Apr 26, 2016

@Perry The Platypus @TimmyT yeah this list is kinda funny in that I was trying not to be objective and when I write about music it's usually the other way around. I was trying to go for the pure, personal enjoyment factor/what the albums meant to me at different points in my life as criteria and just used the one artist rule as a qualifier so it was more diverse/interesting.

Correct, one from each decade left!

 

Apr 26, 2016

I unfortunately am not gonna be able to get to this tonight because I've yet to get to a non-work computer today but I'll put the nail on the coffin before Views drops, don't worry y'all. Sorry for the wait (2). I'll roll all three out real fast

 

Apr 26, 2016

Tha Tour is GOAT, I have great memories of it from a roadtrip around the country I went on. Pretty sure I listened to that and RTJ2 every day on that trip.

Thanks for having faith bud!

 

Apr 27, 2016

#3 comin in a few hours when I'm off work!

 

Apr 28, 2016

@mattagascar @El Ares @Maximus @Boyz N The Suburbs @Perry The Platypus @Mike Tyson @Pablo @Nuredin B @Michael Myers @Squid @Fire Squad @Ordinary Joel @Deadpool @MTY @Jakey @Jordan @Serg @Eyjafjallajokull @FlawlessT @Sav @swr @Enigma @Loyalty @Pato v2 @YDB @Iceman @Narsh @Radeem @Rodamon @Groovy Tony @Jerome @Maad City @Flacko @Mow @Daniel Shaw @art @Jehovah @Soldier @Koolo

Spoiler: #3

3. Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (1996)

Out of all the albums on this list, picking Jay-Z’s was probably the most difficult. I had The Black Album and The Blueprint on here at one point, and the very last change I made to this list was switching out American Gangster for Reasonable Doubt, the latter of which gets the edge due to the nostalgia factor. Part of the reason I love this album so much is that it reminds me of the time I first heard it. I was 16 or so and my friends and I were smoking hookah (lol) and drinking the Miller High Life my friend bought with his fake ID that was printed with computer paper and hand-laminated. We thought we were f---ing cool. Jay-Z was f---ing cool.

And that, of course, is one of the most appealing things about Jay-Z. Up until Magna Carta Holy Grail (@Narsh’s favorite album) came out, he could make pretty much anything sound cool. Jay’s almost always charismatic, but the charisma Jay boasts here is a little more “ruthless.” He’s cool, but also cold (maybe not quite flat-out “villainous,” but closer here than in most places), and for that reason there’s nothing more perfect than the album ending with “Regrets.” The trading of verses with Biggie on “Brooklyn’s Finest” is some of the “best rapping for the sake of rapping” in history. Also, “Feelin’ It” is my favorite Jay-Z song of all time (and probably in my top 25 favorite rap songs of all time). It’s one of those songs that I have distinct memories of at vastly different points in my life. I think most of us find this relatable:

“I'm so confused, okay I'm getting weeded now/I know I contradicted myself, look, I don't need that now/It’s just once in a blue when there's nothing to do/And the tension gets too thick for my sober mind to cut through”