Favourite rappers/albums (besides 2Pac)

[RoyalPurple]

Haha yes I do. I am an oldish man now, but I am still trapped in the music era I grew up with.

same here bro!

[Vinnie P]

what about immortal technique?

Can't wait till he drops his next lp the middle passage, or his book for that matter.

[Lost Soul]

Nas, Immortal Technique, Joe Budden, Crooked I, Saigon, R-Mean, Killah Priest, Hell Razah, The Last Emperor, Big Pun, Cormega, Biggie, Talib Kweli, Ras Kass, Rakim, Scarface, etc.

[LabelMeAnOutlaw]

Okay, removing 2Pac from the equation....

Top 10 Rappers/Groups:

1. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
2. DMX
3. Nas
4. Ice Cube
5. Jay-Z
6. Scarface
7. Wu-Tang Clan
8. Tha Dogg Pound
9. Spice 1
10. Mobb Deep

Top 10 Albums:

1. It's Dark And Hell Is Hot
2. The Art Of War
3. E. 1999 Eternal
4. Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood
5. It Was Written
6. Volume 2, Hard Knock Life
7. I Am
8. Dogg Food
9. AmeriKKKa's Nightmare
10. Liquid Swords

Like pretty much everybody, it always changes.

[LabelMeAnOutlaw]

Nice lists. If you don't mind me asking, what do you enjoy and appreciate about It Was Written, besides the lyricism? It's also interesting to see I Am.... in there, people often group that with Nastradamus as Nas' two worst albums.

Liquid Swords is undoubtedly the best Wu-Tang solo project, and good enough to rival Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Everything about the album is just classic. Incredible production; incredible features; incredible lyricism; unique concepts. One of the most cohesive albums in rap music history. An absolute masterpiece in every sense of the word.

It Was Written

The production. You could say this album is Nas' All Eyez On Me. His "sellout" album. It gets flack (just like AEOM from the "hardcore" community) for being too mainstream when it comes to the production. I enjoy the vibe of the album and the production served Nas well. I'm a fan of illmatic, I just enjoy this album more. Just down to personal preference. It's the same thing with Jigga for me. Many class Reasonable Doubt as his Magnum Opus (like illmatic for Nas) but I actually enjoy his 3rd album, Hard Knock Life more. Again, just preference. Doesn't hurt that my favorite Jay track, "A Week Ago" is on this one.

Favorite cuts: "The Message", "I Gave You Power", "Silent Murder", "Take It In Blood", "Watch Dem Niggas", "Affirmative Action", "Street Dreams", "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)"

I Am...

This one shouldn't be classed with Nastradamus. Nastradamus is a tragedy. This album actually has plenty worthy Nas tracks IMO. A couple nice features too. I won't lie though, there's throwaway material on this one.

Favorite cuts: "Small World", "Favor For A Favor", "Life Is What You Make It", "Nas Is Like", "NY State Of Mind 2", "We Will Survive", "I Want To Talk To You"

[LabelMeAnOutlaw]

I don't know about the production on It Was Written, it was rather hit-and-miss... (I have a fairly long reply on Page 2 with my brief outlook on IWW as a whole)



I also disagree with I Am... being grouped with Nastradamus, but I don't think the album as a whole is that remarkable. It's CERTAINLY better than Nastradamus, though, and contains some worthy Nas songs (like you previously mentioned) and even some tracks that rank among his greatest:

- Album Intro
- N.Y. State of Mind Pt. II
- Favor For A Favor
- We Will Survive
- Ghetto Prisoners
- Undying Love (Top 20 Nas song)
- Nas is Like (Top 10 Nas song)

However, the problems and the negatives on I Am... tend to outshine the positives if you take the album at face value. Nearly half the tracks are throwaway material. On top of that, you have the repetitive choruses, mediocre beats, commercial sounding production and songs, inconsistency with quality, terrbile subject matter at times, etc. I would probably group the album with Untitled as "decent."

Nastradamus is really bad. Only song I remember from that album was one of its singles (the one with Ginuwine). Half of I Am... is good IMO. The other half, some are average to pretty bad. It Was Written, not much I don't like on that album. Like I said, it's all preference. What sounds great to one person, somehow ends up sounding like shit to another. There is no right or wrong, it's all opinions no matter how much one attempts to back up their claims.

[LabelMeAnOutlaw]

Half-m̶a̶n̶ bad, Half-Amazing. That pretty much sums up I Am....

Nastradamus has its share of quality songs (Project Windows, Last Words, Shoot 'Em Up), but overall that album was a disaster.

