The Best Album of 2006 Seems to Be the Least Discussed

[AmerikazMost]

So you already know that I'm not talking about Doctor's Advocate...



At face value, 2006 seems to be one of the worst year's hip-hop has encountered. Of course every year there are always underground releases that find relatively small, dedicated followings, but they are usually accompanied by at least a few quality releases by major acts. Even 2005 had The Documentary, The B.Coming, Be, and Late Registration (some may include the The Minstrel Show by Little Brother, who are knocking on the door of mass appeal, trying to avoid a fate similar to Jurassic 5.. a quality group that everyone seems to appreciate but not support financially).

But what does 2006 have to offer? Average outputs by Wu legends, a flop of a soundtrack from OutKast, a Ludacris album that I wish wasn't part of his catalog, the whinings of the West Coast's "savior," and another disaster from Amaru. Should I even mention Ice Cube, DMX, LL Cool J, or Puff Daddy?

Is this what we have left? Hoping that Nas can save face in a year whose names are legendary and whose albums are, well, not?

I've learned not to expect much from anyone BET is willing to play, but when I see names like Ghostface and Ludacris, excuse me for expecting something worth my $16.



2006 will be a year that will go nearly unrepresented in my catalog.


Nearly.


Despite all the problems that I and many other hip-hop fans may have with 2006, it has produced one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever.


Ever.


Ever.


[highlight]Ever[/highlight].


Game Theory by the Roots is downright amazing. It's one of the most listenable albums I own - one of the few I can listen to all of the way through without skipping a track. I waited to make this thread because I wanted to get beyond the new sound hype, making sure the shock didn't influence my opinion. It didn't. Instrumentation, lyrics, and delivery are all spectacular. Hell, even Peedi Crack came with it.

If someone who wanted to check out hip-hop and asked me for five albums to listen to that would affect their opinion forever, this would be included without question. It's that good.

And yet Doctor's Advocate hasn't been released yet and already has more threads about it than Game Theory has had since its release.




Things to discuss...

- Is Game Theory really that good?
- Why no hype for it?
- Finish this sentence: "Game Theory is the best album by a major act since..."

 

[Testament]

It's a great album, top 10 IMO (of the year) but it's not even the best group albums let alone the best of the year.

Cunninlynguists - Peice Of Strange is probably the best album of the year IMO, there is a few more I'd take over Game Theory, but still the album is amazing.

 

[Pittsey]

Did you pick up Planet Asia's albums this year?

 

[Testament]

Did you pick up Planet Asia's albums this year?

Which 1, ''The Medicine'' or ''The Sickness''.

Either way those albums are both extremely average, Plus Planet Asia doesn't exactly offer much as a rapper, especially conceptually, people don't believe the hype :thumb:.

 

[PuffnScruff]

it is one of the best albums of the year. i have been listening to it since it leaked a month and a half before its release and i still listen to the album all the time. it stays on the mp3 player on my phone. it is sad to see such a great album sell so little. even when they are have been doing some promotion from lettermen to a&e's breakfast with the arts. i even made a thread with links to their breakfast with the arts interview (a pretty good one too) and performance and it go no response at all.

it is an album that should at least have gone gold but i dont even think has sold 100,000 copies in the states yet.

i would put it in my top 2 of the year, right behind pac's lice

 

[Pittsey]

Which 1, ''The Medicine'' or ''The Sickness''.

Either way those albums are both extremely average, Plus Planet Asia doesn't exactly offer much as a rapper, especially conceptually, people don't believe the hype :thumb:.

The Medicine was a great album

 

[jflballer]

Talk about everything being relative!

Hip-hop is becoming increasingly negative, and it's obviously starting to make its way into the minds of fans. It used to be all about presenting opportunity, but now it's about putting down the next guy. I can't say 50 Cent is to blame for it, but he definitely set the whole rap world back a few steps with his ruthless attitude - and that hasn't been a positive factor for the industry.

There's a few albums that have come out this year that are entertaining and enjoyable to listen to:

-TI "King"
-Diddy "Press Play"
-Game "Doctor's Advocate"
-Method Man "The Day After"
-OutKast "Idlewild"
-Fort Minor "Rising Tied"

There's a truckload of innovators in the rap game right now, and that's what hip-hop is about - INNOVATION!! Jurassic 5?! That's what they are - JURASSIC!! Wake up man - they're STALE!

The Roots are quality artists w/quality music, but their whole appeal isn't fresh. They fail to reinvent themselves, and that's great if "keeping it real" is their top priority, but obviously won't work if their target market is kids with low attention spans and 20 bucks a week of disposable income.

 

[Twirlzy]

Gonna check the album out, thanks for the heads up.

 

[AmerikazMost]

Talk about everything being relative!

Hip-hop is becoming increasingly negative, and it's obviously starting to make its way into the minds of fans. It used to be all about presenting opportunity, but now it's about putting down the next guy. I can't say 50 Cent is to blame for it, but he definitely set the whole rap world back a few steps with his ruthless attitude - and that hasn't been a positive factor for the industry.

There's a few albums that have come out this year that are entertaining and enjoyable to listen to:

-TI "King"
-Diddy "Press Play"
-Game "Doctor's Advocate"
-Method Man "The Day After"
-OutKast "Idlewild"
-Fort Minor "Rising Tied"

There's a truckload of innovators in the rap game right now, and that's what hip-hop is about - INNOVATION!! Jurassic 5?! That's what they are - JURASSIC!! Wake up man - they're STALE!

