New Nas Album
 

Any Nas fans in here? If you like Nas you'll love his new album. By my count it has 8 first class tracks and 5 decent tracks.

Re: New Nas Album
 

I think Illmatic is the greatest Hiphop album in history. This country is filled with people who have lost that debate to me :)

He hit a skid in the middle of his career with Nastradamus and such, but since Stillmatic it's been nothing but quality. I didn't know the new one was out yet but I am going to run home now and grab it.

Saden, what did he end up calling it?

Re: New Nas Album
 

They don't really make'em like Nas anymore. Easily top 3 lyricists of all time. The album is self titled. You can buy the album in mp3 format from [URL="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C3JFQE/ref=sr_f2_album_24?ie=UTF8&child=B001C3JFQO&qid=1216194388&sr=102-24"]Amazon for $8.99[/URL]

Edit: You're in japan, I guess you can't grab it from Amazon :(

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=djnemo65;457034]I think Illmatic is the greatest Hiphop album in history. This country is filled with people who have lost that debate to me :)

He hit a skid in the middle of his career with Nastradamus and such, but since Stillmatic it's been nothing but quality. I didn't know the new one was out yet but I am going to run home now and grab it.

Saden, what did he end up calling it?[/QUOTE]

Word. Illmatic is dope. Not sure if I could name just one greatest album, but it is definitely one of them.

Just curious, what do Japanese people think is the greatest hip-hop album of all time?

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=GhettoDogAllStars;457085]Word. Illmatic is dope. Not sure if I could name just one greatest album, but it is definitely one of them.

Just curious, what do Japanese people think is the greatest hip-hop album of all time?[/QUOTE]

Japanese people have curious taste in Hiphop since it's impossible for them to understand the words (hell, my dad can't understand them and he's American born and bread); so they evaluate it mostly on beat, delivery, and overall attitude. I'm not sure if there is a consensus pick, but they tend to favor Tupac over Biggie (to my consternation) and struggle to get into a lot of older New York style stuff.

Kanye is big, but you are just as likely to hear someone talking about how dope Kris Brown or the Blackhead Peas are.

Re: New Nas Album
 

GDS, what do you think the g.o.a.t. is?

Re: New Nas Album
 

Illmatic is def. in my top 5. It Was Written was pretty good, but you're right with Nastradamus... that album made me fall off the Nasir bandwagon.

My top 5 emcees:

1- Rakim
2- KRS
3- Nas (from Illmatic era)
4- Biggie
5- Redman

Honorable mentions: Chuck D, MF Doom (Zev Lov X), Jeru, Black Thought, Pac and Big L (RIP), Chali 2na, Lyte, Talib, Pos, OneBeLo, Del, Gift of Gab, Q-Tip, Busta (LNS era), Gza and Cube.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=itvnetop;457180]Illmatic is def. in my top 5. It Was Written was pretty good, but you're right with Nastradamus... that album made me fall off the Nasir bandwagon.

My top 5 emcees:

1- Rakim
2- KRS
3- Nas (from Illmatic era)
4- Biggie
5- Redman

Honorable mentions: Chuck D, MF Doom (Zev Lov X), Jeru, Black Thought, Pac and Big L (RIP), Chali 2na, Lyte, Talib, Pos, OneBeLo, Del, Gift of Gab, Q-Tip, Busta (LNS era), Gza and Cube.[/QUOTE]

Good list but Redman in the top 5? I guess my issue with him, which is sort of the same problem I have with Pac, is that he never made that classic 5 mic album, he was just really good on a lot of stuff for a long time. I guess mine would read: 1 - Biggie 2 - Rakim 3 - Jigga 4 - KRS 5- 90's Dre from Outkast.

edit: I guess since we're are designating eras I would put illmatic era Nas in a tie for 2 with Rakim. Rakim gets the go ahead for fathering that style though.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=djnemo65;457182]Good list but Redman in the top 5? I guess my issue with him, which is sort of the same problem I have with Pac, is that he never made that classic 5 mic album, he was just really good on a lot of stuff for a long time. I guess mine would read: 1 - Biggie 2 - Rakim 3 - Jigga 4 - KRS 5- 90's Dre from Outkast.

edit: I guess since we're are designating eras I would put illmatic era Nas in a tie for 2 with Rakim. Rakim gets the go ahead for fathering that style though.[/QUOTE]

You know you're right about Redman and his lack of a universally accepted 5 mic album (although I personally think "Darkside" is bonkers)... the reason he's in my top 5 is that he can lyrically flip anything at any time. His wordplay is incredible and he can do it all while keeping a light-hearted tone to everything.

I totally agree with you re: Outkast-era Dre vs. new school. I'm all for an artist's ability to change, but he just lost me when he started getting all hipster. ATLiens for life!

