Sirens sounded, they seemed astounded: THE ILM RAP MUSIC OF THE GODS ALL TIME 100 GREATEST ALBUMS OFFICIAL THREAD

58. Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown [8 votes, 177 points, 1988

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0deb0c7_Rs/SAY9__tokaI/AAAAAAAAAO0/Zf9bmmjJx1Y/s400/Ultramagnetic%2BMcs%2BCritical%2BBeatdown--f.jpg

never got into this one..shrug

really? it may be the best album of 88, which is saying something. it is totally worth its left field charm cult as well

the artwork for the next record still makes me giggle.

Ultramags is some kind of pinnacle - also a great bridge record between old and new school stuff at the time.

57. Clipse - Lord Willin' [6 votes, 186 points, 2002]

http://nects.net/slogg/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/lord-willin.jpg

The production on Critical Beatdown was eye-opening at the time Ced Gee was making magic.

oh wait i lie, the best 88 record is where the thread title comes from

Crtitical Beatdown is pretty great, though I actually like the other rapper (Ced Gee?) better than Koo Keith on it. Keith's flow is especially weak on it, it's all start-stop-start-stop, as if he constantly has to pause to think what to say next. Beatwise, though, it's one of the top 20 rap albums of all time.

(xxx-post)

Keith's flow is especially weak on it, it's all start-stop-start-stop, as if he constantly has to pause to think what to say next.

uh this is just wrong

yeah <3 u tuomas but between hating on ghost and calling keith weak you have just been RONG right here :)

Clipse, ugh. All the beats on that album sound like cellphone ringtones. I've no idea why The Neptunes thought those kind of a cheap, plasticky, high-pitched sounds would be good on a rap album, it definitely ruins it for me.

Rong Rong Rong (Ha Ha Hey)

I was gonna overlook complaining about Ghost's voice (eh, okay you think it's thin/whiny = whatever) but Keith was inventing whole new rhyme patterns on CB, stuff that was copied endlessly afterward - he knew exactly what he was doing

xp

Keith's flow is especially weak on it, it's all start-stop-start-stop, as if he constantly has to pause to think what to say next.

uh this is just wrong

Have you listened to the album? He's constantly pausing between lines. It's not like this is some kind of a subjective opinion, anyone can hear it.

and he continues. lord willin has grindin'! and whens the last time! how can you call them cheap?!?!

anyway, the next album has possibly the best guest/debut verse in the history of rap music. not exactly a clue. but they came for that and stayed, for the jams, it's...

56. Main Source - Breaking Atoms [7 votes, 188 points, 1991]

http://www.tobitobsucht.de/wordpress/img/mainsource_breakingatoms.jpeg

I heart 1991

iirc there was some interview when Keith boasted that, a few exceptions aside (*RAKIM* cough) prior to him most rappers just stuck to placing the rhyming syllables at the end of each line. But Keith put his rhymes all over the place - at the beginning of the lines (he does this a lot actually) or in the middle - he was really innovative on this record in terms of odd rhyme schemes, internal rhymes, etc.

xp

He's constantly pausing between lines.

this was not a mistake!! it's called a NEW STYLE sheesh - he was breaking away from just doing A/B/A/B rhymes

i never got into kool keith at all but i get that he's a big influence for ppl

'lord willin' + 'breaking atoms' are both classic 4 me great picks

54. Big L - Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous [7 votes, 192 points, 1995]

http://mp3get.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Big-L-Lifestylez-Ov-Da-Poor-Dangerous-1995-VBR.jpg

guys, berating a non-English speaker for missing the nuances displayed by someone playing with English cadences is nagl

♫♫ looking at the front door ♫♫

oh shit i did it again. i missed #55! it's a stonking great fucking classic too!

Good to see Soul Food, they pulled off conscious southern raps like no one else. The Day Afteris my jam.

i can't remember what that big l album is like at all

ive been meaning to check out "breaking atoms" for the last 15 years but i havent got around to it yet. anyone else think "marshall mathers" should have been higher. i know his shite now but its a staggering record. it was my #2

who had 'soul food' as their number one btw?

sweet ass countdown so far.

Flockaveli will be the most recent album on the list.

55. Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill [8 votes, 189 points, 1991[]

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgfm3irrfr1qc4k6lo1_500.jpg

nice

there are not 54 better rap albums than the first Cypress Hill

There's loads, but it is THERE best album.

THEIR

I really don't like that Big L album. Hadn't even heard it until a couple years ago (thx to some Kool G Rap vs Big L poll) and yeah, just couldn't get into it. Nihilism was just too overbearing, I think.

Yah he was angry, still like it tho.

that Cypress Hill album has held up really well imho. Muggs' beats are such a strange intersection of east coast boom bap and west coast proto-psych-funk or something.

yeah it has

despite their best efforts

He's constantly pausing between lines.

this was not a mistake!! it's called a NEW STYLE sheesh - he was breaking away from just doing A/B/A/B rhymes

I know this, but you can still do internal rhymes and stuff like that without the constant pauses; Rakim had already done that. Compared to him, Keith's flow on CB sounds weak. If you listen to people who have never rapped before trying to rap, they almost always pause between rhymes. It sounds amateurish, you have to practice your technique to make make the raps flow better from one line to another.

lol yeah what the fuck happened

53. Black Star - Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star [7 votes, 197 points, 1998

http://images.wikia.com/lyricwiki/images/c/ca/Mos_Def_-_Mos_Def_%26_Talib_Kweli_Are_Black_Star.jpg

uh oh who let the Post-College White Indie Hipsters up in here

Few great tracks and that's it on Black Star.

the good tracks are nice tho

okay I am retracting my halfhearted defense of Tuomas

i wish they never went with the 'rework old classics on every track' thing because the beats are nice and those dudes are talented

I went with great, still stands.

AStronomy
Defintition
Respiration
K.O.S. (Determination)