THE BORE
General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: Phoenix Dark on August 07, 2007, 12:49:36 AM
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(http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/9413/illmatichi5.jpg)
Publications ranging from the The Source to NME have since recognized it as one of the quintessential hip hop recordings of the 1990s. The album holds the distinction of being one of the few hip hop albums to be included in the Rolling Stone’ s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was one of just sixteen hip hop albums to be included in Pitchfork Media's "Best Albums Of The 90s Redux list" and was listed as one of thirty-three hip hop/R&B albums included in Rolling Stone’s "Essential Recordings of the 90s." Illmatic was voted #5 in "The Critics Top 100 Black Music Albums of All Time"[12] and #3 in the Hip-Hop Connection Magazine’s Top 100 Readers Poll. Illmatic also was ranked #4 in Vibe magazine's "Top 10 Rap Albums", and #2 in MTV's list of "The Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time."
One Love
[youtube=425,350]TpRjuGeftCM[/youtube]
Halftime
[youtube=425,350]KTOg_RGOEBg[/youtube]
It Ain't Hard to Tell
[youtube=425,350]p9phQABe7iw[/youtube]
:bow
The rap genre is full of classic debuts, ranging from The Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die to Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt*, but perhaps none in recent memory resonate more than Illmatic. Released in 1994, the album lacks many of the generic features that seem to define more modern rap albums: numerous guest appearances, generic mainstream attempts, and worthless skit tracks. Most impressive is the lyrical finesse, effortless flow, and great story telling.
It's a shame his career would take such a nosedive with the following albums, like many great rappers. But today we shall toast to a classic east coast banger :bow
*Debatable...but it has some undeniable classics on it
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NAS sucks.
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BEFORE A BLUNT I TAKE OUT MY FRONTS
THEN I START TO FRONT, MATTER OF FACT, I BE ON THE MANHUNT
YOU COULDN'T CATCH ME ON THE STREETS WITHOUT A TON OF REEFER
IT'S LIKE MALCOM X, CATCHIN' THE JUNGLE FEVER
KING POETIC, TOO MUCH FLAVAH I'M MAJOR
ATLTANTA AIN'T BRAVER, I'LL PULL A NUMBAH LIKE A PAGERRRRR
CUZ I'M THE ACE WHEN I FACE THE BASS
40 SIDE IS THE PLACE THAT IS GIVING ME GRACE
NOW WAIT, ANOTHER DOSE AND I MIGHT BE DEAD
I'M A NIKE HEAD, I WEAR CHAINS THAT EXCITE THE FEDS
AND AIN'T A DAMN THING GONNA CHANGE
I'M PERFORMANCE STRANGE, SHOW THE MIC WARMER WAS BORN TO GAIN
NAS, WHY DID YOU DO IT
YOU GOT THE MAD FAT FLUID IN YA RHYME
IT'S HALF TIME
best.hip hop freestyle verse. ever.
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QFT. Halftime may be my fav song on the album, but even that changes everytime I listen to the album. Sometimes it's One Love, other times it's It Ain't Hard to Tell, omg.
It's amazing how low key the production is, yet how amazing it is. Nothing is over produced or complex, yet it's freaking amazing. I've noticed this about 90's east coast stuff when compared to more modern stuff. Beats like Dead Presidents II, Shook Ones, Halftime, etc etc are absolutely amazing and you rarely hear anything like that today. Perhaps it's the sparse sampling and hard drums/bass, I dunno. Shit is timeless
Now compare that production to the stuff on Ready to Die, where the beats are more complicated and "bigger". I love both but damn, give me more Large Professor/Q-Tip/Pete Rock stuff omg
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"It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail
The mic is contacted, I attract clientele"
best intro to one of the most classic songs ever.
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It's amazing how low key the production is, yet how amazing it is. Nothing is over produced or complex, yet it's freaking amazing. I've noticed this about 90's east coast stuff when compared to more modern stuff. Beats like Dead Presidents II, Shook Ones, Halftime, etc etc are absolutely amazing and you rarely hear anything like that today. Perhaps it's the sparse sampling and hard drums/bass, I dunno. Shit is timeless
that's what makes the 90s shit so great. the simple beats, complex rhymes. some other notables from that era that must NOT be slept on: souls of mischief - '93 til infity, mobb deep - the infamous, hell on earth, pharcyde - bizarre ride, pretty much all the tribe called quest albums. too many to name. it's pretty much the only hiphop i can stomach these days, aside from the independent shit
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Okay it's a good album, the best Nasir has ever done... but do we have to have an appreciation thread about it every couple of months?
(http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/41M50M2CKKL._SS500_.jpg)
I'm going to make a Question In The Form Of An Answer appreciation thread every day until my fingers grow arthritic
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Hyp: you would LOVE People Under the Stairs if you like that 90's ATCQ type shit.
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Tribe <3
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funny you mention them st. c, i was bumpin' some P.U.T.S. tracks in my car last week. a friend put a few tracks on a CD for me. (don't know the names of the tracks, but they were slick) been meaning to cop that album for a while.
i've got a few posters from that album cover by the way... my friend worked at a local record shop and would give me all the excess hiphop schwag
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i've got a few posters from that album cover by the way... my friend worked at a local record shop and would give me all the excess hiphop schwag
omg omg omg :hyper hook me up!
