Corey Richardson’s Top Ten Most Slept On Hip Hop Albums Of All Time

Last week I posted up my definitive list of the top ten Hip Hop albums of all time.  I got some pats on the back, I got some kicks in the ass, but like I said then and I say now, I’m not a journalist, I’m just a guy with an opinion and some high speed internet.  After that post, people came at me with all kinds of albums that didn’t make the list that were indeed some great records, but some of them just never really got enough shine.  With that in mind, I decided to compile a list of the top ten Hip Hop albums that you probably never bothered to listen to, but most likely need to if you’re a fan of the music and the culture.

A few notes before we get into this:

-Again, I have an east coast bias.  I can’t help it, its just what I grew up on and that’s what I know best.

-An album is considered to be “slept on” if you can play it for at least five of your friends and they go, “Man, this is great, who is this?” and its over ten years old.

-Some big name artists have made and/or appeared on some slept on albums, so don’t get thrown off if you see names and go, “But no one sleeps on *insert rapper name here*!”

That said, let’s go…

10.) Tha Alkaholiks: “21 & Over”… Everyone wants to hate on party rap and everyone wants to hate on gimmick rappers.  The Alkaholiks are both, but they mastered the art of having a hook and making rhymes that inspire ignorant behavior without being insipid or silly.  Tash, J-Ro, and E Swift mesh distinct styles and clever punchlines over east coast inspired yet west coast flavored beats to craft a record that makes you want to pour a lil’ sum’n in a glass, cuss, and insult your friends.  Highlight: “Make Room”

9.) Common: “One Day It’ll All Make Sense”… Before he decided to get down with Erykah Badu, become a vegan, rock crocheted onesies, make a rock record, come back to Hip Hop, go to Hollywood, and date Serena Williams, Common was the South Side of Chicago’s poet laureate weaving tales of a city that was beautiful in its grime with rhymes that were introspective and uninhibited.  The curse of this record isn’t that its not good, its that its poorly sequenced so there is no real flow to it and that makes it hard to listen to straight through (I actually went ahead on my itunes and put it in the right order so I can rock to it).  For the effort and as a follow-up to a classic like “Resurrection”, this still brings the heat and is worth your time and your dime if you can find it.  Highlights: “Hungry” and “All Night”

8.) Wyclef Jean: “The Carnival”… Here’s the true test of a classic album, can you listen to it now and does it still beat?  The Carnival does.  What should have been the follow-up to The Score is laced with a diverse array of beats, rhymes, and styles mimicking the prevaling hip hop trends of the day and pointing out the absurdity of the culture while style taking all the classic traits from the past and giving them a twist.  I’m gonna say this, and someone’s gonna throw fruit at me in the streets, but this album is better than The Miseducation Of Laryn Hill… it is… deal with it.  Highlight: “Year Of The Dragon”

7.) Gang Starr: “Hard To Earn”… Guru and Premier get together and commit the perfect verses to the perfect tracks in what is one of Hip Hops most flawless albums.  Only problem is, it was either two years too late or two years too early.  Unfortunately, at the time the people that got it, got it, and everyone else just kinda missed the bus.  Having said that, its worth it just to take an album like this, put it on while you’re driving a long distance and really just let it sink in.  Highlight: “Suckas Need Bodyguards”

6.) UGK: “Riding Dirty”… UGK is a lot like cognac, those who know the good stuff know what to ask for and those that don’t just take what people give them.  In the case of Pimp C and Bun B, they were holding down South Texas with ridiculous funk filled beats and equally skilled lyrics for years while people just thought they were the other guys on “Big Pimpin’”.  Fact is, Riding Dirty not only ushered in a new era of Texas hip hop, but it also changed the landscape of Southern Rap with Pimp C’s graphic lyrics combined with Bun B’s scholalrly wordplay.  Highlight: “One Day”

