Tag Archives: rock

50 Years of Hip Hop Album Review: The Score, Reasonable Doubt

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2023 was the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and in honor of this anniversary, in 2024 the idea bloomed in my that I should review the top 50 albums of that 50 years. As I crunched together a list from various sources, 50 proved to be too restrictive- many of the classics were getting squeezed out. So, to make a little more room, I opted for 100 albums, two for each of hip hop’s 50 years. Due to some medical situations, I took a several months long hiatus from blogging that year, so I didn’t finish the series. It’s now 2026, whole new medical situation and still proceeding fitfully, but I won’t stop if you don’t!

For its formative years, hip hop was a live entertainment form, with the first recorded singles not emerging until 1979, and the first albums in 1980. So my review covers 1980-2023, with 50 posts of two albums each. The only ground rule I made for myself (besides looking for 2×50, aka 100, albums that were widely well-regarded) was that I had to have at least one from each year. As you’ll see by and by, some years get multiple albums, but since we have 100 spots for 43 years, it tends to all work out.

And with that, let’s embark on our next installment!

Fugees, The Score (1996)– First of all, I was shocked when I read up on this album to realize that the Fugees only made two albums. They’re definitely an example of a group whose quality and legacy of work exceeds its output! Listening to it, I appreciated how much is coming together here. There’s the sophistication East Cast hip hop production had reached at that time, the feeling for street-level reality of gangster rap, the social and political critique and vision of something better of conscious hip hop, the cinematic flair of the Wu-Tang clan, and the smooth groove of neo-soul. Which is not to say the Fugees, or this album, are in way following or derivative. Instead, they reached out and grasped multiple threads that were in the air, and tied them together in a free and flowing way while making central points of view that had often been overlooked- refugees, women. The album that resulted deserves every bit of the critical and popular acclaim it received at the time and retains to this day.

Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt (1996)- I’m a big fan of Jay-Z’s later work, he is, in my opinion, a unique talent who created some of the best music of the 00s. So I was looking forward to listening to this, his first album, with curiosity. It feels a little rough to me, in the sense that it takes a few tracks to get going, and is loaded with guests who don’t always seem to support the artist and the album. But when it does hit, the swagger, the vulnerability, the musical and vocal flow, the wordplay all shows that his talent was there from the very first. And in fact, it’s a bit of a peculiar “first”, in the sense that he’d been part of the New York City hip hop scene for several years up to the point at which he decided that he wasn’t going to wait anymore to get signed and promoted, instead founding Roc-A-Fella records and recording and releasing his debut himself. It performed well but not amazingly, but it was his foot in the door, and here he is a whole billionaire music mogul later. I can’t quite get behind the many who consider it his best album (we’ll get there later in this list), but you can definitely feel the drive and hear the promise right from this start.

If you’re curious about the sources I used to compile my list, you can check them out here:

And if you want to catch up on the previous installments, here they are…

  1. Sugarhill Gang- Sugarhill Gang (1980)/Kurtis Blow- Kurtis Blow (1980)
  2. Sugarhill Gang- 8th Wonder (1981)/Grandmaster Flash- The Message (1982)
  3. Wild Style Original Soundtrack (1983)/Fat Boys- Fat Boys (1984)
  4. Kurtis Blow- Ego Trip (1984)/Run-D.M.C.- Run-D.M.C. (1984)
  5. Whodini- Escape (1985)/The Treacherous Three- The Treacherous Three (1985)
  6. Run-D.M.C.- King of Rock (1985)/LL Cool J- Radio (1985)
  7. Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill (1986)/Run-D.M.C.- Raising Hell (1986)
  8. Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded (1987)/Eric B. & Rakim- Paid in Full (1987)
  9. LL Cool J- Bigger and Deffer (1987)/Big Daddy Kane- Long Live the Kane (1988)
  10. Boogie Down Productions- By All Means Necessary (1988)/EPMD- Strictly Business (1988)
  11. Eric B. & Rakim- Follow the Leader (1988)/Jungle Brothers- Straight Out the Jungle (1988)
  12. N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton (1988)/Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back (1988)
  13. Slick Rick- The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)/Ultramagnetic MCs- Critical Beatdown (1988)
  14. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique (1989)/Big Daddy Kane- It’s a Big Daddy Thing (1989)
  15. De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)/EPMD- Unfinished Business (1989)
  16. Geto Boys- Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)/Kool G Rap & DJ Polo- Road To The Riches (1989)
  17. The D.O.C.- No One Can Do It Better (1989)/Ice Cube- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
  18. A Tribe Called Quest- The Low End Theory (1991)/Ice Cube- Death Certificate (1991)
  19. Dr. Dre- The Chronic (1992)/Pete Rock and CL Smooth- Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)
  20. The Pharcyde- Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992)/A Tribe Called Quest- Midnight Marauders (1993)
  21. Snoop Doggy Dogg- Doggystyle (1993)/Wu-Tang Clan- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
  22. Nas- Illmatic (1994)/Scarface- The Diary (1994)
  23. The Notorious B.I.G.- Ready to Die (1994)/2Pac- Me Against the World (1995)
  24. Bone Thugs-n-Narmony–E. Eternal 1999 (1995)/GZA-Liquid Swords (1995)
  25. Mobb Deep- The Infamous (1995)/Raekwon- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)
  26. 2Pac- All Eyez on Me (1996)/DJ Shadow- Endtroducing… (1996)

Finally, if you’d like a playlist for the entire list, you can find that here. Listen to it sequentially for the historical development of the genre, or play on shuffle for maximum historical scramble!

In Search of the 24 Best Albums of 2024: September/October

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Once upon a time there was a boy named Chris. Having spent years backfilling on decades gone past, in 2021 he set out on a quest to catch up on newer music. He listened to the critics choices for the best albums of the 2010s, and picked his favorites. He did the same for 2020, picking his top 20 from the critics most highly rated albums. And he listened to new releases monthly in 2021, eventually picking the 21 best albums of 2021. That was so much fun he decided to do it again in 2022 and 2023, listening each month and picking out the 22 best albums of 2022 and the 23 best albums of 2023.

There are links to the albums in the posts cited above, but if you’d like a one-stop playlist, I’ve got that set up in YouTube Music:

Here are the previous editions of the 2024 monthly review if you missed them:

( January February March April May June/July August )

A quick word on the “yes” and “maybe” categories I’ve sorted things into, before we get going with the latest:

Yes– This isn’t a guarantee, but it represents the albums that, upon first listen, I think could definitely be in the running for best of the year.

Maybe– These albums have something to recommend them, but also something that gives me pause. I’m putting them in their own category, because I have found “maybes” sometimes linger and eventually become “yeses”.

And now, the top picks from 208 September and October 2024 new releases that I listened to!


1tbsp, Megacity1000– Bright, lively, and appropriately smart alecky hyper pop EDM. My sources say: 1tbsp is an indie-house project from Australian Grammy Award Nominated artist Maxwell Byrne (aka Golden Vessel). I say yay!

Alan Sparhawk, White Roses, My God– It’s glitchy! It’s autotuned up the wazoo! It’s very conscious about it! Maybe surprisingly, maybe not, it’s from the former co-lead of Low!

Amyl & the Sniffers, Cartoon Darkness– They were great on their last album, here they get lyrically sharper and musically more sophisticated without losing a bit of punch. Go Aussie punk!

Beth Hart, You Still Got Me– With the gloriously wasted affect and Slash on the backing on the opening track, I thought we were in for a particular kind of trip here. Not a bad one, just particular. But in fact, she takes us to all kinds of places- a sonically appropriate ode to wanting to be Johnny Cash, a smoky torch song, an almost vaudeville-feeling piece. : “I was totally knocked out by Beth. Here’s this lady who’s acting like I’m the cool one, and meanwhile I’m thinking, Man, she’s got it all. She’s the new Janis Joplin, Tina Turner – the real deal, you know?”[37] How have I been sleeping on this?

Bilal, Adjust Brightness– The initial preview of Bilal’s first studio album in nine years arrived only a couple of months after Live at Glasshaus. Abstract jazz, video game soundtrack, and EDM, shot through with some of the purest soul you could ask for. And that’s just on the first track!

Black Pus, Terrestrial Seethings– So, what with the group name, and the album name, I was expecting something guttural and death metally. And it was at that level of harshness but was a delightful collage of improvised music and overdubbed vocals and samples, that was treading a line between noise rock and experimental electronic. Black Pus is apparently a project of Rian Chippendale, an American musician and artist, known as the drummer and vocalist for the experimental noise rock band Lightning Bolt and for his graphic art. And I am here for it!

Bright Eyes, Five Dice, All Threes– The kids tell me I should like Bright Eyes. And, while it may be almost two decades old at this point that he’s the new Bob Dylan, I’m starting to buy it! Or at least a Gen Y/Millennial Springsteen. The intelligent ramble of the lyrics and the spare punch of the music have sold me.

Callahan & Witscher, Think Differently– I read: “The New York experimental duo gets meta on a concept album about experimental music that’s littered with meme effects and shitpost irreverence. It feels like a Discord thread set to music.” Damn if it isn’t true, and in a great way! Part hardcore, part hyperpop, part autotune glitch EDM, incredibly self-referential on making music, and with a snotty inventiveness that reminds me of a (modern, ironically detached) Beastie Boys. The two principals here have each been leaders in underground music this millennium, and the collaboration is divine.

