official hip-hop litmus test: hip-hop's greatest year

obviously, I'm a 1988 guy, which is why I think I'm partial to more abrasive and minimal stuff like Lil Jon, Roc Marciano, Young L, Danny Brown, Waka and even Death Grips.

I get clowned by goons sometimes because my favorite contemporary rap productions are always the 88 style of a looping, skipping sample--"Otis," "Six Foot Seven Foot," "On To The Next One," Rich Boy's "Drop." Because they remind me of the days when rap was obnoxious, repetitive, confrontationally annoying, and rhythm-based. I think Dr. Dre can really be credited for making chord changes popular in rap--suuuuper prevalent in Houston/Atlanta/LA stuff to this day--and I really like stuff that has p much one chord...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4SydcL9OLE

http://i.imgur.com/YXpcX.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMhIyT2LTxA
http://i.imgur.com/rmF9r.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE2vEtsc2io

if I hadn't been around for both years, I'd probably pick '93. I was, though, and when I look at the '88 list, I get all BMW-driver-about-the-60s. It Takes Two came out in '88; as much I love a lotta '93 stuff (and as much as I think the strides made in '93 are kinda bigger toward broadening the genre, and therefore more "important"), hearing "It Takes Two" on KDAY was one of those "oh, shit, music is different after this for me" moments. You don't like it, so what, I don't care

and even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Gripsand even Death Grips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBiFel99JEM

88 was more life-changing for me but from here I'm voting 93

^^^ otm

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41J93DE01ML._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Where's the 1990 option?

I think Dr. Dre can really be credited for making chord changes popular in rap--suuuuper prevalent in Houston/Atlanta/LA stuff to this day--and I really like stuff that has p much one chord...

this is true, if a very complimentary way of putting what Dre did, which was turn from a one or two bar sequence made out of layers of multiple samples to sampling 4 bars of one song by someone else & then building up the production / replacing the instruments. I fell out precisely around 1993 because mainstream rap just gravitated towards what seemed like cover versions. I enjoy a lot of those songs now and can hear all the production work & polish but at the time it seemed like a sad turn

in other words I like the stuff that had one chord as well, especially the stuff that had so many noises piled up and against each other that you couldn't even begin to tell what chord it was

I thought I was going to vote for 1988 era (I actually have more rap albums from 1989 and 1994 than from 88 and 93, which feels appropriate), but the breadth of the 1993 stuff is pretty great, gonna have to go with that.

Should add '98 and '03 so jordan can participate lol

looking over the ego-trip singles lists from these years has just made this harder

the problem with saying 1988 is "hip-hop's greatest year" is that it feels weird to suggest it was all downhill from there.

well

1988 had the better albums out of those two. It's amazing what five years did to Run DMC.

∞

i guess there was more rap music in 93...

1993/fuiud

Why '93 over '94?

'94 til infinity

yeah i was gonna say, '94 (or even '91) >>>>> '93

i was still listening to hip-hop in 1988

I shouldn't even vote in this, since I've basically decided to never listen to new hip-hop ever again, but yeah, '88 for sure - I'll take a loop and a beat over swooshing synths and a fucking sung chorus every day of the year.

Voted 1993 b/c of 12 Inches of Snow.

A few Illmatic singles were released in '93. "Party and Bullshit" was 93.

I have probably playedBuloone Mindstate, Midnight Marauders, The Bliss Album...?, Return of the Boom Bap, and Reachin' more than the 1988 releases.

I'll take a loop and a beat over swooshing synths and a fucking sung chorus every day of the year.

Chronic was December 92 dude

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c9/SlickRickTheGreatAdventuresofSlickRick.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8a/Eazy-E_Eazy-Duz-It.jpg

^88

xpost!

― mark (er) s (k3vin k.), Thursday, August 18, 2011 9:53 AM (4 months ago)

mainstream rap just gravitated towards what seemed like cover versions. I enjoy a lot of those songs now and can hear all the production work & polish but at the time it seemed like a sad turn

yeah this is otm - I loved The Chronic and Doggy Style (and Uncle Sam's Curse what year was that?) but the element of rap that was like mindblowing sheer sonics gave way to what were essentially rock records structurally - same rules as rock in terms of how you get to the vibe/effect. whereas that late 80s stuff was so Structures In Sound - but then again, Wu Tang is fully up on that when they come around, and they weren't "throwback" to me at that point, they were taking that vision to where it would have gone next if it had remained the dominant discourse, which it didn't.

not that all rap had been dense layers of Bomb Squad & not that there isn't plenty of trad song structure at play in Nation of Millions and shit but that's how I break it down to an extent, rap becoming more a new approach to songcraft than a new approach to sound.

Chronic was December 92 dude
--Θ ̨Θƪ (sic)

As the singles (and Snoop) rolled out, you could def say 1993 was Dre's year tho

g-funk's sung choruses are dope though. I'm not really into sung choruses in rap, but who in their right mind didn't find "Snoop Doggy DOOOOO-OOOH-OOO-OOO-OGGG" engaging?

(yea yea I know it's just reappropriated "Atomic Dog" but itw as still dope...plus "Let Me Ride"!)

