"Poll question: Beat, Rhymes & Life vs Ridin' Dirty: 20th Anniversary Edition"
Three years after the flawless Midnight Marauders album, Tribe drops their fourth LP, Beat, Rhymes & Life, with assist from Detroit newcomer Jay Dee (Dilla). The album is good and suffers because expectations were very high following two classic LPs (The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders). This was Tip's best performance as an emcee IMO. Down south, Bun B and Pimp C stepped it up another notch dropping their classic third LP, Ridin' Dirty which followed the solid SuperTight LP from 1994. Most cats wouldn't recognize until the Jay co-sign three years later but Bun and Pimp been kings down south. This is the album Bun let it be known he was a problem on the mic and Pimp kept improving as a producer. Beat, Rhymes & Life and Ridin' Dirty were both released on July 30, 1996. Which album do you prefer and why? This is also a celebration of the greatness that was 1996. I miss new release days where you had multiple great rap albums to choose from.
3. "There is so much revisionist history around RD" In response to Reply # 0
When it dropped it was really appreciated by fans of independent gangsta rap, mainly southern and bay area rap fans but the mainstream rap audience totally ignored it. It wasnt until after Big Pimpin that people started jocking UGK. After that everyone jumped on the bandwagon...
14. "Lauryn's greatness on that album outshined Pras' wackness" In response to Reply # 11
Which is why I've still got The Score over RD (and I like RD quite a bit).
Lauryn's lyrical performance on that album was an all-timer. Pras could've spent the entire album reciting nursery rhymes (which he essentially did), and that album still would've been great.
7. "Diamonds & Wood>entire BR&L album" In response to Reply # 0
I was HEATED when I heard BR&L, a complete letdown and the formulaic first single with faith evans did it no favors
Then I heard RD and got stuck on Diamonds & Wood: Bun's classic verse, the beat, the hook, Pimp's emotion on the first verse, knowledge on his second, everything about it was a 5 mic classic.
In Miami we listened to everything. It wasn't until I started traveling later that I realized people were on some regional shit.
9. "Faith wasn't on the first single" In response to Reply # 7
And I understand BR&L being a let down but there are some absolute gems on there, specifically Get A Hold and Jam which both hold up to anything on Ridin Dirty imo.