Caribou, Honey– I’ve recently become a fan of the band, and this is as bright and fun and yet interesting a block of dance music as one could ask for!

Charli XCX, Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat– I liked Brat. I did! But these remixes, and their so well deployed guests take it to a whole new level. They really breathe that something extra into the songs and take it from a “like” to a “love”.

Confidence Man, 3 AM (LA LA LA)– Man, that is some good high energy, and suitable attitude, dynamic EDM. An electropop due from Brisbane, Australia has been kicking around for eight years now, and they’ve just kicked their way into my field of attention.

cumgirl8, the 8th cumming– Well this was a welcome surprise. Based on the name I was (not in a judgmental way) expecting something very EDM and raunchy. What we have instead is a nervy post-punk version of electropop with wickedly arch gender politics and social commentary thrown in. Both super fun to listen to, and substantive! I guess that’s what happens when you have an “American post-punk band and multi-media collective based in Manhattan” who describe themselves as a “sex-positive alien amoeba entity,” whose music functions as an “outlet [for] repressed and pent-up emotions”.

Ginger Root, SHINBANGUMI– With cited influences spanning everything from boogie and Philly soul to Japanese city pop and Paul McCartney’s Ram, it also marks his Ghostly International debut. It’s fun, light-hearted, and sublime.

Goat, Goat– This is pretty amazing- part crunching distorted hard rock, part psychedelic freakout, a little EDM thrown in. This is everything you would expect and hope for from a Swedish band Goat, though currently based in Gothenburg, claims to hail from Korpilombolo in Sweden which, according to the band’s own publicity, has a history of voodoo worship after a witch doctor came and lived there. When Christian crusaders came and destroyed the village the surviving people fled and placed a curse on the town. This has been described as “a lovely story, if possibly not entirely rooted in reality.”

Halsey, The Great Impersonator– Man, she is sharp. Like a Lana Del Ray with a rougher edge.

JD McPherson, Nite Owls– One of the joys of any JD McPherson album is discovering how he manages to further transform his ever-churning blend of vintage-inspired influences. 2024’s Nite Owls is no expectation and finds the Oklahoma-bred singer and songwriter conjuring a cooly philosophical, tube-amp-textured sound that blends twangy surf rock and baritone guitar atmospherics with buzzy, ’70s glitter rock.

Joey Valence & Brae, NO HANDS– Oh come on! Such fun, high energy, booming hip hop, redolent of the height of turntabilism. This duo of college rappers from Pennsylvania who consciously hearken back to the Beastie Boys and the alternative rap of the nineties are making fun noise.

Lady Gaga, Harlequin– This serves as a pseudo-soundtrack for the Joker sequel, with songs whose content and attitude is related to her Harley Quinn persona from that film. And that certainly does add oomph, but it’s a serving of oomph on top of excellent, and musically varied, covers of standards by Gaga. Solid fun all around!

Laila!, Gap Year!– All right. Let’s address the obvious nepobaby factor that she’s Mos Def’s daughter. That being said, you know how a basement tape from a punk group that’s just starting out and is having fun sounds? This is the hip-hop/R&B equivalent of that. Drum machines, samplers, minimal production and her soaring voice and smart attitude light this up. Give props to this 18-year-old, she’s going places!

MC5, Heavy Lifting– For a gap of several decades, and being essentially a memorial album, this still kicks out the jams and reminds you of how foundational they were.

Molly Nillson, Un-American Activities– Swedish musician Nillson leads us on a tour through various eras of Unamerican activity and various musical styles. Including HSCUAC era propaganda turned into a dance party. This is quite interesting, challenging, and fun!

OneDa, Formula OneDa– “Manchester’s OneDa is a rapper, poet, and producer with a brashly confident personality and distinctively queer, feminist, and sex-positive outlook.” yes! And between all this, it keeps you engaged the whole time.

Pearl & the Oysters, Planet Pearl– Bright, poppy, synthy, with the sound of a bedroom pop production and weird imagistic wordscapes delivered through slightly fuzzy ethereal vocals. This French American duo has been making beautifully spacy music together for over a decade, and sis still going strong.

Public Service Broadcasting, The Last Flight– First of all- this is one of two experimental albums on Earhart’s last flight that I’ve reviewed this year. (The other being Laurie Anderson’s.) That’s weird! And, like Anderson’s album, it’s beautiful, haunting, sophisticated, and experimental. It also tours through a huge range of styles along the way, which gives it an extra layer of zip and interest.

Shigeto, Cherry Blossom Baby– Modern, but a feel for “classic” EDM, and a sure meld with hip hop.

Shovels & Rope, Something Is Working Up Above My Head– Kind of country, kind of growling garage rock. I loved the last album by this South Carolina duo, and I like this one too!

Silverbacks, Easy Being a Winner– If there’s one decade that defines the sound of Easy Being a Winner, it’s the 1970s. “We realized it was probably the closest thing we were going to make to a classic ‘70s rock album, with the big guitars and the big drum sounds,” This sounds a bit like that. It sounds a bit like post-punk. Like art rock. Like seventies americana sometimes. With lovely accents, and arch lyrics. There’s a lot here to love!

Skeggs, Pacific Highway Music– A surprise! (That apparently is all the notes I took during my initial listen. We’ll both have to listen again and see what the surprise is!)

St. Lenox, Ten Modern American Work Songs– The orchestral flourishes, the dense wordplay, the driving music and vocals, the genuine import delivered with sincerity, exuberance, and humor. It’s all there, and if it doesn’t quite have the punch for me that Ten Songs of Worship and Praise for our Tumultuous Times did when it made it on to my best of 2021 list, that’s just affinity for subject matter.

Tank and the Bangas, The Heart, The Mind, The Soul– The spirit of neo-soul is alive here!

The Dare, What’s Wrong With New York?– Somebody has made heavy-drop EDM that time-warped to early 00s New York and channels the spirit of both the Strokes and LCD Soundsystem. It comes with just the right touches of sleaze, grit, and glitter, and it’s glorious. The Dare is apparently a producer in his twenties from L.A., but he’s got his finger on that era and other Coast for sure.

Thee Sacred Souls, Got a Story to Tell– Oh, these old-style grooves are warming my soul! Even the cover reminds me of an early seventies outing. retro and Latin Soul from San Diego. Some of these feel like they could legit could be outtakes from 70s Marvin Gaye sessions.

Tim Heidecker, Slipping Away– Subtler and more powerful than High School, my 2022 top pick from him, familiar, and challenging.

Tommy Richman, Coyote– What I read going in was, “Richman layers his dramatic falsetto over beats that nod to 1990s R&B, 1880s synth-pop, funk, and disco.’ And it is all true! Virginia-born L.A. based Richman started off as tik tok sensation, but this album shows that it’s for good reason. He knows his influences and works them in the best way to create a sound familiar, fun, and yet fresh.

Maybe

  • Akai Solo, DreamDropDragon– The stuttering beats, the harsh edge to the mix, and the hypnotic thump of the flow and mix all hit right. And scholarly musings on Freud and Jung’s dream interpretation theories thrown in!

  • Allegra Krieger, Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine– Oh my gosh, the smoothly languorous vocals, emotionally literate lyrics, and spot on melodies of this are on point! It’s a little one tone at times, but she’s got a good tone going.

  • Being Dead, EELS– Note, this is the album EELS by the Austin band Being Dead, and not an album titled being Dead by the band The Eels. It’s all very confusing, but also reverby, snarky, indie rock of the garage rock influence variety. So, naturally, I love it. The song “Rock n’ Roll Hurts” with top notch garage rock interspersed with peals of industrial noise and the band laughing gives you an idea of the tone of the whole.

  • Christian Lee Hutson, Paradise Pop. 10– It’s really beautiful, and well phrased. I am a little unsure of the mellowness of tone, but the lyrics and instrumentation are on point.

  • Common/Pete Rock, The Auditorium, Vol. 1– Now this is a classic hip hop flashback! Late 90s/early 00s of a certain NY conscious-adjacent but mainstream hip hop.

  • Dame Area, Toda la Verdad Sobre Dame Area– Hardcore? Industrial? Experimental Synthpop EDM? It’s not always the easiest listen, but consistently a fascination one from this group from the Barcelona dance underground scene.

  • Harmony, Gossip– The former Girlpool singer’s solo debut wants to rot your brain. It is, in many respects, insufferable. And so much nonstop fun!

  • Indi Star, eMotion Sick– I’m not really up on the world of actress/singer/Social Media Star/dancers, but apparently, she is one. What I am up on is sounds I like, and as contemporary pop-oriented with a smart independent point of view goes, this is a pretty good representation of it!

  • Jamie xx, In Waves– EDM with a point!

  • Jon Spencer, Sick of Being Sick!– Appropriately blistering proto-punk/garage rock sound from an established master at it. It’s not the newest take on things ever, but it feels fresh and alive.

  • Kate Bollinger, Songs From a Thousand Frames of Mind– There’s definitely a mood here- ethereal and slightly heliumated vocals, bright guitars with sweet melodies, hazy radio clips, birds singing in the background. This Virgina singer-songwriter has evoked a later day Laurel Canyon sound, and it’s a pleasing and buoyant listen from start to finish.