5.) King Tee: “Tha Triflin’ Album”… Because no one ever gives King Tee his rightful props for being one of the godfathers of West Coast Hip Hop and because this album is impossible to find.  Highlight: “On The Rocks”

4.) Little Brother: “The Listening”… The thing about listening to a Little Brother record that makes it so enjoyable is that it sounds like they’re having fun recording it.  Big Pooh, Phonte, and 9th Wonder crafted a classic, rewrote the rules for breaking into the industry, mixed lyricism and beats, and sounded like they were having a broke-ass good time doing it.  It sounds less like a record made to get buzz and more like an album made because they felt like making one.  Did I mention it sounds like they were having fun?  Highlight: “So Fabulous”

3.) De La Soul: “De La Soul Is Dead”… Following Three Feet High And Rising, the Plugs ditched the hippie shit and came with an experimental sounding hip hop album that didn’t adhere to convention and shook off the weight of fans who were just along for the peace and love ride.  From start to finish, this album is darker in contrast to their debut and presents a more complex view of life, music, and celebrity from a group that was clearly “over it” by the time they went to make their second record.  HIghlight: “Keepin’ The Faith”

2.) Big L: “Lifestyles Of The Poor And Dangerous”… Jadakiss was wrong, dead rappers don’t get better promotion.  Had he lived, perhaps he’d be in the same echelon as Jay-Z in terms of go-to lyricists, we’ll never know.  Highlight: “Street Struck”

1.) Diamond D: “Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop”… Because yes its that good, and no you don’t own it. People didn’t just sleep on it, they caught comas to it.  What can you say about the original best producer on the mic who dropped one of the most memorably forgettable albums of all time?  I play this record sometimes after I watch 106 & Park or some bullshit on MTV about Hip Hop to remind me that there was once a time when you could make a record like this and people respected you for it.  Highlight: “Best Kept Secret”

Honorable Mentions

-Dungeon Family: “Even In Darkness”

-Young Bleed: “The Day They Made Me Boss”

- Camp Lo: “Uptown Saturday Night”

-X-Clan: “To The East Blackwards”

-T.I.: “I’m Serious”

Corey Richardson’s Black People’s Guide To Surviving The Financial Crisis…

If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the news, reading the papers, and keeping up to date on the current economic fiasco that is unfolding here with the US economy.  Just today the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 777 points (a record) losing $1.2trillion in value in one day.  It sounds really scary, and in some ways it is, but there hasn’t been much banter from the African American community as to what’s going on and how to weather this financial storm that’s been brought to bear on all of us.  Well my friends, that’s where I come in.

I’ve been doing some thinking and after analyzing the current status of our economy and comparing what’s going on in the market with what’s going on in the African American community, I’ve come up with a few can’t miss strategies for stretching a buck, keeping your head above water, and making a wave if you can.  Follow my tips and advice, and you just might make it through with enough cash left over to waste taking your family and friends to see the next Tyler Perry movie, “Madea Goes To Jail” (and no, that’s not a joke title).

1.) Don’t panic.  If you’re black in America that means that at some point in your life you’ve been broke.  You might have grown up broke, you might have had to go to college or grad school on some ridiculous loans, you might have had to take a wack job or two in some lean times, and even if you haven’t been personally broke, you can call at least three of your other black friends and they can tell you some good stories about what being broke is like.  Let’s face it, we’ve all dealt with city punch, quarter waters, $2.99 wing on wheat combos, and the ocassional choke sandwich as a staple meal on the urban menu.  Not having isn’t something that usually rattles black folks, in fact, its been one of our greatest assets for survival here in America… we take scraps and make soul food, that’s just what we do… If US history was an episode of Survivor, black folks woulda won.  So don’t panic, that’s for white people at a time like this.  You’re black, you’re prepared.

