BEST ALBUMS IN THE HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY RAP HISTORY?

[herpes]

If you want a true top ten it would really depend on the generation we're talking about.   Then we can analyze who had the most influence and who had the most technical skill.  But a top ten list would, at they very least, feature

Nas's illmatic
Biggie Smalls's Ready to Die
Eric B & Rakim Paid in Full (or any of their albums)
50's Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Jay-Z's Blueprint (or Black Album though I think Blueprint cemented his legacy)
a Public Enemy album
a KRS-One album
a Wu-Tang album
a Kool G Rap ablum

New York is the mecca.  Shit's hard to touch on with 10 albums so I tried to pick the most influential one's that came to mind.  Technique's Rev Vol 2 is probably one of my favorite hip-hop works from New York.  Reks Grey Hairs/More Grey Hairs.  Saigon's All In A Day's Work.  Papoose mixtapes.  Bunch of dope modern artist that just need to learn how to hustle the mainstream better.

Public Enemy are from LI

[pootypooty]

I'm gonna take a different angle to this thread and recognize what I feel were the most important albums from NYC instead of the best. In my opinion, the "Golden Age" of Hip-Hop was from '86-'91. When Dr. Dre delivered The Chronic in '92, Hip-Hop underwent another paradigm shift of sorts which elevated the artistic merit of the craft and the culture. Here are what I feel were the most influential albums from NYC that defined Hip-Hop during its Golden Age.

1986


Mainstream Hip-Hop owes thanks to this album. Walk This Way became the first Hip-Hop single to crack the Top 5 on Billboard charts, giving the genre credibility in terms of commercial viability.



Just when rap music was labeled as strictly belonging to blacks from urban NYC, the Beastie Boys came out of nowhere to break down those stereotypical barriers. Licensed To Ill continued what Raising Hell started as far as commercially viable mainstream Hip-Hop goes. It was also the first Hip-Hop album to go #1 on Billboard 200 chart.



Say what you want, but it literally broke the floodgates open for female rappers on a commercial scale. On top of that, it was the first female rap album to go platinum. While I'm of the opinion that MC Lyte was the female Rakim of her time period, Salt N Pepa were the female Run DMC due to their commercial appeal.

1987


It goes without saying what this album did for Hip-Hop. Rakim single-handedly changed the art of lyricism the moment he kicked his first bars from this album.



It was "South Bronx" and "The Bridge Is Over" that showcased the art of rap battling on wax. Not to mention, this was the first Hip-Hop album to brandish weapons on its cover.



This album showed the dual nature of LL Cool J at a time when it was taboo to do so. Afterall, "I Need Love" was the first rap ballad to receive commercial success. While "I'm Bad" was the ultimate braggadocios record to garner some commercial appeal.

1988


Politically charged rap didn't necessarily start with Public Enemy, but it certainly was elevated by them to the point where they became the epitome of it. Artists like The Coup, Paris, dead prez, etc. owe thanks to this album. Plus you know you've made an impact outside of the Hip-Hop genre when a cultural icon like Kurt Cobain of Nirvana cites this album in his journal as being one of his Top 50 albums of all time.



Storytelling raps didn't begin with Slick Rick, but much like what Public Enemy is to Political rap, Slick Rick is to storytelling rap. His delivery was so unique that his ability to shift between different characters throughout a song was innovative in and of itself.



Who else do you know from this time period could lyrically compete with Rakim, dance as good as New Edition and cater to the ladies with his own style as a sharp dressing Casanova pimp? This album embodied all of that and then some.



The brilliance of this album was not only its sample heavy production, but the fact that Erick Sermon was just as good at rapping as he was at producing. His signature laid-back style meshed well with partner-in-rhyme Parrish Smith. The overall vibe of the album is laid-back, fun and party oriented. They weren't exactly hardcore but they weren't pop rap either. This album has been argued by some critics to have influenced the g-funk sound of the West Coast leading up to The Chronic.

1989


Kool G Rap is the Godfather of the rapid-fire multi-syllabic rhyme scheme. Like Slick Rick's aptitude for storytelling, G Rap is credited for heralding mafioso-themed raps.



