Post your three classic albums of every year from 95 - 05

[mc_millionaire]

Ok..here's the deal...I want you to post three albums from every year that you consider to be classics or at least the best albums of that year..

Ie..

95' - Album title, artist x 3
96' - Album title, artist x3
97' - Album title, artist x 3
98' - Album title, artist x3
etc..right up until this year so far (you get the idea)

The aim of this thread is to raise awareness of slept on albums and to celebrate good albums from a year that was perhaps considered a bad year for hip hop.

Obviously, cats on this forum are going to be posting as expected the usual 'All eyez on me' - 'Blueprint' stuff which is fine, but I'm also particularly curious about the underground classics I perhaps havent peeped yet.

It will also be a good excercise to establish what years were good / bad for hip hop like if your sitting there with fifteen quality albums you can mention for 96' but then have trouble coming up with anything for 98' it'll speak volumes.

Roaches, 7 syns holla...I'll add up mine after a few contributions.

BUMP. peace out.

 

[Krazy187]

'95 - Liquid Swords, Genius/GZA
- Dogg Food, Tha Dogg Pound
- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Niggaz, Raekwon

'96 - Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z
- Stakes Is High, De La Soul
- Illadelph Halflife, The Roots

'97 - Life After Death, The Notorious B.I.G.
- Wu-Tang Forever, Wu-Tang Clan
- The War Report, Capone-N-Noreaga

'98 - Aquemini, Outkast
- It's Dark & Hell Is Hot, DMX
- Moment Of Truth, Gangstarr

'99 - Black On Both Sides, Mos Def
- The Slim Shady LP, Eminem
- Capital Punishment, Big Punisher

'00 - Warriorz, M.O.P.
- Reflection Eternal, Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek
- Supreme Clientele, Ghostface Killah

'01 - Stillmatic, Nas
- The Realness, Cormega
- The Blueprint, Jay-Z

'02 - The Fix, Scarface
- The Lost Tapes, Nas
- All Of The Above, J-Live

'03 - The Black Album, Jay-Z
- Get Rich Or Die Trying, 50 Cent
- Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Outkast

'04 - The College Dropout, Kanye West
- A Long Hot Summer, Masta Ace
- Straight Outta Ca$hville, Young Buck

'05 - The Documentary, The Game
- Be, Common
* IMO, these 2 LP's are the only noteworthy ones so far this year.

Peace.

 

[Lok]

1995: Too Many To Choose From
1996: Too Many To Choose From
1997: Too Many To Choose From
1998:

• Black Mophia Clan - To Be Me
• Gangsta Dre - Inner City Poet
• Hollow Tip - Flawless
• Z Ro - Look What You Did To Me

1999:

• One Gud Cide - Contradictions
• Jezreel a.k.a Reall Rolla - The Rebirth Of Real
• Hellborn - Hellborn
• Crooked Lettaz - Grey Skies

2000:

• Ballin A$$ Dame - The Streets Of Sacramento
• Dead Prez - Lets Get Free
• South Side Posse - Anticipation Of Death
• Willie D - Loved By Few, Hated By Many

2001:

• Blac - Blac 2 Da Bone
• Woodie - Demonz N My Sleep
• Redrum - Relentless 2 Da Game (I guess it's in my top 3 :/)

2002:

• Chunk - Hard 2 Swallow
• LV & Prodeje - The Playground
• Woodie - Life Stories, Vol. 1

2003:

• The Original Mr. Prime Suspect - Walking Wounded
• Twisted Black - Late Bloomer
• Memphis Drama Vol. 3 - Outta Town Luv (SOO many dope songs...if you like southern rap that is)

2004:

• Devin The Dude - To Tha X-Treme
• Doomsday Productions - Survival of the Siccest
• Garden Blocc Ridaz vol.2

2005:

• Benie Sigel - The B.Coming

P.S: I added an extra album in a couple of years because I skipped a few

 

[Hellrazor1978]

The albums arent in any order of greatness. The ones in bold are my personal favs of each set.

