What Is The Definition Of A Classic Album??

What's happening, peeps!  Welcome back for another epic moment in hip-hop blogging history...okay, maybe not anywhere near that dramatic, but regardless, this will still be another thought-provoking and meaningful piece brought to you by me, myself, and I.  Earlier this week, I presented a piece on the wide gap (both musically and in terms of respect) between nineties hip-hop and current millennial hip-hop.  I cited examples of genre-defining, landmark-shifting albums from both the nineties (Illmatic, Ready To Die, The Chronic, Ridin' Dirty, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, etc.) and this current millennium (Madvillainy, The College Dropout, BE, To Pimp A Butterfly, etc.).  I had to, then, ask myself a question that would end up serving as quite the conversational piece and that was, "What really defines the term 'classic' in terms of hip-hop?"  Well, let's examine that, shall we!

When one hears the term 'classic', it garners a few different responses and quite the thought process (or at least it should).  We hear this term thrown around very much to a very unsettling amount in today's culture.  My opinion on the term is simple, yet very complex.  The term 'classic' in terms of hip-hop means any album or single that not only separates itself from the bunch, but it does so in such unique and counter-cultural fashion.  It requires delicate timing and thought, the type of which is bold enough to challenge the status quo and create new boundaries to which one needs to reach.  A 'classic' hip-hop release serves as a new flagship in artistic merit that completely shakes down lazy, plain, typical art into deep levels of brilliance, provocation, and the desired outcome of achieving masterpiece work.  In short: the audacity to be different in positive and creative ways.

We often know that there's a very thin line between brilliance and insanity, and most times, they tend to lean towards the former later on.  In cases like the late, great Ol' Dirty Bastard's eccentric, yet meticulous, debut, Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, ODB's "drunken style" ways were different in many, many aspects.  He often stated that he was named Ol' Dirty Bastard because "there was no father to his style".  When he dropped that debut, many were stating that this was a weird, almost incoherent, mash up of quirky stylings, confusing rhymes, and bizarre themes over brooding, yet superb, production by RZA primarily.  When you first heard him on "Protect Ya Neck" by Wu-Tang, he was clearly one of the standouts in that track, as well as his other guest appearances on cuts like "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" and "Shame On A Nigga" from another landmark album, the Wu's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), with his different, yet clearly rugged, stylings.  However, one he ventured out on his own with his debut, he developed into a more unconventional character, even more so than a traditional emcee.  The album is now considered a 'classic' because of how different and against the mold it was and how it came to define the musical legacy of the great Osirus.  Another album that somewhat represents this is the aforementioned Madvillainy by Madvillain, which was comprised of underground icon MF Doom and highly regarded and esteemed producer Madlib.  The two of them together presented one of the most unique and enigmatic recordings hip-hop has ever heard simply because of the same qwerky formula that made ODB's debut so fascinating.  Doom, himself, is a capricious emcee lyrically so you mix this along with Madlib's beats that are oft times left-of-center itself, and you had an album that was unlike anything out in conventional hip-hop.  This album was one of those albums like De La Soul Is Dead, Outkast's delightful Aquemini, and Ghostface Killah's masterful Supreme Clientele, in which it strikes you as a different album, one that's special but that you can't quite place your finger on it until around the sixth, seventh, or eighth time you grasped it due to it's odd structure, yet very creative landscape.

