My Top 10: HIP HOP

Here's a fun idea!
I am going to come around every once in awhile just to set down top 10's.
The categories will range anywhere from sports to beverages; you name it!

This here post will be dedicated to my top 10 in Hiphop music. I will give 10 albums and 10 'entities'.

So head-first, why don't i just begin:



Tone.Are's 10 Greatest Hiphop Entities...

10. Live Performance:
The true spirit of HipHop music is LIVE! Live is as real as you can get: Show and Prove while we make this a get together. Friends will be made here, families will be made here, enemies will be made here, fun will be had, drama will be had.. but if you was here when it went down you were apart of something you can't experience anywhere else. Although there is alot of patronage in the industry, most new acts still break in live. The live scene is different wherever you go; exuding the culture/style of wherever it's going down.. and it is what keeps hiphop organically international.


9. The Freestyle Cipher:
So what keeps the music organic to the performer? Improvisation. Freestyling is not simply a test.. in fact it is best when it is stripped of competition (in my opinion); when it allows anyone coming into the cipher to be themselves, and to be comfortable enough to say whatever they want. It is that supportive environment that gives it its capacity to cultivate a spiritual climax when everyone is contributing at the top of their games. Some freestylers never feel the urge to write again!


8. Sampling:
James Brown, Parliament Funkadelic, Nina Simone, The Doors, Aerosmith... Where would Hiphop be without samples? Not only does it recycle old tunes, making them FRESHER if not simply reviving that good old feeling, but it ties the youth to the culture of their parents/ancestors. No other music is as historical/ intallectual as HipHop and that is due in part to sampling, whether by voice or beat. Till this day the newest rappers quote Rakim and till this day rappers crave a James Brown bassline.


7. Russel Simmons:
Russel Simmons is looked upon in both a positive and negative light in HipHop. He took it to the economic heights we see now. For this he is resented by some of the pioneers whom started the art and never saw a royalty check for doing so. He's also hated by those whom feel the 'HipHop Mogal' seeks to pimp the culture reguardless of whether or not integrity is lost. Yet nobody can deny that if it wasn't for this man people in Japan would not be break dancing (though KRS-1 might disagree), and we'd still be waiting to see HipHop's first millionaire. He broadened the industry and with that: dreams. Youth in the ghettos no longer simply want to be rappers.. they want to branch off into fragrance/fashion, and ownership. Every once in awhile he also treats us to a comedy or poetry series, and advocates for human and animal rights causes (even if mostly animal rights)


6. Hip Hop Fashion
Conscious rappers had to eventually give it up. Hiphop grew up in a dookie chain and addidas! All that ice and such is nothing new. Five years before Big was plugging Gucci Harlem was rocking it something crazy! The fashion has helped add an identity to the music and many lifestyles. African Medallians and crochet knitted hats included. Just think about the sneaker craze going on right now.. That's all Hiphop baby!


5. Hot 97:
Do they play themselves? Oh God Yes! Has their time passed? Yes. But that is not a good thing, because if Hot 97 is anything, it is a reflection of the music. And if the station everybody around the country knows as legend has turned wack, then we know what the music must be! Eventually smaller independant stations took root, and today you have MANY valuable stations on the airwaves, that do some amazing things. But what DIDNT go down on Hot 97 from the late 80's to the late 90's? And who WASNT listening? I believe it is STILL a platform for HipHop history. It just sucks i am not interested enough to hang around on the dial long enough to witness it every once in awhile.


4. The Mixtape:
The mixtape is truelly a cultural and industry phenomenon! You can be a lyricist looking to awe as many people as possible in hopes of a cameo on a big record, a hustle music group looking to be signed off street tales, or an Immortal Technique looking to start a movement. The mixtape is what you make it.. from the studio to the streets. It is all you really need! Not only is it an opportunity for rappers but is being used by the industry.. in fact it has saved Hiphop for almost 10 years now. The economy is bad and there isnt alot of money set aside for marketing. Getting on a mixtape will take care of that for you. Lox, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne... They all owe their careers to the mixtape!