1995

1. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
2. Bone Thugs N Harmony - E.1999 Eternal
3. 2Pac - Me Against the World

1996

1. 2Pac - Makaveli/7 Day Theory
2. 2Pac - All Eyez On Me
3. Mobb Deep - Hell On Earth

1997

1. Scarface - The Untouchable
2. Bone Thugs N Harmony - The Art of War
3. Wu Tang Clan - Wu Tang Forever

1998

1. OutKast - Aquemini
2. Gang Starr - Moment Of Truth
3. DMX - Its Dark and Hell Is Hot

1999

1. DMX - Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood
2. Nas - I Am...
3. Mobb Deep - Murda Muzik

2000

1. Outkast - Stankonia
2. Scarface - Last of a Dying Breed
3. MOP - Warriorz

2001

1. Cormega - the Realness
2. Nas - Stillmatic
3. Jay Z - Blueprint

2002

1. Nas - God's Son
2. 2Pac - Better Dayz
3. Nas - Lost Tapes

2003

1. Gang Starr - The Ownerz
2. Outkast - Speakerboxxx/Love Below
3. Jay Z - the Black Album

2004

1. Lloyd Banks - The Hunger for More
2. Young Buck - Straight Outta Cashville
3. Nas - Streets Disicple

2005

1. Game - the Documentary
2. Common - Be

so far those are the only hip hop albums ive bought this year.....95' was almost impossible, so many great albums from that year, and after Pac's two classic albums in 96' a third choice was hard because you had classics from Mobb Deep, OutKast, the Fugees, Ghostface, etc.....in the end I went with Mobb Deep as my 3rd choice because HOE is my fav album from them.....

99' was the last decent year for hip hop, 96' the last truly GREAT year. From 2000 on up, it became more difficult to list great albums, and especially the last 3 years were running pretty thin.

 

[mc_millionaire]

2005
Blueprint - 1988
Common - Be

2004
Masta Ace - Long Hot Summer
MF Doom - MM..Food
The Foreign Exchange - Connected

2003
Brother Ali - Shadows on the Sun
Little Brother - The Listening
MF Doom - Vaudeville Villain

2002
Scarface - The Fix
El-P - Fantastic Damage
Nas - The Lost Tapes

2001
The Coup - Genocide & Juice
Jay Z - The Blueprint
illogic - got lyrics

2000
Binary Star - Masters Of The Universe
Deltron - 3030
AntiPop Consortium: Tragic Epilogue

1999
Company Flow: Little Johnny From The Hospital
Mike Ladd: Welcome to the Afterfuture
Blackstar - Black Star

1998
Arrested Development - 3 Years 5 Months and 2 Days In The Life
Psyence Fiction - Unkle
Goodie MOB - Still Standing

1997
Wu Tang Clan - Wu Tang Forever
Atmosphere - Overcast
Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus

1996
Jay Z - Reasonable Doubt
Dr. Octagonecologyst - Dr. Octagon/Kool Keith
Fugees - The Score

1995
Spectre - The Illness
Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Lynx
The Infamous - Mobb Deep

 

[Quasimodo]

2005
1. Beanie Siegel - The B Coming
2. Pastor Troy - Face Off Pt. II
3. Royce Da 5'9 - Independents Day
2004
1. TI - Urban Legend
2. Bizzy Bone - Alpha & Omega
3. Kanye West - College Dropout
2003
1. Canibus - Rip The Jacker
2. Killah Priest - Black August
3. Brotha Lynch Hung - Lynch By Inch
2002
1. 2Pac - Better Dayz
2. Jay-Z - Blueprint II
3. Big L - The Big Picture
2001
1. Canibus - Mic Club: The Curriculum
2. Ras Kass - Van Gogh
3. DMX - The Great Depression
2000
1. Canibus - 2000 B.C.
2. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
3. ?
1999
1. Dr. Dre - 2001
2. Big Pun - Capital Punishment
3. Eminem - The Slim Shady LP
1998
1. DMX - It's Dark & Hell Is Hot
2. Outkast - Aquemini
3. 2Pac - Greatest Hits
1997
1. Notorious BIG - Life After Death
2. 2Pac - R U Still Down?
3. Wu Tang Clan - Wu Tang Forever
1996
1. Makaveli - 7 Day Theory
2. 2Pac - All Eyez on Me
3. Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
1995
1. 2Pac - Me Against The World
2. Brotha Lynch Hung - Season of The Siccness
3. Big L - Lifestyles of Tha Poor & Dangerous