  • Kate Pierson, Radios and Rainbows– Even though she’s now more of a B-76 than a B-52 (see how clever I am?!?!?!) Kate Pierson hasn’t lost a step. You’ll hear the B-52s sound here, disco, political and social musing, and reflection on a life creatively lived. It’s really a pretty great outing and makes me realize that elder alt-80s is now a thing, just as elder-Classic Rock started to be in the eighties. Sometimes they still have something to say!

  • LL Cool J, The Force– The mélange of eras of hip hop is a little confusing, some of it almost feels like an affectation of the NY East Coast hip hop persona of the nineties. But it’s delivered so strongly and with such verve, both musically and vocally, that I can’t dismiss!

  • mediopicky, el precio de la yuca/Bexaco y rico– Es dificil. The crunching guitar and heavy dance music of the track tracks is great. The thirteen interspersed vocal skits in Spanish are more in Spanish than is easy for me to understand. And so it goes!

  • Miranda Lambert, Postcards From Texas– Sometimes cracklingly boisterous, sometimes lushly perfect, sometimes actually heart aching. Miranda Lambert has been one of my favorites from pop country in the last few years, and this ability to tap into pop and traditional form, with lyrical and vocal smoothness that doesn’t bleed out all sincerity is why. Is it an album for the ages? Maybe not. Is it the best pop country album of the year? Maybe!

  • Nick Lowe, Indoor Safari– Lowe and his sound have aged well. Which is not a surprise, as it was timeless to begin with- a hearkening back to fifties rock in a punk/new wave veneer. Not surprising or revelatory, but a darn solid listen.

  • Popstar Benny, Oasis– This had zip and occasionally even some zaniness to it!

Two more months to go! We can do it!

What Were the Best Albums of the Twenty-Teens? V2! (Part 6 of 6)

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Wait, didn’t I already review the 2010s? Indeed I did! See here for my picks for the best albums of the 2010s from that first review. But we’re not quite done, and the reason why involves 2024…

It turns out that 2024 was the 25th year of the millennium. And that is just too rich a symbolic target for me to forgo- the chance to discover the 25 best albums of the first quarter century of a new millennium! I have all the source material I’ll need: I’ve reviewed the 2000s in several venues, did the above-mentioned 2010s review, and have top 20-23 lists for 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023, with the search for 24 for 2024 now underway.

But my 2010s list is a little light comparatively. While my 2000s list from various sources sports around 60 entries, my 2010s review of 52 of the the critic’s top-ranked albums resulted in 34 picks. In order to balance that out a bit decade by decade, I’ve decided to go ahead and review the next tier down of 2010s albums per my original source lists. That will give us 36 more albums to review, which I’ll do in 6 blocks of 6. And hopefully thereby have a few more picks for my aspired Grand Review of 2000-2024!

So far we’ve had: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 And with that, let’s get on with part 5!

Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (Sturgill Simpson, 2014)– Simpson’s 2021 album The Ballad of Dood and Juanita made my top 21 list that year, so I came into this listen well-disposed. That would have been awkward if this album let me down, but in fact it’s knocked my socks off! Everything I’ve come to expect of him from his later projects is on display here- both a reverence for traditional country music, and a playful subversion of it. Picture an album that musically puts you in mind of achingly authentic honky-tonk, bluegrass, outlaw country, and the 80s neo-traditionalists. Now picture that album opening with an ode to psychedelics, including a cover of an 80s synth pop song, and being shot through with a very modern take on mental health and addiction issues and throwing in some psych rock distortion for good measure.

Red (Taylor Swift, 2012)– Damn can the girl write a song! And perform it, by which I don’t mean the extravaganza stage shows (though she does do that), but the phrasing, the delivery, knowing just when to let something out, pull back, get serious, or silly. One of the other things I look for in historical reviews is ongoing influence, and there’s no missing how a whole school of female singer/songwriters of the teens and twenties owe their approach to her. For this album in particular, I appreciate how the sound is grounded in the kind of pop country she started out with, but it goes from there to incorporate rock pop, and the techniques of electronic dance music. And every single song hits when it fires. I do find myself wondering toward the end if it’s gone on just a hair too long, but there’s no denying this album delivers.

House of Balloons (The Weeknd, 2011)– I just don’t know what to think of The Weeknd. He’s clearly artistically serious and talented. And there are times I find his songs to be so damn catchy! Then there are others when the extremely processed vocals and music gets to me and feels alienating. On the other hand, that alienation in the midst of poppy overdrive is kind of the point and many of his songs harness this contradiction and ride it. I was caught in that cycle throughout this album- feeling like I was in the midst of greatness, but then flickering to wondering if it was getting a little tiresome. So I guess, maybe?

The Monitor (Titus Andronicus, 2010)– I was a little familiar with Titus Andronicus, their 2022 album The Will to Live made my honorable mention list that year. But this, their second album, was a revelation! It’s a kind of trip-tych of New Jersey, and concept album based on the Civil War combined. Which could be way too heady a mix, but imagine all of that in the hands of a punky Bruce Springsteen. At times it’s unhinged, at times tongue in cheek, and others total in earnest, and rocking the whole way through!

Astroworld (Travis Scott, 2018)– I appreciate the minimalism of the mix, and the artistry and intent of the rhymes. But, this is an exemplar of the autotuned monotone mumble rap school of 21st century hip hop that I just cannot abide by. I’ve tried, and I just can’t!

Titanic Rising (Weyes Blood, 2019)– I was pulling for this, and it does have a lot going for it. Intelligent and emotionally sophisticated lyrics. A sometimes wickedly on target vocal phrasing. And harmonies and melodies that combine with crashing chords to make something truly grand. But, at the end of the day, there’s just too much all one energy level and tone musically and vocally for it to really come together for me.

And with that we have made it through group six of six! Of this batch, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, The Monitor and Red seem to be yeses, and House of Balloons is a maybe. So we’re done with this re-reevaluation, right?

Well, stay tuned…

In Search of the 24 Best Albums of 2024: August

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Still still on about this!

Once upon a time there was a boy named Chris. Having spent years backfilling on decades gone past, in 2021 he set out on a quest to catch up on newer music. He listened to the critics choices for the best albums of the 2010s, and picked his favorites. He did the same for 2020, picking his top 20 from the critics most highly rated albums. And he listened to new releases monthly in 2021, eventually picking the 21 best albums of 2021. That was so much fun he decided to do it again in 2022 and 2023, listening each month and picking out the 22 best albums of 2022 and the 23 best albums of 2023. He grew up to be me!

There are links to the albums in the posts cited above, but if you’d like a one-stop playlist, I’ve got that set up in YouTube Music:

Here are the previous editions of the 2024 monthly review if you missed them:

( January February March April May June/July )

A quick word on the “yes” and “maybe” categories I’ve sorted things into, before we get going with the latest:

Yes– This isn’t a guarantee, but it represents the albums that, upon first listen, I think could definitely be in the running for best of the year.

Maybe– These albums have something to recommend them, but also something that gives me pause. I’m putting them in their own category, because I have found “maybes” sometimes linger and eventually become “yeses”.

And now, on with my top picks from 114 August 2024 new releases that I listened to!

Amy Rigby, Hang in There With Me– Opens with a genuinely rollicking acoustic number on turning sixty. Then gets a little psychedelic/electronic on a song about being too old to be so crazy, a nineties electric guitar number on being Dubuque’s answer to Bob Dylan. And so on throughout a literate, personality filled, musical inventive and playful whirl. She is a singer-songwriter who has been making sharp indie albums since the nineties, and I am glad to meet her!

Beabadoobee, This Is How Tomorrow Moves– Rick Rubin Produced! Achingly poppy! Nineties guitar rocky and yet dancy!

Charley Crockett, Visions of Dallas– Sequel to his album from earlier in the year, which I loved, and this one is equally as good, and maybe even better with its segues into blues and folk without ever losing that country feeling.

Deerhoof, The Free Triple Live Album– Deerhoof is not only one of my favorite bands of the millennium so far, a great purveyor of challenging but melodic post-rock, they are also a really great live band. So, when I heard they’d put out this live album from a 2024 performance in Berlin, I had high hopes. They were not disappointed!

Doechii, Alligator Bites Never Heal– This mixtape is so full of swagger, disarming honesty, humor, raunch, beautiful liquid flow, and 80s-early 00s elements in the mix. 26-year-old L.A-based Florida native Doechii is now on my watch list!

Hamish Hawk, A Firmer Hand– In subject primarily deals with his relationships with men; not just lovers, but friends, family, and the questionable rogues his career has thrown at him. Literate and emotionally complex lyrics, doleful vocals (in the best way), 80s synth atmospherics, post-punk moodiness.

Heems, Veena– On his new solo album, the Queens rapper tackles his struggles with addiction and intergenerational trauma. His signature mix of smart-dumb humor is still there, but it no longer feels like a security blanket. Playing off his Indian heritage both in terms of lyrical material and aspects of the mix, and with significant nods to the Jay-Z school of hip hop. All around a delight.

