Your Top 10 Non-Canonical Albums

[Y@k Bollocks]

1) Scaramanga 'Seven Eyes, Seven Horns'
2) Kurious 'A Constipated Monkey'
3) Godfather Don 'Diabolique'
4) Digable Planets 'Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)'
5) Capone N Noreaga 'War Report'
6) Beatnuts 'Stone Crazy'
7) Casual 'Fear Itself' (dunno if this really qualifies though?)
8) Cenobites LP
9) Real Live - The Turnaround
10) Showbiz and AG - Goodfellas


Very tough. I'd say the Beatnuts and Show and AG as artists may not qualify, but I feel those particular albums aren't. Dunno if people agree…

[ScholarWenis]

In no particle order

3X Krazy - Stackin' Chips
Circle Of Native Vibes - Against All Odds
Myalansky - Drastic Measurez
Prophetix - High Risk
Kukoo Da Baga Bonez - Da Grustler
Midnight Voices - Late Night At The Upper Room
DFC - The Whole Words Rotten
Bas 1 - For The Mentally Astute (Theory Of A Throw Up)
Azeem - Craft Classic
Chill Rob G. - Blackgold

Honorable Mentions:
Fel Sweetenberg - The Sophomore Jinx
Hemisphere - Performing Artz

I would never expect to see any of these albums on another person's top 10 list, but my taste is rather singular.

[Thun]

I probably could have been a bit more clear in my initial description, but my list I think suffices as a good example.

Here's what we don't want to talk about here (maybe this will work):

1. Albums that everyone agrees are classic. Ex. Nas "Illmatic."

2. Secondary and tertiary status albums by groups that everyone (in the TROY universe) already worships and includes in their top lists. Ex. Wu-Tang Clan "Wu-Tang Forever."

3. Albums that nobody places in their Top 10 but almost everyone considers to be Top 50. Ex. Pharcyde "Bizarre Ride," Smif N' Wessun "Dah Shinin'", Casual "Fear Itself," etc.

4. Albums that you find personally appealing but don't function well as albums, i.e. they are not especially consistent in quality, don't seem to have much unity thematically or sonically, won't appeal to anyone except those who are whimsically inclined to like it or have some personal attachment to it, etc.

5. Albums that suck. Ex. Latryx "S/T".

What we're looking to find and share are: those left of center/obscure/surprising albums that are not frequently mentioned alongside the greats, but whose album qualities make them legitimately competitive and thus worth hearing by people who have overlooked or underrated them.

I know a lot of this requires some subjective risk taking, and I'm not mad at anyone for not nailing it down because it's a difficult thing to describe with total accuracy, but this is what I was going for. I may have broken my own rules with KMD and Digable Planets, though I feel among American TROY types these groups are usually marginalized, might be different elsewhere.

Happy posting!

[Thun]

Also: I think I can make this into a regular blog feature, something along the lines of "Five Albums You Should Hear" perhaps grouped in some sort of sensible way with some brief descriptions. Nothing major, but something I think people will enjoy and find useful.

[Philaflava]

[fatboybrandon]

In no particle order

3X Krazy - Stackin' Chips
Circle Of Native Vibes - Against All Odds
Myalansky - Drastic Measurez
Prophetix - High Risk
Kukoo Da Baga Bonez - Da Grustler
Midnight Voices - Late Night At The Upper Room
DFC - The Whole Words Rotten
Bas 1 - For The Mentally Astute (Theory Of A Throw Up)
Azeem - Craft Classic
Chill Rob G. - Blackgold

Honorable Mentions:
Fel Sweetenberg - The Sophomore Jinx
Hemisphere - Performing Artz

I would never expect to see any of these albums on another person's top 10 list, but my taste is rather singular.

I'm glad to hear your taste in albums along with everyone else's. I just listened to Kukoo's music for the first time thanks for sharing. I probably would've never heard of it otherwise.

[Freezy Pazzy]

I see that you picked all of the ones with memorable Source ads!

Ahahah yes, I didn't even think about it that way but you must be right. I'm a child of the 90's, can't fight it lol.

I love the K-Dee album, not a bad pick.