De La Soul came at a time when Hardcore/Gangsta Rap was booming. Like The Jungle Brothers before them and A Tribe Called Quest after them, De La Soul were part of the Native Tongues movement which focused on Afrocentric themes with positive, uplifting lyrics fueled by eclectic jazzy sampled sounds. Furthermore, the group became the first commercially successful group from the Native Tongues movement.

[Action!]

Good post, that's what I was trying to get at with my og post.

[pootypooty]

Good post, that's what I was trying to get at with my og post.

the parrot says:
pootypooty is on point.

+1

[QuietTruth]

I think somebody just made a very good post on the page, rightttt here...

[herpes]

the parrot says:
pootypooty is on point.

No he's not.  Hack asked for the best albums from NYC.  De La, PE, and EPMD are from Long Island lol if you want to get technical lol.

[midwestryder]

I'm gonna take a different angle to this thread and recognize what I feel were the most important albums from NYC instead of the best. In my opinion, the "Golden Age" of Hip-Hop was from '86-'91. When Dr. Dre delivered The Chronic in '92, Hip-Hop underwent another paradigm shift of sorts which elevated the artistic merit of the craft and the culture. Here are what I feel were the most influential albums from NYC that defined Hip-Hop during its Golden Age.

.

the golden age hip hop was not 86 -91 at all. i should know because i was born jan 13,1978 & started living & listening to hip hop since 1982 . the golden era of hip hop was from 1989 to 1996 not  1986 t0o 1991.this not opinion but a fact.

[pootypooty]

the golden age hip hop was not 86 -91 at all. i should know because i was born jan 13,1978 & started living & listening to hip hop since 1982 .

Okay, so what? I'm 5 yrs. older than you and embraced the culture in '84 via breakdancing, but that's irrelevant.

the golden era of hip hop was from 1989 to 1996 not  1986 t0o 1991.this not opinion but a fact.

Until you can provide me with a scholarly peer reviewed article that supports your "fact", what you've done is given me your own opinion on the topic. While I respect your opinion, I respectfully disagree with it. Let's agree to disagree.

[pootypooty]

BTW, to add to my previous post, in my opinion, '92-'97 was a continuation of the Golden Age, or what I'd call the 2nd Era of the Golden Age. The Chronic had such a profound impact on the culture that it heralded this so-called 2nd Era.

[Chamillitary Click]

i personally always thought the "golden age" was '92-'97.

all my favorite albums dropped then anyway.

then after that, their is only a few albums i would even put in the same discussion as the albums that dropped from '92-'97.

[Þŕiņçë]

Your a chamillionaire fan, you know nothing about music!

[pootypooty]

i personally always thought the "golden age" was '92-'97.

all my favorite albums dropped then anyway.

then after that, their is only a few albums i would even put in the same discussion as the albums that dropped from '92-'97.

The '92-'97 era was great without a doubt. The Chronic elevated the art of production in '92 the same way Paid In Full elevated the art of lyricism in '87.

[Chamillitary Click]

i personally always thought the "golden age" was '92-'97.

all my favorite albums dropped then anyway.

then after that, their is only a few albums i would even put in the same discussion as the albums that dropped from '92-'97.

The '92-'97 era was great without a doubt. The Chronic elevated the art of production in '92 the same way Paid In Full elevated the art of lyricism in '87.

no doubt, it just seems when you talk about "whose the best rapper?", "who made the best album?"; the list always seems to be guys from the '92-'97 ERA.

damn, rap was the shit back in the day.

Your a chamillionaire fan, you know nothing about music!

 

[pootypooty]

i personally always thought the "golden age" was '92-'97.

all my favorite albums dropped then anyway.

then after that, their is only a few albums i would even put in the same discussion as the albums that dropped from '92-'97.

The '92-'97 era was great without a doubt. The Chronic elevated the art of production in '92 the same way Paid In Full elevated the art of lyricism in '87.

no doubt, it just seems when you talk about "whose the best rapper?", "who made the best album?"; the list always seems to be guys from the '92-'97 ERA.

damn, rap was the shit back in the day.

That's true, the majority of those lists will feature the '92-'97 era artists. But we as fans overlook who provided the blueprint to those from the '92-'97 era. Nas, Jay, Eminem, Biggie, 2Pac and the other usual suspects listed in GOAT lists nowadays have in some way paid homage to the '86-'91 era artists whether through song or through interviews.

[Chad Vader]

^^^
or it could be that cats is too young to remember?