Mark 563 wrote: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.
what does "songwriting" actually mean in a hip hop/rap context? I'm pretty sure every track on constipated monkey follows the typical 3 verse structure that all hip hop does. songwriting elements like middle 8s, bridges, chord changes etc don't apply - even the producers don't have to think about those things because the hip hop formula is so etched in stone, so what does it mean? I see it written all the time
For the record I love Constipated Monkey. perfect laid back head-nod material, sick Beatnuts production...
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.
Dred Scott - Breakin Combs
Darc Mind - Sympthomatic of a greater ill
E.C. Illa - Illa LP
J-Rock - Streetwize
Da Homlez - Abandoned in the streetz
Da Phlayva - Phlayva 4 Dem All
Downtown Science - S/T
Lighter Shade Of Brown - Brown and Proud
Masters Of Ceremony - Dynamite
Questionmark Asylum - The Album
Scientifik - Criminal
Good thread. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but these are what come to mind:
Chubb Rock - The One
Erick Sermon - Double or Nothing
Al Tariq - God Connections
Double XX Posse - Ruff Rugged & Raw
All City - Metropolis Gold
Capital Tax - The Swoll Package
Cru - Da Dirty 30
Real Live - The Turnaround
Danja Mowf - Word of Mowf
Sadat X - Wild Cowboys
vaporized2 wrote:what does "songwriting" actually mean in a hip hop/rap context? I see it written all the time.
It could be synonymous with writing lyrics in this particular context.
okay, fair enough. to me it still implies something else though? not trying to be pedantic for the sake of it, but 'songwriting' should not be mentioned in the same breath as 'rapper' or 'hip hop' imo, it just sounds wrong (edit: I'm being a dick here, I know )
Debonair_P wrote:Double XX Posse - Ruff Rugged & Raw
great pick, remembered this after I posted my list. heavy album even by 1995 standards...
Thread has me digging out albums I haven't listened to in ages. Salute to everyone who's posted.
My list:
1. Heather B - Takin' Mine -- Kenny Parker's work on this album perfectly encapsulates the boom bap style of production, and Heather hits as hard a grown man. I'd only rank her behind Foxy and Kim as far as female rappers go.
"And aimed at your head is a infrared circle/
Of sentences and messages that read 'FUCK YOU'"
2. Show & A.G. - Goodfellas -- Seems to sit on the cusp of Thun's criteria, as the duo is obviously widely celebrated, but I don't know of anyone who'd put this album in their top thirty. The mood is consistent throughout, with an air of menace permeating the album; a grimier Hell on Earth. The Dres-assisted "Got The Flava" is still one of the hardest beats I've ever heard.
3. King Tee - IV Life -- The melancholy hangover following the drunken debauchery that was Tha Triflin' Album. Tee is one of those rappers who could recite his grocery list and hold my attention, and the brooding, darker style of production is more in line with my east coast sensibilities.
4. Dark Sun Riders - Seeds of Evolution -- Makes me feel like I'm hallucinating inside a tribal sweat lodge. With all respect to the late Professor X, this is better than any of the X-Clan albums. It's one of those albums where every other song is an interlude, so a stereo equipped with a program function will greatly enhance your listening experience.
5. The Terrorists - Detonate the Landmines -- Dope E has a commanding voice that was made for rapping, and the production is consistently outstanding. Released in 2008, it may be too new for this thread, but it's so ridiculously dope that I can't exclude it.
6. Threat - Sickinnahead -- DJ Pooh put a harder, darker edge on the g-funk style that was so common among west coast rap records at the time, resulting in a great album that doesn't sound nearly as dated as most of its contemporaries.
7. Timbaland & Magoo - Welcome to our World -- Might be going out on a limb here, but fuck it; Timbaland's style of production during the mid-late nineties was, and continues to be, dope as fuck to me. This album is the best representation of his talent, with tracks ranging from the upbeat ("Luv 2 Luv U Remix," "Peepin' My Style") to the cerebral ("Writtin' Rhymes") to the smoothed out R&B ("Man Undercover"). The duo is perfectly competent at rapping, and more than make up for their lack of substance with an abundance of style. Literally every song is great, and I will defend this album as a classic until the day I die.
8. Sporty Thievz - Street Cinema -- Album title says it all. They sounded like they had a ton of fun with their music without coming off as cornballs who didn't take themselves seriously. R.I.P. Brando; really wished we could've gotten more music out of these guys.
9. Poor Righteous Teachers - The New World Order -- Their most consistent and best-produced album. "Gods, Earths and 85ers" has the distinction of being the only time Nine has sounded good, ever.