3. Music Videos:
Video Music Box, MTV, BET. Most rappers would've never left the day job without the motivation of seeing their face fit their narcassistic flows. The music video changed America. It killed television (one of the reasons stations turned to reality shows. The younger generations abandoned television after Martin and In Living Color and began losing their remotes with the cable box stuck on channel 20 all day. Eventually the machine found a way to sneak ass into spring break and for all intent purposes it has become a medium for pg rated pornography and masochistic suburban white boys with nothing to do but swallow sh!t and break their nuts on banisters. But hey, we always have memory lane and an occasional WuTang Video from the 36 Chambers era!


2. The DJ
Origional Hiphop did not have an emcee as we know him/her. The role of the emcee up until like 1978 was to simply initiate some call and response, shout out a who's who list of names to be known, and to alert anyone who mightve needed to move their car that the fire truck was outside ready to run a hose through the windows.
The DJ has always been the true master of the ceremony. Everybody came to be with one another, and the excuse was the music. Ask Kool Herc.
Even today the DJ *and Producer (especially) holds reign, making more money than the rapper (on average), having the greater chance at longevity and more popular demand by artist peers. You rap? wanna make it? Find a Producer that is loyal to your vision... or scout various producers to rhyme over, bring a whollllee lot of weed to convince them you aint no herb that wont swim in the great network (who wants their name carried around by the 'on front of the PC' youtube rapper), and a couple of G's to drop for license to use his/her music.


1. The South Bronx:
Hip hop was born in the South Bronx. And it is the last place in which it will die. You have REAL like.. guardians of the art and culture here. Kats that swear by it, even if they dont do anything all day but walk to the store for cigarrettes and scratch their ass on the stoop. It's just in the air!
You want to really be apart of the HipHop Movement? Then you need to know the history
Kool Herc
Cedar Park
Zulu Nation
Afrika Bambatta
Grandmaster Flash
Rocksteady Crew
It all started in the Bronx. What are the 4 Elements of HipHop?
Breaking
DJ'ing
Rhyming
Graffiti

It started in the boogie and eventually spread round the world like wild fire. But first traveled NY , whether by apostles bringing the music downtown (Fab 5 Freddy) or the trains letting those all the Way in Coney Island know who was hot with the tag in Parkchester. Yes those days are long gone. But those days are forever.





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Tone.Are's 10 greatest HipHop albums:

10. The Love Below (Andre 3000)
HipHop purists are revoking my card for this one alone, only because they will want to know how i leave out any of their first three albums. Just the fact that i left Bigboi's SpeakerBoxx half of their 2003 opus will infuriate many. But recognize the impact of this album: It has been said that great artists destroy their art.. which is to say that they exceed expectations so much so that it changes the game! I don't believe The Love Below had that effect on HIPHOP.. but it did have that effect on Outkast. They have effectively destroyed themselves. How do you follow up on such an eclectic album? On this album we see Andre balance a sensuality and mystique speaking on love that even PRINCE would blush at. The songs are intricate and crafty not only as rhymes, but as an example of good song writing. By the same token he doesn't take himself too serious, throwing in quirky playful lines that flirt with your perception of what good hiphop should be: dead prolific, or fun prolific? It brought that element of funk back, reclaiming it from the west which used its sound but ignored its character. The production, like the sun's glare, is too tight to look directly at as well. It was that album which comes along once every decade, persuading hiphop heads to ask again: when is Tribe coming back?


9. The Black Album (Jay Z)
Oh NO! This is too much! NO!
How could he!
I know, i know, i hear yall. But i am right and yall are wrong. What about Reasonable Doubt right? or even The Blueprint?
Guess what: Reasonable Doubt wasn't an example for Hiphop.. Yes the production was nice but nothing different from what was going on 2 years earlier (R.D. was 1996 and basically had the sound of Ready to Die. Jay came with brilliant lyrics but they were a quick shot of sugar in comparison to what Illmatic delivered. So while i do think it is a 5 Mic album, it is not on my top 10)
The Blueprint had some GREAT hits and basically introduced Kanye. I would even say it brought back the Soul sound to HipHop's mainstream. But there were some weak joints on there: "hola hovito", "H to the Izzo"
The Black Album was Jay's crowning achievement. Listen to that record with this in mind: Nobody had ever gotten to the heights JayZ got to in the industry, and had rhymes that can honestly reflect where they were at the time (except for maybe Eminem). What do i mean by that?
Ok.. it is one thing to become a millionaire HipHop entrepeneur and still be writing like you are poor (Nas), or a ruthless thug (50 Cent).. It is another thing to invent a balance where you can talk about carrying your old lifestyle and street values with you BUT be operating like a business man. In the Black Album JAY Z IS who he is saying he is. And he is expressing the frustrations of being there alone at the top.

