Albums that shaped your perception of hip hop

ardamus · Post by **ardamus** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 3:51 pm

The more I think about it, it seems that when we have albums and songs from artists, we have an idea of what hip hop should sound like. Whether or not if its by popular opinion, it shapes our idea personally. So, whatever albums or songs that influenced your tastes in hip hop music, post them state why they had an impact on the way you listen to music.

curiouscharles · Post by **curiouscharles** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 3:55 pm

fear of a black planet - led me to believe hip hop should have a socio-political message, shit was/is powerful

people's instinctive travels and the paths of rhythm - showed me how important soul was as an element in hip hop, it was all about the jazz

criminal minded - showed me how gangster rap could be cool, began my obsession with "intelligent gangster rap"

paid in full - brought a whole new flow to the rap game, not only influenced what i expected from future mcs, but probably what they expected from themselves

B. Ware tha Siniq · Post by **B. Ware tha Siniq** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:10 pm

NWA - Straight Outta Compton (I heard this shit when I was in like second grade... dubbed it immediately at my friends house, hid it from my folks)

Too Short - Life Is... (same thing as NWA... these two were my real introduction to rap)

Eric B. & Rakim - Follow the Leader (heard this album much later... but still don't think anybody has surpassed the way Rakim combined sick writing with disgusting flow)

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet (heard this shit when I was like 10 or 11... loved it "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me"... just a dope album all the way through... loved "Burn Hollywood Burn")

Dr. Dre - The Chronic (if you lived on the West Coast and didn't have this album, you were a fucking sucker)

2pac - All Eyez On Me & Makaveli (same as above... ironically nobody made me interested in the East Coast more than Pac... he was always dissing east coast cats, and it made me wonder who these guys were, cuz I didn't really know much about 'em... Pac got me into Nas, Biggie, Jay, etc)

Nas - Illmatic (didn't really get into this until about 96-97 - around the time Pac started talking shots at him, I was like "who is this dood he's talking about?" This album got me back into east coast shit, along with 36 Chambers and Boot Camp Clik shit... but mostly this album)...

PEACE

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:12 pm

low end theory

MD · Post by MD » Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:14 pm

Ghetto Music and Edutainment

oracle21 · Post by **oracle21** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:17 pm

wu-tang-36 chambers. i mean a whole album of grittiness and great beats. this really spoiled me

ardamus · Post by **ardamus** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:36 pm

"Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde" --- The Pharcyde
This album showed that you be out there and still have people feel your perspective on life. Plus, dig deep when it comes to issues of relationships and personal shit.

"Cypress Hill" --- Cypress Hill
This was more than likely the first rap CD I had in constant rotation for a whole summer. In terms of putting whole songs togther, this really shaped my focus in music.

"The Tape" --- Kid Capri
Less is more. Thats the most important lesson I learned form the way this album was done. Carpi wasn't bad on the mic either.

" '93 Til Infinity" --- Souls Of Mishief"
The effort of collaboration seemed to fit well with me on this album. Even when there were songs when they weren't all on the track, they still kept it very cohesive amongst one another.

"In My Lifetime: Vol. 1" --- Jay-Z
"Imaginary Player" and "Rap Game/Crack Game" was constantly getting bump in walkman. I just liked his wordplay and topics on this album. Even the wackest songs on the album I could deal with.

"Low End Theory" --- A Tribe Called Quest
The production on this album back to back was flatout dope. The order of what song went after another song was timeless. Damn good.

"Soul Food" --- Goodie Mob"
The fact that some cats from the south was coming spitting on conciousness over beats that didn't have that whole 808 feel all the time made me feel good. Too bad they only go back to this style of their music every once in a while.

"Can I Borrow A Dollar" --- Common Sense
I always found it a trip of how Common always twisted popular sayings into dope ass punchlines.