My favorite Ice Cube related project to this day. I didn't really understand it when I bought it in '95, I guess the vibe was far from what I expected after bumping too much Kam & Lench Mob, but it grew up to be one of my favorite LP's of all times. I see it as the perfect blend between P-Funk & Rap, that's the typical CD I use to play when I have a non-Rap audience in front of me, and everytime people go crazy about it... Like "Wait? Is this Rap music, really? That's dope, I need this!".

I need to hear the Frankenstein album in its entirety.

He was not necessarily the greatest Rapper on earth, but still decent. The beats were incredible though, this guy was clearly way ahead of his peers, the way he flipped loops and breakbeats was amazing. And this EP was a perfect picture of his incredible talent at that precise point, not sure he would have follow with an even better record but at least he did "UV".

The Chino XL album is slept on for certain, and super creative.

Speaking of ads, he was one of these artists I had never heard about before (I only learned about Art Of Origin once I copped this album), but was truly curious to hear. The visuals, the quotes, the album's title, without even hearing one single note of music my attention was already caught. And once the album dropped, I just bought it in a second. One of my cult favorites, no doubt. And I regret giving my vinyl copy to one of my exes, but I guess I was young & dumb lol.

Haven't heard any of your other albums, highly doubt I can get into Esham but the others I wouldn't be opposed to giving a whirl.

Honestly I've never been a big fan of Esham & Natas, I can only endure their music for a few tracks and that's that. Which is why this "Dead Flowerz" LP is so weird to me, I can bump it from start to finish without being tempted to skip tracks. I'm not sure Esham's fans would agree with me, but it's his better rounded album in my opinion, a nice cross between Gangsta Rap & Horrorcore.

Concrete Click is especially dope to me, I'm pretty sure you could enjoy it. Another perfect picture of that raw mid-90's sound that we all grew up with, some good ol' "Walkman Music".

If you like Scarface as much as I do, I recommend lending an ear to Born 2Wice, this guy could totally be his illegitimate brother or cousin, whatever. The tone of his voice & his skills are just fuckin' crazy, plus the beats on this particular album are top notch in my opinion. Same with Gena Cide, which is a criminally slept-on dirty South jewel, like an old Rap-A-Lot record but more polished with the beats.

[admiral]

I'll play:

Akinyele - Vagina Diner - Entirely Large Pro produced. I can't accurately explain why I dig the low, guttural growling at the end of every other line, but it really works for me.

CNN - War Report - Probably doesn't fit Thun's criteria here, as I think it is universally loved, but for me, it is my favorite produced album of all time. Those beats could make Mindbender listenable.

Sticky Fingaz - Black Trash: Autobiography... - Just listened to this again recently. It is much better than it has any right to be, and really works well as a whole album.

Bushwick Bill - Little Big Man - Stone cold classic for me. Bill rips every track here, and the beats are vintage early 90's Rap-A-Lot. I'm pretending like he stopped making solo albums after this one.

AZ - Memphis Sessions / Pieces of a Man - I'm putting both here because I don't think the Memphis Sessions fits Thun's criteria, as it is a remix album, but if we can include it, it's the best rap release of the last decade. Proof that the only thing holding AZ back is his beat selection, as MS makes previously unlistenable songs sound godly. Also, Pieces of a Man, as Blastmaster can attest to, is just an absolute perfect album.

Binary Star - Masters of the Universe - About the only album left from that early 2000's time period that I'm not embarrassed to say I owned. Like much of that era's output, it is kind of bloated, but the good stuff is very good.

La the Darkman - Heist of the Century - If you remove the 4 wack songs on there (Spring Water, Element of Surprise, Wu Blood Kin, Love), it would be up there with the 1st team Wu albums for me.

Lake - My Brother's Keeper - Never understood the Lake hate. Guy has a great voice, gets very good production, and can rap. No Happy Ending is one of the grimiest songs I've ever heard.

Lord Finesse - Funky Technician - LF seems like he could rap for forever and sound great doing it

Naughty By Nature - S/T - Yoke the Joker.

[fatboybrandon]

4. Albums that you find personally appealing

I went by the "Your" title of this thread and added what I felt made the cut. Had I seen this description in the first post I don't think I would have been able to post since personal taste is a part of listening. I appreciate the thread and everyone's contribution, it has been a good way to take a fresh look at albums of the past.

