Why hasn't Rap had a Classic album in the last 10 years?
- Thread starter OfTheCross
- Start date
Didn’t even get the shyt mixed and mastered properly tho
Half of the albums on that list weren’t even released in 2007 and it left out some of the best ones.
List was trash
in general i dont really think hip hop culture right now is as suited to the development as classic albums as it used to be. i agree with you that gkmc is the only one from this decade that really comes to mind as a classic.
none of these albums are close to classic outside of gkmc.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
good kid, m.A.A. city
Rodeo
My Krazy Life
1999
To Pimp A Butterfly
DAMN.
Classics
my krazy life and rodeo
CHICAGOrilla
All Star
So we gone act like My Beautiful Fantasy, To Pimp A Butterfly, GOod Kid Mass City, Flockaveli, Finally Rich, Flower Boy and atleast 15 More albums wasn’t classic?
Redwood
Superstar
Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music should be considered 
none of these albums are close to classic outside of gkmc.
my krazy life and rodeo
1999none of these albums are close to classic outside of gkmc.
my krazy life and rodeo
Prince album came out in the 80’s breh @Trilogy
Cuz I KNOW you ain’t talkin bout Joey Badass
BigL187
MOPAO
Krit Wuz Here
Yaddam Yussein
All Star
A lot of newer artists best material were spent on mixtapes therefore their albums suffered. That’s why there are more artist with classic mixtapes but not albums. (Wiz, Krit, Big Sean, Curren$y, etc)
Also classic aren’t determined by old nikkas. It’s determined by young dudes in junior high and college because that’s the music that shapes their lives.
You can’t tell someone Rodeo by Travis Scott ain’t a classic. Or Live. Love. A$AP because you can’t relate to it. You don’t know what I was like to hear those projects as a youngin in high school. No only that but the fashion and trends that these artist started with their music.
This is literally the only site I’ve been on that’s says MBDTF isn’t a classic. Hell, I remember there was a thread saying Get Rich or Die Tryin’ wasn’t a classic.
Also classic aren’t determined by old nikkas. It’s determined by young dudes in junior high and college because that’s the music that shapes their lives.
You can’t tell someone Rodeo by Travis Scott ain’t a classic. Or Live. Love. A$AP because you can’t relate to it. You don’t know what I was like to hear those projects as a youngin in high school. No only that but the fashion and trends that these artist started with their music.
This is literally the only site I’ve been on that’s says MBDTF isn’t a classic. Hell, I remember there was a thread saying Get Rich or Die Tryin’ wasn’t a classic.
Tribal Outkast
Veteran
People be trying to make albums universal classics when it don’t work like that. I ain’t calling an album I don’t like a classic just because a lot of people like it... that’s just stupid. We really need make lists of good albums that should be forgotten because a lot of albums from the past ten years have been forgotten. Also people releasing great albums and calling them mixtapes fukked the game up like you said. How many mixtapes would be legendary if they were called albums?
Piff Perkins
Veteran
I only got through half the video. Meh. I respect Murs tho, at least it wasn't Justin Hunt...
There is no defacto time requirement to determine a classic album, in any genre. All that is for sure is that some amount of time has to pass to determine the impact of an album on the genre...but there are multiple examples of albums having immediate impact and immediate importance/acclaim. Did it take ten years to figure out Paid In Full was a classic album? What about Illmatic? Did it take rap critics/fans/gatekeepers until 2004 to determine that yes, Illmatic was indeed classic? Of course not. The point being that every genre of music features seminal works that were immediately hailed as classic. And every genre of music features seminal works that took time to be hailed as classic. It just depends...
I'd say there are quite a few classic albums from the last decade. But I'll just focus on three.
808s And Heartbreaks is an obvious choice. I don't like the album, but it's impact on rap and urban music in general is pretty undeniable at this point. How immediate was the reaction at the time? I remember mixed reviews: rappity rap fans being indifferent, and other people being blown away by the album. Today, the dominant sound of rap/urban music revolves around melody and 808s. Let us not forget that less than a year later Jay-Z released DOA. In hindsight it's VERY clear who was right and who was wrong. Autotune remains a dominant feature of urban music and continues to evolve.
