were my first favorite albums. Marshall Mathers LP was the first album I ever asked for as a gift (other than the Mulan soundtrack), and when that was deemed too dangerous I asked for Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory instead because it "had guitars" (though I'd argue that album is far more volatile in the hands of a depressed teenager than an Eminem album, because at least Eminem had a sense of humor about the whole thing).


A quick list of favorite bands would be Destroyer, Radiohead, The Smiths, Modest Mouse, The Dismemberment Plan, Liars, Pavement, Scientist and Yo la Tengo. All of this is readily available in my signature with a couple clicks, but because I've always found drawing a line in the sand in hip-hop conversations absurd and that's the whole point of my lists project to begin with, the full Top 25 discographies in hip-hop (including producers) from the list I linked at the top of my OP is:

1. The Roots
2. OutKast
3. Madlib
4. RZA
5. Kanye West
6. KRS One
7. MF DOOM
8. Curren$y
9. Big Boi
10. Kendrick Lamar
11. A Tribe Called Quest
12. Q-Tip
13. DJ Premier
14. J Dilla
15. Big K.R.I.T.
16. Freddie Gibbs
17. El-P
18. The Notorious B.I.G.
19. Ghostface Killah
20. Prince Paul
21. Dr. Dre
22. Pusha T
23. Juicy J
24. Organized Konfusion
25. Public Enemy


So, as I said, Kanye, KRS, DOOM, KRIT have four album runs that can compete with Kendrick's. Future's not in this conversation, though he's had a very strong three years most of his stuff is simply very good, not great. I forgot about Ice Cube, his post-Lethal Injection output made him drop past my Top 25 but he is definitely competition for that title and probably my actual favorite for the crown of best four album run.

Future is not a guilty pleasure for me though (if you're curious, his discography sits at 35 on that list).


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz