991. Cee-Lo Green is the Soul Machine

Cee-Lo Green is the Soul Machine
Cee-Lo Green
2004

Tracks
1. Intro
2. Soul Machine
3. The Art of Noise (feat Pharrell)
4. Living Again
5. I'll Be Around (feat Timbaland))
6. The One (Feat Jazze Pha & T.I.)
7. My Kind of People (Feat Jazze Pha & Menta Malone)
8. Childz Play (with Ludacris)
9. I Am Selling Soul
10. All Day Love Afair
11. Evening News (with Chazzie & Sir Cognac the Conversation)
12. Scrap Metal (with Big Rube & G-Rock)
13. Glockapella
14. When We Were Friends
15. Sometimes
16. Let's Stay Together (with Pharrell)
17. Die Trying
18. What Don't You Do? (Outro)

Ugh, and now this idiot. Twitter was a mistake. But I will try to separate the art from the artist, even if it causes me to die a little inside.

Cee-Lo does a nice job here blending soul, hip hop, and funk. It's nice to see somebody move away from the East Coast vs. West Coast hip hop sound, and actually do something different. The results are pretty great, and the many featured artists keep it fresh throughout the entire runtime.

Still, the album title sounds like something he coerces women into saying in bed. 

RATING: 4/5

990. College Dropout

College Dropout
Kanye West
2004

Tracks
1. Intro
2. We Don't Care
3. Graduation Day
4. All Falls Down
5. I'll Fly Away
6. Spaceship
7. Jesus Walks
8. Never Let Me Down
9. Get Em High
10. Workout Plan
11. The New Workout Plan
12. Slow Jamz
13. Breathe In Breathe Out
14. School Spirit (Skit 1)
15. School Spirit
16. School Spirit (Skit 2)
17. Lil Jimmy Skit
18. Two Words
19. Through The Wire
20. Family Business
21. Last Call

Kanye West is yet another mentally ill narcissist who believes he should be president. If we all join hands, maybe we can get that ego in check. Unfortunately, I can't be of much help with the delusions of grandeur in this instance, as I thought this album was pretty amazing.

Which is really annoying. I want to be loyal to my girl T Swift, after all. But I grew up listening to this, so it has a nostalgia factor for me. He takes interesting elements of pop and translates it into hip hop. It's hard not to admire the effect. 

Some of the skits were annoying. By the end he was just ranting and boasting (shock), but the singles made up for it. Overall, an entertaining album. Which is disappointing.

RATING: 4/5

957. Phrenology

Phrenology
The Roots
2002

Tracks
1. Phrentrow
2. Rock You
3. !!!!!!!
4. Sacrifice
5. Rolling With Heat
6. Waok (Ay) Rollcall
7. Thought @ Work
8. The Seed (2.0)
9. Break You Off
10. Water The First Movement/ Water The Abyss/ Water The Drowning
11. Quills
12. Pussy Galore
13. Complexity
14. Something In The Way Of Things (In Town)

After Missy Elliott dared to be different, we are back to the same old, same old with our hip hop music. Well, maybe that is not completely fair, as they are trying to blend some genres here. But songs like "Pussy Galore" are pretty boring at this point.

The Roots attempt to pull in some rock and ambient influences. I enjoyed the more rock centric tracks, but I don't think the ambient songs really worked. Of course, this may just be because I don't like ambient music in general, but I thought "Water" was pretty dull.

In the end, an uneven album that I didn't hate listening to. I'll take it.

RATING: 3/5

954. Under Construction

Under Construction
Missy Elliott
2002

Tracks
1. Intro/Go To The Floor
2. Bring The Pain
3. Gossip Folks
4. Work It
5. Back In The Day
6. Funky Fresh Dressed
7. P***ycat
8. Nothing Out There For Me
9. Slide
10. Play That Beat
11. Ain't That Funny
12. Hot
13. Can You Hear Me
14. Work It

I knew I was going to enjoy this, because I trust Missy Elliott to explore more interesting themes than what's present in standard hip hop fare. She is always funny and a little weird.

I ended up liking this a lot more than the previous Missy Elliott album. In the last entry, I felt like her speaking to her audience was a somewhat insecure and unnecessary addition, like when writers start their novels with cringey disclaimers that they tried their best. But I appreciated the intimacy that it provided this album.