Killer Mike, Michael & the Mighty Midnight Revival, Songs for Sinners and Saints– Backed by his live band, the rapper remixes and elaborates the autobiographical themes and gospel uplift of 2023’s Michael. And oh man is it a beautiful thing. There’s old school grooves, gospel, the best of 00s and 10s hip-hop, with an imaginative and variable mix, and engaging flow.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Flight b741– Oh, such a beautiful mid-sixties garage/psyche rock sound, with all the zany range those bands had. Listening to this, it’s almost impossible to believe it isn’t from a Nuggets compilation.

Laurie Anderson, Amelia– Laurie Anderson in high from delivering a spooky and well-delivered concept album based on Amelia Earhart’s final flight? Count me in! No, really. The best albums are often a journey, and this one literally does that.

Meshell Ndegeocello, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin– I knew between the subject matter and the artist that this would be worthy of my attention. But also, some trepidation, because artistic ambition and creative excellence don’t always make for good listening. So, what a pleasant outcome to find that the jazz inspirations, African polyrhythms, acoustic interludes, and more ethereal passages, combined with the poetry and inspiration of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde and Meshell Ndegeocello’s own clarity of vision and plethora of well-deployed production flourishes, is both arresting and a musically engaging listen from start to finish.

MJ Lenderman, Manning Fireworks– Country feelings, shredding guitar, reverb, tremolo, and songs about trying to pick up on nurse nuns and feeling like a jerk about it. At times here he feels almost like a second coming of Neil Young. I’m not sure there’s anything here not to like!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Wild God– Power, glory, orchestral flourish, evocative poetic lyrics and an honest to goodness story arc. You can’t shake the feeling that it’s charged with meaning, and it’s a compelling listen. This is a later-day master at work.

Osees, Sorcs 80– A sound palette driven by synths, percussion, and a horn section. In press materials, John Dwyer described the record as “sort of vacuous and maybe a bit sci-fi in sound,” and, more specifically, “sort of a Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets the Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk.” I could not tell you what it meant, but I can tell you that on their 28th album this San Francisco indie stalwart is making a discordant, distorted, noisy mélange as interesting and edgy as anything they’ve ever done.

Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet– Solid and fun EDM, and her snark and personality, delivered with such melodic perfection, take it to another level. At times she’s Taylor Swift but raunchier, Lana Del Ray but for a dance floor.

Shelby Lynne, Consequences of the Crown– A kind of Dusty in Memphis, Nashville Sound, rambling talk poems with a pop edm shine. It’s impossible to turn it off!

SOPHIE, SOPHIE– final album released posthumously after transgressive artist’s 2021 accidental death, it’s beautifully hyper-poppy and avant garde, sometimes on the same damn song

Spirit of the Beehive, You’ll Have to Lose Something– Impossible melodies meets hyperpop production overdrive and occasional dissonance on an electronic music outing that is consistently interesting and arresting.

Swami & the Bed of Nails, All of this Awaits You– Different people deal with grief in diverse ways. Swami John Reis, the punk firebrand who founded Rocket from the Crypt, was a close friend of guitarist Rick Froberg, one of his musical partners in the band Hot Snakes. Reis was writing material in anticipation of recording a new Hot Snakes album when Froberg died unexpectedly on June 20, 2023. powered by that, and his impeccable sense for no nonsense hard rock/garage/punk, this album roars out of the gate. Plus, there’s a song about ketchup, mustard, and relish. How can you go wrong?

The Bug Club, On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System– Imagine an excellent album had vanished somewhere in-between the late punk of the Jam and Wire, and the early post-punk of Gang of Four and Magazine and had just now re-appeared through a time-space warp as the product of a Welsh indie band formed in 2016. I can’t explain how or why, but that’s what this feels like. And I love it!

X, Smoke and Fiction– Always beware of a golden oldie who says this is their “last album”. (But also, how weird is it that X is now a golden oldie?) That being said, there’s no fat here- 10 songs in 28 minutes, and they sound tight, blistering, and incisive as ever, with just enough of a touch of world weary looking back. If this is the last album, it’s a darn good one!

Maybe

  • Bill Wyman, Drive My Car– Nothing that new here, but it is a relaxed, masterful outing. I’d listen to it again!

  • Charlie Overbey, In Good Company– He’s a Punk Rock Spy in the Halls of Honkytonk Heaven! So says the opening track, and a fair bit of it sounds exactly like that would make you think, with detours into outlaw country and Springsteen territory. It’s a little too slickly produced-feeling, but I appreciate the territory it explores.

  • Duke Robillard, Roll With Me– Back in 2005, Duke Robillard conceived a maximalist studio album based on jump, Chicago blues, and NOLA-styled R&B. Given commitments to appearing alongside Ronnie Earl on The Duke Meets the Earl and to participate in the New Guitar Summit sessions with J. Geils and Gerry Beaudoin, he abandoned work on the date but never forgot about the album. Robillard’s Roll with Me is his 37th album and the program consists of four Robillard originals and eight covers of classic R&B and blues tunes associated with Fats Domino, Gatemouth Brown, Big Joe Turner, Howling Wolf, and Muddy Waters. I’m darn glad he made it!

  • Fontaines D.C., Romance– Their usual excellent, and it even has a through line!

  • Ka, The Thief Next to Jesus– The mix and flow is appropriately dark and heavy, and the sampling unsettling for the sober meditations on the role of religion in inspiring the African American community but also in perpetuating oppression. It may be a little narrow tonally, but it’s worthy, both in and of itself, and as a memorial to the artist for his final album.)

  • Nikka Costa, Dirty Disco– As an 80s Electro fan I am flipping over this. Such an excellent spare EDM funk dance set! By its nature, a little derivative? Sure, but come on, the quality!

  • Pom Poko, Champion– Of all the quirky melodic and yet anarchic Scandinavian post-rock bands that are near and dear to my heart, Pom Poko is one of them. No, but really, there are several in this category! And this Norwegian band named for Japanese anime that reminds me of Deerhoof is a good one.

  • Sarah Kinsley, Escaper– I almost feel like I’m listening to a later-day Kate Bush. As such, it does sound a little derivative, but so well done and such a great derivation. I also think she may have accidentally invented it herself. She herself cites Chopin, Clara Schumann, Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Lorde, Fleetwood Mac, ABBA, Sting, the Eagles, Foreigner and Madonna as influences. Put that in a blender and mix it!

  • The Shivas, Can’t Stop Coming Around– Fuzzy garage rock with a sixties reverb/doo-wop/girl group feeling, and more than occasional flashes of the Velvet Underground. So, by definition, not the newest things, and there are other contemporary bands that mine this same vein (hello Raveonettes!) but my goodness does this Portland band do it well!

  • The Smashing Pumpkins, Aghori Mhori Mei– Musically it’s a kind of flashback, for sure, though a flashback to an era I love. But it doesn’t stop there, there is something spare and bright to many of the arrangements here. And lyrically and vocally, there is a sense here of the passage of time, of elegy. I’m not sure if it adds up, but this is what one might wish for from a Pumpkin become Tribal elder.

  • The Softies, Bed I Made– first new album in over two decades, beloved Pacific Northwest twee pop duo, and it is perfectly done sweet melodic pop rock. It does get a little same-same, but it is so well done I almost don’t mind.

  • Tinashe, Quantum Baby– Really about as pleasing a set of sophisticated enough but fun enough mid-tempo dance music as one could ask for. It’s not profound or groundbreaking, but I’ve been a Tinashe fan for a while now, and I’m going to continue!

  • Why?, The Well I Fell Into– Is this a slower introspective indie rock outing a la Elliot Smith? Or an electronic remix album? Or chilly art rock? I’d accept all of these as an answer. And in fact, Wikipedia subsequently informed me, “Why? (styled as WHY?) is an American alternative hip hop and indie rock band. The band was founded in 2004 by Cincinnati rapper and singer Yoni Wolf, who had been using Why? as his stage name since 1997.” Whatever it is that’s going on here, I kinda like it!

Onward to September/October!

50 Years of Hip Hop Album Review: All Eyez on Me, Endtroducing…

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2023 was the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and in honor of this anniversary, in 2024 the idea bloomed in my that I should review the top 50 albums of that 50 years. As I crunched together a list from various sources, 50 proved to be too restrictive- many of the classics were getting squeezed out. So, to make a little more room, I opted for 100 albums, two for each of hip hop’s 50 years. Due to some medical situations, I took a several months long hiatus from blogging that year, so I didn’t finish the series. It’s now 2026, whole new medical situation and still proceeding fitfully, but I won’t stop if you don’t!

For its formative years, hip hop was a live entertainment form, with the first recorded singles not emerging until 1979, and the first albums in 1980. So my review covers 1980-2023, with 50 posts of two albums each. The only ground rule I made for myself (besides looking for 2×50, aka 100, albums that were widely well-regarded) was that I had to have at least one from each year. As you’ll see by and by, some years get multiple albums, but since we have 100 spots for 43 years, it tends to all work out.

And with that, let’s embark on our next installment!

