A Modern Day Classic?

So let’s talk classic hip-hop albums. What makes any album a classic? Lyrics, production, song structure, continuity and most importantly how well it holds up over time. Biggie’s debut holds up as well in 2011 as it did when it was released in 1994. Hell, given the quality of hip-hop music in ’94 and the lack thereof in 2011, it may sound even better today than it did 17 years ago.

But Ready to Die is an easy one. As is Wu-Tang’s Enter the 36 Chambers, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Nas’s Illmatic. They are all flawless hip-hop albums that could be played at any bbq, house party, club, car, anywhere really, and get everyone in attendance excited.

The early-to-mid 90’s hip-hop era was the best there ever was. Period. But the lack of quality hip-hop over the past decade and especially in the last five years has had all of us clamoring for that old, classic hip-hop feel. We wanna wax nostalgic and it’s messing up the way hip-hop albums of today are perceived.

Take for example Raekwon's Only Built For Cuban Linx II. We all know sequels in general are a horrible idea in the film industry, and instead of learning from this, hip-hop artists like to try and recapture the magic from a previous classic with a sequel. Sure, same album title with a Pt. 2, or in most hip-hop cases Da Sequel, tagged at the end. But they never live up to the original. And it's not surprising. 

But Rae got everyone to label OBFCL2 a classic because he brought back that Wu-Tang sound we all had craved. And it was a quality album. By far the best project The Chef put out since the original was released 14 years earlier. It was a tight-knit album that had solid production, great story-telling, and the right use of guest spots. All-in-all it was certainly an album of the year contender. But to say it lived up to OBFCL is insane. Think about this, the first installment had "Knuckleheadz," "Criminology," "Incarcerated Scarfaces," "Verbal Intercourse," "Glaciers of Ice," "Ice Cream," "Wu-Gambinos" and "Heaven or Hell." And that's just off the top of my head. Name one track, just ONE, from OBFCL2 that is on par with those songs. Can't be done. 

Let's move on.

The Source gave Bun B’s Trill O.G. five mics. Really? I like Bun B and Trill O.G. is a decent album. I’d say 3 or 3.5 mics would be sufficient. Five? FIVE? Not even close. Loved the collabo with Premier. Made me long for more Preemo beats. But it doesn’t make me bump the rating of the entire album up. Trill O.G. didn't even crack my top 5 list for best albums of 2010.

Drake’s Thank Me Later earned five @’s on Hiphopsite.com. C’mon on now. Liked Drake’s album. And I agree that it has the makings to hold up over time. But to say it’s flawless is a gross overexaggeration. “Show Me A Good Time,” “Up All Night,” and “Unforgettable” are all take-it or leave-it  tracks. Do they fit the album? Sure. But having decent songs and no bad tracks doesn’t make a classic album.

Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy also received the five-star treatment from both the Source and Hiphopsite, as well as a top rating from XXL Magazine. That makes three classics in 2010? While Kanye is definitely closer to that classic status, it’s still not there. But Kanye should get a pass because he essentially gave us all a free-album with his G.O.O.D. Friday releases. Unfortunately that’s what stops MBDTF from being a 5-star album. “So Appalled” was an inferior track to “The Joy,” “Christian Dior Denim Flow” and “Good Friday.” Can’t give away better tracks for free and then release an album a few months later and have it be named a classic. I know it’s nitpicking, but when it comes to being a classic album it’s necessary.

I’ve never listened to 36 Chambers and thought, “This is good, but I could do without this ‘Mystery of Chessboxin’ song.” No. And I never, ever, ever, ever push the skip button when listening to 36 Chambers.  And I’m not sure I ever have.

And that’s the difference. I’ve recently skipped over “So Appalled,” and even hit eject before “Who Will Survive In America” came on. Not that I don’t like those songs. They just aren’t classic material. To drive the point home further, you’d never skip over “The What” or eject Ready To Die as Biggie prepped to drop, “When I die, fuck it I wanna go to Hell….” Just saying.

So enough trying to find the next “classic.” Just let it happen. We will all know when the next timeless hip-hop album drops. There’s no need to push mediocre to good, good to great or great to classic.

‘Til next time.