10. Screwball - Y2K: The Album -- I was beginning to feel disenfranchised by a lot of hip hop released in 2000, but this album (along with Industry Shakedown and Warriorz) made me feel like the genre was going to be just fine.
Feels like I should have a K-Rino album on here somewhere but I've got no idea which one to pick.
As far as new stuff goes, both of Roc Marc's albums, the P Brothers album, and, to a lesser degree, Ka's Grief Pedigree, can all go toe to toe with any of the albums we've mentioned thus far.
Last edited by Combo7 on Wed Mar 13, 2013 2:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Nice explanation on your album choices Combo7, it makes me want to hear those which I haven't heard yet from your list. I'm glad we agree on Industry Shakedown, that album brings back great memories of Fat Beats for me. I was just listening to Goodfellas by Show & AG and the album has held up well over the years imo, the unreleased cuts from the album are great too.
Audio: Organized Konfusion Interviewed by DJ Riz & WildMan Steve, 1994 http://bit.ly/stress1994" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
OK. Finally managed to come up with something. This was really tough; a lot of great picks in the thread so far.
Mad CJ Mac - True Game
In my opinion, this is the best non-Texas-based album that Rap-a-Lot released during the mid-90's. Poppa LQ and the Menace Clan also dropped really solid efforts during the same time frame, but True Game stands head and shoulders above them primarily because MAD produced the entire record, giving it a super cohesive vibe. CJ Mac is also a good rapper; not top 20 (or even top 50, word to Zach De La Rocha) but he holds down the entire album and pens some great tracks. Honestly, the album feels like the distillation of a larger group of early 90's West Coast gangsta rap; there's a cruising jam ("Come & Take a Ride"), introspective shit ("Losin' My Mind"), straight up rob-your-mother raps ("Love No")...and it all works incredibly well together. Plus, it has one of my favorite intros ever.
One Gud Cide - Look What the Streets Made
I've waxed at length about this group, and this album in particular, before. I've always felt that if LWTSM had larger distribution, One Gud Cide would currently enjoy second-tier Texas legend status. Everything about this album is awesome. The cover takes what the Geto Boys did for We Can't Be Stopped and ramps it up to 11; if you've never seen it, it's a photo of Twisted Black after getting shot in the face with a shotgun. The production is consistent and sounds way better, both aesthetically and professionally, than something with such a regional release has any right to. The narrative structures are well-developed, the two rappers have great chemistry, and Twisted Black shines on every single song. Honestly one of the few rare/OOP/regional releases that (almost) earns its astronomical price tag.
Andre Nickatina/Dre Dog - I Hate You With a Passion
Though this album is an undisputed Bay Area classic, I don't feel like enough TROY heads appreciate what a great effort this is. Nickatina is on top of his pen game, and however limited that pen game may be, he kills every single song. Amazon actually lists this as a metal release and I'm convinced that is not a mistake. The album title says it all; Dre Dog hates everyone. Player haters, punk police, scandalous hoes, fake rappers, no one is spared. Mix that type of vitriol with one of rap's greatest unsung personalities and some of that era's greatest Mobb beats, and you simply cannot lose. Without this record we wouldn't have the Nickatina we know and love today. The man's got joints but aside from Cocaine Raps, he never came close to dropping anything this tight again.
Brotha Lynch Hung - Loaded
Another West Coast classic that gets love from the Bay/Sactown heads but is criminally unsung in most circles. I think that after Season of da Siccness dropped, a lot of folks dismissed Lynch as this crazy-assed dude who exclusively penned raps about cannibalizing infants and the like; Loaded proves that this is not the case. The bizarre/disturbing content is still there but it's incredibly toned down and tempered with a more serious, introspective side. Lynch came back down to earth with this album. Ironically, Loaded feels mad psychedelic at times and boasts these off-kilter, rambling, 6-minute-plus joints like "On My Briefcase." Sounds indulgent but I assure you it is not. Solid production from Phonk Beta (some of my favorite joints by the man) and Brotha Lynch are just the icing on the cake. Also the last "real" Lynch released by Cedric/Black Market Records.
