Quote:
Originally Posted by Walt Liquor
Illmatic by brutal brutal stoppage.
And 4 corners was wrong. Illmatic was highly anticipated and an immediate classic in hip hop circles.
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Ehhh it was seen as a great album. I remember buying it right when it came out, but it wasn't called a classic right away by tons of people. The way you determine a classic is if it stands the test of time. That's the only Nas album that has stood the test of time so far.
I put MMLP first, because it's every bit as solid as Illmatic lyrically, and more original in my eyes as far as content and sound. Both are amazing, and both emcee's I have in my Top 5.
There's something to say about an album that will sound original no matter when you play it. Whether it's right then and there, or 10 years later. No other album will sound like Marshall Mathers LP in my opinion. I think that's why Kendrick's Good Kid, Maad City is getting so much praise. It's such an original piece of work, and no one has an album like that now.
Illmatic has been Nas' curse, just like Reasonable Doubt has been Jay's, just like SSLP and MMLP have been Em's. It's hard to live up to those albums, especially since they came out when they first were coming out. I think with Em though, there's a double edged sword with him. Him being white, he was able to appeal to a wide group of people, not just urban people. So his popularity was pretty wide and it helped that he was white. At the same time, him being white, I still think there's times where he doesn't get the respect he deserves. Though most anyone would call him one of the GOAT's and definitely Top 10, Top 5 by a lot too, there's still some that don't give him the respect he deserves. He's lyrically as good as anyone we've seen, he has two for sure classics (Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP), another album that was damn near close to another classic (Eminem Show, some hip hop circles do call it a classic in it's own right), another really good/solid album (Recovery) and 2 other solid/decent albums (Encore and Relapse). And if you want that raw hip hop sound, check out Infinite. It didn't get much publicity because Em was pretty unknown at the time. But it is a very very dope album.
Yet we still have people who don't acknowledge Em's greatness. On top of having multiple classics and other good albums, he tells a story as good (if not better) than almost anyone can. And is hands down one of the most original hip hop artists of all-time.
I just think, if Em was black, he'd get THAT MUCH MORE respect than he already does, and this is coming from an African American, so I feel I can talk about that. That's just my two cents.
11-08-2012, 01:44 PM