2.) Separate short term wants from long term needs.  Credit markets are contracting which means that the ability to get credit is going to become more difficult in the short term but also, if you have credit cards, your interest rates are going to slowly begin to tick up over the next few months.  Now is the time to take a hint from the dope dealers and leverage cash for purchases.  If a short term want is going to require you to make a charge or apply for credit in order to finance the purchase, hold off on the purchase and save up the cash instead.  Now’s not the time to get neck deep in debt putting some D’s on the ‘Lac or racking up the bills trying to cop that plasma, instead save that debt for important items or emergencies and learn how to delay your gratification while you save up for the purchase of less durable goods.

3.) Get in touch with your roots.  If you’re a man like me, you probably go get a fresh taper and line-up at least twice a month at the local barber shop or, if you’re a woman, you’re probably getting your wig fried, dyed, and laid to the side once a month.  This is probably costing you about $50-$75 a month in discretionary spending that you may need to save for canned goods or ammunition, so now might be the time to grow a ‘fro, ditch the perm, and go all natural.  Yeah, I know it seems extreme, but so is losing $1.2trillion in a day a after 120 years, the Frederick Douglass look might just be ready to make a comeback.

4.) Support small businesses.  Actually, what I meant to say was, holla at the bootleg man.  Have you been to the movies lately?  Man, that’s a cost that you can ditch.  Tyler Perry ain’t going broke no time soon, but you might be… if you see The Family That Preys getting sold out of a duffel bag at Sally Beauty Supply, pick it up.

5.) Love the one you’re with.  Sorry playa, but the game is expensive.  All that dating, caking, tricking, and kickin’ it can put a major dent in your pocket and if Wachovia can’t ball ’til they fall, neither can you.  Now might be the time to go ahead and settle down with that special someone not just because monogamy is the right thing to do… but because its cheap.  Save on gas, meals, entertainment, all that just by settling down and staying out of the streets.

6.) Make enough for an extra plate at dinner.  When you’re helping that hamburger or frying up some wings, throw a little extra in for lunch the next day.  Its simple, its cheap, its easy.  That’s all I gotta say about that.

I’m not Suze Ormon or that Cramer guy from CNBC… but I am black and I have had to fry bologna and make grilled cheese with the iron before so I’m not sweating this economic disaster.  As long as you stay ready, you won’t have to get ready and remember that fear is something felt by people who feel like they have something to lose.  Ride the wave, save your money, and go in the kitchen and have you a mayonaise sandwich and let’s ride this thing out together.

Some Classic Hip Hop On A Sunday…

I was walking around the outlet mall in San Marcos with my mother yesterday and for some reason this song was stuck in my head…

Enjoy

Larry is the white guy, people think he’s funny… a real estate investor who makes a lot of money.

The Week’s Candidate For The Hook…

Get Sandman Simms on the phone, cue up the Apollo house band, and usher this woman off the stage.

When I was in school at Morehouse, the only thing worse than being booed was being booed with the key jingle (holding ones keys aloft and shaking them in a manner to tell the violator it was time for them to get in the car and go home).  I’ve seen this done to opposing basketball teams and I’ve seen it done at talent shows, but never in my life have I been watching television and had an unrestrainable urge to jingle my keys at the screen.

Until now.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please pull out your keys and get the hook for the Republican Vice Presidential Nominee, Sarah Palin…

To call this woman retarded would be an insult to the mentally challenged.

GETCHO’ HAT, YO’ COAT, AND LEAVE MUTHAFUCKA!

Understanding The Difference Between Ideology And Idiocy

Bob Marley, world famous reggae music icon and overall legend was diagnosed with cancer in late 1977.  At the time, the doctors told him that if he were to have an amputaion of his toe, it could stem the spread of cancer cells and, most likely, live a healthy and normal life, cancer free.  Marley, however, was a Rastafarian and as such was not permitted by doctrine and ideology to cut his hair, let alone remove a digit like a toe, for fear that he would not be complete before his god, and thereby refused the treatment that was universally agreed would save his life.  Instead, Marley sought alternative opinions, used herbal therapies, and eventually died of the cancer that, four years earlier, doctors had said they could stop.

