I don't think it's inescapable, I think objectivity is possible.
I actually believe this coming from you...
Like Cube, he's most probably gonna get a bigger rating at times than another West Coast peers cause he's a superstar. They probably couldn't get away with giving Cube 2 mics at the time even if they wanted too lol (not saying they did).
His weak stuff got lower ratings...the good stuff got 4.5-5.
people are quick to say this chit in defense of groups like epmd & tribe, but then theyll turn around and condemn rappers from other regions for the same exact scenario.
I want to go on record and say that I think both groups are nice on the mic. Not Nas/G Rap nice...but they aren't wack.
EPMD wasn't the best lyrically ill give you that but Tribe definitely was
PMD was a beast. Look at his verse on the last song of Unfinished Business. His verse on Rampage. They both have multiple classic lines. Take off the hot sweater.
If Im not mistaken Warren G got 4 mics and he definitely was no lyricist
I think it was 3.5 - can't find the review though.
GRODT got 4 mics in the source.
About right.
i'll put it to you like this:
LAD was the 1st big east coast pandering album(maybe the 1st one period). the 1st album where the artist went out of their way to put on a variety show. a joint for every coast, party joints, girl records, etc etc.
its definitely one of the most influential albums, but that doesnt neccessarily reflect its quality. to keep it funky, biggie wouldve caught a ton of criticism if he was alive when he dropped this album. instead, it became an overrated album and people followed suit, trying to duplicate its success. alot of rappers ended up under-achieving and/or wasted their careers because of this. its pretty much one of the downfalls of the east coast.
This is all facts.
and it doesnt matter which cube album you think is better. the bottom line is that both albums are clearly classics.
And one got 5 and the other 4.5. A lot of albums that are clearly classics now got 4-4.5.
another one. im gonna tell you like i just told him. if youre gonna tag me, make sure you come correct. i never said that about the source in 2005.
Wasn't that the Benzino era? If not, when did the Zino era end?
and that whole "the credibility of your tournament" chit is wack dog. if you have a problem with what a poster(s) did in the tournament, then you take it up with them. dont diss me and my tournament. that chit is corny. ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT YOU WERE THE FIRST ONE TO DO THE STUFF THAT YOURE COMPLAINING ABOUT. youre in no position to call anybody out about tagging people anyway.
I think you're misunderstanding what I'm getting at. I'm saying that your tournament is credible b/c Wu won. It's a joke.
And as far as the rigging - it was a whole different ballgame. Don't make me pull up all relevant posts from the Mobb/Wu thread and the EPMD/Bone thread.
i know plenty of epmd fans man.