This is not faux female empowerment like Destiny's Child, and is really good music to boot.

RATING: 4/5

940. The Blueprint

The Blueprint
Jay-Z
2001

Tracks
1. The Ruler's Back
2. Takeover
3. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
4. Girls, Girls, Girls
5. Jigga That Nigga
6. U Don't Know
7. Hola' Hovito
8. Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)
9. Never Change
10. Song Cry
11. All I Need
12. Renegade
13. Blueprint

My friend who is a bit of a hip hop enthusiast has told me that Jay-Z is the best rapper bar none, but he doesn't even make my top ten list. But I don't think my hip hop opinions are taken very seriously by him, though. This might have something to do with my race, or my sex, or the fact that I don't know how to pronounce RZA. In any case, after listening to this album, I still don't think Jay Z is that great.

For the most part, this is standard peacocking fare, replete with swagger and drowning in hos. His diss track to Nas was particularly obnoxious. Nas is a better hip hop artist and Jay Z has sampled from him before. And he attacks Mobb Deep for taking ballet classes a child. Can you imagine possessing such fragile masculinity? It must be exhausting.

I thought Beyonce deserved better but after listening to that Destiny Child's album I guess they deserve each other.

RATING: 2/5

928. Stankonia

Stankonia
Outkast
2000

Tracks
1. Intro
2. Gasoline Dreams
3. I'm Cool (Interlude)
4. So Fresh, So Clean
5. Ms. Jackson
6. Snappin' & Trappin'
7. D.F. (Interlude)
8. Spaghetti Junction
9. Kim & Cookie (Interlude)
10. I'll Call B4 I Cum
11. B.O.B.
12. Xplosion
13. Good Hair (Interlude)
14. We Luv Deez Hoez
15. Humble Mumble
16. Drinkin' Again (Interlude)
17. ?
18. Red Velvet
19. Cruisin' In The ATL (Interlude)
20. Gangsta Shit
21. Toilet Tisha
22. Slum Beautiful
23. Pre-Nump (Interlude)
24. Stankonia (Stanklove)

After listening to Eminem, any non Slim Shady hip hop album was going to sound a ballad of a goddess. Yes, even an album with a track titled "We Luv Deez Hoez."

Sometimes the album stuck to the tried and true formula of hip hop, which is men bragging and women making sex noises (I guess they are used to asking women to fake it). But other times they did something different, and I enjoyed those moments. For me the highlight was "Ms. Jackson."

When it didn't succumb to the weaknesses of its genre, it was actually pretty good.

RATING: 3/5 

919. Welcome to the Afterfuture

Welcome to the Afterfuture
Mike Ladd
2000

Tracks
1. 5000 Miles West of the Future
2. Airwave Hysteria
3. Planet 10
4. Takes No More Than 41
5. Bladerunners
6. No.1 Street
7. To the Moon's Contractor
8. I Feel Like 100 Dollars
9. The Animist
10. Red Eye to Jupiter (Starship Nigga)
11. Welcome to the Afterfuture
12. Wipe Out On the Wave of Armageddon
13. Feb.4'99 (For All Those Killed by Cops)

So after Common's Like What For Chocolate, we get another hip hop album. I think this was worse, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the last entry. Mike Ladd doesn't have much of a personality, or it doesn't translate in this album.

I think he was going for a really dark feel to the album, but it ended up just being kind of dull. I guess there were some electronica elements that might be interesting to some people, but they weren't that fascinating to me.

Even with all his predictions, I doubt he saw 2020 coming.

RATING: 2/5

918. Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate
Common
2000

Tracks
1. Time Traveling (A Tribute To Fela)
2. Heat
3. Cold Blooded
4. Dooinit
5. The Light
6. Funky For You
7. The Questions
8. Time Travelin Reprise
9. The 6Th Sense
10. A Film Called Pimp
11. Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For The World)
12. Thelonius
13. Payback Is A Grandmother
14. Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I.
15. A Song For Assata
16. Pops Rap III....All My Children

This album automatically scored points for me by being named after one of my favorite novels, Like Water for Chocolate. Based on Common's interviews, I guess it was more of a reference to the movie than the novel, but I'm still excited.