 

[yukmouth]

2004
-yukmouth-all out war v.1
2005
-yukmouth-all out war v.2
-necro the sexorcist

 

[MATW95]

2000
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle

¿¿¿¿¿¿ ??????



1995
2Pac - Me Against the World
Raekwon/Ghostface - Only Built for Cuban Linx
GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords

1996
Redman - Muddy Waters
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
The Fugees - The Score


1997
Wu Tang Clan - Wu Tang Forever
Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death
ompany Flow - Funcrusher Plus

1998
BlackStar - Mos Def and Talib Kweli are BlackStar
OutKast - Aquemini
Xzibit - 40 Dayz and 40 Nightz
*Ozomatli first LP is close

1999
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
Big Punisher - Capital Punishment
Dr. Dre - Chronic 2001

2000
OutKast - Stankonia
M.O.P. - Warriorz
Del - Deltron 3030

2001
* These 2 are on everybody's lists, so I'm gonna include 2 others besides these*
Nas - Stillmatic
Jay-Z - Blueprint

Masta Ace - Disposable Arts
Sticky Fingaz - Black Trash
Ghostface - Bulletproof Wallets

2002
J-Live - All of the Above
DJ Quik - Under Tha Influence
Nas - Lost Tapes

2003 (This is hardest one because so many great underground albums came out this year, so I broke the rules on this year)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Canibus - Rip The Jacker
Little Brother - The Listening
Immortal Technique - Revolutionary Volume 2
MF Doom - Viktor Vaughn
Aceyalone - Love and Hate
Royce da 5'9 - Build and Destroy
KRS-One - Kristyles
Paris - Sonic Jihad

2004
Masta Killa - No Said Date
Madvillain - Madvillainy
Nas - Street's Disciple


2005 (Gonna break the rules one more time)
One.Be.Lo - S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.
Common - Be
Game - Documentary
Blueprint - 1988
Little Brother - The Chitlin Circuit

It's not actually that hard to find great albums. Every year somebody comes out with some beautiful shit that just misses your ears. Look at the 2003 list. It's full of fucking incredible albums that just aren't heard because your TV and radio stations just play the same shit over and over and over and over and over and over........



TURN OFF THE RADIO....TURN OFF THAT BULLSHIT
- Dead Prez

 

[roaches]

1995: Livin' Proof, Mystic Sylez, Soul Food
1996: ATliens, Ironman, Ridin' Dirty
1997: Get it How U Live!!, No More Glory, It's All On U Vol. 1
1998: 400 Degreez, The Dude, Steal This Album
1999: Ghetty Green, In Our Lifetime Vol. 1, Operation: Doomsday!
2000: Lucy Ford, Nia, The Unseen
2001: The Cold Vein, Labor Days, Party Music
2002: The Future Is Now, Just Tryin' Ta Live, Primitive Plus
2003: Mississippi: The Album, Philadelphia Freeway, Trap Muzik
2004: Purple Haze, The Pretty Toney Album/718, Waterworld
2005: Already Platinum, Beauty and the Beat, Monkey Barz

Tried to avoid listing what's already been mentioned.

 

[MATW95]

ATliens

Dammit, I knew I missed something big.