He channels mogal:
"You wanna be in the public it's in your budget/ alright fuck it, i aint budging"

He channels the contradiction of being a respected lyricist yet businessman who compromised his art for his bottom line:
"Music business hate me cause the industry aint make me/ hustlers and boosters embrace me and the music i be making/ i dumbed down for my audience and doubled my dollars/ they criticized me for it yet they all yelled holler// If skills sold truth be told, i'd probably be, lyrically Talib Kweli"


This is the most honest album that a Real power in the industry (dare i say gangsta) has ever written. It is not glorifying any excessive violence. Just journaling codes of the industry, which Jay made his Streets. He actually began this process on the Blueprint, where he writes such rhymes as:
"what's up to my miami and St Thomas connects/ I'll never mention your names, i promise respect/ Death before dishonor correct?" and "I'm like a dog, i never speak, but i understand"

It is clear we are listening to the Frank Sinatra of our time.


8. It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back (Public Enemy)
Creating art in the U.S. is a tricky business. You do have the freedom to say an awful lot, but that doesn't mean that it is easy or that you have any less balls than somebody speaking out in say... Saudi Arabia! You have to give it up to Public Enemy for creating what at the time was a MOVEMENT of self and social consciousness. What Chuck D was saying was militant, and how he was saying it. His voice is recognizable as anyones, delivery powerful. Folks don't realize how an album like this transcends music. I mean, all of a sudden young people are wearing Africa on their shirts and Malcom X is becoming more celebrated than he was when he was alive!


7. Sound Bombing (Lyricist Lounge Vol. 2)
Have you ever heard a mixtape that comes close to matching the integrity of this album? NEVER! It really does stand alone.


6. Marshal Mathers LP (Eminem)
Like JayZ in The Black Album, Eminem in MMLP comes very naturally as whom he was at the time. 27? year old who made it to stardom and is dealing with it, in the industry, in the streets, (and what Jay, like most rappers actually left out: The family). It will always be one of the greatest because it will always be one of the most well known albums of any music genre. By the way, count me amongst the quire of folks who have a hard time agreeing that Eminem has ever made a 5 Mic album. Still there is no denying that the MMLP is a trailblazer. It gives us Paparazi anecdotes of modern history (Em is the new Elvis, with 100 times the pressure. Elvis wasn't challenged to be so open in his art) and the taboo struggles of poor white Americans and the dysfunctional families they are often reared in. In the mean time he sets himself apart from the industry, almost as if to say: "hold up.. i got blond hair and blue eyes but dont bunch me together with these looneys in the tabloids", dissing his celebrity peers and acknowledging his impact on the fans "Stan" (and by doing so, subconsciously revealing his guilt). It was not the first time anybody had rhymed in Iambic Pentameter (as he did in "The Way I am") or the first time anyone had rhymed vicariously through an invented character ("Stan") but for those whom for years avoided HipHop, thereby remaining ignorant about the artistry it had to offer, it was eye popping. It set a new bar for mainstream hiphop. Once again you needed to bring some level of skill.


5. Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli)
The Black Star album was really the seed for the Spoken Word poetry explosion. These brothers brought the Cafe to your speakers with such songs as "self determination", "brown skin lady", and "Theves in the night". The album HipHops opus of high literature ("Respiration" with Common is the most poetic track in the history of HipHop) and 'conscious hiphop'. What's more it began the wave of artists going back to the old school. All of a sudden Missy was wearing an Addidas sweat suit. Mos and Talib made sure to be true to the origins of the art. They really wanted to revive Real HipHop, and made enough noise to work up a spark. The album just has a gritty/raw basement feel, that tells ANYONE they can do this, while inspiring us to do it for a reason. Soon Talib and Mos would go their separate ways, and till this day the question lingers about a second Black Star album.


