East Bay View (a blog about several things)

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Monday, May 11, 2009

Favourite hip hop and R&B albums of the decade

For genre clarity, I'm restricting this to American and Canadian records.
  1. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP: His usual problem -- his disses are pro forma when he's merely contemptuous -- and his usual solution -- unrivaled vitriol towards those targets he truly hates. Poor ICP. Oh wait, fuck ICP. (What's possibly his new usual problem -- dull beats -- hadn't set in yet; Dre is on fire here.) The first album has fewer deadweight guest spots, but this is his best album more or less because of "Stan", and "Stan" isn't even the best song on the record. The decade's best work of art about the role of the artist, though it helps that he has, or at least had, a more interesting role than, say, any contemporary novelist.
  2. Kanye West, Late Registration
  3. Ghostface Killah, Fishscale
  4. Nas, Untitled
  5. Buck 65, Talkin' Honky Blues
  6. Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak
  7. OutKast, Stankonia
  8. DJ Shadow, The Private Press
  9. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
  10. The Coup, Party Music
  11. K'naan, The Dusty Foot Philosopher
  12. OutKast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
  13. Kanye West, The College Dropout
  14. N*E*R*D, In Search of...
  15. Lil Wayne, Da Drought 3
  16. Steinski, What Does It All Mean?
  17. Mos Def, The New Danger
  18. OutKast, Idlewild
  19. Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman
  20. Public Enemy, Rebirth of a Nation
  21. Kelis, Tasty
  22. Wu-Tang Clan, The W
  23. Atmosphere, Lucy Ford
  24. Blackalicious, NIA
  25. Lupe Fiasco, Food and Liquor
  26. Northern State, Dying in Stereo
  27. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
  28. Lyrics Born, Later That Day
  29. The Perceptionists, Black Dialogue
  30. The Coup, Pick a Bigger Weapon
  31. The Roots, Rising Down
  32. Erykah Badu, Mama's Gun
  33. Missy Elliott, This Is Not a Test!
  34. Nas, Street's Disciple
  35. Raphael Saadiq, The Way I See It
  36. Kanye West, Graduation
Percolating:
Tanya Morgan, The Bridge
Why?, Alopecia (if it counts)
Black Milk, Tronic
UGK 4 Life

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