The Roots are quality artists w/quality music, but their whole appeal isn't fresh. They fail to reinvent themselves, and that's great if "keeping it real" is their top priority, but obviously won't work if their target market is kids with low attention spans and 20 bucks a week of disposable income.

What you believe hip-hop is "becoming" has nothing to do with this thread. I personally hold a certain standard to hip-hop. Always have, always will.

If reinventing yourself entails hiring the most popular producers and getting a whole bunch of "flavor of the moment" MC's on your album, then I don't want any progress.

Artists should never make music for the people. They should make the music that comes from within themselves. Only then are they truely saying anything with meaning. You think 2Pac made Me Against the World with you or me in mind? No. "Dear Mama," his most touching song, was made for personal reasons. That's how the greatest music is made.

"If you ain't speaking your life, your rhyme's adopted"

With Game Theory, the Roots don't keep it real - they keep it true.

 

[PuffnScruff]

There's a truckload of innovators in the rap game right now, and that's what hip-hop is about - INNOVATION!! Jurassic 5?! That's what they are - JURASSIC!! Wake up man - they're STALE!

The Roots are quality artists w/quality music, but their whole appeal isn't fresh. They fail to reinvent themselves, and that's great if "keeping it real" is their top priority, but obviously won't work if their target market is kids with low attention spans and 20 bucks a week of disposable income.

jurassic 5's new album is actually really good and one of the better releases this year.

when has the roots ever made it their mission to sell towards a target audience of teenagers who only listen to the flavor of the month? that has never been what they were about

 

[ChrisZimbo]

i really can not comprehend Outkast's new style , it really sucks imo , the beats are really horrible. Whats up with "Game Theory" only heard two tracks , but they are both banging , can anyone comment on their new album , seems like it has just faded from the spotlight.

 

[ChrisZimbo]

What you believe hip-hop is "becoming" has nothing to do with this thread. I personally hold a certain standard to hip-hop. Always have, always will.

If reinventing yourself entails hiring the most popular producers and getting a whole bunch of "flavor of the moment" MC's on your album, then I don't want any progress.

Artists should never make music for the people. They should make the music that comes from within themselves. Only then are they truely saying anything with meaning. You think 2Pac made Me Against the World with you or me in mind? No. "Dear Mama," his most touching song, was made for personal reasons. That's how the greatest music is made.

"If you ain't speaking your life, your rhyme's adopted"

With Game Theory, the Roots don't keep it real - they keep it true.

wtf are you ranting about

 

[ARon]

I was sayin something along these lines when sales for it came up after week one. I called it classic then and stand by it for me at least, not sure if it will be "accepted" you can say. But yeah I love this album, one of my favs, I really havnt stopped listening to it since so that speaks for itself.

 

[PuffnScruff]

i really can not comprehend Outkast's new style , it really sucks imo , the beats are really horrible. Whats up with "Game Theory" only heard two tracks , but they are both banging , can anyone comment on their new album , seems like it has just faded from the spotlight.

the problem is it never had spotlight. jay spend no money on promotion for thier album and screwed over method man the same way, he will probably do the same for nas. then again i havent seen a whole lot of promotion for jay's new album either other than a video

like Aristotle said this is really a classic album, it is one of their best works.

 

[masta247]

Hip-hop is simply going wrong way. It's not the same hh we had in the 90s or even few years ago.

my favourite albums of 2006:

Ice Cube "Laugh now cry later"
T.I. "King" - has only 3 songs I like but they're worth it

Also Game's album ain't that bad in my opinion. Has nice beats, few good guests. Anyway he as a rapper sucks. It's even hard to see a difference between him and Dre. He's a first class biter but does bring back a good west coast style :thumb:

 

[ARon]

Yeah Jay doin a bang up job over at Def Jam. I think Buddens said it best, sadi something like

"And my label got me questioning my favorite rapper"

Or something along those lines.

Really no good albums this year have been talked about. Everything goes under the radar I guess.

 

[ChrisZimbo]

the problem is it never had spotlight. jay spend no money on promotion for thier album and screwed over method man the same way, he will probably do the same for nas. then again i havent seen a whole lot of promotion for jay's new album either other than a video

like Aristotle said this is really a classic album, it is one of their best works.

yeah , whats up with jay , he's got time to promote some bullshit like rihanna and jeezy , yet his own video pops out of nowhere , with no promotion what so ever before hand ...weird. I dont get Nas though , i hear that the "hip hop is dead" track is not going to be his first single , is it me , or is it just apparent that nas has just got no appeal for dope beats. Not to say that that track is amazing , its just that i would figure it to have some mainstream appeal.

 

[ARon]

^Stop forgettin who Nas is workin with on htis album. Blaze, Kanye, Dre just to name a few. I think the whole bad beats thing might be gone, im hopin at least. People look to much into that anyway.

 

[PuffnScruff]

^Stop forgettin who Nas is workin with on htis album. Blaze, Kanye, Dre just to name a few. I think the whole bad beats thing might be gone, im hopin at least. People look to much into that anyway.

i could be just too much of a nas fan but most of the beats people say are bad that show up on his albums i actually like. but yea his production is great. even will.i.am is starting to turn a new leaf with me. even though it is almost ironic that he would produce a song called hip hop is dead and he is part of the black eyed peas

 

[ARon]

Dont sleep on BEP. I was diggin em before there last two, they got some good music, older music. But yeah I am the same way, and of course its cus Nas is my favorite, so yeah.