Akinyele - Vagina Diner - Entirely Large Pro produced. I can't accurately explain why I dig the low, guttural growling at the end of every other line, but it really works for me.

CNN - War Report - Probably doesn't fit Thun's criteria here, as I think it is universally loved, but for me, it is my favorite produced album of all time. Those beats could make Mindbender listenable.

Sticky Fingaz - Black Trash: Autobiography... - Just listened to this again recently. It is much better than it has any right to be, and really works well as a whole album.

Bushwick Bill - Little Big Man - Stone cold classic for me. Bill rips every track here, and the beats are vintage early 90's Rap-A-Lot. I'm pretending like he stopped making solo albums after this one.

AZ - Memphis Sessions / Pieces of a Man - I'm putting both here because I don't think the Memphis Sessions fits Thun's criteria, as it is a remix album, but if we can include it, it's the best rap release of the last decade. Proof that the only thing holding AZ back is his beat selection, as MS makes previously unlistenable songs sound godly. Also, Pieces of a Man, as Blastmaster can attest to, is just an absolute perfect album.

Binary Star - Masters of the Universe - About the only album left from that early 2000's time period that I'm not embarrassed to say I owned. Like much of that era's output, it is kind of bloated, but the good stuff is very good.

La the Darkman - Heist of the Century - If you remove the 4 wack songs on there (Spring Water, Element of Surprise, Wu Blood Kin, Love), it would be up there with the 1st team Wu albums for me.

Lake - My Brother's Keeper - Never understood the Lake hate. Guy has a great voice, gets very good production, and can rap. No Happy Ending is one of the grimiest songs I've ever heard.

Lord Finesse - Funky Technician - LF seems like he could rap for forever and sound great doing it

Naughty By Nature - S/T - Yoke the Joker.

I need to hear that Binary Star still, I've heard good things about it. Ak, Finesse, Naughty and CNN are albums which I've heard labeled as classic by casual listeners, die hards and artists who impacted Hip Hop for the better.

[Thun]

I don't mean that personal taste is not to be considered, I mean that a general liking can't be the sole criteria, otherwise we can just list every album released. I just want people to list albums that they can argue are good albums beyond just an intuitive preference. You don't have to win the argument, you should just have solid grounds for making it.

[Blockhead]

Shiiiiit. great topic.
I'm sure this kinda thing might be subject to change but off the top (pardon the repeats)...

1)Done by the forces of nature: jungle brothers
2)KMD: Black bastards
3)Goin' out like a soldier: Willie D
4)Book of human language: Aceyalone
5)How real isreal?: Da Bushwackass
6)Latyrx:Latyrx
7)Skills to pay the bills: Positive K
8)Walking with a panther: LL Cool J
9)Wolf in sheep's clothing:Black sheep (too obvious? I wasn't sure)
10)My own: Young Bleed

I was gonna throw in TIm Dog in there but I didn't wanna go overboard.
Shout out to a bunch of the picks in this thread though. Lots of great albums. ALso, I picked more for personal favorites than I did "best" in the larger sense. I realize a few of these albums are greatly flawed but I still love them.

Not sure if the JB's count here, it's hard to claim that a core Native Tongue group album can be truly slept on. This is probably the msot slept-on Native Tongue album, though, so not a bad pick.

The Willie D album is entertaining, can't say that I think everyone should run out and check it out if they haven't.

Positive K is definitely one I had considered for my list. So good.

Never liked that Bushwackas album for whatever reason, I just find it tedious.

Walkin' With A Panther is an interesting choice. Like the JBs, it's hard to think of LL as being slept-on in any way, but then again this album is very unfairly maligned. But then again I don't really think anyone is missing out by skipping on it, necessarily. It would help if LL was far less of a d-bag, maybe.

I peeped that Young Bleed on your recommendation and I still do not understand what you and everyone else sees in it.

I am pretending you didn't mention Latyrx.

