Nas and Primo for good measure lol

Poll question: Which Album Would’ve Been the Best?

Poll result (38 votes) RZA produced Inspectah Deck Album first half of 1996 (12 votes) Vote Andre 3000 solo rap album circa 2008-2012 (10 votes) Vote Black Thought solo rap album between IH and TFA (3 votes) Vote Nas and AZ album instead of The Firm (3 votes) Vote Detox no later than 7 years after 2001 (6 votes) Vote Other Never Released and Never Will Be Released Album (4 votes) Vote

RZA was on fire! Deck was in peak form. No way an album released between Liquid Swords and Ironman would have disappointed.

Am I right in thinking an album was recorded but it was lost in a flooded studio?

My favourite MC and Produer at that time. Nas and primo would have been dope. It solves my one real gripe with Nas which is sometimes the beats aren't great.

I also wanted a Doom and Ghostface album when it was first announced 10 or so years ago but that was never really gonna happen :(

I also looked forward to Qtip and Common but again that was never more than just a dream.

Thought it was Tical

Deck had one too. He mentioned it in an interview with vlad https://youtu.be/DF2mz215Ln0

Deck's solo albums have been mediocre to terrible with Uncontrolled Substance being by far the best. Deck has maybe 5 solo songs total I really enjoy including Let Me At Them from the Tales from the Hood soundtrack and The City off Forever.

I'm not sure an album produced by RZA in their prime would have been great. I think Deck's voice and style works best in one verse and competing with another emcee to bring out his best. From Triumph to Above the Clouds we know Deck can kill it but better in small doses imo.

-Dre was still in the public eye.

-Xzibit,Nate,DPGC,Snoop & Storch was still in the fold. Even tho I think Mel-Man had bounced at this point.

-Game, Bishop Lamont & Stat Quo was still around to write for Dre.

-Just Blaze was involved when he still cared about doing more than 3 tracks a year.

....There's no way that version of Detox wasn't bangin.

From what I remember some of the beats from 50's first album were "cutting floor" beats from Detox. Wish we could hear what Dre had in store.

Which reminds me how disappointing Compton was. On headphones that album was wild but he was doing a little too much rock-rap shit.


>-Dre was still in the public eye.
>
>-Xzibit,Nate,DPGC,Snoop & Storch was still in the fold. Even
>tho I think Mel-Man had bounced at this point.
>
>-Game, Bishop Lamont & Stat Quo was still around to write for
>Dre.
>
>-Just Blaze was involved when he still cared about doing more
>than 3 tracks a year.
>
>....There's no way that version of Detox wasn't bangin.
>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9eA1ffU6xQ

I can’t think of one duo song they did that isn’t amazing. They killed it every single time together. It should’ve happened in the late 90s, or at least by like 03-04.

Deck would be my second choice. It’s a shame what happened there. Deck was my favorite rapper in Wu-Tang when they were at their peak.

I was intrigued to hear the original Detox when it was supposed to be a concept album of a retiring hit man or something. Once 50 and then Game came out, I thought Dre got boring and I kinda didn’t care anymore.

I had mostly given up on Kast by ‘08. At that point it had been a decade since I’d loved their music.(Stankonia was cool, but it wasn’t the first 3)

I never cared that much about a Thought solo until we stopped getting much Thought on The Roots albums. IH, TFA era we got plenty of Thought so I wouldn’t have even thought of a solo or seen the point.

>I had mostly given up on Kast by ‘08. At that point it had
>been a decade since I’d loved their music.(Stankonia was
>cool, but it wasn’t the first 3)
>

I figured this was around the time everyone loved the guest spots he was doing.


>I never cared that much about a Thought solo until we stopped
>getting much Thought on The Roots albums. IH, TFA era we got
>plenty of Thought so I wouldn’t have even thought of a solo
>or seen the point.

You’re right...I should’ve said Thought solo album right now lol

>
>>I had mostly given up on Kast by ‘08. At that point it
>had
>>been a decade since I’d loved their music.(Stankonia was
>>cool, but it wasn’t the first 3)
>>
>
>I figured this was around the time everyone loved the guest
>spots he was doing.

Yeah, I hear you. I loved the guest spots too. He could obviously still rap incredibly well. But given the musical direction he/they went on SB/TLB and Idlewild, I personally didn’t have confidence that he’d make a solo album that sounded like I hoped it would sound.

>>I never cared that much about a Thought solo until we
>stopped
>>getting much Thought on The Roots albums. IH, TFA era we
>got
>>plenty of Thought so I wouldn’t have even thought of a
>solo
>>or seen the point.
>
>You’re right...I should’ve said Thought solo album right
>now lol

Yeah, since 2011 or so....I would LOVE to hear a Thought solo because these moody sounds with random female singers and Dice Raw vocals aren’t cutting it for me.

>
>Yeah, since 2011 or so....I would LOVE to hear a Thought solo
>because these moody sounds with random female singers and Dice
>Raw vocals aren’t cutting it for me.

Hoping they stop that shit on End Game.

