The Greatest 50 Hip-hop Albums Ever - #30...

[Twentytwofifty]

Ultramagnetic MC's – Critical Beatdown (1988)


    While Critical Beatdown dropped in 1988, it slowly began to take form as early as 1986, with the release of the "Ego Trippin" single, which featured rhyme scientists Kool Keith and Ced Gee taking indirect shots at Run-D.M.C. ("Say what, Peter Piper? To hell with childish rhymes...."), over the Melvin Bliss' "Synthetic Substitution" breakbeat, while now revealed mystery man, Mike, laid the simple, yet spaced-out hook "MC Ultraaaa (Magnetic, Magnetic)....", that still rings so clearly in the fans' heads today. However, while the hungry Ultramagnetic MC's took a few potshots at Run-D.M.C. early on, they almost catered to that audience with their 1987 follow-up single, "Traveling At The Speed Of Thought" (even more-so on the album version, by similarly employing a rock guitar loop and big, chopped drums). They did return to form with "Mentally Mad" b/w "Funky", however neither of the 12-inch recordings made it the original version of Critical Beatdown, as "Funky" was replaced by a remix. When 1988 hit, they perfected the sound that would encompass Critical Beatdown with it's lead singles "Watch Me Now" and "Ease Back", where Ced-Gee brilliantly meshed layers of SP-1200 chopped funk and soul samples, before it was the thing to do. 
     
    Boogie Down Productions dropped Criminal Minded one year earlier in 1987, and unbeknown to most, Ultra's Ced Gee was the wizard behind the boards, despite the album's back cover which read: "All cuts written and produced by KRS-ONE and Scott La Rock - Special Thanks To Ced Gee". So while many would hail La Rock as the innovator of using the SP-1200 to chop beats up, rather than to simply loop them, the real credit belonged to Ced. But if imitation is the sincerest form flattery, Ced would get unspoken credit with the release of Critical Beatdown. Soon everyone was taking Ced's approach to beat-making, and Ced knew it ("I'm amply the best producer/ at making rap music / I know how to use it / so just watch me"). Not only that, many of the now familiar samples used on this album were first used on Critical Beatdown, but ironically popularized instead by acts like Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, Kool Keith, and Big Daddy Kane.       

    But Ced-Gee wasn't the only history-making element of Ultramagnetic MC's, as these four horsemen also birthed Dr. Octagon  himself, Kool Keith. Not only was Ultra pioneering the style of hip-hop production, but rap android Kool Keith was reshaping the way rhymes were written and delivered. In arguably his most prolific form, Keith was Ultra's star, with a rich vocabulary, spitting abstract ideas in rhyme that hadn't been heard before ("I'm cold chillin' or wearing a rhyme to keep warm....") and entire verses about brain dissection ("I'll put your brain in slow motion like lotion and let it float in the ocean, and then I drown it...." ), not to mention more mentally mad lyrics about eating roaches and mouse (not mice). For better or for worse, Keith was the original scientifically smart rapper, paving the way for acts like Organized Konfusion, Ras Kass, and MF Doom, not to mention he was spitting these off-the-wall freestyle rhymes faster than the mind could process them.       

    Today's generation may have a hard time grasping why this album is a classic, as to them it would probably sound outdated. However, anyone who grew up in this era, even those that chose Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim or Big Daddy Kane over Ultramag, could appreciate it today, even if they slept the first time around. Regardless, Critical Beatdown should be peeped by all, as it has influenced the entire spectrum of hip-hop in some form or fashion.


50. Dr. Dre – 2001 (1999)
49. Outkast – Southernplayalisticaddicmuzik (1994)
48. Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt (1996)
47. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Wanted: Dead Or Alive (1990)
46. Redman – Whut? Thee Album (1992)
45. De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead (1991)
44. Fugees – The Score (1996)
43. The D.O.C. – No One Can Do It Better (1989)
42. Common Sense - Resurrection (1994)
41. Makaveli - The Don Kiluminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)
40. Public Enemy – Fear Of A Black Planet (1990)
39. Ice Cube – Death Certificate (1992)
38. Gza/Genius - Liquid Swords (1995)
37. N.W.A – Efil4zaggin (1991)
36. Main Source – Breaking Atoms (1991)
35. Geto Boys – Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
34. Brand Nubian – One For All (1990)
33. Scarface – The Diary (1994)
32. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Road To The Riches (1989)
31. Beastie Boys – Licensed To Ill (1986)
30. Ultramagnetic MC's – Critical Beatdown (1988)

[We Fly High]

CLASSIC album one of my faves. i dont think dubcc has experienced this sort of authentic hip hop exposure in a long time. you're bringing back some straight OG shit.
once again, thanks, and props.

[Elevz]

    Today's generation may have a hard time grasping why this album is a classic, as to them it would probably sound outdated. However, anyone who grew up in this era, even those that chose Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim or Big Daddy Kane over Ultramag, could appreciate it today, even if they slept the first time around. Regardless, Critical Beatdown should be peeped by all, as it has influenced the entire spectrum of hip-hop in some form or fashion.

Nowwwwww what... I definately didn't grow up on those, but I love PE, Rakim & Kane. We'll see how outdated I really find it. Props once again 

[PLANT]

this countdown is the shit....

[Kill]

i knew you wouldn´t forget about this...some really classic shit a lot of cats keep sleeping on, unfortunately

[ABN]

allthough it is a great album it´s certainly not better then some of the albums you´ve already listed. but i´ll prop you for taking time out to actually do this shit.

[The Watcher]

man.. dope album, pity it cant be a bit higher

[Twentytwofifty]

This album is really hit or miss with some people.  Some people think this is a top fifteen album and others will listen to it and say it shouldn't be anywhere up here.  When I first made the list I had it a little higher at about 24 or 25.  It's a difficult one to place.

[eS El Duque]

dope man..props