What do you guys think makes a classic rap album?

[Guvnor]

Well what do you guys think makes a classic album in hip-hop?

I personally go against the grain on this and feel a classic album could have a skip track but not too many, maybe just one. I mean people even say Kendrick Lamar has a skip track on Good Kid Maad City with the song Real though I personally love the laid back groove on that song and the simplicity of it. I also feel a classic album does not have to age well per-say because that is very subjective. For instance if you throw on These Are The Breaks by Kurtis Blow some young people may not like it. After awhile some music does go out of style and you have to be from the era to appreciate it or learn to appreciate by listening to it for awhile and having people from that era explain why it's so good, this is similar to how it is in the field of visual art where some things have to be explained to you by people who fully understand the genius of it like an art critic or curator.

With that said I feel a classic album more times then not has to have great production. A classic album has to be exemplar for that time period or in other words a prime example for music during that time period, example when you think the 90s you have to think of certain albums like illmatic which is like a time capsule for that era. Another thing that can make an album classic is of course impact and I feel that is more objective cause it can be measured in sales, though sales is not always the best measure because popularity does not always mean quality. I also feel impact can be measured by speaking to people from that time period and reading articles and things from that time period. An example of an album I feel that is the epitome of it's impact making it a classic is Kid Cudi's Man On The Moon.

Last but not least I feel cover art and a good title may also help. I also feel you have some albums that are cult classics which means classic only to a certain sub section of the hiphop genre.

What do you think, do you agree with me or have any other criteria to add? Leave your comments below.

 

[get these nets]

For instance if you throw on These Are The Breaks by Curtis Blow some young people may not like it.

Stopped reading after you spelled Kurtis with a "C".



Have to be able to play the entire album without skipping any songs ....or skits

Supreme Clientelle is one of my favorite albums of alltime, but only after I made a digital copy that skipped the woodrow and other skits.

Pun's first album.....another alltime favorite..after i took out the busta rhymes and wyclef songs

 

[JustCKing]

It's a piece of music that is genre shifting or important to the genre or even the culture. Such albums are memorable for that reason among other things.

 

[Guvnor]

Stopped reading after you spelled Kurtis with a "C".



Have to be able to play the entire album without skipping any songs ....or skits

Supreme Clientelle is one of my favorite albums of alltime, but only after I made a digital copy that skipped the woodrow and other skits.

Pun's first album.....another alltime favorite..after i took out the busta rhymes and wyclef songs

nikka that was a spelling error and besides that song was way before my time old nikka.

 

[get these nets]

that was a spelling error and besides that song was way before my time old .

you can't take a joke

show kurtis blow the same respect you show to parliament/funkadelic....I see the maggotbrain avi

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Classic album is an album of high quality that has stood the test of time with regards to its influence/impact/notoriety or similar.

For an album to be classic, there has to be a general consensus that makes this claim. No such thing as a regional classic, a personal classic and DEFINITELY no such thing as an instant classic. Yes, people may sing the praises of an album right now but how will it be received/remembered in 5 years? 10 years?

I think 10 years is a good time to determine if an album is classic or not.

Don't think there's a rule on how many skippable tracks an album can have, but it must be minimal.

 

[get these nets]

When the random play cd feature was available...you could really hear how great or not so great some albums were

3 Feet High and Rising, a certified classic, was the rare album that sounded just as good when the songs were played out of sequence as it did the original way

Fear of a Black Planet also...

 

[Guvnor]

you can't take a joke

show kurtis blow the same respect you show to parliament/funkadelic....I see the maggotbrain avi

My bad bro, you right you caught me in a bad mood.

 

[Guvnor]

you can't take a joke

show kurtis blow the same respect you show to parliament/funkadelic....I see the maggotbrain avi

My bad bro, you right you caught me in a bad mood when I made this post.

 

[Tribal Outkast]

People ask too much of a so called classic album.... I would say if you listen to an album when it first came out, put it down for a year or more... pick that bytch back up and start ripping verses word for word like you heard the songs yesterday then that shyt is a classic. I hate the whole "the album had to have shifted the culture" and all that shyt because people can start adding Lil Wayne and Drake albums in the conversation, and you know how people are with that shyt. I'm more of a "personal classic" album guy. The classic album argument is always a big ass circle jerk anyway.

 

[MikeyC]

TIME

 

[Guvnor]

Bump!

 

[Yoda]

if it has a Blu feature or is a Blu album, and/or is a kanye west album.

 

[tremonthustler1]

You liking it. That’s all it means on the internet

 

[Bugsmoran]

Re play value is a really important part of it