>I figured this was around the time everyone loved the guest
>spots he was doing.

In 08 I was hyped for more 'kast. Between "Art of Storytellin 4" and "Royal Flush" I thought they were well on their way back.

I was very disappointed that Jus and Doom never linked up.

I really wanted to hear all of these, but i made a compilation years ago with most of their work together:

Understanding (f. Biz Markie)
Life’s a Bitch
Sprite Commercial
Life’s a Bitch (demo version)
Mo Money Mo Murda Mo Homicide
Time (f. Nature)
Executive Decision ( The Firm)
Desperados 2 (The Fim f. Canibus)
Affirmative Action (f. Cormega & Foxy Brown)
Serious
I don’t give a fuck now
Holler Back (f. Kool G Rap)
Phone Tap
Gimme Yours
How Ya Livin’
The Essence
The Flyest
Firm Fiasco
Affirmative Action (remix)
Life’s a Bitch (Buckwild remix two)

I agree


or DECK

such a great song.

Now, the original plan for it, which was that bodyguard story, woulda made for a horrible concept album in my mind. But if it had dropped 2003-2005 or so? No way it wouldn't have been another classic.

It does remind me though...I have no idea why The Wash flopped so hard. The title track alone was classic to me soon as it dropped, but it just never caught steam.

Aside from this, I would say the Andre solo woulda been great.

yes, the title track was dope. I dug the truth hurts song on there too.

The aforementioned title track, Bad Intentions, On the Blvd, Get Fucked Up With Me ... I liked a lot of it.

I didn't know it flopped tho ? I know it was huge in my circles. I brought that out all through college.

>Now, the original plan for it, which was that bodyguard
>story, woulda made for a horrible concept album in my mind.

*Sounds* horrible haha. But somehow I never heard of this ?

bodyguard. And not "Hittman" but an actual hitman. Here's an article:

http://www.mtv.com/news/1453255/dr-dres-final-album-will-be-hip-hop-musical/

BURBANK, California — Detox is no place for chronic, so expect something different from Dr. Dre on his third and final album.

"I'm not talking about lowriders and blunts and all that anymore," Dre said at his studio recently. "I mean, that's played. As a matter of fact, I'm tired of hearing other people talk about it, to tell you the truth."

So what is the hip-hop pioneer going to talk about?

"I had to come up with something different but still keep it hardcore, so what I decided to do was make my album one story about one person and just do the record through a character's eyes," Dre said. "And everybody that appears on my album is going to be a character, so it's basically going to be a hip-hop musical."

Detox's story line will chronicle the life of a hit man, describing "what he goes through and how he lives his life," said Dre, who played a trigger-eager crooked cop in "Training Day." " about his family and how he makes a living."

So far, the album, which Dre said will be his last in front of the mic, is still in the early stages.

"I've been blueprinting, getting ideas together for the past six months or so, just trying to figure out which direction I want to take and how I'm gonna present the project," he said. "Just gathering sounds and what have you. I want this one to be really over the top."

Dre expects to start recording by summer, after he finishes a few tracks with Eminem (see "The Doc's Diagnosis: Eminem Still Crazy") and upcoming albums for three artists on his Aftermath label, Truth Hurts, Shaunta and Rakim (see "Rakim Out To Change The Game Again, With Help From Dre").

He said Detox should be out by summer 2003. "It's probably going to take me like a year to get it all the way together."

One thing that won't get in the way of recording is acting. After roles in "The Wash" and "Training Day" last year, Dre said he will hang up that hat.

"I had fun doing it, but acting ain't really my thing. I am more of a production/director type. I would rather be behind the scenes and organizing and putting things together like that."

... part of things, didn't remember the "hitman" concept.

Either way, horrible idea. And funny that Dre was talking about how "played" weed and lowrider talk was in 2002 ... only to just continue releasing more of exactly that for forever. Haha.

Same thing happened with the Aftermath album. Kind of a theme of his career I suppose. "I don't smoke weed or cess ..." followed by The Chronic, lol.

.

Either that or one of the Ras Kass projects

Golden State Warriors w/ him Saafir & Xzibit

or the The 4 Horsemen w/ him Canibus, Kurupt & Killah Priest

The beats from Detox that got released on other albums were really dope so I would think if Dre had a chance to stockpile them on one album it would have been another classic.

The Q-Tip, Common, and Pharrell? album would have been dope as would Helter Shelter, the Dr. Dre / Ice Cube collaboration.

And while I have no idea if the NWA album with Dre, Cube, Ren, and Snoop would have worked but I would have at least listened to that.

Nas and Preemo is a match made in Heaven and I would have loved to hear that album in the early 2000's after Guru died, if Premier was up for that. I'd still listen to it now in fact.

As far as some of the other albums listed, I don't think that the Deck album would have been money. Like another poster said, Deck was great as a partner on a track, but never had a memorable solo track, that I can think of. He was more like Method Man in that regard. Meth was also great when he had a teammate and while he had some nice solo tracks, his solo stuff never impacted me like his group or collaborative work.