 

[jm5471]

'95- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Niggaz, Raekwon

'96 - Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z

'97 - Life After Death, The Notorious B.I.G.

'98 - It's Dark & Hell Is Hot, DMX

'99 - The Slim Shady LP, Eminem

'00 - Reflection Eternal, Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek

'01 - Stillmatic, Nas

'02 - The Fix, Scarface

'03 - The Black Album, Jay-Z

'04 - The College Dropout, Kanye West

'05 - The Documentary, The Game

these in my opinion are classics tho they also had influences on hip hop incredibally

 

[mc_millionaire]

1995: Livin' Proof, Mystic Sylez, Soul Food
1996: ATliens, Ironman, Ridin' Dirty
1997: Get it How U Live!!, No More Glory, It's All On U Vol. 1
1998: 400 Degreez, The Dude, Steal This Album
1999: Ghetty Green, In Our Lifetime Vol. 1, Operation: Doomsday!
2000: Lucy Ford, Nia, The Unseen
2001: The Cold Vein, Labor Days, Party Music
2002: The Future Is Now, Just Tryin' Ta Live, Primitive Plus
2003: Mississippi: The Album, Philadelphia Freeway, Trap Muzik
2004: Purple Haze, The Pretty Toney Album/718, Waterworld
2005: Already Platinum, Beauty and the Beat, Monkey Barz

Tried to avoid listing what's already been mentioned.

your joking...right?

 

[yak pac fatal]

your joking...right?

maybe u missed

Tried to avoid listing what's already been mentioned.

 

[PDT]

I'ma throw in '93 and '94

1993
1-Enter The Wu-Tang [36 Chambers]-Wu-Tang Clan
2-Slaughtahouse-Masta Ace Inc.
3-Enta Da Stage-Black Moon

1994
1-Illmatic-Nas
2-Ready To Die-Notorious B.I.G.
3-The Sun Rises In The East-Jeru The Damaja

1995
1-Liquid Swords-GZA
2-Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous-Big L
3-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx-Raekwon

1996
1-The Don Killuminati/The 7 Day Theory-Makaveli
2-Hell On Earth-Mobb Deep
3-Muddy Waters-Redman

1997
1-Wu-Tang Forever-Wu-Tang Clan
2-Funcrusher Plus-Company Flow
3-Life After Death-Notorious B.I.G.

1998
1-Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are...Black Star-Black Star
2-Moment Of Truth-Gang Starr
3-Capital Punishment-Big Pun

1999
1-Black On Both Sides-Mos Def
2-Internal Affairs-Pharoahe Monch
3-The M-Pire Shrikez Back-O.G.C.

2000
1-Let's Get Free-dead prez
2-Train Of Thought-Reflection Eternal
3-Violent By Design-Jedi Mind Tricks

2001
1-Stillmatic-Nas
2-Disposable Arts-Masta Ace
3-The Realness-Cormega

2002
1-The Fix-Scarface
2-Quality-Talib Kweli
3-The Chosen Few-Boot Camp Clik

2003
1-Revolutionary Vol. 2-Immortal Technique
2-Rip The Jacker-Canibus
3-The Listening-Little Brother

2004
1-A Long Hot Summer-Masta Ace
2-Death Is Certain-Royce Da 5'9"
3-No Said Date-Masta Killa

2005
1-S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.-One.Be.Lo
2-True & Livin'-Zion I
3-Monkey Barz-Sean Price

 

[PDT]

Damn, a lot of y'all got your shit fucked up. Capital Punishment came out in '98. Genocide & Juice came out in fuckin' 94, not 2001, Party Music came out in '01. Big Picture came out in 2000.

 

[roaches]

maybe u missed...

Out of the ones mc_millionaire is incredulous about, Purple Haze is the only LP that wouldn't have been put in if I hadn't been avoiding previously mentioned releases. And now that I think about it, I could've put in Brother Ali's Champion EP instead of it. I still stand by Purple Haze, though. It's no SDE, but it was a highly enjoyable album.