Re: New Nas Album
 

What are your top 5 groups? Top 5 producers?

Re: New Nas Album
 

Ok, if we are going to do groups we have to evaluate them on the strength of the group as a unit, thus a group like the Fugees, while important and great in their time, are kept off the list by the red-headed stepchild Pras. Also, single MC DJ/Producer groups like Eric B. and Rakim or Gangstarr are disqualified as well because of their eligibility in the producer/ MC categories.

Here it goes: 1-Wu Tang 2-Public Enemy 3-Outkast (remember, Dre was technically bumped off of my last list) 4- EPMD 5- N.W.A.

Producers goes 1-DJ Premier 2-Timbaland 3- Pete Rock 4- Large Professor 5- Hi-Tek.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=djnemo65;457187]
Here it goes: 1-Wu Tang 2-Public Enemy 3-Outkast (remember, Dre was technically bumped off of my last list) 4- EPMD 5- N.W.A.

Producers goes 1-DJ Premier 2-Timbaland 3- Pete Rock 4- Large Professor 5- Hi-Tek.[/QUOTE]

Good lists.

My groups:

1- Tribe
2- PE
3- Wu
4- Smif n' Wessun (just based off "Dah Shinin'"... this album alone puts them in my top 5)
5- tie b/t De La and Roots

Producers:

1- Premier
2- Madlib
3- Dre
4- Prince Paul
5- tie b/t RZA and Beatminerz

Re: New Nas Album
 

As far as group goes...I'll be honest and say I'm not a real huge rap guy, but I absolutley LOVE Bone Thugs N' Harmony. Anyone else here into them? I can't wait for their (alleged) reunion album.

Re: New Nas Album
 

No love for Sugar Hill Gang, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, Kool Moe Dee?

damn I feel old

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;457200]No love for Sugar Hill Gang, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, Kool Moe Dee?

damn I feel old[/QUOTE]

With the exception of Sugar Hill you could make an argument for all those guys. Why don't you treat us to your lists SS, inject a little old-school perspective into this discussion.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=Gmanc711;457199]As far as group goes...I'll be honest and say I'm not a real huge rap guy, but I absolutley LOVE Bone Thugs N' Harmony. Anyone else here into them? I can't wait for their (alleged) reunion album.[/QUOTE]

Greatest line in the history of English: "Why they kill my dog and man I miss my uncle Charles ya'll."

What's better is that the video clears up any confusion regarding the usage of the word "dog." No Randy Jackson slang here, he literally means his pet!

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=djnemo65;457201]With the exception of Sugar Hill you could make an argument for all those guys. Why don't you treat us to your lists SS, inject a little old-school perspective into this discussion.[/QUOTE]

But, but I love Sugar Hill Gang! If there's a better song than 8th Wonder, I haven't heard it

Top five list is tough. It changes depending on my mood. But my most consistent list would be

5. Gangstarr
4. Wu-Tang
3. Slick Rick
2. Biggie
1. Rakim

With Common, RUN DMC, and Pete Rock and CL Smooth lamentably missing the cut

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;457205]But, but I love Sugar Hill Gang! If there's a better song than 8th Wonder, I haven't heard it

Top five list is tough. It changes depending on my mood. But my most consistent list would be

5. Gangstarr
4. Wu-Tang
3. Slick Rick
2. Biggie
1. Rakim

With Common, RUN DMC, and Pete Rock and CL Smooth lamentably missing the cut[/QUOTE]


A New York man. I respect that.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;457205]But, but I love Sugar Hill Gang! If there's a better song than 8th Wonder, I haven't heard it

Top five list is tough. It changes depending on my mood. But my most consistent list would be

5. Gangstarr
4. Wu-Tang
3. Slick Rick
2. Biggie
1. Rakim

With Common, RUN DMC, and Pete Rock and CL Smooth lamentably missing the cut[/QUOTE]

Show ya right! Pete Rock and CL... that's some good ish.

How old school we wanna get?

[YT]vmOPo5Agzlc[/YT]

Re: New Nas Album
 

I can't rank people because it depends so much on my mood.

Classic:
Wu-Tang. Especially GZA liquid swordz. What an amazing album.
Rakim. Sick flows.
Tupac. Never was a fan of how his music sounded, but the man was a poet.
KRS-one. Great flows. Hard to believe he got his start when he was homeless rapping on the street for money and happened to do it for a radio executive.
Tribe: Just classic stuff here. No description needed.
Gravediggaz. Horror-core at it's best. RZA, Prince Paul, Frukwan, and Too Poetic. Love the grimy RZA beats. Everything.