Rifleman Ellay Khule - KClas-sixx, Volume 1
OK, this is kind of cheating because the KClass-sixx series aren't albums, they're retrospective compilations. With that being said, they constitute the only place that the wealth of early CV Shack-era solo Rifleman recordings can be found in one place, unmolested in all of their shitty 4-track glory. Whereas Freestyle Fellowship and Abstract Tribe Unique represented the neo-hippy aspect of Project Blowed, Rifleman and the rest of the Afterlife dudes (Riddlore?, NgaFsh, Pterradacto, etc) represented the grimy street aspect. All of those dudes are dope in their own right but Rifleman is by far the dopest. Styles for days, the man can chop-chop-chop to no end. Some of it is borderline novelty and slightly masturbatory - like, "let's see how fast I can rap and still remain marginally intelligible" - but I would liken it to free jazz. Some of it just sounds weird, but when you take a step back it's more about the artist pushing the boundaries and limitations of their chosen art form and seeing just how far into outer space it could be taken. The other two volumes of KClass-sixx offer almost twice as much material per disc (Volume 1 is only 30 minutes long), but I had to go with the first on the strength of "Fuck a Cop" alone.
Devin the Dude - The Dude
This album is so good. Every contemporary stoner rapper from Wiz to Curren$y to DZA to Berner owe something to this album, whether they know it or not. Honestly, I would rank this slightly above Fadanuf for Everybody!! and although some of the TROY heads might stab me in my sleep over that statement I stand by it fully. Odd Squad/Coughee Brothers made some solid music but once Devin ventured out on his own he was really able to spread his wings creatively. Not like that's saying much - I mean, the songs revolve primarily the themes of weed, wine, and women - but I was never a huge fan of Rob Quest or Jugg Mugg in the first place, so hearing Devin on his own is more appealing anyway. The beats on this album are just sublime, created when the Rap-a-Lot production squad was at the height of its powers. There's just something really charming and comfortable about this album; it's one that you can put on repeat, kick back, crack a beer and fire up a sweet and before you know it, you've listened to it three times through. So many good songs on The Dude, but "I Can't Quit" is easily my favorite and a personal life anthem. Quite randomly, K-Dee appears on this album, which is unexpected and dope.
Kurious - A Constipated Monkey
Listened to this a LOT in college and can't really say much about this album that hasn't been said in the thread already. It boasts raps that while not super technical are very fun and a full palette of super dope Beatnuts productions. How could you lose?
Guerilla Maab – Rise
Great album that began the career of one of my favorite current rappers (Trae) and only served to bolster the catalog of one of my favorite all-time rappers (Z-Ro). As with the One Gud Cide album, the beats on Rise are surprisingly great for such a regional release (i.e. they don't sound like complete shit). Being such a huge fan of Project Blowed, it's cool track the progression of the development of separate-but-similar fast-rap styles. I'm fairly positive that Z-Ro doesn't even know what Project Blowed was, but you can tell all of those Screwed Up Click dudes were constantly challenging and pushing each other to develop their styles further and come with their raps tighter. Great chemistry between all the rappers and some of the joints of Rise (Fondren & Main, Keep Watching Me) are untouchable Texas classics. Just an awesome album front to back.
Rappin Ron' & Ant Diddley Dog - Bad 'N Fluenz
Dangerous Crew! This album embodies everything that was great about that clique; slick beats and pimptastic lyrics. I feel like they took what $hort was doing on Get In Where You Fit In and built on it with fantastic results. I love this album - I'm actually listening to it right now - and try to bust it out every spring/summer and drive around blasting it with the windows down. It's just THAT kind of record. The vibe is cohesive without sounding redundant and Rappin' Ron is one of the greatest unsung rappers of all time. Just an all-around criminally underrated record. Much like I Hate You With a Passion and Loaded, I feel if you were to talk to the right people on the right coast they'll tell you this album is Top 5 of all time.
Willie D - Controversy
I'm probably the second-biggest Willie D fan on this forum. However, unlike Block, I'd have to pick Controversy over I'm Goin' Out Lika Soldier. The beats were just too raw - skeletal almost to the point of non-existence - and that allowed the focus to lie directly on Willie D's lyrics, which is kind of the point. Angry and hell and out to offend, Willie D not only hates everyone he mentions on this record, but he'll kick your fucking ass too. Nothing else needs to be said. A masterpiece of ignorance.
vaporized2 wrote:what does "songwriting" actually mean in a hip hop/rap context? I see it written all the time.
It could be synonymous with writing lyrics in this particular context.
okay, fair enough. to me it still implies something else though? not trying to be pedantic for the sake of it, but 'songwriting' should not be mentioned in the same breath as 'rapper' or 'hip hop' imo, it just sounds wrong (edit: I'm being a dick here, I know )
Yeah, I know this isn't a Lennon/McCartney production. It's like Sam Kinison said - rappers have shit else to do aside from grabbing their dicks.
But how would you term royalties for rappers, if not songwriting royalties?
I'm still trying to decide whether or not this is a sane pet peeve.