Unfortunately, for the most part this is a rather ordinary hip hop album with the same kind of grandiose bragging, with a dash of misogyny and homophobia thrown in for good measure. I think of how many great artists have appeared on the List and created beautiful music based on their vulnerabilities. And then you have this kind of grand standing, and it just seems hollow and immature. 

But he also referenced the Hardy Boys, so I'm torn.

RATING: 3/5

840. Supa Dupa Fly

Super Dupa Fly
Missy Elliot
1997

Tracks
1. Busta's Intro
2. Hit Em Wit Da Hee
3. Sock It 2 Me
4. The Rain [Supa Dupa Fly]
5. Beep Me 911
6. They Don't Wanna F*** Wit Me
7. Pass Da Blunt
8. Bite Our Style [Interlude]
9. Friendly Skies
10. Best Friends
11. Don't Be Coming (In My Face)
12. Izzy Izzy Ahh
13. Why You Hurt Me
14. I'm Talkin'
15. Gettaway
16. Busta's Outra
17. Missy's Finale

I wasn't too familiar with Missy Elliot's work. I had heard "Sock It 2 Me" before though, in a movie I don't entirely want to admit having watched. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit, even if the finale was a little awkward.

This is a fun album with fairly odd lyrics. In many ways, she follows the traditional hip hop blueprint for lyrics, where you have to shout that you're the greatest from the rooftops. But she takes enough turns and infuses the album with enough weirdness that it still manages to be interesting.

Still not my favorite style of music because of the artists' reluctance to be truly vulnerable, but entertaining nevertheless.

RATING: 4/5

834. The Score

The Score
The Fugees
1996

Tracks
1. Red Intro
2. How Many Mics
3. Ready Or Not
4. Zealots
5. The Beast
6. FU-GEE-LA
7. Family Business
8. Killing Me Softly With His Song
9. The Score
10. The Mask
11. Cowboys
12. No Woman, No Cry
13. Manifest/Outro
14. Fu-Gee-La (Refugee Camp Remix)
15. Fu-Gee-La (Sly & Robbie Mix)
16. Mista Mista
17. Fu-Gee-La (Refugee Camp Global Mix)

I grew up listening to this album. My older siblings would put it on in the car when they would drive me to school. Now it's even more timely. There's an entire song about how everybody wears a mask.

I think the highlight of this album is "Ready or Not" but I really enjoyed their covers too. Of course "No Woman, No Cry" is not as good as the original. It wasn't just a copy though, it was clearly a loving tribute. Okay, maybe four versions of the same track was excessive, but I enjoyed them all.  

Whenever people talk about Lauryn Hill I feel like they have to specify that she is really good female rapper. I think she's just a really good rapper.

RATING: 5/5

823. Come Find Yourself

Come Find Yourself
Fun Loving Criminals
1996

Tracks
1. The Fun Lovin' Criminal
2. Passive/Aggressive
3. The Grave and the Constant
4. Scooby Snacks
5. Smoke 'Em
6. Bombin' the L
7. I Can't Get with That
8. King of New York
9. We Have All the Time in the World
10. Bear Hug
11. Come Find Yourself
12. Crime and Punishment
13. Methadonia

I know I complain about hip hop a good deal, but there is actually the occasional hip hop album I enjoy. Case in point. So I don't despair of the genre completely like I do with heavy metal. I know I shouldn't live in the past, but I'm still smarting from yesterday's Sepultura experience.

This is an album very much of its time, which makes it very fun. "Scooby Snacks" in particular has a distinct 90s sound. It's also probably the highlight of the album (my other favorite was "Smoke 'Em") They weren't quite as clever in their lyrics as some other hip hop artists on this List, but their songs were catchy enough that it didn't matter.

It's a nice change of pace to get hip hop with the intensity dialed down a bit.

RATING: 3/5

801. Liquid Swords

Liquid Swords
GZA
1995

Tracks
1. Liquid Swords
2. Duel Of The Iron Mic
3. Living In The World Today
4. Gold
5. Cold World
6. Labels
7. 4th Chamber
8. Shadowboxin'
9. Hell's Wind Staff / Killah Hills 10304
10. Investigative Reports
11. Swordsman
12. I Gotcha Back
13. Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

Another milestone for the books, 801, meaning we only have 200 albums to go! And this officially ends my Album-athon weekend. So much good music squeezed into two days.

