Apr 29, 2025 at 10:00 PM

215. Joey Bada$$ - 1999 (2012) [April 29th, 2025]

1999 holds a strange place when it compared to early 2010's rap projects. Records like Live.Love.A$AP, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Take Care etc. are still commonly talked about and revered today because of how they pioneered the greater hip-hop sound. 1999 does the opposite, as it very clearly harkens back to an earlier 90's-2000's era of primarily boom bap beats and atmosphere. While this definitely serves as one of the projects strong points, I do think that it might've hurt Joey's mainstream-appeal, but I'll go into that later.

Rap-wise, Joey and the rest of Pro Era are great on this record. STEEZ absolutely shines on "Survival Tactics" and tracks like "Snakes" and "Suspect" contain some incredible verses from everybody involved. 1999 also shines in its production. Seriously, Statik Selektah, MF DOOM, J DILLA!!!! This project has an incredible atmosphere, and its a great throwback to the 90's era of hip-hop...

...but I feel like being a great throwback to the 90's era of hip-hop might've slightly hurt Joey's career. I started feeling this way after he dropped "The Ruler's Back" last year, but despite being an absolutely killer MC, it feels like Joey's at a strange place compared to other rappers. Artists like Kendrick, Rocky, Danny etc. feel like they've made a much greater impact, even though Joey's been around for about the same amount of time. I probably could've worded this better, but despite Joey's strange place in modern hip-hop, I still think that 1999 is a great project, and a must-listen when it comes to the early 2010's era of hip-hop

 

Apr 29, 2025 at 10:19 PM

Columbine?

 

Apr 30, 2025 at 11:24 AM

212. Jay- Z - Vol 2... Hard Knock Life (1998) [April 30th, 2025]

Oh boy, this is gonna be an unpopular one. This is the album that made me become a Jay-Z fan. I already loved Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint, Black Album and 4:44, but I didn't really "get" Hov until this record. I know this is very unusual, and despite being his best selling record, most people barely talk about this album.

Whenever I listen to Vol 2, the biggest takeaway is this: Jay-Z is the coolest MFer alive, and you automatically feel cool as h--- by listening to it. The cover art itself, just oozes coolness man. The lack of direction that kinda soured Vol. 1 is now longer here, and the Shiny-Suit sound is all over this record. Thankfully, the production on this record is much better than what you'd find on a Puff Daddy record lmao. All the features are (mostly) incredible on this record, but my favorite guest has to be Jadakiss on the project's best track "Reservoir Dogs"

"Now if I k--- you I probably do ten in the box
Come down on appeal then I'm killing your pops
You feeling The LOX, n-----, why you grilling The LOX?
If this rap s--- don't work n----s still in the spot
You bring it to me, I gotta lose your family
Gangsters don't die, they get chubby, and move to Miami
s--- is deep now dog but it gets deeper
f--- it, the weather's nice and the price is much cheaper"


But yeah, despite being Hov's most commercial album up to this point, I still think that Vol. 2 is a great time, and a certified classic