My favorite albums of the year.

[jeromechickenbone]

Well first let me preface this a bit.  I'm only dropping a couple albums at a time, cuz I wanna drop some thoughts on them.  And I actually have a life so I'm gonna break it up into segments.  My drops aren't in any order, just the order in which I do them.  They are all dope.

One, my favorites all happen to be albums that I have purchased.  If there is an album out there that I D/L, i ALWAYS go out and buy it so the person is rewarded for their work.  If you don't do that, then fuck you.  However, each of these albums I purchased without hearing anything more than a single (and in some cases, nothing at all).  If I'm anticipating an album at all and know I'm going to buy it when it drops, I'LL NEVER DOWNLOAD IT.  It completely ruins the experience. 

While the sheer number of albums I purchased this year was low compared to peak purchasing days (say 5 years and beyond), there were some excellent albums released this year.  I will also say that I fully acknowledge that I haven't heard nearly all of the great albums that came out this year, but that is mostly because I tend to really really take it slow when listening to an album.  It can take me months and numerous spins to really have a true opinion on an album.  Another reason that I don't hear everything new is because the majority of my bumps consist of me digging in the crates and discovering Hip Hop that I may have somehow overlooked or not understood say 10-20+ years ago.  And I guess the last reason I don't hear everything new these days is because I refuse to check out albums by some of these cats after I see / hear their singles.  I won't check their shit out of principle alone.  If they are selling out on a single, fuck em - and that goes for new cats as well as cats that have been in the game for years and are attempting to stay relevant by chasing fads.

So here's a list of new albums that I really felt this year, not in any particular order (keep in mind, I been smokin a lot lately so if I blatantly overlook something, call me on it):

Public Enemy - How to Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???

This is the absolute best PE has sounded since the vintage Bomb Squad days.  Chuck D is every bit as intelligent, lyrical, and thought provoking as he has ever been.  In fact, he's gotten sharper and wiser as evidenced by the brilliant album title.  Basically wondering if there is an intelligent listener out there to hear what they are saying.  And of course there is the greatest Hype Man of all time - Flava Flav.  As with Chuck, Flav is the exact same dude since he originally busted out the "Flava Flav Dance" years ago.  Still has all the charisma.  The juxtaposition and chemistry between Chuck and Flav is still very much alive.  Seemingly polar opposites, they have a common thread in that they are both being themselves - they are real.  And while Flav was never renowned for lyricism or mc skills, he is actually more insightful and a better rapper than the vast majority of rappers out today.  The album is loaded with tracks that speak on the numerous ills plaguing mankind and specifically our country.  They speak a issues that are real, and they are forced to because the media refuses to.  Sonically, it is very good.  In house production allows PE to truly create music from the ground up rather than hire some flavor of the week producer to try to make them relevant to the 12 year old PE audience.  Public Enemy refuses to dumb down for the masses, and that is why they have retained their fanbase today.  Great album that everyone should listen to.


Top Shelf - 8/8/88

Wow, where in the fuck did this album come from?  One of the most innovative concept albums that has come out in Hip Hop EVER.  The premise of this album is that there was a label in the late 80's known as "Top Shelf".  It was kind of a hole in the wall studio that had several legends who recorded there in the late 80's - cats like Big Daddy Kane, Melle Mel and Grandmaster Caz, Chubb Rock, and many more.  These songs were thought to have been stolen during the Thompson Square Park riot in 1988.  So anyway, someone stumbles upon the reels in a box somewhere, and boom we have this album released which is basically a compilation.  The songs on this album are INSANE and pure Hip Hop to the bone, which makes sense because they were cultivated from Hip Hop's Golden Era.  Only they weren't.  There were various rhymes throughout the album that lead the listener to believe that there was no way these songs were recorded in 88.  References that couldn't have been true back then, as well as the sound of the MC's voices, and even the styles make it apparent that these are indeed recent recordings.  So while the people behind the project still insist this is a compilation of 20 year old rhymes, these were def recent recordings. 

This album is responsible for the single most lyrically amazing song I've heard in years.  It's by Melle Mel and Grandmaster Caz - I posted a link to this song a while back, but most didn't notice.  I suggest you check it again.

I'll be back again with a couple more.  Peace.

[Laconic]

Yeah that PE joint is damn good.  I still gotta purchase that one.

In regards to Top Shelf, I've only heard the track you uploaded but it was nice no doubt.