So this is another solo effort from a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. It starts off rather strangely, with a child talking about his samurai father. They sure like their Eastern influences. I mean, that was a little weird, but oddly, it worked. This might actually be my favorite solo effort by somebody from the Wu-Tang Clan so far. The tracks were all fairly mellow, with great beats that had an almost soporific quality to them.

I feel like we are just bouncing between hip hop and britpop albums, with an occasional world music entry thrown in every so often. It's getting a little monotonous, but at least the recent quality of the albums has been good.

RATING: 4/5

794. Me Against the World

Me Against the World
2Pac
1995

Tracks
1. Intro
2. If I Die 2nite
3. Me Against The World
4. So Many Tears
5. Temptations
6. Young Niggaz
7. Heavy In The Game
8. Lord Knows
9. Dear Mama
10. It Ain't Easy
11. Can U Get Away
12. Old School
13. Fuck The World
14. Death Around The Corner
15. Outlaw

We took a quick break from listening to artists who died horrific deaths, but we are back on the hearse with this album. I know he's a big deal and everything, but I would rather not listen to music by an accused rapist. An unreasonable request, I know.

Like Ready to Die, this album is seemingly prescient of 2Pac's demise, which makes it pretty eerie to listen to (particularly "Death Around the Corner"). But I was still taken aback by how mellow this was, even with all the anger behind the lyrics. I actually really liked "Dear Mama," which was a surprisingly sweet tribute to 2Pac's mother. And there were some catchy hooks in there as well.

Not something I want to listen to again, but better than Biggie Smalls at least.

RATING: 3/5

764. Ill Communication

Ill Communication
Beastie Boys
1994

Tracks
1. Sure Shot
2. Tough Guy
3. B-Boys Makin' With The Freak Freak
4. Bobo On The Corner
5. Root Down
6. Sabotage
7. Get It Together
8. Sabrosa
9. The Update
10. Futterman's Rule
11. Alright Hear This
12. Eugene's Lament
13. Flute Loop
14. Do It
15. Ricky's Theme
16. Heart Attack Man
17. The Scoop
18. Shambala
19. Bodhisattva Vow
20. Transitions

It's hard to know what to make of the Beastie Boys. On the one hand, you can admire the sheer range of this album, which pulls in influences from anything to modern hip hop to Middle Eastern music. 

But they are also just plain annoying at times, with tracks like "Do It." They do sampling really well though, and that's something. Naturally, they won me over with the lyrics in "Sure Shot": "I want to say a little something that’s long overdue / The disrespect to women has to got to be through / To all the mothers and sisters and the wives and friends / I want to offer my love and respect till the end." Needless to say, that is not the kind of message I've come to expect from a hip hop album.

Maybe not as good as License to Ill, but still a pretty quality album.

RATING: 3/5

763. Illmatic

Illmatic
Nas
1994

Tracks
1. The Genesis
2. N.Y. State Of Mind
3. Life's A Bitch
4. The World Is Yours
5. Halftime
6. Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)
7. One Love
8. One Time 4 Your Mind
9. Represent
10. It Ain't Hard To Tell

I liked this one more than I expected to, having hardened my heart against the genre because of, you know, the constant barrage of hate speech. Then again, I still found certain tracks obnoxious, like "One Love" and "The World Is Yours."

I guess this is one of the highest praised albums of all time. I was surprised by this. It was good, but it's certainly not the most innovative hip hop albums we've had on the List. The highlights for me were "Life's a Bitch" and "Halftime."

If you are into this kind of music, you will enjoy this, and you can continue to gloat that your favorite genre seemingly takes up roughly a third of the List. 

RATING: 3/5

759. The Sun Rises in the East

The Sun Rises in the East
Jeru the Damaja

1994

Tracks
1. Intro (Life)
2. D. Original
3. Brooklyn Took It
4. Perverted Monks In Tha House
5. Mental Stamina
6. Da Bitchez
7. You Can't Stop The Prophet
8. Perverted Monks In Tha House
9. Ain't The Devil Happy
10. My Mind Spray
11. Come Clean
12. Jungle Music
13. Statik

It's Friday, it's been an exceptionally long week, so let's all just imagine my reaction to a track called "Da Bitchez" rather than sit through a whole spiel. Picture my righteous indignation, throw in a reference to Taylor Swift, and add a malediction against the List gods of misogyny for good measure. 

