This album is pure storytelling. Bill writes like a man who’s lived every bar. “Harlem” plays like street reporting, not myth making. You can feel the heat trapped in small rooms and the grind of cold mornings. When he talks about his grandmother, it is so vivid you can see the church shoes and hear the quick clap that snaps you back in line. The love songs cut a different way too. He does not lean on flowery language. He tells the truth about missing somebody, about the ache ... read more

This album still moves furniture. Polow’s low end is ridiculous, claps clean, and Rich Boy’s Alabama drawl cuts through like knife thru butter. The sweet spot is obvious: “Role Models,” “Boy Looka Here,” “Throw Some D’s,” “What It Do.” That run is winner’s circle music. Chant hooks, trunk knock, zero strain. “Ghetto Rich” is the glow up, John Legend turns the hook into sunlight. Big Boi slides in and everything ... read more

Trinity feels like peak Detroit with the plug half-in. Without Dilla on the boards most of the time, a lot of joints sound like they’re tracing Fantastic’s silhouette instead of moving like it. You still get sparks: “Tainted” is gorgeous, Dwele butter and Baatin’s voice hitting the heart. “Fall in Love” tells on everything—the second real Dilla shows up, the groove turns human, crooked swing, warm bass, instant float. “Who Are We” gets ... read more

The 3rd installment of the resurgent series finds Nas more comfortable and cozy than ever. He has the delivery of a man who has no more pressure, just passion for rhyming. He still can stack internal rhymes with ease and he can still tell an engaging story. Reminiscing on old times in the industry, squashed beefs and black cultural icons past and present, he comes across as the cool uncle with the old school swagger, chomping on a lit cigar, telling his nephews stories and cautionary tales of ... read more

Juelz Santana’s From Me to U is Dipset energy in its purest form. The Heatmakerz are all over this thing, chopping up samples into something loud and dramatic for the streets. At the time, Kanye was taking soul flips in a more conscious, alternative direction, but Juelz and the crew made sure their version stayed raw and chaotic.

One of the cool parts of revisiting this album is hearing just how much it rubbed off on Lil Wayne. A song like Squalie feels like a blueprint for the flows ... read more

Let God Sort Em Out is a homecoming and a reset. Sixteen years since their last album together, Clipse return locked-in and unflinching.

Despite Pusha T being exponentially more visible in recent years, Malice (f/k/a No Malice, f/k/a Malice but the 2000's version) makes the bigger leap. His writing is denser, colder, and more memorable —tight schemes, stark images, and a spiritual edge that never turns preachy. Pusha is all polish and pressure; Malice is the revelation.

The ... read more

If I was around back then, this album would have been the single biggest turning point as a rap fan. As of now, it's College Dropout, but this isn't that.

It really boils down to this: LL Cool J made rapping cool; Rakim made LYRICISM cool. He turned cadence, breath, and internal patterns into the flex.

The production sounds like its era—drum machines, dusty loops, sharp cuts—but it’s a non-factor. Rakim could make a classic rhyming over raindrops plopping on a ... read more

One day in late January of 2005, I was just an impressionable 13 year old boy who was trying to adjust to life in a new apartment. I was in a school for troubled children and had befriended Rafy there, a troublemaker who's parental figures were never really around at home, but embraced me along with this brothers. I ended up moving 2 blocks away from him so we would start hanging out. Anyways, back to this January day; Rafy and I were in Circuit City in North Bergen, and we were browsing ... read more

A lot of you may be shocked that I've given this album higher ratings than more impactful, more chart-dominating, more influential albums, but this is just my level of enjoyment and wonder I came away with with this album.

The production is absolutely great for underground stuff. But the real MVP of this is Breeze Brewin.

The thing about Breeze is...he finds the most unique pockets to drop his rhymes in, he sometimes will resolve a line mid bar instead of waiting for the end of the bar ... read more

A decent EP but lacking any truly epic songs here. Christmas song is a bit funny but not something I'd be spinning during the holidays like that. Good trivia material in this album though, like the fact that Naughty By Nature produced Only if You Want It. Always down for a Jersey connection.