4. Ready to Die (Notorious B.I.G.)
As much as i would like to sit here and give these zealous "BIG is the GOAT" fans 100 reasons (1 for every emcee that has more talent then BIG) why he isn't, i have to give it up to BIG for making "Ready To Die". As much as i would refrain from declairing that i relate to the lyrical content, i do feel a connection to this album. I guess it's a Brooklyn thing. But come on... Ready To Die made BIG HipHops first penthouse suite rapper. White couches, champaigne... ok, so maybe he wasn't living it like that, but the sh!t made you feel good. years later our youth would come up with an analogy to describe the feeling: "CRACK!" There is nothing like a BIG joint on a hot summer day on the stoop. Then the production (although poor in quality) was brilliant in the mood it gave the record. "Everyday Struggle", "Me and My Bitch".. this believe it or not, was the blues in 1993! BIG created the formula for a complete HipHop album attuned for the ears of mainstream radio and connected to the struggle. And whomever says he wasn't speaking consciousness should just continue reading their book. "Im seeing body after body, and our mayor Giuliani aint tryinna see a black man grow to John Gotti"
Damn! You just don't know till you let it tell you.


3. Ressurrection (Common Sense)
Right now Lil Wayne is the hottest rapper in the game. The skill that is his crutch right now? His wordplay. It may be hard to catch alot of what Common is saying on Ressurrection because the references he make are sometimes alternative to what we know, and almost always very subtle. I take some points away for the fact that alot of it IS simple. But nobody did it before Ressurection, so it didn't have to be so complex. Your father is your father. You can out do him a million ways; you still wouldn't be here without him! So yea since "I used to Love HER" everyone and their momma has used personification to rap about HipHop or guns, but Com gave birth to that concept. It will also boggle those who maybe haven't realized it when i tell them, but Common often fits several allusions into one series of bars, giving a rhyme different meanings depending on which word you are concentrating on.
example:
"A Mr. Meaner (Misdemeanor) fell on his knee for the jury/ I asked No for his ID (No ID was his producer) and the judge thought there was two of me// Motion for a recess to retest my finger prints/ They've relinquished since cause i was guilty in-a-sense (guilty innocense)//"

The album is also very introspective, giving rhymes about COMMON running with his crew, drinking and hanging out, growing up scared about having no future, questioning his identity and gaining an awareness of his Blackness:

"Its the same routine/ keep my room clean, im looking to do some new things, but aint shit to do/ im 22 (catch) in the prime of my life, got no time for a wife/ i stumble through the tunnel of darkness trying to find me some light// In the rim of darkness i too sing/ i may not be the darkest brother/ but i was always told act my age not my color/ not knowing that my color was that of the origional, so now i see the new negro spiritual//"

Of course he doesn't forget to put prospective battle emcees in check either! Com was vicious!


2. Illmatic (Nas)
I was all set to crown Illmatic #1 for the following reasons: The production is CRAZY! a step up from the simple boom bap rap before it, and much more complex and thought out than other sample heavy beats of the time. They were'nt lazy with it. Yes they sampled but didnt just stick a whole chorus in. They cut it up, sped it up, slowed it down, chopped it with some scratching. From an industry importance stand point, it was the first album which attempted to bring in a lineup of the most prolific producers to come together on one CD. You see how now in day an artist will have Kanye, Just Blaze, Timbaland, Dr. Dre, all on one album. Illmatic was the blueprint for that, bringing in some of the heavy hitters of the time. Before 1994 most rappers were loyal to one producer or team. Lyrically Nas was from outter space back then. Poetic, Educated, HARD, and with a flow that sunk into the track like an extra instrument. He brought global history and Philosophy "I sip the Dom P, watching Ghandi till i'm charged", "i start it up like a violin, end like leviathan/ it's deep well let me try again" and even history and philosophy from the local hoods of NY, often quoting 5% ideology and telling tales of big time dealers such as Alpo, and Fat Cat a decade before 50 Cent did the same thing. His metaphors were sick, his story telling countered Slick Rick's humor in a more morbid fashion, the honesty of his rhymes allowed him to explore concepts nobody has thought of since ("One Love" ends with a verse depicting Nas taking advice from a pre-teenaged brother mature beyond his years sitting with him on a bench and giving him advice about what to watch out for on the streets. (till this day quoted, and several times by JayZ: "suade tims on my feet make my cipher complete": Jayz: "S.Dots on my feet make my cipher complete", "Im out for presidents to represent me")