Word, upon seeing your more exact description , I woulda picked differently. I did go for some "underdog" albums by all time greats for sure but, to me, "Done by the forces of nature" is an all time favorite that I enver ehar anyone bring up.
Also, as for latyrx, I realize you hate it with all your heart but, hey, what can i say? That shit had a profound effect on my rap listening ears back in the day. I can't say it's held up particularly well but I picked that cause , when it dropped, it blew my mind. But, i think that applies to lots of abstract west coast shit from that era. Those kinda flows just don't age well in general.
Also, like i said, my picks are more personal favorites than albums I view as flawless gems. Willie D and Bushwackass , in particular , are tow that I fucking love but also recognize I'm one of the few that does.

[Blockhead]

With a clearer idea of what this is all about, I'd change my ten to this:

1)Grand Puba: Reel to reel
2)Da lench mob: Guerillas in da mist
3)Threat: Sickinnahead
4)Yz: The ghetto's been good to me
5)Master Ace: Take a look around (sorry thun!)
6)Ultramagnetic mc's: Four horsemen
7))King Sun: Righteous but Ruthless
8)Above the law: Livin' Like hustlers
9)Hard Knocks: School of Hard knocks
10)Grand Daddy IU:Smooth assassin

Was gonna put in Camp lo and The beatnuts first full lengths but they might be too highly regarded.

[Philaflava]

copy cat

[Blockhead]

copy cat

Didn't even see your list. 2/10 isn't bad though...

[vaporized2]

Haven't heard any of your other albums, highly doubt I can get into Esham but the others I wouldn't be opposed to giving a whirl.

Honestly I've never been a big fan of Esham & Natas, I can only endure their music for a few tracks and that's that. Which is why this "Dead Flowerz" LP is so weird to me, I can bump it from start to finish without being tempted to skip tracks. I'm not sure Esham's fans would agree with me, but it's his better rounded album in my opinion, a nice cross between Gangsta Rap & Horrorcore.

agreed, Dead Flowerz is the Esham album to go for. not sure if it's because he was using more soul samples but it definitely has the best beats overall of all his albums for me. proper 1995 vibes. and it's also less gimmicky than his other stuff. the album after that, Bruce Wayne:Gothom City wasn't anywhere near as good.

[aleph]

Freestyle Fellowship "To Whom It May Concern"

As the world’s intro to FF and the LA underground it’s incredible (though as an album I have problems with it, another story) but I’m curious to know why you think it’s not in the canon? I always thought that its place in history was inarguable.

[Thun]

Freestyle Fellowship "To Whom It May Concern"

As the world’s intro to FF and the LA underground it’s incredible (though as an album I have problems with it, another story) but I’m curious to know why you think it’s not in the canon? I always thought that its place in history was inarguable.

I think that everyone who knows about it thinks highly of it, but I feel like very people have actually heard it. Its initial run was SUPER underground and the reprints/campaigns to revive interest in it still strike me as a fringe thing, although again, its really hard to judge these things on a global scale.

Do you think it lacks album cohesion because of all the solo tracks and J. Sumbi's totally different rapping style being included? I can see that argument, though I'd disagree, I don't think the facts of its construction limits its cohesiveness, it sounds like a big, albeit crazy album by a group with highly idiosyncratic members to me, not vastly different from what you get out of 36 Chambers.

[aleph]

I think that everyone who knows about it thinks highly of it, but I feel like very people have actually heard it. Its initial run was SUPER underground and the reprints/campaigns to revive interest in it still strike me as a fringe thing, although again, its really hard to judge these things on a global scale.

I guessed that was your reasoning which I can’t disagree with, though it’s colored by memories of some of those fringe members actually asking for the tape at a Queens Wiz back in 92 which made me think they were more widely heard. I still feel then that it belongs in some narrow critical canon if left off of a “populist” one (if that makes sense).

Do you think it lacks album cohesion because of all the solo tracks and J. Sumbi's totally different rapping style being included? I can see that argument, though I'd disagree, I don't think the facts of its construction limits its cohesiveness, it sounds like a big, albeit crazy album by a group with highly idiosyncratic members to me, not vastly different from what you get out of 36 Chambers.

We’re largely in agreement here. I do think that it could have benefited from a bit more group vocal interaction but I agree that the solo chops are the album, it represents the raison d’etre of the Good Life. Such tours-de-force, the album’s glue is precisely that aesthetic.