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sure, no sweat. let me dig them out and make sure they're still in the cardboard poster container i put em in -- then i'll PM ya
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I could kiss you right on the balls, hyp
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:lol check yo' pm =]
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Hyp you hit in on the head: low key production, complex rhymes. Today it's just complex production, simplistic rhymes. 50 Cent's first album had some of the best production since Chronic 2001 but the lyrics were laughable. Still, it's hard to fuck up Dre beats. I could spit fire over Still D.R.E.
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I wouldn't say production has gotten more complex... if anything, it's gotten more minimal.
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More Minimum? Lots of the southen synch stuff is minimum, but there's so much over-produced stuff out there now. There was a time when a nice piano loop, some drums, and hard bass could get you a classic. Now everyone wants to mimic Kanye or the Neptunes (to weak results)
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I wouldn't say production has gotten more complex... if anything, it's gotten more minimal.
Looks like rap is mimicking what's going on right now with EDM...
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PD, that 90s vibe is still alive and well in the backpacker/indie hiphop scene. lots of simple beats with some insane lyrics. if you ever want to venture out, let me know... ive got a million and a half recommendations
tiesto, what is EDM? i'm assuming electronic? it's probably no coincidence that you named yourself tiesto after the famous dj, so i'm wondering... have you ever heard of bogdan raczynski? my other love besides hiphop is definitely drum & bass and some experimental electronic music
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I wouldn't say production has gotten more complex... if anything, it's gotten more minimal.
in some cases, i agree... like the hyphy shit out here in the bay -- definitely minimalist. but then you got dudes like kanye west whose shit is way overproduced. practically sampling everything from the vocals to drum track on some of his loops, and adding more stuff on top of it.
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have you ever heard of bogdan raczynski?
I was totally listening to RENEGADE PLATINUM MEGA DANCE ATTACKPARTY early today, whoa! He's a little too noisy for me sometimes, but I dig him. I wish Squarepusher hadn't turned into such an indulgent jazz wanker, as "Feed Me Weird Things" is one of the best albums of ANY genre.
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PD, that 90s vibe is still alive and well in the backpacker/indie hiphop scene. lots of simple beats with some insane lyrics. if you ever want to venture out, let me know... ive got a million and a half recommendations
qft
Definitely man; we need a thread for recommendations and stuff. The thing I like about Kanye is that he introduced me to guys like Common, Mos, and Kweli. After that I've branched out to stuff like Brother Ali, Soul Position, Murs, Jurassic 5, Immortal Technique, Little Brother, Atmosphere, etc :D
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Boy the new MURS is going to have you shaking your head...
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bwhaha. nice. do you have "samurai math beats" or "thinking of you"? those are a little more toned down and melodic, my albums of choice. ya know, i keep hearing about squarepusher but i always forget to pick up his albums when i'm record shopping. but i've heard a couple tracks and i really dig his style
PD -- atmoshphere :bow good man. if you like murs, you'll love the living legends albums. in some ways the other crew members outshine him, especially my boy ELIGH. or you can check out the atmosphere + murs killer combo "felt - a tribute to christina ricci" or their follow-up "felt 2 - a tribute to lisa bonet" dope dope shit.
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Boy the new MURS is going to have you shaking your head...
in a good or bad way?... i read in URB that he finally jumped to a major label.
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in a good or bad way?... i read in URB that he finally jumped to a major label.
Judge for yourself (http://www.cocaineblunts.com/blunts/?p=578) (link to the MP3 under MURS' pic)
Dude I can't handle reading URB ever since they took out the separate genres in the singles section, and since they started championing fuckin' shit like Interpol and Bloc Party (not saying they're bad bands, but EVERY OTHER MUSIC MAG covers them, why can't Urb stick to the shit it has been doing? Sad truth is that the shit they've always been doing isn't selling anymore)
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in a good or bad way?... i read in URB that he finally jumped to a major label.
Judge for yourself (http://www.cocaineblunts.com/blunts/?p=578) (link to the MP3 under MURS' pic)
WTF
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What is it with people I like going hyphy? First DJ Shadow, now this?
Cute De La hook though.
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:lol just as i expected... murs is about to join the ranks of club music. then drop off the face of the earth a year later.
say WHAT? dj shadow gone hyphy... don't say so.
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That was horrible - I couldn't listen to more than a minute. Very bad sample.
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say WHAT? dj shadow gone hyphy... don't say so.
omfg dude you haven't heard The Outsider? Mr. Davis went from being one of my favorite artists EVAR to completely fucking wack in one album.
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Mac Dreeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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say WHAT? dj shadow gone hyphy... don't say so.
omfg dude you haven't heard The Outsider? Mr. Davis went from being one of my favorite artists EVAR to completely fucking wack in one album.
nooOOOOOOOooOOOOO. josh davis FTMFL
ive gotta find that album now. i've just... gotta know the truth.
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Production doesn't have that 'timeless' quality (probably because they're not sampling timeless music to begin with). A Timbaland song sounds like the greatest thing ever created for 15 minutes until it gets played out.
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(http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/41M50M2CKKL._SS500_.jpg)
I'm going to make a Question In The Form Of An Answer appreciation thread every day until my fingers grow arthritic
I'm checking this out solely on your recommendation.
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Production doesn't have that 'timeless' quality (probably because they're not sampling timeless music to begin with). A Timbaland song sounds like the greatest thing ever created for 15 minutes until it gets played out.
I say it's timeless because it never goes out of style. While beats people thought were hot in 1984 may be suspect today, stuff from the 90's lives on. Dead Presidents will always be a classic beat imo, despite not featuring a "timeless" sample. Mo Money Mo Problems samples (if you can call it that) one of the most timeless songs of the last half century, yet no one cares today.