I always love to see the content which Remi Landau puts up on his Instagram with relation to movies and I have been thinking about doing something similar with the blog, turning into one which really focuses heavily on various aspects of music. This in reality is something of a sample piece and today I am going to focus on the rap albums which completely changed and shaped the game. Remi is brilliant on this movie channel and he really is a huge inspiration, if you don’t follow him just yet then I would urge you to check him out.
Right back to the list, here are some of my favorite albums and those which changed the rap game.
Paid in Full – Eric B and Rakim
Prior to this album dropping the majority of the MCs who owe had seen in hip-hop was those party rappers who MCd on the beat to get the crowd going. When Rakim came on the scene however everything changed and the way in which he selected his lyrics and laced them around those slick Eric B beats, made sure that nothing would be the same again.
Nas – Illmatic
It would be foolish not to place what is widely considered as the best rap album of all time on this list. Illmatic wasn’t just about the style, flow and delivery of Nas, it was also a snapshot in time, a lyrical photograph of what was taking place on New York’s streets back in 1993, there was nothing like this at the time, at least not in terms of accuracy and the way in which it made you feel.
N.W.A. – Straight Out of Compton
I’d go as far to say that this album changed rap like no other album ever has. The rugged, raw, rude and downright ridiculous beats and lyrics which featured on this album have resonated for the rest of time. This was gangsta rap at its purest, more violent and most aggressive and every lapped it up, an incredible piece from an incredible group.
Eminem – Slim Shady LP
Despite Vanilla Ice almost ruining the chances of a white rapper ever making it, a young, messed up kid from Detroit very soon became the hottest artist on the planet, and the Slim Shady LP was where it started. The most noticeable thing about the album wasn’t the weird lyrics and self-loathing, but rather the sensational beats and the incredible flow which Em had. As far as debut albums go, this is may not be up there with the best at all, but what it did for the industry and the culture was to shock it to its very core and make it think about where it was heading. Dre killed it on this and Em was just so powerful with his lines, it really did have a monster impact.
There are many more I could mention here from Kendrick to T.I. but these are the first which have come to mind, what do you make of it?
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