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 5:45 pm

Mecca & The Soul Brother

citizen · Post by **citizen** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 11:48 pm

cypress hill-black sunday
common-one day
dr. octagon
hiero-3rd eye vision

Osiris · Post by **Osiris** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:01 am

Rakim & eric B Paid in full, Let the rhythm hit'em
Canibus 2000BC
Raekwon Only built for cuban linx
Big pun Capital punishment
Gza Liguid swords

FUCKIT EVERYTHING WU BEFORE 98, 36 maifia's stuff untill when the smoke clears

ScholarWenis · Post by **ScholarWenis** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:08 am

hmmmm

Employee · Post by **Employee** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 4:17 am

BayAreaHustla408 · Post by **BayAreaHustla408** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:11 pm

Nl5H · Post by **Nl5H** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:17 pm

watching run dmc and beastie boys videos,and really getting into watching yo mtv raps. but when the EZ Duz It came out, it was eazy e and nwa all day, i was reciting their lyrics everywhere...

definitely rob base, fresh prince, de la and 3rd bass were inspirational too.
that was like that for a while, and than i got the pharcyde album from this girl whose brother was a college DJ, and than souls of mischief dropped their bomb..

vincentlopez · Post by **vincentlopez** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:48 am

Run DMC - King of Rock - After watching Krush Groove at the movies and getting that tape in 1985, I was convinced that rap artists could be music superstars as big as Michael Jackson while just being themselves.

Eric B and Rakim - Paid In Full - Proved to me that you didn't need to scream to be heard. Also, lyrically, no one was rhyming like that back then.

Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions... and BDP - By All Means Necessary - Proved that hip-hop could present an urgent message to the world with intelligence and fear. The media really began to pay attention to hip-hop in '88.

Ultramagentic MC's - Critical Beatdown - Abstract, offbeat, creative lyrics and hard beats showed that you didn't always have to have a clear message to entertain and that you didn't need to copy someone else's formula for success.

I could continue but I'll stop there.

Verge · Post by **Verge** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:35 pm

GANGSTARR - STEP IN THE ARENA : My mind was blown the 1st time I heard "Just to get a Rep". That sample was unbelievable at the time. I remember going to various house parties and this shit got play for like a year. Then,when my homeboy at the time,Relm(not RELM from philaflava)put me up on the whole album..what?!!. I believe the production on this album was very influential on the next wave of beatmakers.

Verge · Post by **Verge** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:02 pm

BLACK MOON - ENTA DA STAGE : The dark,dirty,ill beats on this were extraordinary to me at the time. It definitely spawned a bunch of imitators and influenced a whole mess of producers.

SouthJerzee · Post by **SouthJerzee** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:45 pm

SouthJerzee · Post by **SouthJerzee** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:46 pm

VERGILL TIBBS wrote:My mind was blown the 1st time I heard "Just to get a Rep".

This.

CRASH DDZ · Post by **CRASH DDZ** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:36 pm

Every album I've ever heard, because it's either already good.. or just needs to be flipped until it is...

on the real Rakim's Paid in Full- Rakim showed what MCing really is.. Lyrics, flow, word play, swagger and foward thinking. Since it dropped it has been my go to number one.. except that first week I when I bought I got it made and thought it was gonna be the all time number one. After PIF got stuck in my tapedeck and ended up playing over and over and over for a full summer and never got old.. I'd never question it again

RUN-D.M.C.'s first 4 records showed me how to rock a party and how to rock a mic. They may not have invented throwing your hands in the air like you just don't care but they mastered it.

The Pharcyde's Bizarreridetothepharcyde.. They brought fun and girl problems into the forefront while the beats were some ole next shit. The jazz music collection they raided for that album needs to be bronzed.

De La Soul's 3 feet high and rising showed me how imprtant humor is and that any music ANYTHING could be dope when flipped correctly. Prince Paul is Captain Kirk on this one boldly going where even Stetsaonic were probably afraid to go and it paid off. (until them damn laws backfired on ole Prince P.. He never let it stop him from creating with samples though. Still one of the most diverse beatsmiths to ever tap a drum pad imo.)the Beastie's Paul's Boutique was another one that had the soundscape that let you know sampling was wide open. I almost always think of these two records together along with tribe's low end..

