List some of your favorite albums from 1997 below

Rap Albums:
Common - One Day It'll All Make Sense
LL Cool J - Phenomenon
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - The Art Of War
Suga Free - Street Gospel
The Whoridas - Whoridin'
Kool Keith - Sex Style
Killarmy - Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars
Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
Royal Flush - Ghetto Millionaire
CRU - Da Dirty 30
Capone -N- Noreaga - The War Report
Organized Konfusion - The Equinox
DJ Pooh - Bad Newz Travels Fast
Rakim - The 18th Letter
Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus
Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
DJ Premier - Haze Presents: New York Reality Check 101
Big Mike - Still Serious
Boot Camp Clik - For The People
Timbaland & Magoo - Welcome To Our World
Muggs - The Soul Assassins (Chapter 1)
Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly
GP Wu - Don't Go Against The Grain
Diamond D - Hatred, Passions And Infidelity
Boogiemonsters - God Sound
The Lady Of Rage - Necessary Roughness
Jay-Z - In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
EPMD - Back In Business
Ma$e - Harlem World
Tracey Lee - Many Facez
Ant Banks - Big Thangs
Vooodu - Dark Regions
Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out
MC Eiht - Last Man Standing
Latyrx - The Album
Artifacts - That's Them
Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night
Various - Rhyme & Reason - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
TRU - TRU 2 Da Game
Jungle Brothers - Raw Deluxe
Kilo Ali - Organized Bass
Warren G - Take A Look Over Your Shoulder (Reality)
Psycho Realm - The Psycho Realm
Crime Boss - Conflicts & Confusion
Twista - Adrenaline Rush
KRS-One - I Got Next
Rampage - Scouts Honor... By Way Of Blood
Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes...
The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death
Scarface - The Untouchable
The Beatnuts - Stone Crazy
Various - Southwest Riders
The Firm - The Album
Gravediggaz - The Pick, The Sickle And The Shovel
Spice 1 - The Black Bossalini (aka Dr. Bomb From Da Bay)
Mood - Doom
Luniz - Lunitik Muzik
Mack 10 - Based On A True Story
Tha Alkaholiks - Likwidation
Teflon - My Will
Various - The Lawhouse Experience, Volume One
Lost Boyz - Love, Peace & Nappiness
O.C. - Jewelz
Mic Geronimo - Vendetta
No I.D. - Accept Your Own & Be Yourself (The Black Album)
Various - Soul In The Hole
MJG - No More Glory


Non Rap Albums:
Erykah Badu - Baduizm
Spiritualized® - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Squarepusher - Burningn'n Tree
Christión - Ghetto Cyrano
The Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land
Portishead - Portishead
Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
Green Day - Nimrod.
Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie
Janet - The Velvet Rope
Death In Vegas - Dead Elvis
The Charlatans UK - Tellin' Stories
David Holmes - Lets Get Killed
Squarepusher - Hard Normal Daddy
The Brand New Heavies - Shelter
Dinosaur Jr - Hand It Over
Daft Punk - Homework
The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
Various - Love Jones (The Music)
Supergrass - In It For The Money
Snot - Get Some
Autechre - Chiastic Slide
Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy
Elliott Smith - Either / Or
Stereolab - Dots And Loops
µ-Ziq - Lunatic Harness
Junkie XL - Saturday Teenage Kick
Deftones - Around The Fur
Foo Fighters - The Colour And The Shape
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Zhané - Saturday Night
Jonathan FireEater - Wolf Songs For Lambs
Blonde Redhead - Fake Can Be Just As Good
Royal Trux - Sweet Sixteen
Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
The Orb - Orblivion
Duran Duran - Medazzaland
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
Amon Tobin - Bricolage
Roni Size / Reprazent - New Forms
Björk - Homogenic
Beenie Man - Many Moods Of Moses
Howie B - Turn The Dark Off
Adriana Evans - Adriana Evans
Various - Spawn The Album
Depeche Mode - Ultra
Luke Vibert - Big Soup
Kid Loco - A Grand Love Story
Free Kitten - Sentimental Education
Pavement - Brighten The Corners
Limp Bizkit - Three Dollar Bill, Yall$
The Third Eye Foundation - Ghost
Mary J. Blige - Share My World
Photek - Modus Operandi
Primal Scream - Vanishing Point
Mogwai - Young Team
The Crystal Method - Vegas
Ween - The Mollusk
Cornershop - When I Was Born For The 7th Time
Laika - Sounds Of The Satellites
Radiohead - OK Computer
Blur - Blur

>Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
>Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
>Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly
>Artifacts - That's Them
>Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night
>Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes...
>O.C. - Jewelz

>Erykah Badu - Baduizm
>Daft Punk - Homework
>Stereolab - Dots And Loops
>Radiohead - OK Computer

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

Classic? Haha...naw.