He was passionately following his beliefs, and the doctors were passionately trying to keep him alive, but they had to do one or the other and doing both just wasn’t an option.

The same goes for Republicans in the House Of Representatives and their ideological opposition to a government based solution to the current economic crisis.  Now, before we go any further, please note that I have been a staunch fiscal conservative prior to, and even sometimes through, this entire economic debacle and only when I realized that my ideology was not suited for this type of problem did I change my mind.

But I digress.

Republicans in the House are seeking market based solutions coming from tax cuts and limited regulation to revive the slumping economy and kick start the nation back into the black.  This idea is supremely flawed in that it assumes that previous tax cutting wasn’t abused and that the lack of proper oversight and regulation of certain banking priniciples wasn’t to blame for at least part of this debacle.  Here’s a way to look at it more plainly; they’re asking for an herbal remedy to cancer.

The fact is, we’ve reached a point now where the markets cannot save themselves.  If they could, then we wouldn’t have Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke up on the hill looking like the bucket boys on Michigan Ave trying to drum up some change.  All of the experts have come to a consensus that, right about now, the only entity with enough money and credibility to revive the market is the US Government.  And don’t think this was an easy decision to make because these people are essentially tax cutters and deregulators too.

Somewhere in the last twenty days, the game changed for a lot of fiscal conservatives who saw their ideology rocked by the facts on the street.  Its like Malcolm finding out the Elijah Muhammad has fathered several children by women in the nation.  But we’re coming to grips with the fact that this isn’t working and it can’t work unless the feds step in and do something.

The ideology says we can do it.

The idiocy is thinking that the ideology is right.

Nothing works purely in the realm of social theory.  Just War Theory, Supply Side Theory, State of Nature Theory, are all nuanced as such to provide them the ability to be altered and combined with other ideas to meet the needs of a changing society.  The same thing goes for traditional capitalism vs. traditional socialism.  Now, we all agree that pure socialism is bad, but in that same realm, we must agree that pure capitalism needs some help too.  Its like using pure heroin, anything that hasn’t been stepped on and is in a concentrated dose like that can probably kill you.

Now is not the time to throw caution to the wind and ignore the diagnosis for doctrine.  We must be prudent enough and forward thinking enough to understand that a plan for the bailout must come from government and have real participation from all sides in order for it to work.  That said, please feel free to call your nearest Republican Congressman and tell him or her to get back to work and get real about the bailout.

John McCain Is No Muhammad Ali…

“I done something new for this fight.  I wrassled with a alligator.  I tussled with a whale, handcuffed lightning and threw thunder in jail.  Just last week, I murdered a rock.  Injured a stone.  Hospitalized a brick.  Boy, I’m so mean I make medicine sick.”- Muhammad Ali, 1974

One of John McCain’s claims as a reformer is his full frontal assault on corruption in the boxing industry, taking on unscrupulous promoters and trying to make sure the sweet science is a clean and fair sport.  Boxing is, for the most part, the purest of competitive sports in that it pits one man against another man in a ring with only their hands and their wits as a guide to either victory or defeat.  We respect boxers because they actually fight for glory, the fight for fortune, they fight for fame and its appropriate that someone like Senator McCain would take an interest in keeping the sport clean and honest.  I just wish he would do the same for his campaign.

As far as fighters go, in America there is no name that rings out louder than the greatest himself, Muhammad Ali.  From his time as Cassius Clay the Olympic gold medalist all the way through his banning, his return, and subsequent championship wins, defenses, and losses, there’s one the Ali never did.  Duck a fight.  Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman, and even Leon Spinks.  If they wanted a fight, then a fight they got.  Win, lose, or decision, Ali fought them all and made no exceptions for his flaws and maintained the same bravado and braggadoccio on either side of the card.  He was… no, he is the greatest.  No one will ever beable to garner that much respect in the ring or outside the ring in a generation, maybe never.

