The Official 'Classic Album' Discussion Thread

[SirBiatch]

With Kendrick Lamar, the buildup(classic talk) was there before the album was even released...And cats were agreeing like it was nothing

As hip hop grows older, it will be interesting tho with current generations having very lil attention spans...

Kanye will probably be able to do a college drop out tour successfully based off the fact that people in the 20-30 will be "old school"by that point...

The newer generations will be the ones to watch..

Yeah. Because we've entered an era of woat journalism and superb marketing (aka instant stan creation). Group-think has never been bigger in hip hop history than it is now.

Didn't you see how Shyne was eviscerated on Hot 97 for saying the unmentionable? that GKMC didn't have fire production, so therefore it can't be classic like that. From then on, I knew you couldn't trust 'older folks' with industry ties.

 

[Scoop]

Stillmatic is a cool album but all it really changed was Nas's career trajectory. That's not enough to be a classic.

Also, I don't believe an album has to be "perfect" to be "classic." Not every song needs to be 10/10 on an album for it to be classic. Classics are allowed a couple of weak joints.

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

I disagree. 15 really is the minimum when you think about it. I'd rather take 20, even. Here's why 15 is minimum:

Your typical artist will have a run of 5 years, if they're lucky. That's their period of 'best' output before average people start getting bored. Especially if your fanbase is tween and teen. By the time 5 years passes for them, they're on to other shyt.

Within the 5 years or shortly after your run, your clones will their 5 year run. Your shadow will still loom large for the most part. Think of Kanye. His run was basically 2004 - 2010. His clones (Drake, Kendrick and Cole) are having their runs now. You can't say College Dropout is classic because its influence is still there and it's relatively young. Illmatic is a full 10 years older than College Dropout and we know kids now who are rocking styles from that era. That's classic.

And we're barely out of College Dropout/Late Reg being 10 years and I'd argue the new school don't give that much of a fukk about it.

By 2019/2020, whoever is in the spot Drake occupies now will give you an idea of whether College Dropout is classic. Because that new dude will have a whole new set of fans, and they probably wont give a fukk about College Dropout. Mark my words. I'm willing to be wrong on this. If they give a fukk about College Dropout and still think it's amazing into the 2020s, then sure - we can give it to Ye.

(Sidenote: I wonder if labels/artists are gonna start forcing more of their work as "classics" especially now that it's become such a big deal. Are we gonna see the 15 year anniversary of College Dropout tour or some shyt like that? Forcing relevance. I don't remember a Criminal Minded Tour ever happening)

You've made a convincing argument. Whether I agree or not is not the point. You'll out-argue me here. So we'll go up to 2001.

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Stillmatic is a cool album but all it really changed was Nas's career trajectory. That's not enough to be a classic.

Also, I don't believe an album has to be "perfect" to be "classic." Not every song needs to be 10/10 on an album for it to be classic. Classics are allowed a couple of weak joints.

goes without saying....no album has 10/10 everywhere....well other than Liquid Swords

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Guys btw just to keep this as absolutely strict as possible, the acceptance rate has to be 90% or higher.

So if there are 10 voters and 9 people vote for Illmatic as a classic and one says no, Illmatic will make the list.

 

[SirBiatch]

goes without saying....no album has 10/10 everywhere....well other than Liquid Swords

Were you on The Coli when posters caught feelings over me saying B.I.B.L.E was a weak ass track? To this day I think I've only heard that track in full once. By far the weakest spot on Liquid. In my mind, that track doesn't exist.

Liquid Swords is still classic tho

 

[Scoop]

Guys btw just to keep this as absolutely strict as possible, the acceptance rate has to be 90% or higher.

So if there are 10 voters and 9 people vote for Illmatic as a classic and one says no, Illmatic will make the list.

If all it takes is 10% to have an album get kicked off the list be prepared for troll no votes.

I think starting with old heads like Nas is going to be relatively easy and uncontroversial. When we get artists like Wayne, Em and Kanye is when the meltdowns are going to start. All of those have at least 3 classics to me for example buuuuuut that's not going to be a popular opinion with everyone.

 

[Scoop]

goes without saying....no album has 10/10 everywhere....well other than Liquid Swords

People in this thread were already saying no to It Was Written just based off Nas Is Coming.

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Were you on The Coli when posters caught feelings over me saying B.I.B.L.E was a weak ass track? To this day I think I've only heard that track in full once. By far the weakest spot on Liquid. In my mind, that track doesn't exist.

Liquid Swords is still classic tho

Now you got me catching feelings.

I don't think I was there, I'll be in every Liquid Swords thread lol.

Umm I can't say I entirely agree but you have to remember it was a bonus track so it didn't really fit with the album thematically. Now for pure enjoyment, I would rate it over one or two other tracks, but just as a song itself, it is the weakest track on the album.

But I like to take the albums in their original vinyl form. No CD extras or shyt that's just for marketing purposes and to promote sales and are usually released years down the line. Liquid Swords in its purest form is a 12 track LP.

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

If all it takes is 10% to have an album get kicked off the list be prepared for troll no votes.

I think starting with old heads like Nas is going to be relatively easy and uncontroversial. When we get artists like Wayne, Em and Kanye is when the meltdowns are going to start. All of those have at least 3 classics to me for example buuuuuut that's not going to be a popular opinion with everyone.

ok what do you propose as a % acceptance rate? 80?

 

[JayBaldacci]

Nas had one true classic: illmatic.

one arguable but probably not(unless on the 2000s curve):the lost tapes.

 

[360dagod]

If all it takes is 10% to have an album get kicked off the list be prepared for troll no votes.

I think starting with old heads like Nas is going to be relatively easy and uncontroversial. When we get artists like Wayne, Em and Kanye is when the meltdowns are going to start. All of those have at least 3 classics to me for example buuuuuut that's not going to be a popular opinion with everyone.

Em might have the lowest replay value and influence of anyone who is considered in the top tier category......

 

[Scoop]

ok what do you propose as a % acceptance rate? 80?

I think the standard has to be lower the more recent the album gets because people's opinions are more settled on older albums and it's less controversial to say a 90's album is classic versus a 00's or '10s album.

Like at 80 or 90% the most recent albums you'll get being called classics on The Coli are Late Registration/Carter 2/Food & Liquor. Nothing after that will meet the threshold.

If you can get 60% of The Coli to say that a 2010's album is classic, it probably is.

Pre 2000 - 90%
2001-2005 - 80%
2006-2010 - 70%
2011 on - 60%

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

I think the standard has to be lower the more recent the album gets because people's opinions are more settled on older albums and it's less controversial to say a 90's album is classic versus a 00's or '10s album.

Like at 80 or 90% the most recent albums you'll get being called classics on The Coli are Late Registration/Carter 2/Food & Liquor. Nothing after that will meet the threshold.

If you can get 60% of The Coli to say that a 2010's album is classic, it probably is.

We can't drop standards because then we are devaluing the word. If it's only 3 albums, so be it. That's the true mark of an elite album.

Plus, we're only going up to 2001 at this point, as we've agreed an album needs about 15 years to determine its true status to see whether it really stands the test of time.

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

That said I'm happy to go down to 75% MINIMUM