Tweak Da Leak wrote:My nigga Poppabitch fucks with the swine?
Echo Leader wrote:
Brotha Lynch Hung - Loaded
Another West Coast classic that gets love from the Bay/Sactown heads but is criminally unsung in most circles. I think that after Season of da Siccness dropped, a lot of folks dismissed Lynch as this crazy-assed dude who exclusively penned raps about cannibalizing infants and the like; Loaded proves that this is not the case. The bizarre/disturbing content is still there but it's incredibly toned down and tempered with a more serious, introspective side. Lynch came back down to earth with this album. Ironically, Loaded feels mad psychedelic at times and boasts these off-kilter, rambling, 6-minute-plus joints like "On My Briefcase." Sounds indulgent but I assure you it is not. Solid production from Phonk Beta (some of my favorite joints by the man) and Brotha Lynch are just the icing on the cake. Also the last "real" Lynch released by Cedric/Black Market Records.
Not going to try to advocate for quality beyond idiosyncratic personal preference in the time and place, but these are non-super canonical albums I listened to over, and over, and over again (apparently a fair amount of "post masterpiece" stuff that I still really enjoyed):
Al Tariq-God Connections
Boogiemonsters --- Riders of the Storm
P.R. & C.L. Smooth -- The Main Ingredient
Extra Prolific -- Like it Should Be
Sadat X -- Wild Cowboys
Brand Nubian -- Foundation
Slick Rick -- The Art of Storytelling
Digital Underground -- Sons of the P
Lords of the Underground -- Here Come the Lords
DJ Honda -- HII
Anotha Level -- On Anotha Level
RBL Posse -- Ruthless By Law (celebrated as fuck in in the Bay at the time, but I have no idea if anything was happening w/ it more widely)
Ok, duns and kikkos, this is what I'm going to do:
- I will introduce "Five Albums You Should Hear" as a regular (maybe every other week) feature on T.R.O.Y. Five albums, non-canonical, and not of the group that has already been widely discussed/celebrated on the TROY Blog (sorry, that invalidates a lot of suggestions in this thread but we need to narrow down somehow), will be summarized and assessed. A sort of ongoing buyer's/downloader's guide, hopefully a lot more literate and helpful than the usual shit you'll find in the blogosphere.. The first installment will probably come from my list, but after that I will be picking from suggestions on this thread.
- If you'd think one of your selections is really excellent and you'd like to see it reviewed, but I'm not likely to search it out on my own, the best thing you can do is PM me with a download link! I won't hold every album to my personal standards, I will take into consideration its intended audience and the context in which it was released/received to the best of my ability. That being said, if I don't like it or don't think it's consistently good, it may not make it.
- I am not claiming total ownership over this feature. If you're one of the people in this thread who put some time into descriptions and you'd like to present a list as a guest blogger (especially if your list is fill of stuff I've never heard), pm me and we'll work from there. Note: I am going to give you guidelines and I may ask you to revise or rewrite. I won't be unnecessarily nitpicky or expect you to write like Armond White, but I will have a minimum expectation for quality. The TROY Blog has never had a payment structure for anyone, so if you want the chance, you're doing it for the love (you may plug away any venture of yours, though).
-Please keep adding to this thread, I think we all agree that the discussion is good to begin with, and the more we keep politicking, the better the feature can be. I will try to respond to posts as soon as possible.
Combo7 wrote:Anyone else a fan of this shit right here?
If every song had been like Pass The Glock, it would be an undeniable classic. Way too uneven for me...
That's the best song by far, but I listened to it yesterday and only had to skip "Tell Me What U Want" and "My Kinda Girls." Might be worth a revisit if you haven't heard it in a while.
Did Cuban Link's shelved debut ever leak? Would love to hear it if it exists.
Thun - I can supply you with any of the albums on my list if there's something you're curious to hear.
PopeyeJones wrote:Not going to try to advocate for quality beyond idiosyncratic personal preference in the time and place
of course not, that would be out of character.
but these are non-super canonical albums I listened to over, and over, and over again (apparently a fair amount of "post masterpiece" stuff that I still really enjoyed)
Did you mean super "non-canonical" or did you mean exactly what you typed? Either way, both descriptions sorta work.
Al Tariq-God Connections
Was wondering when this was going to be released. Great production on this obviously, though my complaint has always been that Al-Tariq is actually the worst Beatnuts rappers, just nobody realized it.
Boogiemonsters --- Riders of the Storm
Ooh a match! One weird thing... is it just me or does "Honeydips In Gotham" sound extra-shitty, mixdown wise, compared to the rest of the album?