Unfortunately, for all of John McCain’s admiration of boxing, he missed one of the most important tenets of the sport this week.  You don’t duck an opponent.  The only way to be the best is to go into the ring, stand toe to toe with your competitor and throw them hands… the last man standing may be bloodied, he may be beaten, but he isn’t defeated and he can raise his hand and call himself the champ.  But when you make excuses for not stepping up and taking on other contenders, when you run from your opponents, or when you make excuses for not taking on the fight when the fight is in front of you, well then, you lose respect and you can’t be called a true champion.

In an effort to appear magnanimous and post-partisan, McCain attempted to “suspend” his campaign and cancel the first presidential debate as a result of the economic crisis.  An obvious duck and what’s worse, predicated on a flimsy excuse to try to get himself off the ropes before the fight even started.  This reminds me of the Rumble In The Jungle when Muhammad Ali (a decided underdog in the match) was posed with the opportunity to cancel the fight due to a training injury to George Foreman.  This would have been an easy excuse to back out of a fight that most said he couldn’t win against a man most said he couldn’t beat.  But Ali didn’t relent, he didn’t get back on the plane and head back to the States, no.  He waited it out, even asked about scheduling another fight in the meantime to give the people what they wanted.  An opportunity to see who the champ really was.

Not John McCain.  Instead of stepping into the ring and show people he has what it takes to be the chanp, he’s running.  He’s hiding.  And he’s losing what little respect we had for him with each dodge of the fight everyone wants to see.

Someone call Bernard Hopkins.

Get Roy Jones on the other line.

Open a channel to Floyd Mayweather.

Get these fighters to get into McCain’s head and have him step up and be the real fighter he claimed to be at the Republican National Convention.  Because if he doesn’t, he’s no Muhammad Ali… he’s Trevor Berbick… a paper champ waiting for someone else to come and take the belt that he doesn’t deserve.

I’m Currently Suspending Blog Posting Due To The Economic Crisis…

I’m asking that other bloggers join me.

Its Worse Than I Thought…

Sarah Palin was interviewed by Katie Couric tonight on the CBS Evening News.  Now, to say that this was pedestrian would be putting it lightly.  I’ve had better drunken political coversations at bars.  Someone please send John McCain an email… oh wait, he doesn’t know how to get those… ummm, well attach this to a homing pidgeon with a note telling him that she should’ve gone with Romney was his VP choice.

I think Nate Dogg had a line on Exxplosive that would sum up my feelings right now.

Corey Richardson’s Top Ten Hip Hop Albums Of All Time…

*Shout out to the Goon Squad Email List for bringing up this topic today*

Folks, I can’t talk about politics and be serious all the time and if there’s anything I love more than discussing current events, its Hip Hop.  I remember my brother introducing me to the music and bringing home tapes of rappers like De La Soul, Public Enemy, X Clan, NWA, and Wu Tang and how I was as much a student of the content as I was the culture.  Hip Hop has shaped my sensibilities and the manner with which I express myself because its free flowing and confrontational, while still being structured and artistic.

Now, before we get to the list I want to clarify a few things…

1.) I have an east coast bias.  I can’t help it, I grew up on the east coast and that’s what I listened to.  Sue me.

2.) I believe the golden age of hip hop was 1994-1996.  I’m sorry, but that just seems to be the era when some of the most prolific albums were released and I feel like it was all downhill from there.

3.) I am not a music critic or journalist.  I’m just a guy with an opion and some internet and I decided to share with you.

4.) You will disagree with me on some points, and that’s cool.  Some folks like Coke, some folks like Pepsi, doesn’t make them wrong or right, it just makes it a preference.

