COMING NOW: Jesus Shuttlesworth's Top 10 Rap Albums of All Time.

[Cheech]

Strong start is strong.

Altho sif not post a link to guillotine swordz.

[Shuttlesworth]

#8 coming before 4pm Melbourne time. Can exclusively reveal that it is a mixtape.

[Shuttlesworth]

#8 Joe Budden – Mood Muzik 2: Can It Get Any Worse? (2006)



The 2nd installment in Joe Budden’s critically acclaimed Mood Muzik mixtape series, Joe’s response to the treatment he received when signed to Def Jam records, Mood Muzik 2 showcases the trademark reflective, introspective lyricism which brought Joe such high acclaim, on tracks like Are You In That Mood Yet?, Dumb Out and If I Die Tomorrow. Not just limited to introspection however, MM2 explores broader themes in ‘storytelling’ tracks such as Three Sides to a Story which looks at ‘what it’s like in the hood.’ Overall, MM2 is a startlingly honest look at the thoughts of a man frustrated with his place in the rap world, and the world he sees around him.

Recommended Tracks:

[r dub]

Fuuuu was going to say it would be this.

[Shuttlesworth]

IT'S THAT ON TOP MU-ZIK!

Edit: The Eminem Show is Eminem's best album, SSLP and MMLP have both aged terribly for mine and no, Take Care will not feature in this list.

[Cheech]

if take care was in this list I would quit the internet

[Shuttlesworth]

Bump.

[TheStinger]

Every time I see this thread in the last post column on the main menu page it says COMING SOON: Jesus... and I always get excited because I missed him the last time. I want to see his Second Coming Tour.

[r dub]

I await.

[Shuttlesworth]

#7 Kanye West - The College Dropout (2004)



Throughout his career, Kanye has never been afraid to push boundaries, and nowhere is this more apparent than on his debut album. Released at the peak of the faux-gangsta 'movement' that dominated rap at beginning of the decade, The College Dropout was an important release in the movement to make it cool to rap about more 'common,' 'intelligent' things, with Kanye confidently covering topics more relateable to the average person, with prominent lyrical themes including religion; consumerism; self-consciousness; consumerism and minimum wage labour among others. Often lambasted for his lack of skill on the mic, Kanye showcases his superb lyricism (not talking about rhyming ability etc. here so pls go) on classic tracks such as Never Let Me Down, Jesus Walks and All Falls Down.

I could continue for a long time, but I've forgotten where I was going with this whole thing, so I'll just finish by saying that this is an absolutely essential listen for any rap fan, and that Common's verse on Get 'Em High is one of the worst things I've ever heard.

Recommended Tracks:

[Narkee]

His best album IMO

[Shuttlesworth]

Bump.

[r dub]

Finally

[Shuttlesworth]

#6 - Jay-Z - American Gangster (2007)



So here we have what I consider to be the most overlooked album in rap (followed closely by Hip Hop is Dead,) which astounds me. I mean, on the one hand, this is a classic Jay record: heavily based in his experiences in the drug game, charismatic, featuring superb flows, outstanding lyricism and great wordplay. On the other hand, it lacks the one feature most other Jay albums have - inconsistency. To me, this is the album where Jay said 'fuck the sales, I've got a clear (semi)concept and I'm focused on making the best album I can,' and it works superbly, I mean this album is executed perfectly, with absolutely zero filler (as found on all other Jay releases.) His lyrics are superb, perfectly shifting between personal and the archetypal 'Frank Lucas' gangster character and I can count the bad bars on one hand. Add to that the great production, which suits the album perfectly and you have a superb, classic album in every sense of the word.

Recommended tracks:




(Iran-Contra/Contraband line is ridiculously perfect)

[Shuttlesworth]

OK, about to start the top 5. Thoughts/predictions?

r dub Goon MelanieJ Dev One Big Sledge flight23 Narkee etc.

Basically, gtfih fgts.

If anyone can guess the exact top 5 I will think of some kind of reward...