2Pac, All Eyez on Me (1996)– I won’t lie, my first reaction on seeing this was a double album with over a two-hour run time was, “There can’t possibly be any call for that.” Between that and my impression from a few reviews ago that Me Against the World was a little scattered, I definitely came in skeptical. The energy, flow and rich production of the first track immediately began to disabuse me of that notion, and it built from there track by track. When I read up on the album’s production, the factors that make it so focused and powerful became apparent- unlike his previous albums, Tupac executive produced this himself, on individual tracks he pulled in an all star team of producers, and West Coast hip hop powerhouse DJ Quik mixed the final product. On top of that, Death Row records bailed Tupac out of prison specifically to make it, and he poured every inch of his talent and feelings into it as if it were his last chance to say something. Which in a way it was, as he was killed seven months after it came out. It dives deep into gangster themes and personas, and is punctuated throughout by his nihilistic laugh and a dark angry edge, but it never feels caricatured, and the squelchy synth-laden production is peerless. All in all it adds up to a strong and unsettling de facto last will and testament.

DJ Shadow, Endtroducing (1996)- This edition may have the most mismatched album pairing we’ve done yet. Then again, there may be a connection, as these two albums represent two entirely different school of hip hop, both of which were tremendously influential on the rest of the decade. The Entroducing version hearkens back to the early days of vinyl mixmasters, and reaches out to the electronic music genres of the nineties. DJ Shadow isn’t necessarily my favorite from the Bay Area turntabulism scene of that era, that would probably be Mixmaster Mike, who was the de-facto DJ for the Beastie Boys for several albums, or Lyrics Born, who was in one of my top album lists as recently as 2022 (and who, by the way, appears on the cover of this album, flipping through the vinyl). That being said, there is no denying his excellence, or this album’s. He produced it on next to nothing and with almost everything- only using a turntable, MPC sampler, and multi-track recorder, but composing it entirely out of dozens of vinyl-record samples from a dizzying array of genres. And if you’ve listened to entire subgenres of hip hop and electronic music, and/or attended certain formats of DJ night over the thirty (!) years since this came out, you’ve heard the ongoing influence of what he does here.

If you’re curious about the sources I used to compile my list, you can check them out here:

And if you want to catch up on the previous installments, here they are…

  1. Sugarhill Gang- Sugarhill Gang (1980)/Kurtis Blow- Kurtis Blow (1980)
  2. Sugarhill Gang- 8th Wonder (1981)/Grandmaster Flash- The Message (1982)
  3. Wild Style Original Soundtrack (1983)/Fat Boys- Fat Boys (1984)
  4. Kurtis Blow- Ego Trip (1984)/Run-D.M.C.- Run-D.M.C. (1984)
  5. Whodini- Escape (1985)/The Treacherous Three- The Treacherous Three (1985)
  6. Run-D.M.C.- King of Rock (1985)/LL Cool J- Radio (1985)
  7. Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill (1986)/Run-D.M.C.- Raising Hell (1986)
  8. Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded (1987)/Eric B. & Rakim- Paid in Full (1987)
  9. LL Cool J- Bigger and Deffer (1987)/Big Daddy Kane- Long Live the Kane (1988)
  10. Boogie Down Productions- By All Means Necessary (1988)/EPMD- Strictly Business (1988)
  11. Eric B. & Rakim- Follow the Leader (1988)/Jungle Brothers- Straight Out the Jungle (1988)
  12. N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton (1988)/Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back (1988)
  13. Slick Rick- The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)/Ultramagnetic MCs- Critical Beatdown (1988)
  14. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique (1989)/Big Daddy Kane- It’s a Big Daddy Thing (1989)
  15. De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)/EPMD- Unfinished Business (1989)
  16. Geto Boys- Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)/Kool G Rap & DJ Polo- Road To The Riches (1989)
  17. The D.O.C.- No One Can Do It Better (1989)/Ice Cube- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
  18. A Tribe Called Quest- The Low End Theory (1991)/Ice Cube- Death Certificate (1991)
  19. Dr. Dre- The Chronic (1992)/Pete Rock and CL Smooth- Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)
  20. The Pharcyde- Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992)/A Tribe Called Quest- Midnight Marauders (1993)
  21. Snoop Doggy Dogg- Doggystyle (1993)/Wu-Tang Clan- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
  22. Nas- Illmatic (1994)/Scarface- The Diary (1994)
  23. The Notorious B.I.G.- Ready to Die (1994)/2Pac- Me Against the World (1995)
  24. Bone Thugs-n-Narmony–E. Eternal 1999 (1995)/GZA-Liquid Swords (1995)
  25. Mobb Deep- The Infamous (1995)/Raekwon- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)

Finally, if you’d like a playlist for the entire list, you can find that here. Listen to it sequentially for the historical development of the genre, or play on shuffle for maximum historical scramble!

What Were the Best Albums of the Twenty-Teens? V2! (Part 5 of 6)

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Wait, didn’t I already review the 2010s? Indeed I did! See here for my picks for the best albums of the 2010s from that first review. But we’re not quite done, and the reason why involves 2024…

It turns out that 2024 was the 25th year of the millennium. And that is just too rich a symbolic target for me to forgo- the chance to discover the 25 best albums of the first quarter century of a new millennium! I have all the source material I’ll need: I’ve reviewed the 2000s in several venues, did the above-mentioned 2010s review, and have top 20-23 lists for 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023, with the search for 24 for 2024 now underway.

But my 2010s list is a little light comparatively. While my 2000s list from various sources sports around 60 entries, my 2010s review of 52 of the the critic’s top-ranked albums resulted in 34 picks. In order to balance that out a bit decade by decade, I’ve decided to go ahead and review the next tier down of 2010s albums per my original source lists. That will give us 36 more albums to review, which I’ll do in 6 blocks of 6. And hopefully thereby have a few more picks for my aspired Grand Review of 2000-2024!

So far we’ve had: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 And with that, let’s get on with part 5!

Light Up Gold (Parquet Courts, 2013)– Well slap me silly and call me Susie, it’s Rock n’ Roll! More specifically, it’s an indie left of center rock that feels familiar, in a timeless way. Bits of Modern Lovers, a dash of the Voidoids, a fair sprinkle of Wire, more than a pinch of the more madcap side of Southern California hardcore, a dribble of the Replacements, etc. I could picture this band, in a certain version, in any of the 70s, 80s, or 90s. But here they are, from Texas by way of New York City, all the way in the Twenty-Teens! It may not really cover any new ground, but darned if it doesn’t do what it does well nigh perfectly!

Let England Shake (PJ Harvey, 2011)– Well that was ridiculously great. How this darkly inflected exploration of what England is and what England means didn’t make it higher on the aggregated critic’s list is honestly beyond me! It feels richly poetic. Which it turns out is not just my imagination, per Wikipedia: “Harvey began writing lyrics for the album before setting the words to music. She has cited the poetry of Harold Pinter and T.S. Eliot as influences, as well as the artwork of Salvador Dalí and Francisco de Goya, the music of The Doors, The Pogues, and The Velvet Underground and the films of Stanley Kubrick, Ken Loach and Ari Folman.” Given the subject matter, and compared to the harsh edges her music is capable of, it often feels surprisingly delicately arranged and melodically light as well. This turns out to be true as well, with early composition done on the autoharp, which she was becoming enamored of at the time. The sometime spritely beauty, though, just enhances the disquiet of this pretty, powerful album.

El Mal Querer (Rosalia, 2018)– I had been enjoying Spanish singer/songwriter Rosalia’s more recent albums in my yearly reviews, so I was favorably disposed toward this. And, indeed, there is a lot to like here in terms of combining arty song craft with catchy electronic production. It never feels totally together to me though, as an album. I’m not mad at it though!

Silence Yourself (Savages 2013)– My teenage self would have loved this album by English post-punk band the Savages! It perfectly hits a post-punk/goth early eighties feeling. My adult self also likes it a lot, but is not sure if that feeling adds up to epochal album for the twenty-teens. If you’re looking for something that’s got vibes somewhere in the neighborhood of Bauhaus, Gang of Four, Magazine, and Siouxsie though, you won’t be disappointed.

Are We There (Sharon Van Etten, 2014)– These songs are beautiful, moody, and emotionally literate. They’re also all in such a similar musical and vocal range track to track that it has trouble working for me as an album. Alas!

Soccer Mommy, Clean

Clean (Soccer Mommy, 2018)– The teens certainly had a crop of earnest young things with emotionally complex lyrics and a music that is part lo-fi bedroom pop, part grunge, and part edm effects. That influence has continued strong into the twenties, and I feel like Soccer Mommy is one of the progenitors of the sound. She got her start on MySpace, and released two indie albums, but this was her proper studio album debut, and it crystalizes a sound and an era. While languid, it has more than enough heart, wit, and musical flourish to make it work.

And with that we have made it through group five of six! Of this batch, Let England Shake and Light Up Gold are yeses, and I would say Clean is a maybe. What awaits us in the final bracket?!?!?

50 Years of Hip Hop Album Review: The Infamous, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

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2023 was the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and in honor of this anniversary, in 2024 the idea bloomed in my that I should review the top 50 albums of that 50 years. As I crunched together a list from various sources, 50 proved to be too restrictive- many of the classics were getting squeezed out. So, to make a little more room, I opted for 100 albums, two for each of hip hop’s 50 years. Due to some medical situations, I took a several months long hiatus from blogging that year, so I didn’t finish the series. It’s now 2026 and still proceeding fitfully, but I won’t stop if you don’t!