the 3rd album is usually seen as the weakest from their heyday.
Never heard this. I should make a thread about those first 4 albums.
pete rock & diamond d were considered the hottest producers, not hottest rappers. so i dont see how that helps your case.
They are both considered classics today. Especially Pete and CL.
no disrespect to diamond d, pete rock & cl smooth, but since when are those albums held in the same regard as doggystyle?
You right. It's closer with the Pete and CL album though...
it definitely did affect the ratings & rankings.
definitely.
Do you have more examples?
are we supposed to hand the source a cookie?
anything less than a 4 for that album would be ridiculous.
True
yea. i always said this album was overrated too. and i still want my money back.
I would say that BIG could get away with it b/c he was such a massive talent...but it was hugely deterimental to rap in teh long run. I think the album is a classic. 5 mics.
and i also always say that they drilled it in our heads that this album was goat status before it was even released. i remember the way the radio was carrying on leading up to its release. it was so corny.
Who did that? And are you suggesting the radio people didn't like the album? That they were paid to do it? The man just died - they were probably emotional...
ribe had countless lines
"Lyrically Im Mario Andretti on the momo"
"Bust off on your couch now you got Siemens furniture"
"Bust a nut inside ya eye and show you where I cum from"
"Im Michael Jordan on the mic, wanna gamble?"
"Poetry machine with correct mechanisms immune to disease I defeat organisms"
"If knowledge is the key than just show me the lock"
That's just a few. They used to beast on the mic
Tip and Phife (as well as Erick & Parrish) were fukkin' dope. It doesn't matter that they weren't flippin' the world upside down lyrically... you think anyone has ever said "Bonita Applebum" needed to be more metaphorical or complex? They made albums that resonated for years influence-wise... simple as that.
It wasn't the first album where a rapper tried to show that they could do it all
What was the first one?
It's good because BIG proved he could, but bad because other nikkas tried unsuccessfully to do the same... but that's not really a strike against the album, it's more so a strike against the rappers who couldn't do it. That mark they hit on LAD (minus the couple joints that coulda been left off) was a hard act to follow. Anybody sayin' today that it wasn't is tryin' to rewrite history.
Exactly
i already said phife was nice. but i also said that he wasnt a top-tier lyricist.
q-tip was average on the mic. he had his moments with the bars tho.
my point still stands.
I don't think anyone is claiming they were all time greats. What is an example of a comparable west/south group on the mic that got shytted on by the Source for wack lyricism?
we're talking about mics.
Then all those reviews should rule the day...
the bottom line is that an all-time top 4 album got 4 mics.
I can't front on this...any GOAT contender is potentially up there like that
Wacky,I feel sorry for you. You're fighting a battle you seemingly cant win,NONE OF THESE nikkas really want the truth. They just want to reaffirm their BS beliefs. I'm not perfect (so i might get pulled into future arguments) but part of me feels like fukk arguing wit these sucka nikkas. The truth is east coast bias mags and fans treat the rest of hiphop the same way white supremacy treats all minorities. They wanna dodge the truth and pretend. Deny deny deny at all cost. Amplify what they love and minimize what they dont love,while avoiding reality in the process. Dougie fresh will never be called out for his avg mic skills,he'll forever be applauded. NO one disrespects him for his short comings. Meanwhile Mc hammer (a much greater "world's greatest entertainer") will be disrespected for his lack of "great lyrics",while people ignore his showmanship,dancing and overall, performing abilities.
People praise illmatic's beats and raps. Ignoring the fact that it has mostly boring forgettable melodies and forgettable performances by nas. Nas is basically rhyming just as aimlessly on illmatic as snoop was on Doggystyle. But nikkas act like he was doing some high end level of mc'ing that was unheard of. And hide their bias behind calling illmatic real hiphop. Doggystyle shyts on illmatic and seeing people act like it's the other way around is laughable.
Performances,production song structure,concepts etc
This guy is an anti-Illmatic conspiracy theory troll.
Link me to the proof post
Read the reviews. Go back and read the whole thread.
I knew prior to this thread that doggystyle,MATW and the chronic all got less than 5 mics. I believe they got 4 or less..
This is wrong - go back and read the thread.
With the exception of ice cube,no artist outside the east got got 5 mics till 1998. And no west coast album ever originally got 5 mics ever besides Ice cube's 1st album. That just so happened to be produced by the bomb squad.
So even if they re-rated later,there was definite bias during the west coast hay days. This thread doesnt dispel that.
In 90 and 91 the source was giving out 5 mics. What were the west/south albums that deserved 5 (not albums that should have got 5 b/c East albums you don't like got high ratings) those years? Then you got 92-96 where 1 album got 5. What is the one album from 92-96 from the west/south that deserved 5 during this time? 97 on - who cares
Serious question.
If this is for classic albums and this list was made in 98' what was the most recent album on the list?
It seems like now and days albums are labeled classics within the same year they came out so I'm wondering out it was in the 90's.
LAD
made men is 2 eras removed from doggystyle. im referring to some of the albums that were getting 4 1/2 & 5 at the time.
Redman, EPMD, BDP, Enter the Wu
What else? And which ones do you disagree with? Other than EPMD - I think you said that album didn't deserve 4.5.
I got put on to E-40 strictly based off the slob job the source gave his Mailman EP in like 1993 or some shyt. They were jocking him so bad. I also remember them slobbing that dude from Texas Fesu crazily hard. 2 albums i bought just off that strength.
No joke when i played the album i thought i had been trolled. i actually gave it away it was so corny to me at the time. took me a few years to appreciate his style. i fux with it now and re bought that.

I'm from the Bay and that EP was a huge album in 93. Absolute bay classic. Not something I thought anybody outside of the bay was aware of.
We got albums that get no east coast props that are better than OB4CL.
Who's we? ARen't you from Cincinnati?
Albums like breaking atoms,ob4cl,long live the kane,dont even deserve 5 mics.

Long Live the Kane though? Its as classic as classic gets.
t's of your opinion that 36 and OB4CL have no business being in the same discussion as MATW or Doggystyle... there are people who definitely feel diferently. So would that mean you're biased against the East Coast, or do u simply feel MATW and Doggystyle are better albums? See how that works?
It boils down to this. Fans of west music think the west got did dirty. Fans of the east think the east got did dirty. The Source did there job...objectivity means both coasts shouldn't walk away happy.
Where's too short,Ice-t,dj quik,e-40,spice 1,Compton's most wanted,the coup,paris,warren G,thuglife
Too short had no classics? Quik? Ice-t? Spice 1? The shyt is blatant.
Which albums are 5 mics?
Sidenote: why is it that 5 is looked at like the only good rating there is to get? Like not getting the perfect rating means a nikka was robbed and snubbed due to ill-wishing discrimination?
This.
You had to have a bonifide undeniable record to get props from them where as east coast nikkas could put out some meh shyt and BOOM they call it classic.
You are just biased against East Coast music.
But its a fact that them nikkas was hating hard on anything not new York.
Look at the reviews. This is absolutely not true.
I remember THE SOURCE downplay the quik eiht beef cause "neither acould rhyme for shyt anyway "
Link? Or more info? I've never heard that before
Yet, praise monkey flip em funky rhythm rhymes?
Told you this guy was a troll