Even though I always considered Sunshine Men as good a track as the others I did think at first that Sumbi’s contributions, since they weren’t virtuosic stuck out like sore thumbs. I imagine that’s the consensus, but now I think they’re dope contrasts.

Sounds petty but my problem is that like a lot of nerdy fans I wished it were even better. I had heard all the highlights between 92-93 and didn’t hear the actual record until 96(?) so my expectations were already too high. A lot of the tape space wasted on interludes and shout-outs could have been devoted to other cats like Ganjah K (if he wasn’t already signed) and loners like Spoon. Again, glass half-empty

Tough call but if it’s not in the canon it certainly deserves to be.

[Thun]

I think that everyone who knows about it thinks highly of it, but I feel like very people have actually heard it. Its initial run was SUPER underground and the reprints/campaigns to revive interest in it still strike me as a fringe thing, although again, its really hard to judge these things on a global scale.

I guessed that was your reasoning which I can’t disagree with, though it’s colored by memories of some of those fringe members actually asking for the tape at a Queens Wiz back in 92 which made me think they were more widely heard. I still feel then that it belongs in some narrow critical canon if left off of a “populist” one (if that makes sense).

Stretch and Bobbito were up on it, and played it, and it gained some notoriety in NYC, but this is still a very limited crowd we're talking about.

I suppose you're right in that I haven't really thought through was would constitute the critical canon vs the popular one, and it could be that this is ultimately a futile task. I guess what I was getting at with including this record is that when you hear people talk about groundbreaking hip hop records, with a nod towards the "experimental" or "eccentric" or "left field" or avante-garde (for certain the middlebrow usage of these terms can be confusing, but for the sake of convenience let's assume we all agree) these are the names:

Ultramagnetic MCs "Critical Beatdown"
De La Soul "3 Ft High and Rising"
Beastie Boys "Paul's Boutique"
Public Enemy "It Takes A Nation..."
A Tribe Called Quest "The Low End Theory"

And that's pretty much it. In my mind, Fellowship is up there with those records, and I think there should be more agreement on this outside of California and outside of Stretch and Bobbito listeners.

Again, I may very well be dead wrong.

[step one]

Dont think I can come up with 10 (I tended to buy 12"s more than albums from about 94 onwards) but a few that spring to mind. I take the first 4 Ice T albums dont qualify for this?

Kam 'Neva Again'
Royal Flush 'Ghetto Millionaire'
AZ 'Pieces Of A Man'
Boss 'Born Gangstaz'
Luke ft 2 Live Crew 'Banned In The USA'
3rd Bass 'The Cactus' (not really sure where people stand on this being a certified classic or not but its probably Top 10 for me)
2Pac 'Strictly 4 My Niggaz'
Menace II Society soundtrack

Most of the albums I like that fit this category are more 00s releases I think.

[Thun]

00s is fine as far as I'm concerned.

[Mark 563]

00s is fine as far as I'm concerned.

I'd be interested to read your thoughts on those I listed (as you did with the first few posters), if you can be bothered.

[Thun]

00s is fine as far as I'm concerned.

I'd be interested to read your thoughts on those I listed (as you did with the first few posters), if you can be bothered.

I will, just give me time, thread is poppin'.

[Thun]

I'll play:

Akinyele - Vagina Diner - Entirely Large Pro produced. I can't accurately explain why I dig the low, guttural growling at the end of every other line, but it really works for me.

CNN - War Report - Probably doesn't fit Thun's criteria here, as I think it is universally loved, but for me, it is my favorite produced album of all time. Those beats could make Mindbender listenable.

Sticky Fingaz - Black Trash: Autobiography... - Just listened to this again recently. It is much better than it has any right to be, and really works well as a whole album.

Bushwick Bill - Little Big Man - Stone cold classic for me. Bill rips every track here, and the beats are vintage early 90's Rap-A-Lot. I'm pretending like he stopped making solo albums after this one.

AZ - Memphis Sessions / Pieces of a Man - I'm putting both here because I don't think the Memphis Sessions fits Thun's criteria, as it is a remix album, but if we can include it, it's the best rap release of the last decade. Proof that the only thing holding AZ back is his beat selection, as MS makes previously unlistenable songs sound godly. Also, Pieces of a Man, as Blastmaster can attest to, is just an absolute perfect album.