For its formative years, hip hop was a live entertainment form, with the first recorded singles not emerging until 1979, and the first albums in 1980. So my review covers 1980-2023, with 50 posts of two albums each. The only ground rule I made for myself (besides looking for 2×50, aka 100, albums that were widely well-regarded) was that I had to have at least one from each year. As you’ll see by and by, some years get multiple albums, but since we have 100 spots for 43 years, it tends to all work out.

And with that, let’s embark on our next installment!

Mobb Deep, The Infamous (1995)– I’d definitely heard the name of this Queens duo before, but wasn’t at all familiar with the album name. Which apparently is a significant hole in my hip hop education, because it earned critical acclaim at the time, and is still widely regarded today as one of the cornerstones of the nineties East Coast hip hop scene along with Enter the Wu-Tang, Illmatic, and Ready to Die. I can certainly hear the things it’s regarded for- dark spare production, gritty beats, and a stripped-down no-nonsense flow and lyrical narration. Having read up on the production, I can also really appreciate how it came together- they knew the guidance they were getting from producers wasn’t right for the album, so they ended up producing it themselves (with some innovative sound engineering support for friend/supporter A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip). It’s powerful musically and lyrically, I can hear where it fits into the East Coast sound of the time, but somehow it’s not entirely up my alley. However, even if it doesn’t immediately end up on my personal “best of the best” list, the acclaim isn’t undeserved!

Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)- I think one of the problems The Infamous may have run into is that, as of this very review, we are halfway through the list! So, anything I’m listening to now is being compared to 50 or so of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. That being said, Raekwon is making it through the crowd! Maybe it’s because of the hot streak RZA and his basement studio were on at the time- this was being recorded at the same time as GZA’s Liquid Swords from our previous review posting, and shortly after RZA had put out another two Wu-Tang Clan member solo albums. Maybe it’s the synergy Raekwon and Ghostface Killah have here (it’s not far from being a collaboration between them). Maybe it’s the mix of inspirations- Isaac Hayes’s gritty street tales from the 70s, Five Percenter beliefs, John Woo and Sergio Leone gangster films. Maybe I’m just a sucker for the greater Wu-Tangverse. Whatever it is, this album, which was very influential on subsequent productions and remains well-regarded today, charmed the socks off of me!

If you’re curious about the sources I used to compile my list, you can check them out here:

And if you want to catch up on the previous installments, here they are…

  1. Sugarhill Gang- Sugarhill Gang (1980)/Kurtis Blow- Kurtis Blow (1980)
  2. Sugarhill Gang- 8th Wonder (1981)/Grandmaster Flash- The Message (1982)
  3. Wild Style Original Soundtrack (1983)/Fat Boys- Fat Boys (1984)
  4. Kurtis Blow- Ego Trip (1984)/Run-D.M.C.- Run-D.M.C. (1984)
  5. Whodini- Escape (1985)/The Treacherous Three- The Treacherous Three (1985)
  6. Run-D.M.C.- King of Rock (1985)/LL Cool J- Radio (1985)
  7. Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill (1986)/Run-D.M.C.- Raising Hell (1986)
  8. Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded (1987)/Eric B. & Rakim- Paid in Full (1987)
  9. LL Cool J- Bigger and Deffer (1987)/Big Daddy Kane- Long Live the Kane (1988)
  10. Boogie Down Productions- By All Means Necessary (1988)/EPMD- Strictly Business (1988)
  11. Eric B. & Rakim- Follow the Leader (1988)/Jungle Brothers- Straight Out the Jungle (1988)
  12. N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton (1988)/Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back (1988)
  13. Slick Rick- The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)/Ultramagnetic MCs- Critical Beatdown (1988)
  14. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique (1989)/Big Daddy Kane- It’s a Big Daddy Thing (1989)
  15. De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)/EPMD- Unfinished Business (1989)
  16. Geto Boys- Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)/Kool G Rap & DJ Polo- Road To The Riches (1989)
  17. The D.O.C.- No One Can Do It Better (1989)/Ice Cube- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
  18. A Tribe Called Quest- The Low End Theory (1991)/Ice Cube- Death Certificate (1991)
  19. Dr. Dre- The Chronic (1992)/Pete Rock and CL Smooth- Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)
  20. The Pharcyde- Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992)/A Tribe Called Quest- Midnight Marauders (1993)
  21. Snoop Doggy Dogg- Doggystyle (1993)/Wu-Tang Clan- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
  22. Nas- Illmatic (1994)/Scarface- The Diary (1994)
  23. The Notorious B.I.G.- Ready to Die (1994)/2Pac- Me Against the World (1995)
  24. Bone Thugs-n-Narmony–E. Eternal 1999 (1995)/GZA-Liquid Swords (1995)

Finally, if you’d like a playlist for the entire list, you can find that here. Listen to it sequentially for the historical development of the genre, or play on shuffle for maximum historical scramble!

In Search of the 24 Best Albums of 2024: June/July

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Your first question might be: You’re still on about this?!?!?! Well yes, I am. Mostly because I really want to do the 2000-2024 top albums project, and part of the path to getting there is to finish 2024. The good news is I’m further along than might immediately be apparent, because I’ve actually completed all the listening through October releases, and am pretty far along on November. I’ve even re-listened to my January-October picks, and made my definite contender shortlist from them. If nothing else, this month-long surgical convalescence is a good chance to get this going again!

So, to continue… Once upon a time there was a guy named Chris. Having spent years backfilling on decades gone past, in 2021 he set out on a quest to catch up on newer music. He listened to the critics choices for the best albums of the 2010s, and picked his favorites. He did the same for 2020, picking his top 20 from the critics most highly rated albums. And he listened to new releases monthly in 2021, eventually picking the 21 best albums of 2021. That was so much fun he decided to do it again in 2022 and 2023, listening each month and picking out the 22 best albums of 2022 and the 23 best albums of 2023. He is me!

There are links to the albums in the posts cited above, but if you’d like a one-stop playlist, I’ve got that set up in YouTube Music:

Here are the previous editions of the 2024 monthly review if you missed them:

( January February March April May)

A quick word on the “yes” and “maybe” categories I’ve sorted things into, before we get going with the latest:

Yes– This isn’t a guarantee, but it represents the albums that, upon first listen, I think could definitely be in the running for best of the year.

Maybe– These albums have something to recommend them, but also something that gives me pause. I’m putting them in their own category, because I have found “maybes” sometimes linger and eventually become “yeses”.

Now let’s get on with my top picks from 187 June-July 2024 new releases that I listened to!

Ani DiFranco, Unprecedented Sh!t– While there are no bad Ani DiFranco artists, many artists have an earlier that is so strong it outshines later. But there’s something stripped down, quirky, and often electronically surprising and grating here. May I be doing as well on my 21st studio album!

Bilal/Common/G/Questlove, Live at Glasshaus– A multimodal, multi-artistic hip hop, soul, and jazz symphony of voices. Those four master musicians form Bilal’s backing on the December 2023 date documented here, recorded in front of a small Brooklyn crowd. It feels like a masterclass from everyone involved.

Blk Odyssey, 1-800 Fantasy– The Texan-based artist and producer adds that the concept record draws “inspiration from early 2000s pop/rock” and “new wave hip hop, funk, and soul”— I hear the early 00s hip hop based on eighties soul and electro vibe, and nineties neo-soul. A few too many modern flourishes sometimes, but I dig this. It even has an honest to goodness through story that explores issues of fantasy versus reality!

Bones Owens, Love Out of Lemons– All Music Guide says, “Nashville session and touring guitarist and songwriter-for-hire who makes eclectic alternative roots rock as a solo artist” and suggests similarities to Jack White and Nathaniel Rateliffe. That sounds about right! I actually had a little more of a Black keys vibe (don’t tell Jack), but yes, an indie garage rock take on heartland music. It’s rollicking good fun!

Boulevards, Carolina Funk: Barn Burner on Tobacco Road– I don’t seem to have written down any notes during my actual listening session! I’m thinking based on the band and the title that there’s something rootsy and yet funkily furious going on here? We will both just have to listen to it (me apparently again) and agree how much we like it.

Childish Gambino, Bando Stone and the New World– Indie pop and soul with tinges of AM radio gold? Left field hip hop? Edgy angry post rock? Hyperpop EDM? Yes, all this and more. And if the sprawl makes it a little incoherent, it’s also testament to the talent. He says this is his last Childish Gambino album. I hope it’s not his last album period, because what he can do is amazing.

Crack Cloud, Red Mile– It opens with a stirring off kilter post-rockish anthem dedicated to the crack of life. From there it reminds me a little of the Fall, and the snottier and weirder side of 80s college rock. This Canadian collective is bridging punk, indie rock, and synth pop in a musically and lyrically challenging way, and I’m here for it!

Dave Alvin/Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Texicali– Two generations of country/americana greats playing music that is musically, vocally, and lyrically flawless in how authentic it sounds.

Earth Tongue, Great Haunting– Imagine if the Melvins (or even the original Black Sabbath lineup) were a female-led group. If this idea makes you darkly smile, this album from New Zealand duo Earth Tongue is for you!

Eminem, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)– Eminem has played the game before of distinguishing between his Slim Shady and Marshall personalities and using the later to tongue in cheek disclaim the words and deeds of the former. This go around though is fueled by the two decades between his biggest albums and his current sober family patriarch life, the genuine tension between who he is and who he was. So, there’s a lot of traction from playing with how the two might relate to each other, livened by his still peerless flow and great production.

