Hip-Hop of the 2000s

[Josh]

I'm going to be audacious. In my opinion:

Game Theory>Phrenology>Stankonia>Kanye's "school" trilogy, which are all of a piece so I'm lumping them together>Tha Carter III>Speakerboxx/The Love Below

I realize that those aren't the only hip-hop albums released this decade, or even necessarily the best or most influential ones; I only intend to provide a sampling of some of the more buzzed-about releases.

Discuss!

[murlough23]

I know nothing about "real" hip-hop. I only listen to John Reuben, who is wack.

[dgp11776]

I really don't have much to add to this topic.  I don't like political music, nor do I like music with piles of curse words, sexual imagery, or racism in it.  Therefore, I'm not inclined to listen to basically any of the mainstream hip-hop that's out there.  I know that limits what I hear and knowing what is truly the "influencing art," but I'm okay with that.  That being said, I think everyone on here knows that I find Mars ILL, Deepspace5, and related artists to be the best that hip-hop has to offer.  So, here goes an attempt at my top 15 out in the 2000's.  I'm going to try to put them in order, but I'll probably hate myself for trying:

1.  Mars ILL - ProPain
2.  Deepspace5 - BakeSale
3.  Listener - Ozark Empire
4.  Beat Rabbi & Deepspace5 - Deepspace5oul
5.  Mars ILL - Backwaterprophets
6.  Mars ILL - Backbreakanomics
7.  Deepspace5 - Unique, Just Like Everybody Else
8.  Mars ILL - SlowFlame
9.  Sev Statik - Shotgun
10.  L.A. Symphony - CIWYW
11.  Surreal, Braille & Ohmega Watts - Four Days in Geneva
12.  Sev & Dust - Back To Dust
13.  Braille - The IV Edition
14.  Mars ILL - Blue Collar Sessions
15.  Listener - Whispermoon

Honorable Mentions:  Playdough - Don't Drink the Water; Pigeon John - Sings the Blues!; Rootbear - Pink Limousine EP; 4th Avenue Jones - Stereo: The Evolution of Hiprocksoul

[Ian]

Lupe Fiasco is pretty much the man.

[bloop]

The one I keep coming back to is Madvillainy, so it would probably top my genre list from this decade.  The Roots are really good, though, Josh.  Not a bad bunch of albums there, really.

I would put Pro Pain just behind Stankonia on your list, just to refer to one well-known and respected Christian hip-hop album.

[Aaron]

Lupe Fiasco is pretty much the man.

Meh, he's ok but his stuff isn't greatness.


and I wouldn't rank Lil Wayne's stuff anywhere in a top list.  I'm not sure how Tha Carter III has sold so many copies.  I listened to it a bunch of times and saw him on tv and felt he was pure crap.

[Aaron]

I'll think about my list tonight.

[bloop]

I thought Tha Carter III was good, but I wasn't blown away by it, and it really is rather filthy so I can understand people's hang-ups there.

[Aaron]

The filthy factor has a lot to do with how I rate the albums, FWIW.

[bloop]

 . . . and very little with how I rate them.  Perhaps there's a happy medium, idk.

[Aaron]

. . . and very little with how I rate them.  Perhaps there's a happy medium, idk.

With a lot of hip-hop, I find these rappers add the filth content because they aren't smart enough to talk about anything else.

[bloop]

Hmm . . . I always chalked it up to sex and pleasure in general (including addictive behaviors) being major human motivators, and I don't expect non-Christians to act like they are.

[murlough23]

Hmm . . . I always chalked it up to sex and pleasure in general (including addictive behaviors) being major human motivators, and I don't expect non-Christians to act like they are.

Be that as it may, when the topic is that pervasive and explicit, I don't find it particularly entertaining.

That said, I don't think it's fair to describe all mainstream hip-hop as being rife with cursewords, sex, and violent content. (I can't come up with good counterexamples, but that's because it's not a genre I've really delved into, more due to my personal preference for more melodic music than anything else. I'm sure non-explicit, intelligent mainstream rappers must exist.) I also don't think it's fair to treat hip-hop like it's unique as a genre in this respect. There are some mainstream rock albums that I listen to and enjoy which, if I'm honest with myself, do have a lot of cursing and/or sexual content. (Not so much the violent content. That stuff tends to turn my stomach.) I don't prefer this stuff, but can tolerate it if I can tell the artist has enough going on upstairs that it's not just a matter of using shocking language to fill the space where actual thoughts might otherwise go.

NP: "Prison Girls", Neko Case

[bloop]

It's neither here nor there as far as entertainment goes for me, unless it's done in a funny, cheeky way.

[spacebrat311]

1. The Black Album
2. Kanye's School Trilogy (I'll steal the idea of lumping them)
3. Tha Carter III
4. Stankonia
5. ...

I guess I don't listen to hip hop in whole albums much. It's very much a singles genre for me. Those are the only 2000s hip hop albums I can truly claim to have listened to all the way through and found consistently engaging (A or B level). There are others I've heard all the way through and didn't think were anything special, and many more that I would bet I would love if I had time to really dig into them but I haven't yet. I'm prepared to embrace all of these as classics, however.

[Ian]

Could R&B be considered within the hip-hop realm?  'Cause the new album by The Dream is pop/R&B/hip-hop goodness to the max.

[Aaron]

Could R&B be considered within the hip-hop realm?  'Cause the new album by The Dream is pop/R&B/hip-hop goodness to the max.

R&B and hip-hop are different.  90's R&B like Boyz II Men - definitely not under the realm of hip-hop.

[murlough23]

R&B and hip-hop are different.  90's R&B like Boyz II Men - definitely not under the realm of hip-hop.

They cross over a lot, but apparently if you're actually singing, it ain't hip-hop.

(Don't throw stuff at me. I know there are other differences. Didn't R&B predate hip-hop? Then again, the R&B of today is not at all like what it was when the genre was invented.)

[Ian]

Yeah, I was talking about more modern, "hip-hoppy" R&B.