I'm throbbin, mechanical movement
Understandable smooth shit that murderers move wit
The thief's theme, play me at night, they won't act right
The fiend of hip-hop has got me stuck like a crack pipe
The mind activation, react like I'm facin time like
'Pappy' Mason with pens I'm embracin
Wipe the sweat off my dome, spit the phlegm on the streets
Suede Timb's on my feets, makes my cypher, complete
Whether crusin in a six-cab, or Montero Jeep
I can't call it, the beats make me fallin asleep
I keep fallin, but never fallin six feet deep


lmao thats the shit yall call amazing

I think biggie is better than nas but I think illmatic is the best album ever

I didn't used to think so but tbh that was cuz I never thought about what the best was

I mean, the first three songs are better than ready to die imo lol

@God Of War you ever actually listened to Illmatic?

of course

oh. well all right then.

I love both but I always mod a bit more towards lyrical shit, Illmatic. Splitting hairs tho