Jack White, No Name– This wouldn’t be one of the best White Stripes albums (for one thing, no nice session drummer is going to match Meg at her best), but it would be a solidly good one. And, much as I appreciate his creative wanderings, seeing Jack White fully back in this vein is very good indeed.

Johnny Blue Skies/Sturgill Simpson, Passage du Desir– It doesn’t necessarily sound the same album to album (this one is more Nashville sound of the seventies, for example), but darned if Sturgill Simpson aks Johnny Blue Skies isn’t making some of the best straight up country out there.

Kaytranada, Timeless– Well this is a fun jaunt through EDM informed by down-tempo R&B, house, and hip hop!

Lalah Hathaway, VANTABLACK– High level consciousness, classic soul sounds, jazz inflections, hip hop that feels old school as well. Eulaulah Donyll “Lalah” Hathaway is an American singer-songwriter. She is the first-born daughter of musician and soul singer Donny Hathaway. She rose to fame in the 1990s and all these deep roots show here.

Left Lane Cruiser, Bayport BBQ Blues– A raw hillbilly punk-blues band that roars like a tweaking modal chainsaw. Amen, and it’s beautiful! Indiana band

Lupe Fiasco, Samurai– A nice old school groove, reminds me of the g-funk flow of the nineties, and 00s beats a la J Dilla.

New York, Rapstar*– 26-year-old Estonian performance artist Gretchen Lawrence and 24-year-old Senegalese American visual artist and model Coumba Samba have made something glitchy, dis-jointed, and yet oddly catchy as it ratchets back and forth from abstract to disarmingly direct.

Oneida, Expensive Air– This is amazing! Is it metal? Sonic Youth style punk overload? Experimental electronic music? All of these and more, and whatever it is, the Brooklyn experimental rock band is making mighty fine noise!

Peggy Gou, I Hear You– I mean come on- such a fun high energy club mix, with a sly wit and genuine meaning behind it. And it has the influence of House, and there are 303s in the mix. How am I not going to love it? South Korean DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Berlin, Germany

Perennial, Art History– Come on! Call and response 60s/garage punk with enough of a pop edge, intriguing electronic flourishes, and properly crunching guitar chords. When this sound is done right, it’s always fresh, and this Connecticut band brings it!

Polo Perks/FearDorian/AyooLii, A Dog’s Chance– Eclectic and melody-heavy sampling, fun and varied lyrics, shuffling and atypical flow and beats in something that’s between hip hop and hyperpop. It’s a reminder of how much music can still surprise and delight when it gets beyond genre tropes. Atlanta producer-rapper FearDorian first asked to join the NYC hip-hop collective Surf Gang six years ago began sending beats to one of the collective’s OG members, Polo Perks union with Milwaukee low-end upstart AyooLii.

The Decembrists, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again– This feels and sounds like folk standards meets indie rock. The ending 19-minute track nearly lost me in the middle, but the haunting first part, and the stadium ending pulled it out. A little too slickly produced, but the muse they’re going for here is strongly channeled.

The Felice Brothers, Valley of Abandoned Songs– I liked the last Felice Brothers album, and this one has a lot of that same sparkle. Americana and 70s AM radio musical chops, and lyrics that much more than occasionally remind me of Dylan, particularly of the Basement Tapes era.

The Raveonettes, Sing– Man, they still sound as good today as they did when I first heard them in 2003. And for this album they’ve chosen classic covers that exquisitely well fit their distortion and reverb-heavy growling and sparkly wall of sound talents.

Zach Bryan, The Great American Bar Scene– Spoken-word rambling and slow but punchy cowboy chords painting emotional stories. It often reminds me of early Dylan and Springsteen (who also guests on a track), sometimes like more contemporary indie rock in an Americana vein. This fifth album from Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter Bryan is definitely worth another listen!

Maybe

  • Billie Strings, Live, Vol. 1– All right, look, it gets very jammy (it is a live album, after all), and it lasts almost 80 minutes. I would think, on the face of it, that it would get to be too much for me at some point. Except, Billy Strings is amazing live, and his bridge of bluegrass and psyched-out rock lends itself so well to live jams. With each new track, after I would start to waver there was a moment when I realized, “okay, I’m 100% on board for this ride now, let’s see what the next one does.” So, I think that’s the very definition of “maybe”.

  • Bloomsday, Heart of the Artichoke– Beautiful harmonies and fuzzy guitars.

  • Goat Girl, Below the Waste– This has many of the charms of their last album, which I loved. The moody atmospherics, surging chords, darkly sweet melodies. Is it better than the last time? Maybe not? But does it need to be?

  • John Cale, POPtical Illusion– A times at abstract, but always interesting, this album simultaneously recalls the best of his early seventies albums and modern electronic music. It feels weirdly contemporary in that way. Not bad for an 83-year-old legend! It’s on the longer side for how atmospheric it sometimes gets, but fascinating!

  • Marcel Wave, Something Looming– Classic rockier side of British new wave vibes. I love the understated vocals, guitar-edged melodies, and wordy articulate lyrics. The post-punk revival can be kind of chilly and self-limiting, but I couldn’t deny the charm of this London band.

  • Marina Allen, Eight Pointed Star– Nice spare arrangement, highly literate lyrics. Definitely in vein, but it ventures from mellow folky to more poppy energetic often enough, with lush production extras. Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter part of Laurel Canyon revival.

  • Meghan Trainor, Timeless– Meghan Trainor doing neo-standards with bossa nova club beats? About self-love and celebrating having bass? It turns out I have almost infinite capacity to welcome another album of this!

  • Odie Leigh, Carrier Pigeon– A literate wordy folky thing, with both nice turns of phrase and disarming frankness. And, though it is mostly more acoustic/folk feeling, there are surging rock and pop moments too. This is a very promising debut!

  • Remi Wolf, Big ideas– I have really been looking forward to reviewing this! Her album Juno was one of my favorites from 2022, and I’ve been low-key fascinated with her ever since. I would say this album is not *quite* as coherent as that one, by virtue of experimental forays into directions like an Amy Winehouse style ballad, a pseudo-Nirvana song, and a downright confessional piece. But it’s never less than very well done, and at its best is knockout good.

  • Rope Sect, Estrangement– 80s alt on the goth side vocals, driving drums and reverb-laden guitars. Also, for band whose Facebook page description is “Seclusion. Renunciation of society. A dance on ruins. A doomsday revel. Naked spite. Eleutheromania.”, surprisingly energetic and even uplifting. (Not a June album, but from Spin’s articreview’s list of best albums of the year so far. Gotta check it!)

  • Rosie Tucker, Utopia Now!– I would have loved the honey pop, hooky rock, and sharp-witted lyricism of this to death in the nineties! Still pretty smitten by it, but the hour is growing late… Still, I would hear more from this Los Angeles singer-songwriter… (Not a June album, but from Paste’s list of best albums of the year so far. Gotta check it!)

  • This is Lorelei, Box for Buddy, Box for Star– Wordy pop rock reminding me of the Gram Parsons school of crunching chords and lyrics.

  • Tommy McLain, Moving to Heaven– Veteran swamp pop musician becomes Catholic lay minister and produces a gospel-tinged album loaded with a kind of lo fi swamp sound gleeful in its naivete and heavy with reverb. Yes please!

  • Various Artists, Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty– I am a sucker for tribute albums, but they can go awry. The fastest route to that is overly faithful covers, and while the covers here are faithful, they do take a variety of musical approaches within the genre and feel true to the spirit of the songs. The second way these things can most often go awry is bland coverers, and these are big country names, but from several generations, and many of them left of field. Could it be a year’s best? I don’t know, but I want to hear it again!

And We are back! August/September to follow…

What Were the Best Albums of the Twenty-Teens? V2! (Part 4 of 6)

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Wait, didn’t I already review the 2010s? Indeed I did! See here for my picks for the best albums of the 2010s from that first review. But we’re not quite done, and the reason why involves 2024…

It turns out that 2024 was the 25th year of the millennium. And that is just too rich a symbolic target for me to forgo- the chance to discover the 25 best albums of the first quarter century of a new millennium! I have all the source material I’ll need: I’ve reviewed the 2000s in several venues, did the above-mentioned 2010s review, and have top 20-23 lists for 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023, with the search for 24 for 2024 now underway.

But my 2010s list is a little light comparatively. While my 2000s list from various sources sports around 60 entries, my 2010s review of 52 of the the critic’s top-ranked albums resulted in 34 picks. In order to balance that out a bit decade by decade, I’ve decided to go ahead and review the next tier down of 2010s albums per my original source lists. That will give us 36 more albums to review, which I’ll do in 6 blocks of 6. And hopefully thereby have a few more picks for my aspired Grand Review of 2000-2024!

So far we’ve had: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Got it? Okay, let’s go with part 4!

Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (Lin Manuel Miranda, 2015)– Without question, Hamilton is a stupendous achievement. It brought a body of contemporary music to theater that had previously been ignored there, and recast both theater and a chunk of American history from the point of view of people of color. As an album, though, the soundtrack is probably less influential. That is to say, it brought hip hop and contemporary soul to theater, but they were already dominating pop music in the teens, and while the musical looms large, this album as such wasn’t musically influential. At least that’s how it seems to me, looking back from almost ten years on…

Pure Heroine (Lorde, 2013)– I had heard “Royals” of course, in 2014 you were actually required by law to listen to that song at least once a week. But I wasn’t otherwise familiar with this album. It turns out that the melodic synths and glitch beats that pervade the rest of the album are pretty pleasing. But the real star, by far, is Lorde’s voice, in both senses of the word. She manages to sound passionate and richly lackadaisical at the same time, and paints vivid pictures of love and life among youth on the outside- due to age, class, values, etc. So it’s a pleasure to listen to, it has depth, and it has cohesion, which is pretty darn good for a debut album from someone who was then in her teens!

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (M83, 2011)– After a lifetime of skepticism, over the past two plus years, I have been developing some considerable affection for electronic music. More old school house and techno and their immediate offshoots than the more contemporary continental Euro-version, though there are definitely exceptions to that! But French electronic group M83, or at least this album by them, does not seem to be one of those exceptions. It’s just a little too dreamy synthy bleary all-one-tone for my tastes.

Puberty 2 (Mitski, 2013)– The weirdly off metallic beats, double-entente lyrics and vocal melody of the opener had me hooked right off! And then again on track two, which felt like nineties alternative come again. In general, she seems to be on a path that several other female song-writers of the teens were tuned in to- a kind of fusion of nineties guitar rock and electronic music production in a lush pop setting, with complex confessional emotional lyrics. Generally achingly pretty, but very not afraid to get rough and ugly, in fact relishing it. On this album, she makes that mix work from beginning to end.

The Pinkprint (Nicki Minaj, 2014)– I’m more than a little ashamed to say that I wasn’t really familiar with Nicki Minaj beyond the fact of her major cultural footprint, and part of me wanted to find something to dislike here due to her recent embrace of the Magaverse. However, if there’s one thing I’m never dishonest about, it’s what I think of music, and I have to report- I utterly failed! The versatility and verve of the production is amazing, blenderizing multiple aspects of twenty-teens hip-hope, soul, and dance music in a way that feels both effortless and very skillful. No less impressive, though, is her lyrical and vocal range and the variety of personas she writes from. Heartfelt ballads of disappointed love, soul-baring meditations on loss, and sheer bawdy raunch all co-exist here in a way where none of it feels false or out of place. Sorry part of me that wanted her to misstep, but she’s amazing! I can totally see how this album ended up on this list. In fact, I’m insulted on its behalf that it didn’t rank high enough with critics to get on the original batch of 2010s albums I reviewed.

After Laughter (Paramore, 2017)– I can hear a lot of roots here- both the pop and the more quirky new wave side of eighties electro-pop, frequent appearances of polyrhythms that bring the Talking Heads to mind, and some of the confessional rawness of alt nineties female singer songwriters. It’s never less than well-done, fun, and very agreeable. Can you smell the but coming? (Sorry about that, I swear I showered!) But… I’m not sure it adds up to more than that. I don’t hear the sound of this album descending to anything after the teens, being better than the best albums of that decade in a similar vein, or being as great as their (seeming, to my ear) inspirations. Sorry Paramore, I know that’s an insanely high standard, but we’re 24 albums into this review now, and the competition is fierce!

So there we are with batch four of six of the 36 overflow albums for the 2010s that I’m reviewing! From this batch, I would say Pure Heroine, Puberty 2 and The Pinkprint are definite “yeses”. That’s a 50% success rate according to my calculations! Stay tuned to see what awaits us in albums 25-30…

50 Years of Hip Hop Album Review: E. 1999 Eternal, Liquid Swords

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2023 was the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and in honor of this anniversary, in 2024 the idea bloomed in my that I should review the top 50 albums of that 50 years. As I crunched together a list from various sources, 50 proved to be too restrictive- many of the classics were getting squeezed out. So, to make a little more room, I opted for 100 albums, two for each of hip hop’s 50 years. Due to some medical situations, I took a several months long hiatus from blogging that year, so I didn’t finish the series. It’s now 2026 and still proceeding fitfully, but I won’t stop if you don’t!

For its formative years, hip hop was a live entertainment form, with the first recorded singles not emerging until 1979, and the first albums in 1980. So my review covers 1980-2023, with 50 posts of two albums each. The only ground rule I made for myself (besides looking for 2×50, aka 100, albums that were widely well-regarded) was that I had to have at least one from each year. As you’ll see by and by, some years get multiple albums, but since we have 100 spots for 43 years, it tends to all work out.

And with that, let’s embark on our next installment!

Bone Thugs-n-Narmony, E. Eternal 1999 (1995)– Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony, formed in Cleveland in 1991, are maybe the first Midwestern hip hop entry on our list. I wasn’t familiar with them beyond “The Crossroads” (more on that below), but the name turns out to tell you a lot- they have a kind of perfect fusion of 90s gangster rap and 90s boy band harmonies, courtesy of the rapid flow “chopper” style of rapping. And although they’re Midwestern, their flavor of gangster rap is heavily redolent of West Coast hip hop, for good reason- they went on a months-long cross country quest to audition with Eazy-E (ironically finally catching up with him in Cleveland after months of searching L.A.) that resulted in their eventual signing with Ruthless Records, and work with Eazy-E and L.A. producer DJ U-Neek. This is their second album with Ruthless, and was their major breakthrough, eventually selling 4 million copies. Post-release they re-worked a song on the album, “The Crossroads” to serve as a tribute to Eazy-E, who had died shortly before the album came out, and their memorial to those who have passed was the first rap single to reach #2 nationwide. My impression after a good two listens is that, between the unique vocal style, the exquisite song production by DJ U-Neek, and the variety of ways they bring depth to the standard gangster rap themes, this album truly deserves its place in the list.

GZA, Liquid Swords (1995)- It’s a great thing to have a plan, and aiming high certainly gets you better results on average than not aiming anywhere. But the way some plans come together is a mystery of synergy, timing, and magic that’s beyond the everyday. Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA’s vision had always been that the group would serve as a launching pad for the individual members as well, with the group’s success expanding in all directions. Having already made an album for the ages with 1993’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), RZA headed back to his basement studio and wasted no time putting out successful albums for Method Man and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. He followed that up by simultaneously working on Raekwon’s album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… (which we’ll get to shortly in this series) and this album for co-founding member GZA/The Genius. GZA was considered Wu-Tang’s spiritual core and its most skilled lyricist, and that is in view here with his dense storytelling that looks for the reasons beneath (and above) the street scenes it represents. (For extra story-telling credit, GZA even directed the four videos for the album.) Match that with RZA’s darkly textured production and gritty beats, and the spell this album weaves is still powerful thirty years later.

If you’re curious about the sources I used to compile my list, you can check them out here:

And if you want to catch up on the previous installments, here they are…

  1. Sugarhill Gang- Sugarhill Gang (1980)/Kurtis Blow- Kurtis Blow (1980)
  2. Sugarhill Gang- 8th Wonder (1981)/Grandmaster Flash- The Message (1982)
  3. Wild Style Original Soundtrack (1983)/Fat Boys- Fat Boys (1984)
  4. Kurtis Blow- Ego Trip (1984)/Run-D.M.C.- Run-D.M.C. (1984)
  5. Whodini- Escape (1985)/The Treacherous Three- The Treacherous Three (1985)
  6. Run-D.M.C.- King of Rock (1985)/LL Cool J- Radio (1985)
  7. Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill (1986)/Run-D.M.C.- Raising Hell (1986)
  8. Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded (1987)/Eric B. & Rakim- Paid in Full (1987)
  9. LL Cool J- Bigger and Deffer (1987)/Big Daddy Kane- Long Live the Kane (1988)
  10. Boogie Down Productions- By All Means Necessary (1988)/EPMD- Strictly Business (1988)
  11. Eric B. & Rakim- Follow the Leader (1988)/Jungle Brothers- Straight Out the Jungle (1988)
  12. N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton (1988)/Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back (1988)
  13. Slick Rick- The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)/Ultramagnetic MCs- Critical Beatdown (1988)
  14. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique (1989)/Big Daddy Kane- It’s a Big Daddy Thing (1989)
  15. De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)/EPMD- Unfinished Business (1989)
  16. Geto Boys- Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)/Kool G Rap & DJ Polo- Road To The Riches (1989)
  17. The D.O.C.- No One Can Do It Better (1989)/Ice Cube- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
  18. A Tribe Called Quest- The Low End Theory (1991)/Ice Cube- Death Certificate (1991)
  19. Dr. Dre- The Chronic (1992)/Pete Rock and CL Smooth- Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)
  20. The Pharcyde- Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992)/A Tribe Called Quest- Midnight Marauders (1993)
  21. Snoop Doggy Dogg- Doggystyle (1993)/Wu-Tang Clan- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
  22. Nas- Illmatic (1994)/Scarface- The Diary (1994)
  23. The Notorious B.I.G.- Ready to Die (1994)/2Pac- Me Against the World (1995)

Finally, if you’d like a playlist for the entire list, you can find that here. Listen to it sequentially for the historical development of the genre, or play on shuffle for maximum historical scramble!