Binary Star - Masters of the Universe - About the only album left from that early 2000's time period that I'm not embarrassed to say I owned. Like much of that era's output, it is kind of bloated, but the good stuff is very good.

La the Darkman - Heist of the Century - If you remove the 4 wack songs on there (Spring Water, Element of Surprise, Wu Blood Kin, Love), it would be up there with the 1st team Wu albums for me.

Lake - My Brother's Keeper - Never understood the Lake hate. Guy has a great voice, gets very good production, and can rap. No Happy Ending is one of the grimiest songs I've ever heard.

Lord Finesse - Funky Technician - LF seems like he could rap for forever and sound great doing it

Naughty By Nature - S/T - Yoke the Joker.

War Report doesn't fit, it's probably overrated (I know, blasphemy).
Vagina Diner ... is cool to me, and not enough people have heard it ... but, I can take it or leave it for a thread like this. People make much ado about Large Pro's involvement but this is far from his best work.
Never liked that Binary Star album. I don't dislike it. But nothing about it moves me. ::shrugs::
I don't remember that Bushwick Bill album too well, I'd have to revisit, though I'm not a big fan of him, tbh.
That LA the Darkman album was super disappointing when it dropped, I don't think I'd care much for it now.
Naughty By Nature is an interesting choice, but it's pretty uneven. It's a lot better than their DAISY Age album under a different name, though.
AZ Memphis Sessions is a very interesting choice, especially seeing as how it's pretty much an amateur mashup and yet works better than AZ's typically overproduced albums. It's a really weird fluke in that sense.
Lord Finesse makes sense in that it is held in high esteem but people don't really rate it where it should. As far as the 1990 era, the lyrics are above and beyond and the beats are a snapshot of the time yet don't really sound dated in a bad way. Not sure if it's too obvious for what I'm looking for. We'll see.
Haven't heard that Lake album. I'd like to, though.

[Thun]

With a clearer idea of what this is all about, I'd change my ten to this:

1)Grand Puba: Reel to reel
2)Da lench mob: Guerillas in da mist
3)Threat: Sickinnahead
4)Yz: The ghetto's been good to me
5)Master Ace: Take a look around (sorry thun!)
6)Ultramagnetic mc's: Four horsemen
7))King Sun: Righteous but Ruthless
8)Above the law: Livin' Like hustlers
9)Hard Knocks: School of Hard knocks
10)Grand Daddy IU:Smooth assassin

Was gonna put in Camp lo and The beatnuts first full lengths but they might be too highly regarded.

Camp-Lo and the Beatnuts albums are both over-rated, in my opinion, even though I personally adore them to a homoerotic level.

Grand Puba's debut - a little too samey to me. Puba destroys every track though. I think at this point I like Pos K's grittier and yet more whimsical approach. Is this one generally ignored?

Da Lench Mob - meh. Very uneven to me, the good tracks are bangin', the rest is truly filler.

Threatt, YZ, and Master Ace are all solid picks to me, though Ace is enormously overrated as an artist, especially in his modern incarnation, so that kind of spoils it for me.

Four Horsemen has five really great songs if I remember. The rest were kinda so-so to me, though.

King Sun "Righteous But Ruthless" is a solid pick to me in general, not sure if I'd put it so high, though. same with Above The Law, Hard Knocks, and Grand Daddy IU. They all have really great moments and everyone should eventually get around to hearing them, I just personally wouldn't rate any of them very high, but I can't really complain about them as choices. Dope list.

[Thun]

In no particle order

3X Krazy - Stackin' Chips
Circle Of Native Vibes - Against All Odds
Myalansky - Drastic Measurez
Prophetix - High Risk
Kukoo Da Baga Bonez - Da Grustler
Midnight Voices - Late Night At The Upper Room
DFC - The Whole Words Rotten
Bas 1 - For The Mentally Astute (Theory Of A Throw Up)
Azeem - Craft Classic
Chill Rob G. - Blackgold

Honorable Mentions:
Fel Sweetenberg - The Sophomore Jinx
Hemisphere - Performing Artz

I would never expect to see any of these albums on another person's top 10 list, but my taste is rather singular.