New Era:
MF Doom. I love this guy.
Lupe Fiasco. He's grown on me a bit. Hip hop saved my life is a damn good song.
Gangstarr. Hard to choose what era to put these guys in. I love premier and Guru. Sick beats, the monotone flow. Love it.
Blackstar. Talib and Mos Def. Sick combo. Another group I listen to constantly, like Gangstarr.
Wyclef Jean. This dude does some things I don't like (Shakira) but Carnival was an amazing CD. He rips up the guitar too, one of the better current guitar players out right now.
Sage Francis: Lots of political stuff here, so obviously not for everyone. Makeshift patriot is a song everyone should give a listen to.
Deltron 3030. Del and Automater team up. What could go wrong?
Aesop Rock. Awesome songs, not a fan of 100% of his work, but most of it is very good.
Atmosphere. Nice to see this guy finally blow up, he's been putting out quality work forever.

Producers:
RZA. Grimy. The sheer amount of work he did producing for years is astounding. Some of the sickest beats in hip hop.
DJ Premier. Always making sick beats, really like what he did with Guru in Gangstarr.
Timbaland. Can't leave this guy out. A lot like RZA, the amount of work he's produced is amazing. He goes a lot more poppy mainstream sometimes, but he still puts out sick beats.
DJ Danger Mouse. This is the dude that mixed the Grey Album (Mix between Beetles white album and Jay-Z's black album, then that twat Paul McCartney sued him. At least Jay-Z gave him props for an awesome album). He also does a lot of work with MF Doom.
Dan the Automator. This guy has done a lot, but really admire the work he's done teaming up with Del. Deltron 3030 is worth a look if you aren't familiar.
Young Guru. Does a lot of Jay-Z's beats. Obviously quite talented.

Re: New Nas Album
 

Who's the d-bag that gave this thread a one star rating?

Re: New Nas Album
 

A country music fan? A hatter?

Re: New Nas Album
 

I don't understand the people that broadly hate hip-hop. It's such a diverse genre, there's a lot of rap I really hate, but there's a lot of stuff that's really good and clever.

Re: New Nas Album
 

Maybe it was skinsfan_nn. He's got an accredited PhD (playa hata degree). He hated on my Ain't Nuthin But a Mod Thing remake a while back, if I recall correctly.

By the way, underrated=AZ, imo.

Re: New Nas Album
 

My personal preferences would range something like:

Groups:
1. OutKast (up to Stankonia)
2. BlackStar
3. The Roots
4. Styles of Beyond
5. Pharcyde

MC's:
1. Tupac
2. Biggie
3. Common
4. Jay-Z
5. Kweli

Re: New Nas Album
 

I'm not a hardcore rap/hip-hop fan but I do like Jay-Z, Tribe, Wu-Tang, Busta, Common, Cypress Hill, Gnarls Barkley, Geto Boys, Eric B. and Rakim, Jurassic 5, Fugees, The Roots, Tupac, Biggie, Dre, Snoop, Public Enemy, Run DMC, and one of my favorite groups of all-time regardless of genre... The Beasties.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=jdlea;457245]My personal preferences would range something like:

Groups:
1. OutKast (up to Stankonia)
2. BlackStar
3. The Roots
4. Styles of Beyond
5. Pharcyde

MC's:
1. Tupac
2. Biggie
3. Common
4. Jay-Z
5. Kweli[/QUOTE]

Try to keep in mind I was [B]10[/B] when [I]Ready to Die[/I] and [I]All Eyez on Me[/I] dropped

Re: New Nas Album
 

[quote=Mattyk72;457246]I'm not a hardcore rap/hip-hop fan but I do like Jay-Z, Tribe, Wu-Tang, Busta, Common, Cypress Hill, Gnarls Barkley, Geto Boys, Eric B. and Rakim, Jurassic 5, Fugees, The Roots, Tupac, Biggie, Dre, Snoop, Public Enemy, Run DMC, and one of my favorite groups of all-time regardless of genre... [B]The Beasties[/B].[/quote]

I was surprised no-one brought them up before.

IMO Paul's Boutique is one of the greatest rap albums of all time. The cuts, the mix, the rhymes.... it's all there.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[quote=RobH4413;457254]I was surprised no-one brought them up before.

[B]IMO Paul's Boutique is one of the greatest rap albums of all time.[/B] The cuts, the mix, the rhymes.... it's all there.[/quote]

It's definitely way up there

Re: New Nas Album
 

I dabble into the hip-hop regime from time to time in my music listening. One of my faves is definitely Tribe. I saw The Pharcyde when I was in college (they played Field Day, co-headlining with Jimmie's Chicken Shack), and they were pretty good. A buddy of mine interviewed them for the school radio station, got on their bus with them and got nice and toasty. And since I grew up in MoCo in the late 80s, I like Heavy D, De La Soul, and whatever else was playing on WPGC and WKYS at the time.