Beastie's License to Ill the first White kids to stand on thier own.. With the help of RUN-D.M.C. of course.. they, for better or worse, brought hip hop to the dorm room and frat parties and white kids house parties. Punkers that started out rapping as a joke until they couldn't help but fully embrace hip hop.. and the irony never stopped.

Public Enemy's It takes a nation. Bomb Squad layered and layered thier shit.. where other were starting to paint by numbers they made the mosiac of beats. If not a mosaic a collage of snips and sounds that sounded like america getting punched in the mouth..and liking it.

others:
Biz Markie's Goin Off
Wu-Tang's 36 chambers
Souls of Mischief's 93 til
the first two soundbombing's
Co-Flow's funcrusher
Casual's Fear itself
Del's No need
BDK's Long live the Kane
BDP's By any means necessary
Digital Underground's Sex Packets
EPMD's strictly business
Gza LIquid Swords
Slick Rick's the great advetures of
Dana dane's Dana Dane with fame
Method Man's Tical
the Krush Groove soundtrack
Fat Boys the Fat Boys
Whodini's Escape
Common's Resurection
Kanye's Late Registration
Biggie's Ready to die
Kool Moe Dee's I'm Kool Moe Dee
LL's Radio
Jedi Mind Trick's Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
Smoothe tha hustler's once upon a time in america
ODB's return to the 36 chambers
Gangstarr's no more moster nice guy
Jeru's come clean
C-Rayz Walz Ravipops
Black Star's Blackstar
Justin Warfiled's My Field Trip to Planet 9
Kid Rock's Polyfuze method and Grits sandwhiches for breakfast

Most of these are no brainers.. the last three are the most embarassing but to be honest I listened to those shits non stop...

blessingindisguise · Post by **blessingindisguise** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:25 pm

To add to these lists I choose these

Snoop "doggystyle" slick and cool and perfect production
Scarface "the diary" dark, reflective, and gangsta
Geto boys "we can't be stopped" angry, hard, soul searching
Outkast "atliens"-progressive, chill, dope
Main source "breaking atoms"
Ice cube "death certificate" inside a young Black man's mind touching on controversial topics that ring true today.
Kool g rap "road to the riches" brutal street griots
the notorious b.i.g. "ready to die" inside a young Black man's mind with a cinematic angle
Fat boys "the fat boys" fun and joyous
the roots "do u want more" another top 5 jazz rap album that changed the game forever
digable planets "the re-birth of cool" top 5 jazz rap albums ever
boogie down productions "criminal minded" classic in every sense of the word. laid down the blueprint for many styles
Capone and noreaga "the war report" survival told from one of the best produced albums ever
Master p "geto d" classic southern rap album still being bit structure wise.
Juvenile "400 degreez" not the most mindblowing lyricist but production wise was highly influential from Mannie fresh.
pete rock and cl smooth "the main ingredient" one of the best produced albums from one of the smoothest mc's ever. no pun intended.
Raekwon "only built for cuban linx" still gets burn from me. a loosely tied concept album about two brothers trying to leave the rap game. besides kool g sparked the Mafioso movement.
Compton's most wanted-music to drive by a gangsta rap essential.
UGK riding dirty-classic rider music. Their best album imo.
Grandmaster flash and the furious five the message
Common ressurection sick ass wordplay

Jaz · Post by **Jaz** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 1:17 am

It was the first tape that I was given by an older dude, (who would also get me dubs of American radio rap shows) and I loved it especially "The Message" and I played it everyday, he later gave me the Rock Steady Crew-Ready For Battle tape and I would go into local record stores looking for rap tapes and records.

When I was at High School, I was known as the second kid with the most rap tapes, the one with the most was Korey from Washington DC and he used to get tapes sent to him almost weekly, I heard some classic albums through that guy.

