welp...fukk this thread. you just took it to another level broz.
20 years later, there still hasn't been a better Hip Hop album than The Chronic
- Thread starter Obtain Knowledge
- Start date
welp...fukk this thread. you just took it to another level broz.
its all subjective breh... but here's my reasons.
1. It was sonically the greatest sounding album ever.
2. it launched the careers of Snoop, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, Lady of Rage, Daz, etc
3. It was the soundtrack of a generation.
4. It launched the greatest label of all time Death Row.
5. It introduced Dre as a solo artist.
6. It wasn't just a L.A. classic, it was universally accepted as a classic even when it dropped.
7. Biggie Smalls used the Chronic as a blueprint for 'Ready To Die' which shows you how impactful it was, even just 1-2 years after its release.
Dr.HannibalLecter
Tha Realest
Reginald C. Dennis (former editor of The Source) story
Any albums you regret giving five mics?
"In 1992 we gave Dr. Dres The Chronic 4.5 mics. Had I the opportunity to press reset, I would have given it a 5. Heres the story:
We got the advance of the album in October of 1992 and it immediately became an office favorite. And our version was a little better than the one everyone else got to hear because we had the joint that was sequenced differently, had different song arrangements and in some instances, different lyrics. It was all good. In fact it was too good and I didnt want to let the album out of my sight, so I decided that it would be reviewed totally in house, meaning that a fellow Source editor would handle the task (I didnt want to risk the tape coming up missing, which was always a concern if you were mailing things out of state for review or dealing with Hip Hop writers who, due to their weed habits, tended to misplace things or drop the critical ball from time to time).
So my man Matty C, fellow editor and the king of Unsigned Hype, did the do, and he gave it 4.5 he thought "Lil' Ghetto Boy" was the weak link in the chain and that was that. I was firm on my no 5s rule and that was also that. If you check the actual review, youll see that the byline is attributed to TMS (The Mind Squad) which, for those that dont know, was how we handled things that were done by group effort or committee. I cant remember why we didnt use Matts name, but it couldnt have been because of anything too serious.
Anyway, no one could have predicted the seismic shift that this album would produce. And it wasnt like there was anyone on staff jumping up and demanding that this record be a 5. We sent the review off to the printer around the time "Nuthin But A G Thang" started to catch fire and we could all tell that the landscape was about to change. By the time the magazine went on sale the streets had declared that this album an album that many folks had still yet to hear (remember: one of the reasons why folks read The Source was because were getting the music first and regularly reviewing important albums two months before they hit the racks) was going to be a classic. And to tell you the truth, we all knew it as well.
I remember going to the video shoot for Naughty By Natures "Hip Hop Hooray." It was being filmed in a studio just off Astor Place in Manhattans Greenwich Village. I had the advance of The Chronic in my pocket the whole day. (I didnt let that tape out of my sight for a second.) I watched Treach and Spike Lee do their thing for most of the afternoon, and if youll remember the video, much of it included footage of huge crowd scenes, which were being filmed that afternoon. So there were a lot of people around, maybe a couple of thousand all total; both inside the venue where the video was being shot and outside milling in the street and blocking traffic. Youll also recall that that the video featured many Hip Hop guest stars, like Eazy-E and Run-D.M.C, who were also hanging out for their cameos. And because Naughty was so popular and because Spike was a celebrity director the video set became a news event and word began to spread that this was the place to be. It wasnt long before The Source van arrived on the scene. And when I spotted it I came down stairs kicked it with my peeps. Well, since I had the Dre tape on me, and since the van had a ridiculous sound system, and since we had a huge crowd to play to I put the tape in the deck and turned shyt up full blast to get everyones attention and drown out the endless loop of Naughtys constant "heeeeey, hooooo" chant. Well, the whole block literally stopped whatever they were doing and converged on the van in order to get a better listen. People were astonished by what they were hearing and began to pepper us with endless questions about the album. It was quite a moment. And when Nate Dogg came in with the "You picked the wrong mutha-fukkin dayeeeee" part, I thought I was going to see peoples heads explode. Fab 5 Freddy actually climbed in the van and damn near put his head on the speakers. It was unreal. So yeah we knew early on that this was going to be the shyt. The streets had spoken.
But I was trying to close the barn door after the horse had already escaped, and didnt allow any flexibility for the possibility that we would encounter something that could be considered an instant classic. I set the ceiling at 4.5; it happened on my watch and I take full responsibility for the error.
Not giving The Chronic 5 mics did two things. One, it increased the level of background talk that The Source was biased against the West Coast. And two, it made getting 5 mics in The Source all the more desirable. In 1992, The Source was still the law of the land and people tended to go along with it. So, if The Chronic wasnt worthy of 5 mics, then what was? It also elevated the historic status and overall value of the half dozen or so records that had received 5s in the past. By not getting 5 mics, The Chronic did more to elevate the status of the 5 mic club than any record that had previously received the award. It was the event that cemented the mics as Hip Hops governing standard."
The Chronic
Any albums you regret giving five mics?