It's just a shade under "good" in my book.
The highs are definitely high but...there are much better Com albums.

What are your top 5 Common albums?

He's made objectively better albums but it's my favorite no question.

It's a good album, just not great and definitely not 'classic'.

>What are your top 5 Common albums?

01 Like Water For Chocolate
02 Be
03 Resurrection
04 Electric Circus
05 One Day It'll All Make Sense

>It's a good album, just not great and definitely not
>'classic'.
>
>>What are your top 5 Common albums?
>
>01 Like Water For Chocolate
>02 Be
>03 Resurrection
>04 Electric Circus
>05 One Day It'll All Make Sense

Honorable Mention for me is Finding Forever...

>Honorable Mention for me is Finding Forever...

Agreed. If it wasn't for that horrible Kanye verse on Southside, I'd put it in my Top 5. Same for Black American Again.

I will never understand people who praise LWFC but act like EC is trash. EC is and always was dope to me.

EC deserves a lot more credit for being the blueprint of the larger than life albums like MBDTF with the genre-infusing and multiple high-profile guest features.

>EC deserves a lot more credit for being the blueprint of the
>larger than life albums like MBDTF with the genre-infusing and
>multiple high-profile guest features.

Couldn't vibe with it when it first came out. Tried it again some years later, same thing. Tried a few months ago to see if my ears 'matured', and still...just not for me.

>>Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
>>Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
>>Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly
>>Artifacts - That's Them
>>Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night
>>Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes...
>>O.C. - Jewelz
>
>>Erykah Badu - Baduizm
>>Daft Punk - Homework
>>Stereolab - Dots And Loops
>>Radiohead - OK Computer
>

Mulu - Pussycat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95wk7R1_bU0


Mulu - Filmstar

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


Mulu - Rainy days

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

(from the album Smiles like a shark)



Faith NYC (Felice Rosser) - Hesitate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-jrLYgBpfQ


Faith NYC (Felice Rosser) - Saving all my love

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


(this Faith NYC album (Time to fall in love again) gets listed as being from 2000 or later but I bought it in 1997 and 1997 is printed on it - so there's no doubt)



Jean-Paul Bourelly & The Bluwave Bandits - Rock the Black Triumvirate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuIqVao2fm8


Jean-Paul Bourelly & The Bluwave Bandits - keep com'n

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVZcRqExKz4


(from the album "Rock the Cathartic spirits: vibe music and the blues)



Jai - I believe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DOQsct5_uA


Jai - I need love

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


Jai - wishing the rain away

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fThMgwa01I


(from the album Heaven)


Eric Matthews - My morning parade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlkLoTawj7o


Eric Matthews - the pleasant kind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zLRIf7aa4U


Eric Matthews - becomes dark blue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWYmgS3YMj8



(from the album The Lateness of the Hour)

eh...some of the benefits of working at Tower Records, 4th & Broadway, village NYC, 1997 - 1999


of course, as in the OP


Jonathan Fire*Eater - wolf songs for lambs

Björk - Homogenic

Radiohead - ok computer

Stereolab - dots and loops

The Verve - Urban Hymns

Gravediggaz - The Pick, The Sickle And The Shovel

Face
Common
Rakim
OC
BIG
Mase……
Puffy - IDC!!!
Lox
Busta
DMX
Canibus
Wyclef
Camp Lo
CNN
Firm
Boyz II Men
K-Ci& JoJo
Missy
Usher
Janet
SWV
Mariah
Mary
Next
Jagged Edge


I was 15. First year I was somewhat outside, and I loved it all.