I remember a time when he bought his boom box to school and we found that the film room was empty after lunch, so Korey, myself and 2 others, got to hear

Eric B & Rakim-Follow The Leader
Jungle Brothers-Straight Out The Jungle
Schoolly D-Smoke Smoke Kill

That was a mad good day for me, Korey also hooked me up with a dub of De La Soul's-3 Feet High and Rising, I am no 100% sure but I think it was sometime late in 1988.

Yohan · Post by **Yohan** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 5:17 am

My list is relatively different than what you're listing here, since I got into Hip-Hop later than all of you. Back in 2003 I believe, I saw some Tupac song on the TV featuring Biggie (Runnin') and I was hooked. That triggered me into looking for more Hip-Hop. I started searching for more 2pac, and got to some classic songs featuring the Bone Thugs etc. Looking back, I kinda snowballed into a lot of Hip-Hop. All Eyez on Me and Life After Death were getting the most spins from me. This was also the time I bought Nas' Illmatic but I thought it sucked big time. Gave it one listen and never looked at the disc again.

So over 6 months I was into 2pac and Bone-Thugs basically, untill someone hooked me up with Non Phixion. He let me listen to "Black Helicopters" and to be honest, I thought it was wack garbage. 2 weeks later, I heard "14 years of rap", which was so different from what I listened, but I thought it was the dopest things I ever heard. So I went out and bought The Future Is Now and at the same time Kiss of Death from Jadakiss. I thought Non Phixions' LP was much doper, and that got me into more underground rap, like the Arsonists and even Jedi Mind Tricks.

That's when I heard a Nas mixtape, Living Legends hosted by Dirty Harry. The intro had me hooked from the start, first words I heard were "It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail". I was literally

and I looked for my Illmatic CD. That eventually shaped my taste in Hip-Hop. Around the same time some other kid told me he listened to "Gangstarr, Big L & D.I.T.C.". I had never even heard of these cats (this was 3 years ago). I heard Step Into The Arena and The Big Picture and again, this opened so many doors for me.

I've also copped disc without even hearing one piece of music beforehand, and made some very pleasant discoveries that way, eg. Midnight Marauders, which ranks as my no. 2 best album of all time and It Takes A Nation Of Millions. Also, being online and reading blogs and websites helped me get into so much more music.

In before :didntread:

and

bigzizzo#1 · Post by **bigzizzo#1** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:14 am

it takes a nation is the greatest album ever to me

vincentlopez · Post by **vincentlopez** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:29 am

Yohan wrote:My list is relatively different than what you're listing here, since I got into Hip-Hop later than all of you. Back in 2003 I believe, I saw some Tupac song on the TV featuring Biggie (Runnin') and I was hooked. That triggered me into looking for more Hip-Hop. I started searching for more 2pac, and got to some classic songs featuring the Bone Thugs etc. Looking back, I kinda snowballed into a lot of Hip-Hop. All Eyez on Me and Life After Death were getting the most spins from me. This was also the time I bought Nas' Illmatic but I thought it sucked big time. Gave it one listen and never looked at the disc again.

So over 6 months I was into 2pac and Bone-Thugs basically, untill someone hooked me up with Non Phixion. He let me listen to "Black Helicopters" and to be honest, I thought it was wack garbage. 2 weeks later, I heard "14 years of rap", which was so different from what I listened, but I thought it was the dopest things I ever heard. So I went out and bought The Future Is Now and at the same time Kiss of Death from Jadakiss. I thought Non Phixions' LP was much doper, and that got me into more underground rap, like the Arsonists and even Jedi Mind Tricks.

That's when I heard a Nas mixtape, Living Legends hosted by Dirty Harry. The intro had me hooked from the start, first words I heard were "It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail". I was literally and I looked for my Illmatic CD. That eventually shaped my taste in Hip-Hop. Around the same time some other kid told me he listened to "Gangstarr, Big L & D.I.T.C.". I had never even heard of these cats (this was 3 years ago). I heard Step Into The Arena and The Big Picture and again, this opened so many doors for me.