"In 1992 we gave Dr. Dres The Chronic 4.5 mics. Had I the opportunity to press reset, I would have given it a 5. Heres the story:
We got the advance of the album in October of 1992 and it immediately became an office favorite. And our version was a little better than the one everyone else got to hear because we had the joint that was sequenced differently, had different song arrangements and in some instances, different lyrics. It was all good. In fact it was too good and I didnt want to let the album out of my sight, so I decided that it would be reviewed totally in house, meaning that a fellow Source editor would handle the task (I didnt want to risk the tape coming up missing, which was always a concern if you were mailing things out of state for review or dealing with Hip Hop writers who, due to their weed habits, tended to misplace things or drop the critical ball from time to time).
So my man Matty C, fellow editor and the king of Unsigned Hype, did the do, and he gave it 4.5 he thought "Lil' Ghetto Boy" was the weak link in the chain and that was that. I was firm on my no 5s rule and that was also that. If you check the actual review, youll see that the byline is attributed to TMS (The Mind Squad) which, for those that dont know, was how we handled things that were done by group effort or committee. I cant remember why we didnt use Matts name, but it couldnt have been because of anything too serious.
Anyway, no one could have predicted the seismic shift that this album would produce. And it wasnt like there was anyone on staff jumping up and demanding that this record be a 5. We sent the review off to the printer around the time "Nuthin But A G Thang" started to catch fire and we could all tell that the landscape was about to change. By the time the magazine went on sale the streets had declared that this album an album that many folks had still yet to hear (remember: one of the reasons why folks read The Source was because were getting the music first and regularly reviewing important albums two months before they hit the racks) was going to be a classic. And to tell you the truth, we all knew it as well.
I remember going to the video shoot for Naughty By Natures "Hip Hop Hooray." It was being filmed in a studio just off Astor Place in Manhattans Greenwich Village. I had the advance of The Chronic in my pocket the whole day. (I didnt let that tape out of my sight for a second.) I watched Treach and Spike Lee do their thing for most of the afternoon, and if youll remember the video, much of it included footage of huge crowd scenes, which were being filmed that afternoon. So there were a lot of people around, maybe a couple of thousand all total; both inside the venue where the video was being shot and outside milling in the street and blocking traffic. Youll also recall that that the video featured many Hip Hop guest stars, like Eazy-E and Run-D.M.C, who were also hanging out for their cameos. And because Naughty was so popular and because Spike was a celebrity director the video set became a news event and word began to spread that this was the place to be. It wasnt long before The Source van arrived on the scene. And when I spotted it I came down stairs kicked it with my peeps. Well, since I had the Dre tape on me, and since the van had a ridiculous sound system, and since we had a huge crowd to play to I put the tape in the deck and turned shyt up full blast to get everyones attention and drown out the endless loop of Naughtys constant "heeeeey, hooooo" chant. Well, the whole block literally stopped whatever they were doing and converged on the van in order to get a better listen. People were astonished by what they were hearing and began to pepper us with endless questions about the album. It was quite a moment. And when Nate Dogg came in with the "You picked the wrong mutha-fukkin dayeeeee" part, I thought I was going to see peoples heads explode. Fab 5 Freddy actually climbed in the van and damn near put his head on the speakers. It was unreal. So yeah we knew early on that this was going to be the shyt. The streets had spoken.
But I was trying to close the barn door after the horse had already escaped, and didnt allow any flexibility for the possibility that we would encounter something that could be considered an instant classic. I set the ceiling at 4.5; it happened on my watch and I take full responsibility for the error.
Not giving The Chronic 5 mics did two things. One, it increased the level of background talk that The Source was biased against the West Coast. And two, it made getting 5 mics in The Source all the more desirable. In 1992, The Source was still the law of the land and people tended to go along with it. So, if The Chronic wasnt worthy of 5 mics, then what was? It also elevated the historic status and overall value of the half dozen or so records that had received 5s in the past. By not getting 5 mics, The Chronic did more to elevate the status of the 5 mic club than any record that had previously received the award. It was the event that cemented the mics as Hip Hops governing standard."
The Chronic
Mac Casper
@adonnis - pull up, there's refreshments
I had all these reasons checked toHmmm i see
i really disagree with 1 and 4 but
like you said, subjective
Mac Casper
@adonnis - pull up, there's refreshments
You disagree with 1?
yep
Late Registration
Aquemini
MBDTF
Stankonia
Endtroducing
Like Water For Chocolate
HellHath No Fury
preferences of mine
Mac Casper
@adonnis - pull up, there's refreshments
<<TheStandard>>
I Am A God
The Way the album opened was just so beautiful
This is Dedicated to the nikkaz that was Down from Day One....
Welcome to Death Row
Like We Always Do About this Time
This is Dedicated to the nikkaz that was Down from Day One....
Welcome to Death Row
Like We Always Do About this Time
avon barksdale
i want my corners
ha ha at lloyd copying the beginning of this song
[ame=http://youtu.be/NVSGFGRyR9s]LLoyd - Feel So Right - YouTube[/ame]
Last edited by a moderator:
prophecypro
Hollywood North
It just might be.
Theres been A LOT of classics since then (mostly off the proceeding 3-4 years) but yeah you can keep Chronic at the top even when competing against Doggystyle, Ready to Die, Illmatic, Blueprint, 36 Chambers etc etc
Theres been A LOT of classics since then (mostly off the proceeding 3-4 years) but yeah you can keep Chronic at the top even when competing against Doggystyle, Ready to Die, Illmatic, Blueprint, 36 Chambers etc etc