I will add that I liked the more jazzy samples. But it was mostly another miss for me, even if I enjoyed "Jungle Music."

RATING; 3/5

756. Tical

Tical
Method Man
1993

Tracks
1. Tical
2. Biscuits
3. Bring the Pain
4. All I Need - Method Man, Diggs, Robert
5. What the Blood Clot
6. Meth Vs. Chef
7. Sub Crazy
8. Release Yo' Delf
9. P.L.O. Style
10. I Get My Thang in Action
11. Mr. Sandman
12. Stimulation
13. Method Man

We just had the Wu-Tang Clan. Now we have Method Man's solo effort which very much sounds like the Wu-Tang Clan. This is to be expected obviously and is clearly a deliberate nod with all the shoutouts to the Clan. Still, it seems like he doesn't have much to say as a solo artist.

So if you really liked the Wu-Tang Clan album, you will love this, as it is a continuation of the same sound. I like the more laid back vibe of this hip hop style and the production was very good. Kind of gritty but still smooth.

I can't help but compare this to Ice Cube's first solo effort after N.W.A, and this is far superior. Still derivative though.

RATING: 3/5

749. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
1993

Tracks
1. Bring Da Ruckus
2. Shame on a Nigga
3. Clan in da Front
4. Wu Tang : 7th Chamber
5. Can It Be All So Simple
6. Da Mystery of Chessboxin'
7. Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit
8. C.R.E.A.M.
9. Method Man
10. Protect Ya Neck
11. Tearz
12. Wu Tang : 7th Chamber - Part II
13. Method Man (Skunk Mix)
14. Conclusion

More hardcore hip hop. This is all sounding so samey lately; I guess West Coast hip hop has taken over for good. I wish everybody had imitated De La Soul instead.

Thankfully, this album did a few cool things which made it feel fresh. Yes, it was the same style of self aggrandizing lyrics which is never particularly interesting to me, especially when it involves ass torture. But I liked the low-fi production and at least the martial arts gimmick was original. 

I also liked all the pop culture references they made in between boast seshes. Will never be my favorite style of music, but this was more bearable than some other hip hop entries on this List.

RATING: 3/5

725. Connected

Connected
Stereo MCs
1992

Tracks
1. Connected
2. Ground Level
3. Everything
4. Sketch
5. Fade Away
6. All Night Long
7. Step It Up
8. Playing With Fire
9. Pressure
10. Chicken Shake
11. Creation
12. The End

Well this was possibly the most 90s album so far to come out of the List. I was still -3 when this album came out but it feels like something I grew up with.

I know I am frequently critical of hip hop music but I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. The lyrics didn't have the depth of some of my other favorites here, but at least it wasn't hateful. Even the band name "Stereo MCs" sounds uber 90s.

Undeniably dated, but a decent album if you are on a nostalgia trip. 

RATING: 3/5

720. Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde

Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
The Pharcyde
1992

Tracks
1. 4 Better Or 4 Worse
2. Oh Shit
3. It's Jiggaboo Time
4. 4 Better Or 4 Worse
5. I'm That Type Of Nigga
6. If I Were President
7. Soul Flower
8. On The DL
9. Pack The Pipe
10. Officer
11. Ya Mama
12. Passing Me By
13. Otha Fish
14. Quinton's On The Way
15. Pack The Pipe
16. Return Of The B-Boy

Admittedly, this was better than Dr. Dre's The Chronic, but then again, what isn't? Of course, there is an entire track dedicated to Ya Mama jokes, so it's not what I would consider a significant improvement. 

Same old, same old. More misogyny with fairly childish lyrics. According to a friend of mine, "there is a time and place for misogyny and it's in hip hop music." I walked away so my head wouldn't explode all over the carpet. 

I guess I enjoyed the jazz elements in there, and at least the sampling wasn't tacky. But A Tribe Called Quest is much better.

RATING: 2/5