I've also copped disc without even hearing one piece of music beforehand, and made some very pleasant discoveries that way, eg. Midnight Marauders, which ranks as my no. 2 best album of all time and It Takes A Nation Of Millions. Also, being online and reading blogs and websites helped me get into so much more music.

In before and

You could probably listen to a good 15 years of quality hip-hop without paying any attention to the nonsense in the mainstream today. I'm trying to imagine how I would feel (euphoric?) if I had discovered Illmatic, The Low End Theory, Enter the 36 Chambers, etc. all within the past few years. Enjoy the experience while you can.

The ILLatino · Post by **The ILLatino** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:05 am

A lot of 80's stuff I went back to, because I was hella young when it came out...so my immediate perceptions were built on the early 90's shit that pretty much blew my mind. Among those...

Illmatic
Black Sunday
Lethal Injection
Enter The 36 Chambers
The Chronic
Doggystyle
Enta Da Stage
Midnight Marauders

Joe Pesci · Post by **Joe Pesci** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 12:00 pm

It's the ultimate cliche answer, but Illmatic mainly

36 Chambers
The Infamous
Reasonable Doubt

ZiekeFons · Post by **ZiekeFons** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 12:06 pm

mobb deep hell on earth and infamous
wu tang 36 chambers
odb return to the 36 chambers
gangstarr step in the arena
capone n noreaga war report

Yohan · Post by **Yohan** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 4:33 pm

vincentlopez wrote:
Yohan wrote:My list is relatively different than what you're listing here, since I got into Hip-Hop later than all of you. Back in 2003 I believe, I saw some Tupac song on the TV featuring Biggie (Runnin') and I was hooked. That triggered me into looking for more Hip-Hop. I started searching for more 2pac, and got to some classic songs featuring the Bone Thugs etc. Looking back, I kinda snowballed into a lot of Hip-Hop. All Eyez on Me and Life After Death were getting the most spins from me. This was also the time I bought Nas' Illmatic but I thought it sucked big time. Gave it one listen and never looked at the disc again.

So over 6 months I was into 2pac and Bone-Thugs basically, untill someone hooked me up with Non Phixion. He let me listen to "Black Helicopters" and to be honest, I thought it was wack garbage. 2 weeks later, I heard "14 years of rap", which was so different from what I listened, but I thought it was the dopest things I ever heard. So I went out and bought The Future Is Now and at the same time Kiss of Death from Jadakiss. I thought Non Phixions' LP was much doper, and that got me into more underground rap, like the Arsonists and even Jedi Mind Tricks.

That's when I heard a Nas mixtape, Living Legends hosted by Dirty Harry. The intro had me hooked from the start, first words I heard were "It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail". I was literally and I looked for my Illmatic CD. That eventually shaped my taste in Hip-Hop. Around the same time some other kid told me he listened to "Gangstarr, Big L & D.I.T.C.". I had never even heard of these cats (this was 3 years ago). I heard Step Into The Arena and The Big Picture and again, this opened so many doors for me.

I've also copped disc without even hearing one piece of music beforehand, and made some very pleasant discoveries that way, eg. Midnight Marauders, which ranks as my no. 2 best album of all time and It Takes A Nation Of Millions. Also, being online and reading blogs and websites helped me get into so much more music.

In before and
You could probably listen to a good 15 years of quality hip-hop without paying any attention to the nonsense in the mainstream today. I'm trying to imagine how I would feel (euphoric?) if I had discovered Illmatic, The Low End Theory, Enter the 36 Chambers, etc. all within the past few years. Enjoy the experience while you can.

Believe me - I more than caught up since then. It's safe to say I've heard 95% of what's considered "very good" and "classic" over the past four years. I still bump many of those albums on a weekly basis, while some other people might be tired of hearing "Illmatic" 14 years later.

jredd109 · Post by **jredd109** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 1:49 pm

a lot of what has been an influence on me has been mentioned already. one album that totally redefined what i thought hip hop was is funcrusher plus. hate if you want but that album blew away all my preconceptions about music when it dropped.