It comes ever so often where a band takes a big step forward and makes dangerous, experimental music. One in every five of those works can become a stepping stone, and The Velvet Underground and Nico falls under that category.

One hour and fifteen minutes of the greatest guitar and rock work you'll ever hear.

Yeah, it's overrated but still a fun listen and some bangers and hits. The ideal start to a discography. Even if it's his like second album or something.

Top notch production accompanied with top tier rapping you won't find anywhere nowadays. GZA really delivered here, and he honestly outdid Wu-Tang. This has some of the best samples and also the best lyricism.

The greatest hip hop record to date, Kanye shows that he can really make hip hop and he can really make something the kids will all enjoy. Drug dealing just to get by, stack your money till it get sky high, we wasn't supposed to make it past twenty five, but joke's on you we still alive. Not a single miss on this and it pioneered the chipmunk soul sound that defined early Kanye West.

It sounds great, it's got some of Kendrick's most honest and upfront lyrics to date, but some songs sound lackluster and it does feel slightly rushed. Don't let that make this album not feel great. It's great.

edit (3/1/25): not as good as I thought anymore but still got some good tracks on here. I think I'm overdue for a relisten.

I don't think anybody can create a masterpiece like this ever again. This is what makes Kendrick's 2010 album run so memorable. His ability to mix genres together to achieve a theme, mood and add to the conceptual depth that already remains so deep I can't cover it all. Kendrick made a masterpiece here, and I think it's the greatest album of all time.

edit (3-3-25): yeah, not the greatest album ever but it's up there Idk what I was thinking

Best production I've ever heard on a project, and it was THE defining album for experimental hip hop artists for decades to come, such as JPEGMAFIA. Everything about this album sounds like a villian. Madlib absolutely cooks on this record.

A therapeautic masterpiece with top notch production and a perfect display of how Lauryn Hill can infuse genres like R&B, Soul, hip hop and neo all into a singular sound that acts as a benchmark for years to come.

Easily the best Jazz Rap album of all time, this paved the way for more Native Tongue artists in the 90s to create similar sounding albums that also contained timeless hip hop beats with classic flows and rhymes.

Don't let anybody tell you this isn't a 10. Don't let anybody tell you that this album isn't the greatest comeback album of all time. Kanye West delivers time and time again, and this remains one of his best. Every single song on here contribuites to a story about Kanye's position and how he is flawed and can't just move on and make more music if he doesn't solve his problems.

4-28-25: I have to revoke this ten. Bad pacing, some eh songs and so much more all ... read more

Tyler experiments with new genres on this album while talking about his fame and success and still maintaining the touch he adds to every album he makes.

Peak stortyelling and production overlayed on an album that is just so good you could say any track is the best.

update (may 3 2025): it's not that good. there's a couple misses and it just doesn't feel as whole and hard hitting as I thought it did. It's still incredible, but no longer worthy of a perfect score.

By far the most underrated Kendrick album, Mr Morale tells a personal story of Kendrick's life, and the dangers and emptiness of success in a masterpiece we now know as Mr Morale and the Big steppers. Criminally underrated, especially for such a popular artist.

4-20-25: haha, this is not better than the jhe what typa drug was I smoking anywho great album

4-28-25: gave it a whole listen and it is both incredible and incredibly average. overall still a 93

Best storytelling you'll ever see, and some of the best hip hop songs of all time. You also have SAMIDOT which just absolutely blows anybody away first listen. It's a timeless album with peak replayability, and belongs in the top ten in everyone's lists.

Kanye's best beats over some surprisingly personal stories and lyrics. You get to see Kanye talk about his lavish lifestyle in tracks like NMPILA, but you also get to see him talking about the ups and downs of it all. Saint Pablo is also arguably his best song and easily the best on the entire album.

Start to finish is some of the best jazz compositions you'll see nowadays over quality rapping and flow accompanied by a solid storyline and theme that gets better the more you listen to it. It's like a TPAB but of course less conceptually deep and a bit better replayability and some great hits.

Lowkey overrated and overhyped but still for sure a good album. We get to get a closer look into Tyler's life and his up and downs of fame and success, something that we do get in CMIYGL, but much more personal and a different sound all together. It's like Tyler's Mr Morale and the Big Steppers, but don't you forget the lows of this album musically at times.