What is a classic?

[Black Ball]

Taadow spitting truth in here.

An album need not be 100% regarded as classic, but just be generally & widely accepted as such.

I may personally disagree with certain albums being musically classic, but I wouldn't argue against them being classic if it was universally accepted as such and I can reasonably identify why it's seen as such.

Like Enter The Wu-Tang is widely regarded as a classic album and I don't have any problem with that at all. But personally I don't think musically it's fully a classic album, though it has much piff on there. But for the time it dropped, how it shaped the culture, the movement of the Wu, the originality & concepts and all of that come together as forces to make it a classic.

Me not fully agreeing does nothing to dimish it's standing in the annals of hiphop.

Also I think that as a rule, modern classics need to be judged against the current state of the art form. Nostalgia is so powerful, that it clouds most peoples ability to give props to shyt in the here an now.

 

[W.I.Z.E.]

Taadow spitting truth in here.

An album need not be 100% regarded as classic, but just be generally & widely accepted as such.

I may personally disagree with certain albums being musically classic, but I wouldn't argue against them being classic if it was universally accepted as such and I can reasonably identify why it's seen as such.

Like Enter The Wu-Tang is widely regarded as a classic album and I don't have any problem with that at all. But personally I don't think musically it's fully a classic album, though it has much piff on there. But for the time it dropped, how it shaped the culture, the movement of the Wu, the originality & concepts and all of that come together as forces to make it a classic.

Me not fully agreeing does nothing to dimish it's standing in the annals of hiphop.

Also I think that as a rule, modern classics need to be judged against the current state of the art form. Nostalgia is so powerful, that it clouds most peoples ability to give props to shyt in the here an now.

very well put and this was my point to crimson.

I also think that it's easier for people to look at older albums and call them certifiable classics because ppl have had years to digest its material and impact.

And that makes me wonder if there's a time limit to truly define a classic. For example, you have to wait until five years after the album is released to really call it classic.

 

[stealthbomber]

thas wut it seems like...thas y I'm trying to see if there's something a lil more objective.

there's nothing objective about any art. but there are understood truths.

 

[stealthbomber]

How can you tell someone what isn't a classic?

No one hears music the same.

if the music resonates with you and you can play that album at anytime then its a classic.

This is the only definition.

There is no consensus on any hiphop album ever created

i can't tell anyone what's classic. but i know you can't say what's classic and what's not after a day or even a week. it takes years. i dont care what anyone thinks they know. the definition of the word classic implies a sense of time.

but there are personal classics and thats completely subjective.

 

[CrimsonTider]

i can't tell anyone what's classic. but i know you can't say what's classic and what's not after a day or even a week. it takes years. i dont care what anyone thinks they know. the definition of the word classic implies a sense of time.

but there are personal classics and thats completely subjective.

So what if someone said Illmatic was classic the day after release?


They were wrong?

 

[phatphuck]

my definition:

a piece of work that is monumental to the genre

i think of it as: if i were to recommend a list of albums to someone completely new to the genre, i'd start off with these. realistically, the list would prolly be no more than 30-50 albums cuz it just wont make sense for a genre to have 100s of classics

 

[BlackZilla]

very well put and this was my point to crimson.

I also think that it's easier for people to look at older albums and call them certifiable classics because ppl have had years to digest its material and impact.

And that makes me wonder if there's a time limit to truly define a classic. For example, you have to wait until five years after the album is released to really call it classic.

I think the a true classic stands the test of time. In the sense that the majority would think it's still as dope, or nearly as dope as it did when it came out. Along with having an impact on the culture and changing things

The second point, can be the case when it comes out, because it would be a breath of fresh air and something new. You don't have to wait 5 years to see something as new and innovative, you can tell around the time came out.

I think the problem is that we try to apply the different litmus tests when it comes to classic albums either too soon, or too late (Resulting in being clouded by nostalgia).

We say that we have to wait a couple years to see if an album was innovative? We can tell if an album will have replay value and last forever the minute it drops? How does that work?

I think that with regards to whether or not an album is innovative and new, we can tell that right away, by comparing it to it's contemporaries, and we can only tell if an album has replay value or ages well after a few years.

But that's just me.

 

[CrimsonTider]

my definition:

a piece of work that is monumental to the genre

i think of it as: if i were to recommend a list of albums to someone completely new to the genre, i'd start off with these. realistically, the list would prolly be no more than 30-50 albums cuz it just wont make sense for a genre to have 100s of classics

This would skew classics to earlier periods of rap.

 

[Taadow]

This would skew classics to earlier periods of rap.

Why yes, sir...it would.

For something to be monumental or essential, it's usually something that shapes what comes after it. And as I said before, it's rare that something (in any form of art) has that effect in its own time.

 

[Griffith]

whatever kendrick just dropped

 

[28 Gramz]

A timeless,era defining album that had some sort of impact..also it has to pretty much be flawless musically.

 

[keon]

i know 2007 was the last year a classic album dropped (UNDERGROUND KINGZ)

 

[CrimsonTider]

A timeless,era defining album that had some sort of impact..also it has to pretty much be flawless musically.

Stop it

 

[28 Gramz]

Stop it

 

[phatphuck]

This would skew classics to earlier periods of rap.

yes, thats why strictly speaking there aint really been many classics since the new millenium in my books

hip hop to me has been moving sideways, or even downhill for a while now