Good Kid Maad City was immediately hailed as a classic by many based on the quality of the album, but what was its impact on rap? You could argue that it spearheaded a revival of west coast urban music. You could argue it revived the concept album in mainstream rap. On the flip side, you could argue that, nearly ten years later, rap is moving in the exact opposite direction of Kendrick Lamar - ie away from the album format and moreso towards singles, hits, etc; albums are little more than vehicles for streaming platforms now. I've wanted to make a thread about this for awhile. I think GKMC is a classic, but this is an interesting debate.
BTW, I think it's a lot easier to argue that To Pimp A Butterfly is not only a classic rap album, but one of the most impactful albums of the last decade. Its influence on music is pretty undeniable at this point. The revival of more conscious, instrumental driven black music was pretty clear (A Seat At the Table, Awaken My Love, Lemonade, etc). Black Messiah certainly deserves credit here too. But TPAB did something I would have never imaged: it essentially revived jazz music. Jazz musicians (many of whom were involved in the album's creation) are constantly getting festival spots now. Jazz sales have increased too.
Dirty Sprite 2 has had an undeniable impact on rap that is still felt. I'm not a big Future fan so I'd let someone else explain, but this is definitely an album where there its importance was pretty clear right away.
There is no defacto time requirement to determine a classic album, in any genre. All that is for sure is that some amount of time has to pass to determine the impact of an album on the genre...but there are multiple examples of albums having immediate impact and immediate importance/acclaim. Did it take ten years to figure out Paid In Full was a classic album? What about Illmatic? Did it take rap critics/fans/gatekeepers until 2004 to determine that yes, Illmatic was indeed classic? Of course not. The point being that every genre of music features seminal works that were immediately hailed as classic. And every genre of music features seminal works that took time to be hailed as classic. It just depends...
I'd say there are quite a few classic albums from the last decade. But I'll just focus on three.
808s And Heartbreaks is an obvious choice. I don't like the album, but it's impact on rap and urban music in general is pretty undeniable at this point. How immediate was the reaction at the time? I remember mixed reviews: rappity rap fans being indifferent, and other people being blown away by the album. Today, the dominant sound of rap/urban music revolves around melody and 808s. Let us not forget that less than a year later Jay-Z released DOA. In hindsight it's VERY clear who was right and who was wrong. Autotune remains a dominant feature of urban music and continues to evolve.
Good Kid Maad City was immediately hailed as a classic by many based on the quality of the album, but what was its impact on rap? You could argue that it spearheaded a revival of west coast urban music. You could argue it revived the concept album in mainstream rap. On the flip side, you could argue that, nearly ten years later, rap is moving in the exact opposite direction of Kendrick Lamar - ie away from the album format and moreso towards singles, hits, etc; albums are little more than vehicles for streaming platforms now. I've wanted to make a thread about this for awhile. I think GKMC is a classic, but this is an interesting debate.
BTW, I think it's a lot easier to argue that To Pimp A Butterfly is not only a classic rap album, but one of the most impactful albums of the last decade. Its influence on music is pretty undeniable at this point. The revival of more conscious, instrumental driven black music was pretty clear (A Seat At the Table, Awaken My Love, Lemonade, etc). Black Messiah certainly deserves credit here too. But TPAB did something I would have never imaged: it essentially revived jazz music. Jazz musicians (many of whom were involved in the album's creation) are constantly getting festival spots now. Jazz sales have increased too.
Dirty Sprite 2 has had an undeniable impact on rap that is still felt. I'm not a big Future fan so I'd let someone else explain, but this is definitely an album where there its importance was pretty clear right away.
Actually you can cuz the album isn’t even 3 years old yet.
And that shyt ain’t impact or influence shyt outside of a couple hot songs on the radio
FromStLouis
Superstar
GKMC is NOT a classic, landmark sure, but not a classic.