What’s THERE is objective, what you MAKE of it is subjective. For example, if someone/something sounds sonically pleasing or not is purely subjective. However, there's no denying the approach they took with the production and how every beat on the album sounds (whether they are similar, generic, commercial, popish, etc.), etc. - which was basically what I detailed in the other paragraph. Saying EVERYTHING is subjective would be taking the easy way out.

Define generic. Define commercial. Define popish. Is that just based on a song's chart success?

For example, if something like Raekwon's "Incarcerated Scarfaces" charted high, is that now considered generic, commercial, popish under your definition (whatever that may be)?

[LabelMeAnOutlaw]

Do you seriously want to explain what "generic", "commercial", and "popish" mean?

Commercial friendly BEATS and PRODUCTION is not based upon chart positions (how did you come up with that?). It's how the beat and production SOUNDS, and it doesn't matter if you think the instrumental sounds good or not...that has nothing to be with it. For example, “If I Ruled The World” has a commercial and mainstream friendly beat that has a popish feel, but the beat and production is not bad at all, it is just commercial and mainstream friendly.

If you're actually asking whether "Incarcerated Scarfaces" would fall under generic, commercial, and popish if it charted high then I honestly question your knowledge on the subject as a whole...

You don't seem to understand why I asked you that, SMART ONE. Your previous post seemed to imply that people's tastes in music come down to opinion, but only to a certain extent. THAT is where you are 100% wrong.

The example of "Incarcerated Scarfaces" was to see if you were as stupid as you were coming off to be.

But since you used "If I Ruled The World", what about that song is commercial or mainstream friendly? Is it because Lauryn Hill is singing on it? If the song wasn't dropped as a single for radio play, would you still be singing the same tune? ELABORATE. Since you seem to be a nagging individual that demands elaboration from others. ELABORATE. Or do you not understand and comprehend the English language?

[Vinnie P]

[LabelMeAnOutlaw]

I did understand what you asked, I was simply re-asking if you really wanted me to explain what "generic", "commercial", and "popish" mean. You're coming off as aggressive now, I'm guessing that's because you have read replies from another thread and are now somewhat upset for some reason. I was just trying to have a civil conversation with you, but whatever.

Stupid? ELABORATE on that remark, please. Seeing as you where saying chart success equals "generic", "commercial", and "popish," I think you're the "stupid" one here. Explain why I'm wrong on music only being subjective to a certain extent. ELABORATE. ELABORATE. ELABORATE. ELABORATE.

Commercial and mainstream friendly songs are made in an attempt to achieve chart success, but that doesn't mean every song that charts equals "commercial friendly."

"If I Ruled The World" is an R&B crossover attempt and remake of Kurtis Blow's "If I Ruled The World." Nas and the people who were involved with making the song even said it was a crossover attempt to appeal to the marketplace and radio.

Just like the other posts, this is obviously going to end up going nowhere. You're sticking with your opinion, I'm sticking with mine, so we can either waste more time going back and forth, or leave it at whatever stage this is.

You still don't get it. I used that example ("Incarcerated Scarfaces") to see if chart success was your definition of "generic", "commercial" or "popish". You saying something "sounds popish" says absolutely nothing. You didn't ELABORATE on anything.

And yes I did read that little interaction you had with [MENTION=1161]JohnLund213 in that One Nation thread. You came off as a smug fuck. So forgive me if I've now come across as aggressive.

But you are right, let's not go back and forth as this will go nowhere. In that, we can agree on.

[Kieran]

And yes I did read that little interaction you had with [MENTION=1161]JohnLund213 in that One Nation thread. You came off as a smug fuck. So forgive me if I've now come across as aggressive.

But you are right, let's not go back and forth as this will go nowhere. In that, we can agree on.

Smug? Lol. We were having another simple discussion in that thread too. How should people have discussions nowadays? Should I bow down to him or what?

[LabelMeAnOutlaw]

Smug? Lol. We were having another simple discussion in that thread too. How should people have discussions nowadays? Should I bow down to him or what?

You let me know what we're doing here. Back and forth or is this done?

[Kieran]

You let me know what we're doing here. Back and forth or is this done?

That reply had nothing to do with whatever we were talking about before, it was about you calling me "smug." I'm just trying to patch things up so there isn't any bad blood between us.

[LabelMeAnOutlaw]

That reply had nothing to do with whatever we were talking about before, it was about you calling me "smug." I'm just trying to patch things up so there isn't any bad blood between us.

That's fine. No bad blood. It's already forgotten.