RichForever
Pro
I'm pretty confident there are, however, off the top of my head I can't think of any. I'll get back to you when I do.
The Official 'Classic Album' Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Inspect Her Deck
- Start date
I'm pretty confident there are, however, off the top of my head I can't think of any. I'll get back to you when I do.
jimihendrixheadband
All Star
The first em album that I heard cats in the hood pump out the speaker was relapse. The production on that joint was bananas but the nerds and crazy cacs didn't like it so he resorted to yelling and rapping over disney scores.
IAmListenin'
Rookie
EHHHHH
It's a wack reason but whoever thinks that is entitled to it. All of this is subjective so I can go too hard on em for thinking that. My way of thinking is personal because again, it's all subjective. We've all got some classic albums in our minds that we'd probably goat if shared
yeah I get what you're saying but someone using your argument could give ANY album classic status potentially merely off enjoying the whole album.
If you get down to the brass tacks of it, this is what a large number of people do. For a lot of people "classic" simply means "album that I like."
I've gotten negged for this elsewhere, but I don't particularly give a damn. I've wondered why it's necessary for every album one likes to be a classic (for those who affix the classic label to every album they like). It's like people can't just like an album, they need it to be a "classic." It's as if they need to validate their taste when "taste" is subjective to begin with. I've never understood the term "personal classic," because what they're really mean is that it's a personal favorite, but no one wants to simply say an album is a favorite of theirs, it has to be classic.
People like what they like. An album doesn't have to be a classic in order for one to like it. The Coup's Steal This Album is one of my all-time favorite hip-hop albums, in my personal top 40 favorites. It doesn't need to be a "classic," and I couldn't care less whether other people consider it a classic or not. I enjoy it, it's stood the test of time for me, staying in my rotation nearing 20 years after its release, so that's all that matters. It seems some people aren't secure in what they like and need to justify it by insisting their favorite albums are classic.
wingstop
Superstar
relapse was trash. Those accents and hooks 
IAmListenin'
Rookie
I agree that it isn't necessary for an album to be perfect in order to be a classic. "Friend of Mine" is the worst song on Ready to Die in my opinion, and I also disliked "Respect" for a while, but I can at least listen to it now. The fellatio skit afterwards though, I always skip, so it isn't a perfect album.
Which was why I initially thought The Source got it right when they gave it 4.5 mics, because I don't believe an album has to be 5 mics/stars/whatever the rating system is in order to be a classic. I've always thought of it in terms of a letter grade:
4.75/5 stars = 95/100 = A+
4.5/5 stars = 90/100 = A
4.25/5 stars = 85/100 = B+
4/5 stars = 80/100 = B
3.75/5 stars = 75/100 = C+
3.5/5 stars = 70/100 = C
3/5 stars = 60/100 = D
According to my line of thinking, there's leeway for an album to have a weak song which would detract from its overall rating but still leave it with an A+ grade. But there would be a floor for the worst grade an individual song can receive that wouldn't lower the overall grade of an album below the threshold grade for a classic.
Inspect Her Deck
Skins of all colours come together as brothers
Can some of you guys who haven't done so already list the Nas classics for me?
BlackMamba824
Pro
Sums up this entire discussion imo
BlackMamba824
Pro
Totally agree. I have a similar method when it comes to grading albums too, although there are albums that I would give an A/A+ that i might not necessarily consider "classic"
IAmListenin'
Rookie
Illmatic.
Everything else is a personal favorite of different people.
Now this doesn't mean that Illmatic is the Nas album everyone has to like the best from his discography, or that Illmatic is the obligatory default answer to the question "What is the greatest hip-hop/rap album of all time?"
IAmListenin'
Rookie
Yeah, every classic can have a grade of A or A+, but that doesn't mean that every album with an A/A+ grade is a classic. Just like saying, "All humans are mammals, but not all mammals are humans."
@Inspect Her Deck
Great thread breh
I think this could really turn into something if we get the Booth behind it.
I think you should do separate threads for each artist with a poll with all the artists albums listed. Then update everything here.
Hopefully we can get the mods to up them.
@FreshAIG @That Singer Guy... @hustlemania @houston911 @SoulController
For this thread, let's just focus on coming up with a definition for "classic"
And i think ten years is enough time.