Eazy's most iconic EP. Focused and angry and ready to go to war with his rivals, he makes his best work of his career. Despite his limits as an MC, his aggressive delivery makes these songs work for the most part. Eazy is livid and at times paranoid here; I have a theory that 2pac heard this EP as he was stewing one day in 1996 and modelled his own iconic aggressive campaign against his foes after "It's On", "Any Last Werdz" and "Real....G's", even ... read more

This album has basically a pop star's approach but in the framework of hip hop. Take one vocalist with charisma and personality, a couple of writers to help him out and a main producer. And honestly, it's successful! A few highlights here and lots of repetitive ideas but funky production and the iconic higher pitched vocals of Eazy keep this album fairly cozy to listen to.

I'm not gonna argue the merits of the content here. Listen at your own risk.

For 11 tracks, this album is top 3 Roots level. A clean sound with crisp drumming and fantastic transitions all throughout. The last 3 tracks kind of slow the momentum built up and feel very Tipping Point-like. Black Thought shares the mic a lot in this one, but it's fine. You get two phenomenal Phonte and Blu verses each. Dice Raw is always reliable as well.

Its a bit of a concept album that goes from gloomy to triumphant in sound. But musically, my god. This album is incredible. 14 ... read more

Gritty and unforgiving, and sadly very close to the reality of Big L's actual character. The title track is very telling when you realize the politics that lead to Big L's death. The punchlines are of course the star of the show, but there's a few gems here that involve a bit of perspective of the way the world works, in traditional Big L wit. Perhaps its not as cinematic as Cuban Linx or as depressingly mortal as The Infamous, but this album is another example of how 1995 was ... read more

Its haunting when you have access to money but can't seem to get the things that are truly priceless right.

I get this album, man. I was almost 29 when it came out, and now I'm 33. I'm an uncle to a niece. Even sometimes, that feels like pressure. She thinks i'm invincible. She thinks i have the answers to everything. Being present is a constant battle against my own self-doubt and the reality of my limits as a human being. I can only imagine the pressure of having ... read more

Enjoyable debut but it feels 2 years behind production wise. Kool G is a master technician and pioneer. Truly Yours is iconic, of course, and deserves to be rated as such no matter how you feel about the 2nd verse. This album lives off the strength of KGR's charisma and delivery, which both are good but just a hair below the level of his peers. Black Thought of The Roots loves this album; he basically remade Men At Work in Phrenology and quoted part of Poison in BOOM!

Solid work from the ... read more

Monch kills the album front to back; any weaknesses that come from this album have to do with production and maybe a concept or two. He finds incredible and unique pockets of flows and the beats are very very well done here.

In defense of track 4, rappers brag about doing all sorts of damage or criminal offenses to beats as a metaphor for bragging about rap skills, he just flipped the trope and took it to riskier territory. It worked. That beat is fucking sick, too.

It earns a 95 off the strength of offending white hip hop fans several times. Consider this revenge for Snow and Vanilla Ice.

Y'all may have banned me on your little Discord server for enjoying this guy's music a bit too much but you can't stop me from reviewing! And you can't also stop the homies or the fam from respecting Oldhead Uncle Cypher. I CANNOT be cancelled.

Probably the most important album for me in the Year of the Pandemic. It's surprisingly calming and that's due to Jay Elec's poetic lyrics and the emotional depth in his delivery. As someone who lost a mother all too early in life, APIDTA can be a very ... read more

A couple of years ago, I shocked my nephew Rollo P about my choice for the best Roots album. Expecting the usual Illadelph Halflife or Things Fall Apart
answer, I blew his mind when I said it was actually this one. Game Theory. Somewhere in between, I used my Howitzer arm to launch empty bottles in Roll's direction for making such an assumption but no hard feelings, am I right, nephew?

Anyways, I truly believe this album is their most complete as a band. This album centers around a dark mood ... read more