 

[Ghetto_Ghost]

Puff Daddy - No Way Out

damn
that takes me way back
i listened to that album everyday i had it on cassette and i remember that one day my fisherprice stereo chewed up the tape.
still got my Harlem World tape tho

 

[mc_millionaire]

Out of the ones mc_millionaire is incredulous about, Purple Haze is the only LP that wouldn't have been put in if I hadn't been avoiding previously mentioned releases. And now that I think about it, I could've put in Brother Ali's Champion EP instead of it. I still stand by Purple Haze, though. It's no SDE, but it was a highly enjoyable album.

Purple Haze is wack. Period.
Everything that goes into making a quality album is missing here; cohesiveness, beats and particularly lyrical content are all absent throughout the majority of the work. Why exactly do you stand by it? Because no one else from NYC raps or sounds like Camron? surely we should be thankful for that.

 

[roaches]

Purple Haze vs. Mm..Food:
Cohesiveness: The center of Mm..Food is an eight-minute interlude. If that doesn't fuck up the flow of an album, I don't know what does. Should I even talk about the skits? Cam'ron's at least ATTEMPT to be funny. Doom's make no sense at all, and don't fit in thematically like they did on O!. It's like he just decided to scatter comic book samples about because he did that before and hoped that listeners wouldn't notice that this time they made no sense.

Lyrical content: Mm..Food starts off with a song about beef. The next song is about hoes. The one after that is about guns. The one after that is about loyalty. Following that abominable skit-suite, there are two songs about nothing (okay, there's a "tribute to those we lost" moment in the first one). The song after that is a song about a failed relationship. The song after that is about snitches. The one after that isn't about anything. The one after that is also about hoes. Those are standard g-rap subjects, and aren't anything different than what Cam'ron talks about on Purple Haze. Doom's the drunk at the bar who claims he's a supervillain, Cam'ron's the guy in the barbershop or weed spot who thinks he's a drug kingpin.

Beats: he average guy who doesn't like the Diplomats has always acknowledged that their members do know how to pick beats. Kanye West, Chad Hamilton, Heatmakerz, that's a good-ass line up. The other 3/4 of the album is also well-done. The snares crack, the bottom thumps. The bounce music kick patterns on a few songs are dope. The samples are dope - even if it's been done before, how can you front on "Dope Man"?

 

[mc_millionaire]

Purple Haze vs. Mm..Food:
Cohesiveness: The center of Mm..Food is an eight-minute interlude. If that doesn't fuck up the flow of an album, I don't know what does. Should I even talk about the skits? Cam'ron's at least ATTEMPT to be funny. Doom's make no sense at all, and don't fit in thematically like they did on O!. It's like he just decided to scatter comic book samples about because he did that before and hoped that listeners wouldn't notice that this time they made no sense.

Lyrical content: Mm..Food starts off with a song about beef. The next song is about hoes. The one after that is about guns. The one after that is about loyalty. Following that abominable skit-suite, there are two songs about nothing (okay, there's a "tribute to those we lost" moment in the first one). The song after that is a song about a failed relationship. The song after that is about snitches. The one after that isn't about anything. The one after that is also about hoes. Those are standard g-rap subjects, and aren't anything different than what Cam'ron talks about on Purple Haze. Doom's the drunk at the bar who claims he's a supervillain, Cam'ron's the guy in the barbershop or weed spot who thinks he's a drug kingpin.

Beats: he average guy who doesn't like the Diplomats has always acknowledged that their members do know how to pick beats. Kanye West, Chad Hamilton, Heatmakerz, that's a good-ass line up. The other 3/4 of the album is also well-done. The snares crack, the bottom thumps. The bounce music kick patterns on a few songs are dope. The samples are dope - even if it's been done before, how can you front on "Dope Man"?

You didn't actually address any of the points I made. I don't want to know what you think about MM Food.