And I would do 75% because you're gonna get troll voters.
#tpc
#tnt
Great thread breh
I think this could really turn into something if we get the Booth behind it.
I think you should do separate threads for each artist with a poll with all the artists albums listed. Then update everything here.
Hopefully we can get the mods to up them.
@FreshAIG @That Singer Guy... @hustlemania @houston911 @SoulController
For this thread, let's just focus on coming up with a definition for "classic"
And i think ten years is enough time.
And I would do 75% because you're gonna get troll voters.
#tpc
#tnt
nikkaz hate to admit it, but The Source got it right the vast majority of the time. up until 199X. It's stunning when you think about how prescient they were.
Inspect Her Deck
Skins of all colours come together as brothers
@Inspect Her Deck
Great thread breh
I think this could really turn into something if we get the Booth behind it.
I think you should do separate threads for each artist with a poll with all the artists albums listed. Then update everything here.
Hopefully we can get the mods to up them.
@FreshAIG @That Singer Guy... @hustlemania @houston911 @SoulController
For this thread, let's just focus on coming up with a definition for "classic"
And i think ten years is enough time.
And I would do 75% because you're gonna get troll voters.
#tpc
#tnt
That's a way better idea. So this will be the main page to decide upon definition, and then move onto artists. How are we gonna agree on a definition. I think we need something universal.
@Inspect Her Deck
Great thread breh
I think this could really turn into something if we get the Booth behind it.
I think you should do separate threads for each artist with a poll with all the artists albums listed. Then update everything here.
Hopefully we can get the mods to up them.
@FreshAIG @That Singer Guy... @hustlemania @houston911 @SoulController
For this thread, let's just focus on coming up with a definition for "classic"
And i think ten years is enough time.
And I would do 75% because you're gonna get troll voters.
#tpc
#tnt
this is a tricky/interesting subject.. especially considering, alot of folks think anything out for 6 months- can be a classic on here..
but, the premise is really on point..
tbh.. everybody got their own "5-mic/classic" albums.. even going back to the Source days.. there was never an "agreement", even then.. never will be.. the genre is too young.. too many opinions, especially with social media now.. people cant agree, to disagree.. they think their word is bond.. but, the subject is always a interesting discussion, to say the very least..
a true hip hop classic album to me:
1. genre defining - if i was to introduce to a noob/non-hip hop head a list of albums that they must hear to spark their interest in the genre, these albums would make the list
2. influence - it has to have significant influence to future material by other artists, or change the genre in some kind of way
3. quality lyrics/beats throughout
for my first reason, i think this addresses the OP's point about the fact that there could only be around 20-30 true classics in the genre
any 'classics' beyond this 20-30 album list would be something i call 'personal classics', 'cult classics', 'regional classics', whatever.
for my second reason, since albums like 36 chambers, chronic, amerikkka's most, etc already defined the 'sound' of a particular / group of artists / label, the status of the other albums that follow such as ob4cl, liquid swords, doggystyle, death certificate are very debatable, especially when some of them have actually surpassed their predecessor. i would put these as 'second-tier' classics
realistically, everyone's list should have no more than 10 albums. say if you were to explore to a new genre, you would only need 10 albums to form some kind of basic opinion about whether that genre is for your or not if you know what i mean
1. genre defining - if i was to introduce to a noob/non-hip hop head a list of albums that they must hear to spark their interest in the genre, these albums would make the list
2. influence - it has to have significant influence to future material by other artists, or change the genre in some kind of way
3. quality lyrics/beats throughout
for my first reason, i think this addresses the OP's point about the fact that there could only be around 20-30 true classics in the genre
any 'classics' beyond this 20-30 album list would be something i call 'personal classics', 'cult classics', 'regional classics', whatever.
for my second reason, since albums like 36 chambers, chronic, amerikkka's most, etc already defined the 'sound' of a particular / group of artists / label, the status of the other albums that follow such as ob4cl, liquid swords, doggystyle, death certificate are very debatable, especially when some of them have actually surpassed their predecessor. i would put these as 'second-tier' classics
realistically, everyone's list should have no more than 10 albums. say if you were to explore to a new genre, you would only need 10 albums to form some kind of basic opinion about whether that genre is for your or not if you know what i mean