It's no secret that this sub has it's fair share of hip hop historians just as it does people new to the vast world of hip hop music. When the question, is inevitably asked, that what be the best (greatest) hip-hop album, a wide array of responses is invariably received. Among these responses, there will be albums such as The Low End Theory, To Pimp a Butterfly, Madvillainy, The Chronic, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Ready to Die, Good Kid m.a.a.d. City, Black on Both Sides, Donuts, Aquemini, The Roots, and so on and so forth. All critically acclaimed albums widely recognized as some of the greatest by hip hop heads.
But one album is always among those, and near the top too.
Is Illmatic, the then 21 year old Nas' debut in 1994 deserving of being hailed as the greatest hip hop album of all time, and if so, why?
To narrow this post down by a mile, I will make the factors that I will judge this album on clear:-
- Impact
- Lyricism
- Production
- General Attributes (covered in the three above mentioned factors)
But before that, let's talk about Illmatic in itself for a second.
From Wikipedia:-
Illmatic is the debut studio album by American rapper Nas. It was released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Recording, Battery Studios, and Unique Recording Studios in New York City. The album's production was handled by DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S. and Nas himself. Styled as a hardcore hip hop album, Illmatic features multi-syllabic internal rhymes and inner-city narratives based on Nas' experiences in the Queensbridge Houses in Queens, New York City.
The album debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 63,000 copies in its first week. However, its initial sales fell below expectations and its five singles failed to achieve significant chart success. Despite the album's low initial sales, Illmatic received rave reviews from most music critics, who praised its production and Nas' lyricism. On January 17, 1996, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and on December 11, 2001, it earned a platinum certification after shipping 1,000,000 copies in the United States. The album has sold 2 million copies in the United States as of February 6, 2019.
Since its initial reception, Illmatic has been recognized by writers and music critics as a landmark album
... keep reading on reddit ➡This is a little off-topic, but two recent videos of Tate have been produced by CC:
Tate on Curtis Mayfield (from 2021)...not clear if this will disappear with SUPER FLY at the end of December 2021, or if it's attached elsewhere.
Tate in conversation with Terence Nance (from 2020).
His author page at Criterion Current, with link to one text, an essay on GHOST DOG.
And a short appreciation by David Hudson at Criterion, focusing on Tate on cinema.
The Wire [UK music magazine] is offering links to a number of Tate articles for free "for the next month".
NYT appreciation by Jon Caramanica.
An interesting thinker and writer with a musical style; also a musician.
Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ Era, on a Chaotic Stage
West is still one of the most influential pop stars of the century, but multidisciplinary spectacle is more his goal than music now, and he isn’t the star of his own 10th album.
Aug. 31, 2021
For the last few years, Kanye West — perhaps tired of the insufficiency of the album, or music-making in general — has been seeking increasingly grand canvases for his various projects. There was the 2016 Yeezy Season 3 fashion show and album debut held at Madison Square Garden. His Imax film, “Jesus Is King,” filmed in James Turrell’s land art installation Roden Crater, in Arizona. A domed prototype for affordable housing built on his property in Calabasas, Calif. A vast expanse of ranch outside Cody, Wyo., annexed for work and play.
And now, for the rollout of his 10th album, “Donda,” stadiums — two listening sessions cum performance pieces in Atlanta starting in July, and a third last week in Chicago. New music may have been the raison d’être for these events, but it is not his sole goal, not anymore, not really.
Instead, these last few weeks have been album rollout as multimedia soap opera. The music itself has been in flux — the version of “Donda” played at each event has been different — and West’s refining of it in public, a method he introduced with “The Life of Pablo,” is his true artistic project now.
It is an ideal strategy for West, still among the most influential pop stars of the 21st century, an artist who is almost incalculably popular and yet almost wholly removed from the pop music mainstream. Gathering tens of thousands of people on short notice and engaging in a public conversation about what his music might sound like may be the purest expression of his fame now.
But crucially, big stages are easy places to hide. They are terrific distractions. And as West has cycled through periods of public tumult in recent years — his hospitalization, his [assertion that slavery was a choice](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/0
... keep reading on reddit ➡I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
Do your worst!