I haven't heard a single one of these. Which three are the ones I must hear before I die?

[Thun]

Great topic.

With regards to the Bush Babees album, before I scrolled down, my first though was actually 'Ambushed', which I think is a cracking album, but maybe not enough of a benchmark album to be considered in this thread. Either way, I prefer it to 'Gravity'

Here are some of my choices:

* DJ Quik 'Quik Is The Name' - not sure if this isn't one of the obvious albums, but I rarely see it get the love it deserves.

* Akinyele 'Vagina Diner' - rapping aside (even though I really dig Ak as an emcee), this is Large Pro at his finest.

* Tragedy 'Saga Of A Hoodlum' - this album may well be top 10 for me, yet I don't see it get credit very often.

* Low Profile 'We're In This Together' - classic WC and Aladdin.

* Coolio 'It Takes A Thief' - I may be alone with this one, but I have a lot of love for this record. I know he is corny, but he was great on the WC & The Maad Circle album, and this LP is filled with quality tracks.

* Kurious 'A Constipated Monkey' - this may just rank as a personal favourite, but I've always loved this album. Kurious was a great, conversational emcee, and the best we're on point throughout.

* Digital Underground 'Sex Packets' - incredible album. Shock G is criminally underrated.

I think all DJ Quik albums sound exactly the same. Maybe it's me. His raps are funny if juvenile. Those are the only thoughts I have on him.

The Tragedy and Low Profile joints are the ones I most agree with.

Kurious is way overrated.

I would think Digital Underground's album is pretty widely loved, no?

Coolio? No. Grumpy Cat no.

[Mark 563]

Great topic.

With regards to the Bush Babees album, before I scrolled down, my first though was actually 'Ambushed', which I think is a cracking album, but maybe not enough of a benchmark album to be considered in this thread. Either way, I prefer it to 'Gravity'

Here are some of my choices:

* DJ Quik 'Quik Is The Name' - not sure if this isn't one of the obvious albums, but I rarely see it get the love it deserves.

* Akinyele 'Vagina Diner' - rapping aside (even though I really dig Ak as an emcee), this is Large Pro at his finest.

* Tragedy 'Saga Of A Hoodlum' - this album may well be top 10 for me, yet I don't see it get credit very often.

* Low Profile 'We're In This Together' - classic WC and Aladdin.

* Coolio 'It Takes A Thief' - I may be alone with this one, but I have a lot of love for this record. I know he is corny, but he was great on the WC & The Maad Circle album, and this LP is filled with quality tracks.

* Kurious 'A Constipated Monkey' - this may just rank as a personal favourite, but I've always loved this album. Kurious was a great, conversational emcee, and the best we're on point throughout.

* Digital Underground 'Sex Packets' - incredible album. Shock G is criminally underrated.

I think all DJ Quik albums sound exactly the same. Maybe it's me. His raps are funny if juvenile. Those are the only thoughts I have on him.

The Tragedy and Low Profile joints are the ones I most agree with.

Kurious is way overrated.

I would think Digital Underground's album is pretty widely loved, no?

Coolio? No. Grumpy Cat no.

Wow, I'd say you're really missing out on DJ Quik. His first album is stunning. The production is flawless. I also really enjoy both Hi-C and 2nd II None's debuts from the same period, but doubt they'd ever get considered as all time greats.

That Kurious album, much like Casual's debut, is just solid front to back. I've always rated it as a complete listen.

DU, you maybe right. I just rarely see it get mentioned. Both their second and third albums are outstanding too.

As for Coolio, I knew that was a long shot. For me, it had the obvious crossover / hit single, which I still enjoy ('Fantastic Voyage'), and I rate the follow up single ('I Remember') higher, but the album as a whole is really solid.

[Roy Johnson]

That Kurious album, much like Casual's debut, is just solid front to back. I've always rated it as a complete listen.

Kurious was a beast on the Stretch & Bobbito show in 92/93, but he didn't really put much effort into songwriting.

"I'm Kurious" is tremendous, though.

[Philaflava]

I think Casual was a great rapper with fantastic production behind him on Fear Itself. Kurious was mildly entertaining with fantastic production on Constipated Monkey.