(ok ok yea mothership connection fuck off nowadays pedant)

93, honestly. I was fresh out of high school and really listening to rap a lot. one of my first roommates was a would be dj. good year.

As the singles (and Snoop) rolled out, you could def say 1993 was Dre's year tho

figured dude was whinging about current rap, my joke had layers

well, one and a half layers

1993

Not even a close race for me. I was 12 and impressionable.

yeah 93 was the first year I ever heard rap where they said "fuck" and "shit" and "titties"

prior to then, my only exposure was "He's the DJ...I'm the Rapper", and Shaq Diesel.

i was 0 and 5 respectively but 1988. if it was 94 instead, i'd pick 94.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH5CmB44TaY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ORLq1zSNow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axJpBlxW6n0

Voting 1993 but somedude's right - 91 or 94 would be my picks.

2003

god what a boring fucking question though. 2004. 2005. 1999. whenever.

thanks for sharing that valuable insight Lex, really getting new perspectives on reality here

well whenever is the right answer.

the thread is about assessing competing claims

it's not really hard to understand

still boring though

Seems to me if you prefer 1989 you should vote for 1988 and and if you prefer 1994 you should vote for 1993?

... Earlier this week?

― Bam! Orgasm explosion in your facehole. (DJP), Tuesday, January 10, 2012 6:03 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

no, dan, a rap station that YOUNG RAP FANS listen to....

man the myth that young rap fans like eminem has to really cease.

Meanwhile, back in the thread...

1988

How many Max B joints came out that yr

... Earlier this week?

― Bam! Orgasm explosion in your facehole. (DJP), Tuesday, January 10, 2012 5:03 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

how embarrassing for wherever you live

i think dan lives in the home of Benzino

not the city, i mean literally he lives in benzino's house

he is benzino

btw sorry if i went hard on a hoy hoy itt was feeling defensive

1988 was Max B deficient. But 1989 had a load of Max Q.

man deej, u are never gonna be unsigned hype :(

... Earlier this week?

― Bam! Orgasm explosion in your facehole. (DJP), Tuesday, January 10, 2012 5:03 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

how embarrassing for wherever you live

― somebody call the brinks truck (D-40), Tuesday, January 10, 2012 6:14 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha this

lol America?

... Earlier this week?

― Bam! Orgasm explosion in your facehole. (DJP), Tuesday, January 10, 2012 5:03 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

how embarrassing for wherever you live

― somebody call the brinks truck (D-40), Tuesday, January 10, 2012 6:14 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha this is - wait for it - Boston, right?

^^doesn't know where benzino live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6zf7P8eTRI

jesus christ this is "Critical Beatdown" vs. "Kill My Landlord" stfu about Max B

head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole head up the brooklyn media butthole

big ups to the heads up the brooklyn media butthole

http://recogthereal.blogspot.com/2012/01/source-magazine-fat-tape-september-1993.html

http://recogthereal.blogspot.com/2011/12/source-magazine-fat-tape-march-1993.html

http://recogthereal.blogspot.com/2011/12/source-magazine-fat-tape-april-1993.html

"love the way you lie" was a bad example, that was one of the few eminem songs that DID get in heavy rotation on most rap stations (hit #7 on the r&b/hip hop chart)

^^^dope find xp

"love the way you lie" was a bad example, that was one of the few eminem songs that DID get in heavy rotation on most rap stations (hit #7 on the r&b/hip hop chart)

― seasonal thug (some dude), Tuesday, January 10, 2012 7:03 PM (29 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

aite you pay more attention that stuff but i imagine that was the rihanna aspect rather than the eminem

that doesn't really matter, does it?

anyway eminem is a weird case because EVERY mainstream hip hop fan pays lip service to him being a genius etc. but he was never really big on rap radio

some dude you didn't pick a year

88 i guess but that's more because i feel like that's a better pinpoint of the best year of its era than that i necessarily prefer it to the overall 93 era

You know who was also probably around the 23rd best selling artist of a given year?: ORIGINAL CONCEPT

^ this is amazing

It doesn't matter whether you like max b
or if you prefer rap from 88 to 93
because a leader has arrived to part rap's Red Sea
the emperor of hip-hop, mr. djdee

http://img9.elex-tech.org/10000/2011/1201/92/e/6990/600x600x75x0.gif

anyway the real answer to this question is 1998

^brinks, baby!

whatever happened to benzino?

his latest mixtape received rave reviews in Hip Hop Weekly

lol

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

UPSET SPECIAL

Yes!

thumbs up

ok, who passed the OFFICIAL HIP-HOP LITMUS TEST?

I don't remember what I voted

or if I voted

R.I.P. whiney it's sad he was a pollmaker

I don't remember what I voted

― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Wednesday, February 8, 2012 8:09 PM (6 days ago)

autofail

A win for modernity! 20 years ago beats 25 years ago!

gtfo

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0fnz5ggk91r1nqr4o1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1331357870&Signature=siuLlugh6fKRHPb1K%2BCcWShTPSk%3D

yeah, no more iggy azalea articles

can't believe i read this whole thing. that middle section was some dark shit.