With that said, here’s the list… enjoy

Aiight my top 10:

10.) Public Enemy: “It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back”… Arguably the most important rap group of all time, this album combined Hank Shocklee and The Bomb Squad’s frenetic production with Chuck D’s piercing political lyricism. Highlight: “Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos”
9.) Wu Tang Clan: “Enter The 36 Chambers”… Let’s face it, in 1993, east coast hip hop was on life support and all of a sudden a crew came out of Staten Island (YES, PEOPLE.  STATEN ISLAND) to resurrect a city and a coast with various unmistakable flows and some of the grimiest production via The Rza.  Lest we not mention the classic albums spawned by this album. Highlight: “Protect Ya Neck”
8.) Dr. Dre: “The Chronic”… Probably the first acclaimed melodic hip hop album, introduced the world to Snoop Dogg and firmly planted the flag of hip hop dominance on the west coast.  Also, and people forget this, the format of this album is linear, it follows a pattern and that was the blueprint for subsequent albums like Ready To Die. Highlight: “Little Ghetto Boy”
7.) De La Soul: “Three Feet High And Rising”… If you like “alternative hip hop” then this is the album that created the genre.  In an age of gold chains, fresh sneakers, and gaudy labels emblazoned across clothing, Pos, Dove, and Mase changed the game with the innovative production of Prince Paul. Highlight “D.A.I.S.Y. Age”
6.) Outkast: “ATLiens”… The thing about Outkast is that, none of their albums sound like any of the hip hop albums of their time.  This one took the pattern established by their first album, trashed it, and came completely fresh and new with a whole new approach.  Not only that, but there’s still nothing else like it in hip hop.  Highlight: “ATLiens”
5.) Nas: “Illmatic”… I hate to put it at #5, because its a classic… really it is… Its an amazing then when the right rapper gets with the right producer on the right track and comes with just the right lyrics.  Illmatic does it over and over and over again.  This album is as grimey as it is eloquent and as effusive as it is succint.  There’s something about Nas’s lyrics that make me wonder if they aren’t better poetry than raps.  Highlight: “One Love”
4.) Jay-Z: “Reasonable Doubt”… Least anticipated, to the most wanted.  Jay’s introduction to the world is the antithesis of Illmatic in that, where Nas was reflective and in some ways remorseful, Jay is exalting in his tales from the streets, not self aggrandizing as much as telling it like it is with no regrets for what he was saying of why he was saying it.  Highlight: “Dead Presidents pt.2″
3.) Outkast: “Aquemini”… Remember everything I said about ATLiens?  Aiight, well, this one was all that, and better.  Dre and Big Boi grew into their lyrical content and introduced abstraction to hip hop taking the concept of their dueling personalities and melding them onto one cohesive album.  No one can or will do it like Outkast.  Highlight “Return Of The G”
2.) Eminem: “The Marshall Mathers LP”… Why is it number 2?  Because if he had died after he made it, he’d be the greatest MC of all time, that’s why.  Excellent production, lyrics that are as enlightened as they are disturbing and the nonafrican can rap… just outright, he can rhyme.  Highlight: “I’m Just Marshall Mathers”
1.) Notorious BIG: “Ready To Die”… Because its the shit, everything else is the smell.  Highlight: “Things Done Changed”

Honorable Mentions
-Goodie Mob: “Soul Food”
-Tupac: “All Eyes On Me”
-Run DMC: “Raising Hell”
-De La Soul: “Stakes If High”
-Geto Boys: “We Can’t Be Stopped”
-Common: “Resurrection”
-Big L: “Lifestlyes Of The Poor And Dangerous” (DON’T SLEEP)
-Wyclef Jean: “The Carnival”
-Raekwon: “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx”

Because I Like To Share My Joy And My Pain…

Someone sent me this clip and it is hypnotically annoying.  I’m warning you now that if you watch it, you’ll find yourself reciting this line at the most inopportune times (as I found myself strolling through Ikea singing this to myself tonight).  So, that’s the disclaimer… Watch it if you must.

And in the spirit of Anderson Cooper and keepin’ ‘em honest, that’s actually a gavial in the clip.