Nas and AZ would have sounded great but that pairing never excited me for some reason. At least not to the level some people are.

At first I wasn't thinking much about the Thought album, but hearing his work outside of The Roots clued me into his different flows and styles that he didn't show on The Roots albums. I don't think anyone ever really questioned Thought's skill but I would think that a solo record would have increased anticipation for TFA or least added questions about the lyrical approach to the album; would the album sound like BT's solo stuff or more like his work with the band?

I thought that Guru died not too long after '03. But now that I'm typing this, Guru and Premier fell out because of Solar's influence, right? And that beef is the reason the Gangstarr albums stopped.

For some reason I forgot about the Solar beef and thought that Gangstarr stopped releasing records because GURU passed.

Those beats with Nas, TI, etc...were just insanity.

God I want to hear what he has in the vaults.

2010 is when the whole concept started to go off the rails. I Need a Doctor is top 10 worst song ever released by a top artist. Kush was just a rehash of the same shit both Dre and Snoop had done for like 2 decades by that point.

But yea the sweet spot was probably like 2007-2009.

Similar to Rae and Ghost (and Cappa). My preferred, but unlikely choice would've been GZA, but U-God or Masta Killa would've worked, and it would've set up either of their solos.

A Nas and AZ album rather than The Firm project would've still been released during that era, so it still would've been glossy, and likely EP'd by Trackmasters. So I'm okay with that having not happened lol. I still wish the Def Squad album could've come out a few years earlier than it did, while Erick Sermon was in his zone production-wise. Same for Red and Meth's album as well.

>Nas and Primo for good measure lol

>Similar to Rae and Ghost (and Cappa). My preferred, but
>unlikely choice would've been GZA, but U-God or Masta Killa
>would've worked, and it would've set up either of their solos.
>


There was that Scratch magazine (I think, or one of the other short lived mags) cover picture and article with Rza, Gza and Deck where they were talking about a rza album with them as co starring, so you werent too far with the Deck and Gza idea,

An album of RZA beats in 96? No contest.

....mentioned in the "coming soon" or whatever it was called section of the source back then ...a Chip Fu album was also mentioned around that time.

-----------------------------
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all this is rooted in hypotheticals and how much we revere whatever artist we pick soooo. . .

3K all day

culminating the best career/run of albums from ANY group in hip-hop with a diamond selling double album is some biopic Dewey Cox shit

if he had pulled a "Return of the G" a la Aquemini and showed everybody he could spit on a full length ( picking up where "A Life in the Day of Benjamin André" left off) that shit, man. . .

I think Dre should have dropped Detox right after Good Kid or TPAB, he didn't need Kendricks wave but a guest feature on a Detox could redeem Em for Revival, anyways.

Black Thought is the damn phantom of hip-hop, he can drop his solo anytime, he in the same category as 3k when it come to that want of seeing how he would take on an album outside of his known home but his Flex freestyle proves to me he can drop anytime, really, Black Thought is more suited for "old man rap" than most

the only other choice would be the rumored One Nation album 2Pac wanted to do bringing everybody together

I’m not sure how many new albums are as great as Liquid Swords and Cuban Linx so I’m imagining that of Deck dropped a proper RZA-produced album in early 96 then it would’ve been on that level and thus hard for any 21st Centruy album to top based on its nostalgia factor.

idk know man, I know 'Deck is kind of underrated outside his "Triumph" credit but if 3k had dropped a dope solo after SP/TLB, and before Big Boi or even before Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors

he arguably gets more hype than Inspectah Deck, is always in top 5 convos, eccentric enough to outshine Big Boi in some eyes, and aside from Deck's aforementioned "Triumph" verse dude is easily in the "most hip-hop quotables" top 5, dude has memorable lines from every album on some Shakespeare shit where some lines worked their way into everyday conversation for a long period of time

plus the hype of all his guest verses and coming off how big that double album was, a dope solo would have been a slam dunk, it's why we get these melancholy interviews about what could have been

not to be a douche but how many interviews we getting with people bugging Deck for a solo?

I think on some super hip-hop head shit Deck has a case, but between Thought and Andre I can't think of any two other artists from groups who have had more demand for solo albums and though BT's role has slightly been reduced on subsequent Roots albums, he has more albums with The Roots than 3k has with Kast, and from Stankonia to TLB 3k had less rapped verses,

we got our Thought fix, for him a solo is icing on the cake but for Andre it's like the layer that's missing

Been wanting to hear more of Nas' Columbia unreleased recordings since the first one dropped and especially after he was planning on releasing it a few years ago on his own thru a indie label but was told that he doesn't have the right to without paying Columbia/Sony for those master recordings first; oh well.

It seems that Nas is one of the most anticipated artist to have unreleased projects everyone wants to hear, the collaboration with him & AZ, the all-produced Premier album, etc., what's his deal?

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
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Throw Some D's Remix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbFmnL2CLrE

Walk it Out Remix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJJW3K6fxtk

International Players Anthem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awMIbA34MT8