1048. MF Doom - Special Herbs, Vol. 1 & 2

MF Doom, also known as Metal Fingers slices and glues so many great tracks together you can't help but get sucked in. To me this release is the equivalent of visiting a designers work space or viewing ones sketches and it's all grade a. Plus, you have to love the use of Doctor Doom here.

8.4 out of 10

1047. King Geedorah - Take Me To Your Leader

This is it. All that you could hope for from what I consider to be the best age of hip hop since the late 80's and early 90's... intelligent, funky, sophisticated and infectious.

9 out of 10

1046. Antipop Consortium - Tragic Epilogue

Without even hearing it I was interested in the cd for years, but of course i had to get it used only (I don't take chances at full price)... this is a great geek's hip hop record - with sound effects, Vader references, and infinite loops. It at times becomes a bit stale but it's still fun.

7.4 out of 10

1045. Lyrics Born - Same shit different day

What I love about this CD is how funky lyrics born gets - sure this is remix/reimagination of his previous album but it sounds so fresh and his vocal style, though limited, slides with ease in between all the grooviness.

8.3 out of 10

1044. N.E.R.D. - In Search of...

The members of NERD were at the time the go to song smiths - fine tuning hits for anyone, ultimately they were replaced with the next hot thing... this disc was the first to, in a mainstream way, introduce the notion of being a nerd or geek in hip-hop and being cool (by default though I think hip-hop nerds are in a whole other class than just regular nerds)... there a few solid hits on this but what happens the tricks, beats and effects get repeated a tad too often diminishing the importance of this release...

7 out of 10

1043. Dr. Dre - The Chronic

I love the Chronic in more ways than one... from the Zig Zag cover, to the now funny toughness, to Snoops show stealing cameos and of course, the well curated and placed samples this is one of the best hip hop albums of the 90's and just plain best albums. A classic.

9.4 out of 10

1042. The Roots - Things Fall Apart

The Roots are able to be funky, poppy and socially conscious in equal measures all the time and that's probably held them back a bit throughout the years, but it's also what has made them so unique. Not necessarily my favorite, but easily in their top three.

7.9 out of 10

1041. Digable Planets - Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)

Another landmark hip-hop album, shaking up what people thought hip hop had to be at the time. The boy/girl trade offs are perfect, the samples are cleverly used and the beat are thumpin. Also, look at how young they all look on the cover.

8.5 out of 10

1040. De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising

Another classic, where wit, classic samples and perfect rhymes come together and rise above the rest.

8.4 out of 10

1039. Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet

Public Enemy are the shit. Chuck D and Flavor Flav tag team on the mic like nobody else. The lyrics were, and still are so fresh and clever. The samples and mixing by the Bomb Squad is absolutely brilliant. One of the best albums ever. Easy. So great I've purchased it 3 times.

9.7 out of 10

1038. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton

Wow. I remember when this came out and it was like 'holy fuck what is this?' - it was and still is pretty bad ass... most of the tracks hit you like a head trauma nobody can touch 'straight outta compton', 'fuck tha police' or 'express yourself' - classics to kill for. Eazy E was the tick that made the NWA clock tock. Boy that sounded stupid.

7.9 out of 10

1037. A tribe called quest - the low end theory

The are only a handful of mc's that truly have a unique voice (Chuck D, Flavor Fav, Gift of Gab, Ice-T, Ad Rock, Biggie, Eazy-E, Snoop and Q-Tip) and Q-Tip is one of them. Ellen was playing Q-Tip's latest and his style and voice are instantly recognizable - it's laid back, but still pissed off, and funny - sometimes you're not sure if he's having a good time or getting annoyed. This tribe release took a massive leap forward in terms of what a hip hop song can do, where it 'doesn't' have to go and what it can communicate.

8.2 out of 10

1036. Young MC - Stone Cold Rhymin'

I love hip hop from the 80's and 90's - most of the rhymes were simple and clever and almost every track contained a sample from an old r&b/soul song. Young MC hit it big time with 'Bust a Move' - the rest of the cd isn't as catchy as that single but it is still pretty representative of the era... simple rhymes and simple routines.

6 out of 10