P.R. & C.L. Smooth -- The Main Ingredient
Is this "non-canonical" or secondary? I have always preferred this over Mecca and the Soul Brother. People who say their EP is the best of all their work are morons.
Extra Prolific -- Like it Should Be
I always dug this record, it's the only Hiero record where their early production style of lazily collage-ing smooth jazz samples actually makes perfect sense in terms of the vocalist they back.
Sadat X -- Wild Cowboys
Hmmm ... I remember disliking a few tracks but I'd have to revisit.
Brand Nubian -- Foundation
This better than people remember but also worse, somehow.
Slick Rick -- The Art of Storytelling
Love this, it has aged so well.
Digital Underground -- Sons of the P
I'm going to need to hear this again. You got a link?
Lords of the Underground -- Here Come the Lords
I hate you.
DJ Honda -- HII
I love it, but I feel that this is probably a polarizing one.
Anotha Level -- On Anotha Level
Meh, most of the samples on here are flipped better elsewhere. It's not bad, but it's not great.
RBL Posse -- Ruthless By Law (celebrated as fuck in in the Bay at the time, but I have no idea if anything was happening w/ it more widely)
Never heard. Should I listen? my tolerance for Bay Area idiocy is notoriously low.
PHD - Without Warning
Too Poetic - Droppin' Signal
Ras Kass - Soul On Ice
MF Grimm - Scars and Memories (imagine how dope the original 1993 / 1994 album that got stolen must have been)
UMCs - Unleashed (similar to KMD story)
Rumpletilskinz – What Is A Rumpletilskin?
Cormega - The Testament
Trigga Tha Gambler - Life's A 50 / 50 Gamble
World Renown - World Renown
Supernatural - Natural Disasters
(The Jaz - To Your Soul)
(Devin debut and some other picks that are already in here - Boogiemonsters 1st - crazy concepts like the child molester - voice adaption)
DU (meaning Shock G) never really figured out how to balance an album across his competing (and frequently pretty incompatible) desires, but everything except for Heartbeat Props and Family of the Underground basically works, as long as you come to terms with the fact that he's got a preternatural obsession with parliament/funkadelic and spent his whole career trying to remake them as a (at the time) modern day hip hop act. That he surrounded himself exclusively with people who didn't even remotely give a fuck about that agenda also made everything kind off for them as a group (Shock G raps for 8 bars about social justice, and then Money B raps for 8 bars about eating out a girl's butt). When it worked it worked well, but a lot of the time it didn't work. Sons of the P (like Sex Packets) was closer to the type of album Shock G really wanted to make than anything else they did, IMO.
And in retrospect agreed about Lords (can't stand it these days), but fuck I listened to that thing a lot. Same for Wild Cowboys (the lump lump is the only thing from it I'll still put on, but damn, I listened to that shit a lot too). Anotha Level is a comfortable old shirt. Don't know why HII would be polarizing. As for Al Tariq, I know people like Psycho Les, but I've never been able to stand him. If you don't like Bay Area shit of that era you're not going to find anything in RBL, it's probably what you already know, if only a little bit catchier.
listening back to old mixtapes and radio shows, the amount of burn rappers like LOTUG, Fuschnickens and Das EFX got is crazy in comparison to what are now considered more credible/respected artists.
Thanks for the reminder on the Fu Schnicks. I haven't listed to their debut album in the longest since losing my cassette copy, but I remember always liking the whole album from front to back alot. I agree on the comparison between LOTUG and Das too and more current artists.
Audio: Organized Konfusion Interviewed by DJ Riz & WildMan Steve, 1994 http://bit.ly/stress1994" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Fu-Shnickens, Das Efx, and LOTUG got so much burn because they sat exactly on the fence dividing hard rocks and DAISY-age eccentric types. Whimsical but they never wore silk shirts or beads and they shouted their choruses so the hoodie n' Timbs crowd approved. Hell, Das Efx even gave that crowd their uniform.
Another site I write for is putting together a bunch of these "non-canonical lists." They're very tricky because in order to determine what's non-canonical you have to of course determine what IS canonical first. And canon varies from site to site, audience to audience, etc.
Thun has already used the phrase "T.R.O.Y. canon" in this thread to refer to a Black Sheep album if I remember correctly. With Black Sheep, I see what he's saying, but I'd also argue that they're part of an even larger canon as they were included in the Top 100 albums by The Source.
However, if we really want to speculate over what a "T.R.O.Y. canon" would look like, couldn't we include all the most popular guests on the Stretch & Bobbito show? Therefore an album like Clear Blue Skies could easily be considered canon here, while probably no other site would refer to it as such.
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