got me thinking though, and this isn't to say that i agree with Toure, but what rap artists can lay claim to this sort of run? Only person I could think of....
Criminal Minded
By All Means Necessary
Ghetto Music: The Blueprint
Edutainment
Sex & Violence
Return of the Boom Bap
KRS-ONE
BDP is probably the closest.
Ice Cube has 2 classics, a good ep, a good album and then crap.
Jay Z? Depends who's asking I suppose.
I'm sure some people would say The Roots.
6 Albums is A LOT of albums. Most rappers careers don't last that long.
Yeah 6 is tough. 4 or 5 is a strech for most artists. Agree with Outkast and Doom, some other possible ones:
PE
1987: Yo! Bum Rush the Show
1988: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
1990: Fear of a Black Planet
1991: Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black
1994: Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age
Beasties
Licensed to Ill (1986)
Paul's Boutique (1989)
Check Your Head (1992)
Ill Communication (1994)
Hello Nasty (1998)
Aesop Rock
Float (1999)
Labor Days (2001)
Bazooka Tooth (2003)
Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives (2005)
None Shall Pass (2007)
EPMD
Strictly Business (1988)
Unfinished Business (1989)
Business as Usual (1990)
Business Never Personal (1992)
De la Soul
3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
De La Soul is Dead (1991)
Buhloone Mindstate (1993)
Stakes Is High (1996)
Blockhead wrote:6 Albums is A LOT of albums. Most rappers careers don't last that long.
Shit most contemporary musicians can't put out 6 albums of quality material let alone rappers.
fixed.
Jazz musicians would regularly put out 2-4 high quality releases a year at the hight of the genre. Look at what Wayne Shorter in 64-65. Dude dropped four classics on his own, and wrote some of Miles' band's greatest works.
Also, for what it's worth, LL's first 11 joints went at least gold. I'd take 4 of the first 6 up to Mr. Smith as being great albums. De La and Tribe through their first 4 are worthy. Eric B and Rakim were all aces with their first four. Toure clearly needs work, as evidenced by tweeting hyperbolic bullshit.
De La's first six albums are better than Kanye's, in my opinion. But then, I'm a fan of the AOI's - I think they're underrated in the grand scheme. I think Kanye peaked, creatively, at a different time, in terms of the album number. Personally, I think Graduation and MBDTF are his best, whereas, I like Dead and Buhloone the best in De La's catalog.
I love the Roots, and I think a couple of their latest LP's are some of my fave in their collection, but I think that Organix and Phrenology are a mess, so that would have to discount them.
And Outkast was really on a role, but then Andre started singing, and that ruined everything for me.
KRS is a great choice - such a fucking shame that he's still pushing out mediocrity - dude should have gone the way of Kane.
1993: Young Black Brotha: The Album
1998: Stupid Doo Doo Dumb
1999: Rapper Gone Bad
2000: Heart of a Gangsta, Mind of a Hustla, Tongue of a Pimp
2001: Mac Dre's the Name
2001: It's Not What You Say... It's How You Say It
2002: Thizzelle Washington
2003: Al Boo Boo
2004: Ronald Dregan: Dreganomics
2004: The Genie of the Lamp
2004: The Game Is Thick, Vol. 2
gets a little crazy if you start to include compilations & posthumous releases.. but that's about as good as it gets imo
Req wrote:If Jay hadn't dropped Vol 2 he'd be in contention, since every album around it is dope:
Reasonable Doubt
Vol 1
Vol 3
Dynasty
Blueprint
How is Vol 2 not included? You may dislike that era, as "certain types" seem to do, but that album defined 1998.
And I don't know why you didn't include The Black Album. That would make 7. American Gangster would make 8...
Because it was a shit record. This isn't a "certain types" conversation, otherwise I wouldn't have listed Vol 3, but even Jay fans know Vol 2 was mediocre. Coincidentally, Jay-Z lists it as his favorite album, although i doubt that has much to do with the quality of music on there. Not sure I'd consider Vol 2 the defining album of 1998 either...
Black Album isn't listed because Blueprint 2 came before it, so that's where the streak stops. I actually liked BP2 though.
ackbar wrote:Quik Is The Name
Way 2 Fonky
Safe + Sound
Rhythm-al-ism
Balance & Options
Under Tha Influence
Trauma
BlaQKout
The Book of David
I'm a Quik head but I'm not really fucking too hard with the second half of that list, aside from the last 2.
Rhythm AL Ism/Balance & Options(esp the latter) are great records.
Under Tha Influence and Trauma were both good but had more obvious missteps(UTI having the most). Blaqkout has some crazy production and the new one is on par with Balance.
A Kid wrote:Rhythm AL Ism/Balance & Options(esp the latter) are great records.
Rhythm-al-ism is my favorite Quik record and it's a classic, I dunno about B&O, I remember being extremely underwhelmed when I heard it. Might have to revisit.
Mr. Scarface Is Back (1991)
The World Is Yours (1993)
The Diary (1994)
The Untouchable (1997)
My Homies (1998)
The Last of a Dying Breed (2000)
The Fix (2002)
Made (2007)
Emeritus (2008)
&
1983: Don't Stop Rappin
1985: Players
1986: Raw, Uncut, and X-Rated
1987: Born to Mack
1989: Life Is... Too Short
1990: Short Dog's in the House
1992: Shorty The Pimp
1993: Get in Where You Fit In
1995: Cocktails
1996: Gettin It (Album Number Ten)
1999: Can't Stay Away
2002: What's My Favorite Word?
2003: Married to the Game
&
1991: Mr. Flamboyant (EP)
1993: Federal
1994: The Mail Man (EP)
1995: In a Major Way
1996: Tha Hall of Game
1998: The Element of Surprise
1999: Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire
2000: Loyalty & Betrayal
2002: Grit & Grind
2003: Breakin' News
2006: My Ghetto Report Card
2010: Revenue Retrievin': Day Shift
2010: Revenue Retrievin': Night Shift
2011: Revenue Retrievin': Overtime Shift
2011: Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift
&
1993 Comin' Out Hard
1994 On The Outside Looking In
1995 On Top Of The World
1999 In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1
2000 Space Age 4 Eva
2004 Living Legends
Brougham33 wrote:Beasties
Licensed to Ill (1986)
Paul's Boutique (1989)
Check Your Head (1992)
Ill Communication (1994)
Hello Nasty (1998)
To the 5 Boroughs (2004)
The Mix-Up (2007)
Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011)
A Kid wrote:Rhythm AL Ism/Balance & Options(esp the latter) are great records.
Rhythm-al-ism is my favorite Quik record and it's a classic, I dunno about B&O, I remember being extremely underwhelmed when I heard it. Might have to revisit.
B&O has some amazing songs but a lot of boring ones too.
So does "consistently good" mean "there's at least one salvageable song on each album" or "passable when compared to the worst music ever released"? Because judging by this thread, it doesn't actually mean "consistently good."
that list just brought a happy tear to my eye