The album only had 10 tracks. But all 10 fitting their own mood perfectly while going together perfectly. The energy shifts back and forth between relaxed to intense like the gasses of a developing star expanding and contracting. Nas was waiting to break out. Legend has it that he recorded every song on the album in one take. ...And think about its impact. Yes kats like Kool G Rap and Kane had street gritty rhymes, but really didn't bring it to such an intallectual height. Thus Illmatic made Nas a pioneer in more than one sense. He became respected by the "thug rappers", and by the "conscious rappers". More poetically refined than Pac, more street than KRS.




1. Paid In Full (Eric B & Rakim)
So, "Paid In Full"! Are the beats kind of boring? yes. Very Simple and Very boring. Compared to the things rappers have put on a record since, do the lyrics stack up as boring: arguably so, yes! Very simple and Very boring.
BUT
As far as technique
It is the arrival of lyricism in HipHop. Before Rakim rhyming wasnt a science. But with Paid In Full he went beyond simply trying to rhyme the last word with one bar with the last word of the next bar. He created internal rhyme schemes which livened the melody. He would transition, like nobody before, between bars in a way which made you rewind and realize that somehow the line which came after the one you were dealing with, made just as much sense as the line which came before it (in combination).
example:
I like to stand in the crowd, and watch the people wonder "Damn!"
But think about it, then you'll understand
I'm just an addict, addicted to music
Maybe it's a habit, I gotta use it
Even if it's jazz or the quiet storm
I hook a beat up, convert it into hip-hop form
Write a rhyme in grafitti and, every show you see me in

So instead of just rhyming two lines and changing the topic, he would trap you in a whole paragraph. Like he himself said:

I start to think
and then i sink
into the paper like i was ink
when im writing im trapped inbetween the lines
i escape when i finish the rhyme

And we get trapped WITH him!
One reason? His use of a first person narrative. He is rhyming IN the moment, and it allows him to go into great detail about a moment. Things go in slow motion and you see it, feel it happen right on front of you!

Check him out sending a warning to competition:
you'll get fried in the end, when you pretend to be
competing, cause I just put your mind on pause
And I complete when, you compare my rhyme with yours
I wake you up and as I stare in your face you seem stunned
Remember me? The one you got your idea from
But soon you start to suffer, the tune'll get rougher
When you start to stutter, that's when you had enough of
biting it'll make you choke, you can't provoke
You can't cope, you shoulda broke, because I ain't no joke


His content on Paid In Full ranges from the circumstance of being broke and weighing the option between robbing or pursuing music (which is a common theme till today), Moving the crowd and getting the party hopping (It may seem weird, but they actually used to play these joints in the club, like it was the hottest shit out), to hyping up his ability to destroy competition.

What makes him most influencial is how HONEST his rhymes are!
No sensationalism in the actual content. Yes he used hyperbolie in like exaggerating how great he was, but he never LIED about his lifestyle.
His image was stripped down to the bone. He was just an emcee that could rock the mic. Wore heavy chains and gucci but didnt rhyme about it.
So in essence he is the stripped down, bare bones foundation of any lyricist.
In SOME way if you rhyme, you are influenced by Paid in Full.
That's just a fact!


Top 10 HipHop Acts (in no order):

Dr Dre (Production, Industry Prowess)
Timbaland (Production, Industry Prowess)
The Roots (live performance, music composition, lyricism)
Rakim (Technical ability (seminal), live performance, image pioneer, concepts)
Nas (lyricism, flow, lyrical concepts)
Jay Z (Industry pioneer, Lyricism, one of the most consistant hit makers)
Wu Tang Clan (seminal group structure/ contract, image, performance, longevity)
Kanye West (Delivery, flow, concepts and lyrical content appeal, PRODUCTION)
KRS-1 (Live performance, lyrical content & concepts, longevity)
Tupac (song writing, image impact, voice, delivery, work ethic, common appeal)
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MY CLIFF HANGER FOR THIS POST:

WHO ARE THE 10 GREATEST HIPHOP ARTISTS OF ALL TIME?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?.
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