But the one group I never got into was the Beasties. There is no doubt that they are talented, I just never liked them that much.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=djnemo65;457174]GDS, what do you think the g.o.a.t. is?[/QUOTE]

It's so hard to name a Greatest, so I'll just run through my favorites.

MCs: Del, GZA, KRS-One, Guru, Rakim

DJs/Producers: Premier, Dre, Pete Rock, Prince Paul, Automator

All-Time Groups: Beastie Boys, De La, Wu-Tang, Tribe

Old School Groups: Run DMC, Public Enemy, Stetsasonic, Ultramagnetic MCs

New School Groups: Atmosphere, Sweatshop Union

A couple of my favorite albums:
DJs Z-Trip and Radar - Live at the Future Primitive Soundsessions Vol. 2
The Last Emperor - Music, Magic, Myth
Del - No Need for Alarm

Re: New Nas Album
 

[quote=SmootSmack;457200]No love for Sugar Hill Gang, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, Kool Moe Dee?

damn I feel old[/quote]

Don't feel bad I don't know any of this stuff and I am only 34. There is probably street slang I don't know now.

Re: New Nas Album
 

Daseal- Spot on with GZA's Liquid Swordz. It's the best Wu album ever (including the group albums, imo). RZA's best production work. Oh yeah, RZA only produced two tracks by himself on the Gravediggaz' first album. Prince Paul did most of the production. If you like political stuff, I'm sure you've peeped Immortal Technique.

Matty- Beasties were absolutely dope when they came out. Speaking of another group that happened to be white, 3rd Bass was one of the illest (also backed by Prince Paul). Cactus Album is bananas. Pete Nice (one of the two emcees) is now a baseball historian and author in New York.

Ghetto- excellent call on Del's "No Need for Alarm." I think this is his best album, by far... but "I Wish My Brother George was Here" gets the acclaim.

Speaking of slept on albums, which ones do you guys think get passed over for an artist's/group's more famous ones (but are better, in your opinion)?

My list of slept-on albums:

1- Digable Planets "Blowout Comb." The group's second album was very conceptual and a lot more Afro-centric than their more acclaimed debut "Reachin" (which featured the hit "Rebirth of Slick). In addition to a lack of radio-friendly singles, I think it's because the group went totally opposite from the beatnik moniker they were given after the first album. This may be the most criminally slept-on sequel in hip hop history.

2- De La Soul's "De La Soul is Dead". Similar to Digable's refusal to be labeled, they completely reversed the "hippy" image "3 Feet High" gave them. I also think the album "Stakes is High" is underrated.

3- Das Efx's "Hold It Down." Their third album featured a serious grimy sound, with slowed down rhymes. Their spitfire lyrics were unique on "Dead Serious" (They Want Efx and Mic Checka were the hits), but this album was straight hip hop classic fire.

Re: New Nas Album
 

How about UMC's and Us3? Anyone remember those guys?

Feel the vibe from here to Asia, dip trip flip Fantasia

Spin 360 degrees for blue cheese

(they don't write 'em like that anymore)

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;457368]How about UMC's and Us3? Anyone remember those guys?

Feel the vibe from here to Asia, dip trip flip Fantasia

Spin 360 degrees for blue cheese

(they don't write 'em like that anymore)[/QUOTE]

I remember those groups lol... I actually own the 12" of Blue Cheese. I miss the new jack era of hip hop too... all about that 120 bpm, dance oriented madness.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=saden1;457033]Any Nas fans in here? If you like Nas you'll love his new album. By my count it has 8 first class tracks and 5 decent tracks.[/QUOTE]

[B]The new album is a classic to me[/B]. I like it better than Illmatic. No joke. I can listen to every track and not want to skip one freaking song.

That Carter 3 is some trash what a joke he needs to stick to mixtapes. I cant believe people think this is a classic.

Re: New Nas Album
 

Does anybody listen to Papoose? He's definitely near the top lyricists out right now, but everyone's still waiting for him to put out an album.

Re: New Nas Album
 

Had the new Nas in the backround while I was working out...

That track "Hero" is absurd. The beat is ridiculous. Never was a big Nas fan... but decided to check it out b/c of this thread... and I'm very impressed.

Re: New Nas Album
 

[QUOTE=RobH4413;460244]Had the new Nas in the backround while I was working out...

That track "Hero" is absurd. The beat is ridiculous. Never was a big Nas fan... but decided to check it out b/c of this thread... and I'm very impressed.[/QUOTE]

Rob, have you peeped out his first album? Illmatic is one of the top 5 hip hop albums ever.

Re: New Nas Album
 

I have to say, Nas took a big hit for me after I read the newest Rolling Stone and he was comparing his album to the genius of Don't Mess with the Zohan. He used the word genius. And we know Nas is irony-deprived so I don't think he was being all NYU film school, like weird movies to piss you off-ish. Genius?? Come on. The Zohan?