Cuts like “I Declare War”, “The Catastrophe” and “Beware of the Stare” are exemplary of the dopeness of this album, Appearances from the likes of Cappadonna, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, and U-God on tracks like “Blood On The Cobblestones”, “Revenge Is Sweet”, “Murder Spree”, and “The Center Of Attraction” help make this album one of 2013’s best.
Thanks to the narrative thread, the album flows with great cohesion. Sounds crazy right? But it works – producer Adrain Younge goes all out here, integrating a wall of different soundscapes as the musical backdrop, merging iconic spaghetti Western film music from the likes of Ennio Morricone with haunting opera singing and 70’s soul & blaxploitation vibes featuring thick bass lines and organs. His remains are melted in vinyl and pressed into a dozen LPs that, when played, resurrect him as the Ghostface Killah, a force for revenge incarnate. He is an enforcer for the DeLuca crime family, who is murdered by his former employers after striking out on his own and falling in love with the kingpin’s daughter. The album’s story is set in 1960s Italy featuring an alter ego character of Ghostface Killah, Tony Starks. Twelve Reasons To Die is a concept album with the following central theme/narrative: the album serves as the score to a fictive vintage Italian horror film. Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge - Twelve Reasons To Die (2013)
Eclectically musical as always, How I Got Over is another Roots winner.Ģ47. Standout tracks include “Now or Never” (featuring Phonte and Dice Raw), “Dear God 2.0” (featuring Monsters of Folk), the title track “How I Got Over” (featuring Dice Raw). The featured artists deliver to – it’s especially nice to hear the likes of Blu and Phonte on a Roots album, also good to see an appearance by Dice Raw. Black Thought is good as ever, bringing out his deepest thoughts and observations. At least five of their albums are near-flawless – Illadelph Halflife (1996), Things Fall Apart (1999), Game Theory (2006), Rising Down (2008) and Undun (2011) – and How I Got Over definitely belongs up there with the Roots’ best as well. Their only disappointing effort is their eleventh album And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (2014), their previous ten albums are all simply excellent. The legendary Roots crew can boast one of the most consistent and most impressive catalogs in Hip Hop, ever. Let us know if you feel we erroneously omitted albums (and also which albums you’d drop from the list if you’d add others). So here you have it, this is our list of what we consider to be the best 250 Hip Hop albums of all time. Don’t get too hung up on the rankings either, this list is intended for nothing more than to have you and others think and talk about the music we all love, to keep the classics alive, and to celebrate those classic as well as the excellent Hip Hop music released in more recent years. So need to get upset if your particular favorites are ranked too low for your tastes – if it’s on this list it’s a ‘4-mic’ album at least.
This list is based on personal preferences first, and on factors like hype, cultural impact, and general popularity second – that’s why slept-on gems such as Grip Grand’s Brokelore (2008), Shabazz Palaces’ Black Up (2001), and billy woods’ History Will Absolve Me (2012) can be found higher on the list than classic but generally overrated albums like 2Pac’s All Eyez On Me (1996), Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death (1997), and 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Dy Trying (2003).Īnd remember: Hip Hop has given us THOUSANDS of dope albums over the decades, which means the 250 projects listed here are ALL excellent. Also, no mixtapes, compilations, or EP’s were considered. ‘Only’ albums released between 19 were considered for the list, projects released in 2020 need a year or two to marinate – no doubt a couple of 2020 releases will end up on this list a little further down the road. Over the years we compiled ‘best of the year’ lists for each and every year in Hip Hop history, the list you’re about to get into here is based on these lists – a culmination of sorts. The Best 250 Hip Hop Albums Of All Time? 250? Yes, that’s a long-a** list, and absolutely gratuitous – you might not have asked for it, but here it is anyway.
0 kommentar(er)
