what was the last truly classic album?

[Witty]

Originally Posted by Certain

Classic rap albums of the 2000s:

Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele
Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP
Jay Z, The Blueprint
50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Jay Z, The Black Album
Kanye West, The College Dropout and/or Late Registration
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly

Near-classic rap albums of the 2000s:

OutKast, Stankonia
Reflection Eternal, Train of Thought
Madvillain, Madvillainy
Scarface, The Fix
Eminem, The Eminem Show
OutKast, Speakerboxx/The Love Below
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels 2

A reasonable argument could be made that all of Kanye's discography is going to be looked back upon like a rap David Bowie.

Yes.

He's the closest we have. An innovator.

[anime_boners]

Originally Posted by Certain

Classic rap albums of the 2000s:

Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele
Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP
Jay Z, The Blueprint
50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Jay Z, The Black Album
Kanye West, The College Dropout and/or Late Registration
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly

Styles P - Gangster and a Gentleman should be on this list.

[Certain]

I love that album, but I lump it with Big Boi's Sir Lucius Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty. It proved that the No. 2 member of a group could more than handle his own. It definitely does not qualify as a consensus classic, though.

[uh-oh]

Do people really consider that dark twisted fantasy bullshit classic? I honestly forgot it existed. This is the first im hearing that. Is that the one with bound 2? Aka the only decent song on it?

[Ghost1]

Nah that's yeezus

Dark twisted fantasy is alot better.....not a classic to me tho

[uh-oh]

Or anyone. Certain is high

[Diode]

Lol at kanye being compared to bowie

[uh-oh]

I dont know enough about bowie honestly.

Kanye was a genius though in the 00s. Some still think he is but i dont get it.

Maybe your too old diode to appreciate it. Like my pops just thinks bowie is a fairy from london who did pop rock. So to him hes irrelevant no matter his impact to music. Maybe you were just old enough to view kanye as pop hip hop and hes been irrelevant to you? Like hes become irrelevant to me with his weirdo space music

[Certain]

Critics write music history. Critics go fucking nuts over Kanye West. His first decade reminds me a lot of Prince in the 1980s. And Prince is my favorite musician/musical act ever.

[oats]

Originally Posted by Certain

Classic rap albums of the 2000s:

Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele
Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP
Jay Z, The Blueprint
50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Jay Z, The Black Album
Kanye West, The College Dropout and/or Late Registration
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly

Near-classic rap albums of the 2000s:

OutKast, Stankonia
Reflection Eternal, Train of Thought
Madvillain, Madvillainy
Scarface, The Fix
Eminem, The Eminem Show
OutKast, Speakerboxx/The Love Below
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels 2

A reasonable argument could be made that all of Kanye's discography is going to be looked back upon like a rap David Bowie.

this is pretty solid, though I think Stankonia is def a classic - more so than Black Album. Eminem Show is my favorite Em album by far, but I agree it's not quite a classic. One too many throw-away tracks made the final cut. Never listened to a handful of these, gonna check them out.

As for Kanye, I do think he deserves much, if not all the recognition he gets. But I get wary when an artist builds momentum like he has. I honestly didn't think Yeezus was that great, imo it was his worst album since 808s (to be sure, second-worst Kanye is better than 90% of everyone else), but it was hailed as a landmark album from the jump.

[Certain]

Stankonia hasn't held up like ATLiens or Aquemini. That comparison is what holds it back.

[Utmost]

Damn. No Roots? Game Theory or Lupe

[Certain]

Game Theory is great. Lupe Fiasco is not.

[oats]

Cannibal Ox - Cold Vein is also up there for me.

[uh-oh]

I feel like the problem with the roots is, whatever album you listened to first, is what you think is classic lol. I slept on them forever other than there obvious big song(s). The first album i really sat with was the one with dear god, think it was how i got over, and it feels classic to me. But if you are a lifetime follower of the roots its just another dope roots album

[Certain]

Originally Posted by uh-oh

I feel like the problem with the roots is, whatever album you listened to first, is what you think is classic lol. I slept on them forever other than there obvious big song(s). The first album i really sat with was the one with dear god, think it was how i got over, and it feels classic to me. But if you are a lifetime follower of the roots its just another dope roots album

This is true. I think Things Fall Apart tends to be the one singled out as their greatest, but that might be because it was the right era (late-1990s, the Mos Def era) where a lot of people were first listening to that kind of rap.

[Orc]

I honestly think MBDTF is a classic. Everything about it is near perfect. It's so cohesive and produced brilliantly. Well, it's as near-perfect as an album can be, anyway. Every single feature upped their game. Case in point; Fergie's verse. Where did that come from?

As far as TPAB is concerned, I can't warm to it. I understand why it is hailed as such a work of art, but it doesn't connect with me on a personal level. I'm a 25 year old white Irish man, though. So I doubt I'm the demographic of importance. Still, I can fuck with TPAB as far as lyricism and there's no doubt he's one of the best, but to me personally, GKMC was the better album. It was a coming-of-age narrative (admittedly non-linear) that, to me, is just as solid when broken down track-by-track or digested as a whole. The instrumentals and experimental styles on TPAB were jarring at times and I found myself thinking Kendrick was trying to hard to be Kendrick. Anyway, I know that TPAB is more ''socially aware'' but at times it's too fucking preachy for my liking.

I'm rambling now but yeah, GKMC was better imo.

[Chill Phil]

Ja Rule's Venni Veti Vichi


however you spell it


"ALL MY MURDERERS!!!"

[Ghost1]

Originally Posted by Orc

I honestly think MBDTF is a classic. Everything about it is near perfect. It's so cohesive and produced brilliantly. Well, it's as near-perfect as an album can be, anyway. Every single feature upped their game. Case in point; Fergie's verse. Where did that come from?

As far as TPAB is concerned, I can't warm to it. I understand why it is hailed as such a work of art, but it doesn't connect with me on a personal level. I'm a 25 year old white Irish man, though. So I doubt I'm the demographic of importance. Still, I can fuck with TPAB as far as lyricism and there's no doubt he's one of the best, but to me personally, GKMC was the better album. It was a coming-of-age narrative (admittedly non-linear) that, to me, is just as solid when broken down track-by-track or digested as a whole. The instrumentals and experimental styles on TPAB were jarring at times and I found myself thinking Kendrick was trying to hard to be Kendrick. Anyway, I know that TPAB is more ''socially aware'' but at times it's too fucking preachy for my liking.

I'm rambling now but yeah, GKMC was better imo.

Agree completely w the Kendrick portion

[anime_boners]

Originally Posted by quaker oats

Cannibal Ox - Cold Vein is also up there for me.

fuuuck. how did I forget this.