There are albums out here that are socially conscious and movement provoking, that these albums provide more than just a nod factor.  These albums make you FEEL something.  Something in your heart as a human, and in your spirit as a hip-hop breather.  Conceptually and thematically, these albums are above just hip-hop music, they're life and the human where-with-all to perceive and grasp change.  There isn't an album that better illustrates this than another aforementioned album, Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back.  Many have called this album "the angriest hip-hop album ever heard that's more than just idiotic noise".  That's right folks, this isn't an Onyx, M.O.P. scream fest, full of angst while still aiming to bring down people by shooting and sticking up people (don't get it twisted, both acts have made DOPE albums, I'm just speaking in context), PE's noise was simple: the powerful movement of uprising against racist and bigoted societal control and the suppressive government takeovers that were killing our Black communities.  While their debut album, Yo! Bumrush the Show was a nice introduction, it was their hostile gospel of a sophomore album that really became the epitome of Black rage on wax.  Over production that feels like punches to the stomach from The Bomb Squad, this album went away from anything party like their debut and completely became the Black community's CNN or Headline News for its supreme social commentary and outcries.  To this day, this album is regarded as the most important hip-hop release of all-time and many others would say it's the hip-hop equivalent of Michael Jackson's Thriller, in terms of influence and crossing all genres in terms of relevance and sustainability.  Albums such as The Coup's Steal This Album and dead prez' debut let's get free continued the momentum and the spirit of this ingenious album, bringing political and social fire to the masses over production that matched the impeccable aura of these releases.  Today, it's Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly, which is clearly the hip-hop album of our generation.  While you can read about why this album is the best pure constructed, originally conceived album post-Illmatic here, Kendrick officially became the leader of the new school and becoming a much needed conscious emcee without the overtly preachy elements that tend to go over heads.

There are, however, albums that immediately grab your attention as game changers and bringing in a new sound, new climate, and a new era in the game and in music.  With Dr. Dre's The Chronic, A Tribe Called Quest's People's Instinctive Travels In The Paths Of Rhythm, Nas' Illmatic, and Outkast's Southernplayalistcadillacmuzik, there was no doubt that these releases were instant and immediate 'classics' due to how fresh the sound was, plus how different their approaches were to hip-hop than their peers during their time.  We all know I could go on and on about Illmatic, but in most cases, the same can be said about other albums because of one other word I left off: influence.  We've seen highly successful albums over the years and decades use formulas that made albums like these so legendary.  When the term 'influential' is mentioned, we must look at groundbreaking albums from the the richest time, artistically, in hip-hop, the eighties.  There would be no Illmatic if it wasn't Eric B & Rakim's Paid In Full.  Without EPMD's eponymous debut Strictly Business, there would be no Mobb Deep's The Infamous (albeit this album was far more sinister and dark than anything Erick and Parrish put out), and there would be no Grip It On Other Level from The Geto Boys without Straight Outta Compton.  One would say, these albums, that were classics themselves, turned around and spawned other classics to create others down the road.

However, there are those that don't get the recognition that they truly deserve, and they present all or most of those elements that i mentioned earlier.  One of those is Ras Kass' amazing debut Soul On Ice.  While not necessarily the greatest production album ever heard consistently, this is by far one of hip-hop's most lyrically innovative gems of all-time.  Ras was something we never heard come from the west in this manner before.  Sure, there were great lyricists such as Saafir, damn near everyone from the Hieroglyphics camp, and Tha Alkaholiks from out that way, but Ras was truthfully head and shoulders above everyone.  An educated battler that was among the most feared lyricists of his time, and still is today.

It takes more than just mundane topics of drugs, hos, guns, and unoriginal, uninspired topics to get critical acclaim status of 'classic'.  It takes looking outside the book, both creatively and musically.  There must be a richness in the sound and quality of what is heard, and even more so, what's presented.  There are tons of outstanding albums out there.  I listed one hundred of them not too long ago and you can refer to them when reading this piece and why they're on there.  However, this is dedicated to the forward thinkers, the artists, the ones that wanted lasting acclaim and merit rather than momentary flashes of grandeur.  Albums the ones I've mentioned, plus others like Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., Black Star's self-titled debut, 2Pac's Me Against the World, Mos Def's Black On Both Sides, Scarface's The Diary, and Bone Thugs N Harmony's E. 1999 Eternal, deserve their titles of 'classics', but the question lies: what will be the next one?  From TPAB to Dr. Dre's triumphant Compton, Scarface's Deeply Rooted, and Game's Documentary 2, this year can end today and it'll be considered one of the finest in years.  I challenge these artists of today to create fine penmanship and artistic merit to not just be content with the status quo and earning C-grades.  Push for A-plus quality music, our youth and our culture deserve it.

That's all for now, kiddies, but I'm going to leave you with a cut from newcomer Kirk Knight.  This member of Pro Era is the next to blow, and based on tracks like "Heaven", this emcee/producer will be a problem for this game.  This comes from his debut, Late Knight Special.  Until next time, I'm out!