So what makes a good hip hop album? Well plain and simple an album you can actually listen to all the way through and not just the one damn song from the radio, which is crushing alot of other types of music as well (The Killers I’ve got my eye on you!!!). I mean really don't we all miss the days when you didn't just like one song on the record you listened to them all. Granted there is a few new cats that can do the job right but you sure as shit are not gonna see 'em on video channels or the radio. So today I felt I would share three albums that pass the test with flying colors.
First up we have the 1994 album from Extra Prolific "Like it Should Be". Consisting of rapper Snupe and Mike G. (although he didn't rhyme on the album and only produced one beat)these two came from Texas to hook up with Oakland crew Hieroglyphics (known for Del and Souls Of Mischief) to make what was the last of the crews Jive Records series before going independent. This was a slept piece of work from the rhymes to the beats it had a nationwide feel of hip hop at the time. From the Too Short-sounding opener "Brown Sugar" to the Grover Washington Jr. sampling "First Sermon", which definitely has more of a laid back east coast A Tribe Called Quest groove it delivers but don't mistake it Extra Prolific was not biting these styles. Not a single song is wasted and the topics are as diverse as domestic violence, church, and getting ass. Not much was heard from Extra Prolific after this album except a few singles and a shelved album that was later released by Hieroglyphics long after Extra Prolific left the crew. Rumor has it Snupe returned and is now rapping in a Christian -faith rap group he formed. Enjoy.Extra Prolific "Like It Should Be"
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V61033BK
Next is the debut from L.A. lyricist extraordinaire RASS KASS "Soul on Ice". Now this great album from 1996 was something to hear and hasn't lost a bit of its power since then. I am not gonna ramble on about it too much cause if you listen to it you'll understand why this is one of my all time favorite rap albums ever. Tracks to not be missed are the opener "On Earth As It Is...", "Nature of the Threat", and the closer "Ordo Abchao (Out of Order Chaos)". Rass Kass is still doing his thing and I highly recommend picking up any of his newer mix tapes, even if it's just to hear him diss L.A. rapper The Game or his second release "Rassassination". Enjoy.RASS KASS "Soul On Ice" 1996
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5IF18VS0
Last is the second album from Def Squad gunner Keith Murray "Enigma" from 1996 as well. This one is Mr. Keith Murray doing what he does best, being a beast on the microphone. The production was handled by Erick Sermon (EPMD) and The Ummah (Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest and future beatmaster Jay Dee RI.P. of Slum Village) which at the time was like the equalivalent of having Kanye West and Just Blaze produce your album. No one is like him and no one will be look for his new project with Cannibus cause the first single is pure heat and don't sleep on his other masterpiece The Most Beautifulest Thing In this World. Enjoy.Keith Murray "Enigma"
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7FPHCWKA
"music has mellowed out to the point where most of just bores me, and i'm not a snob either i just can't forget what i know."
-H.Rollins 1994
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