>Common - One Day It'll All Make Sense
>Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - The Art Of War
>Killarmy - Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars
>Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
>Royal Flush - Ghetto Millionaire
>CRU - Da Dirty 30
>Capone -N- Noreaga - The War Report
>Organized Konfusion - The Equinox
>Rakim - The 18th Letter
>Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
>Boot Camp Clik - For The People
>Muggs - The Soul Assassins (Chapter 1)
>Diamond D - Hatred, Passions And Infidelity
>Boogiemonsters - God Sound
>Jay-Z - In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
>EPMD - Back In Business
>Tracey Lee - Many Facez
>Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out
>Artifacts - That's Them
>Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night
>Various - Rhyme & Reason - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
>KRS-One - I Got Next
>Rampage - Scouts Honor... By Way Of Blood
>Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes...
>The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death
>Scarface - The Untouchable
>The Beatnuts - Stone Crazy
>The Firm - The Album
>Gravediggaz - The Pick, The Sickle And The Shovel
>Mood - Doom
>Luniz - Lunitik Muzik
>Tha Alkaholiks - Likwidation
>Teflon - My Will
>Lost Boyz - Love, Peace & Nappiness
>O.C. - Jewelz
>Mic Geronimo - Vendetta
>No I.D. - Accept Your Own & Be Yourself (The Black Album)
>Various - Soul In The Hole

Missed that in going off memory.

Of course, Wu Tang.

Loved that Warren G - Take A Look Over Your Shoulder. Probably a bunch more.

>Loved that Warren G - Take A Look Over Your Shoulder.
>Probably a bunch more.

Still bumps to this day.

His next, "I Want It All" is also underappreciated. He had a nice run there.

Hip hop wasn't very much on my radar in '97. I was still in a hangover after the Golden Era ended in '93, and so I wasn't motivated to change my tastes to fit the new True School era. Wu-Tang Forever and Uptown Saturday Night grabbed me from the jump, but some of the albums were revisited after the time. When Disaster Strikes, Jewelz, and I Got Next most stood out to me.

The most memorable albums of this year for me are the non-hip hop albums. Especially the electronica albums like Dig Your Own Hole, The Fat of the Land, Portishead, New Forms, and Vegas. I dug Zhane's and Badu's albums a lot. OK Computer missed me in '97 but after hearing it in '98, it was in rotation for the next couple of years.

Artifacts - That's Them
Common - One Day It'll All Make Sense
Royal Flush - Ghetto Millionaire
Capone -N- Noreaga - The War Report
The Beatnuts - Stone Crazy
O.C. - Jewelz
No I.D. - Accept Your Own & Be Yourself (The Black Album)
Mood - Doom
Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night
Diamond D - Hatred, Passions And Infidelity


another dope album not on the list: X-Ecutioners "X-pressions"

Likwidation
Wu-Tang Forever
Life After Death
The 18th Letter
Vol 1

97 was better than I remember. It was definitely a transition year but there was a lot of dope albums.

99 was the trash year in the 90s.

And now I can't find it to stream on Apple Music

>Rap Albums:
>Common - One Day It'll All Make Sense
>Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
>Royal Flush - Ghetto Millionaire
>Organized Konfusion - The Equinox
>Rakim - The 18th Letter
>Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
>Artifacts - That's Them
>Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night
>Jungle Brothers - Raw Deluxe
>KRS-One - I Got Next
>Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes...
>The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death
>The Beatnuts - Stone Crazy
>Tha Alkaholiks - Likwidation
>O.C. - Jewelz
>No I.D. - Accept Your Own & Be Yourself (The Black Album)


>Non Rap Albums:
>Erykah Badu - Baduizm
>The Brand New Heavies - Shelter
>Zhané - Saturday Night
>Adriana Evans - Adriana Evans

Other albums I bought or taped that year too:
Bowie - Earthling (taped)
Perfect from Now On - Built to Spill (taped)
U2 - Pop (taped)
Then: The Earlier Years - They Might Be Giants
Broadway & 52nd - Us3
Feelings - David Byrne
Dispepsi - Negativland (taped)
Maladjusted - Morrissey
Music for Earthworms - Aesop Rock (taped)
Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club (taped)
Man & His Music (Remixes from Around the World) - Boogie Down Productions (A cash grab, but it had all the Criminal Minded instrumentals on some versions)
Tubthumper - Chumbawamba (taped)
Bridges to Babylon - The Rolling Stones (taped)
Jurassic 5 - Jurassic 5
Soundbombing - Various Artists

Purchased:
>Soul Assassins, Chapter 1
>Common - One Day It'll All Make Sense
>Kool Keith - Sex Style
>Rakim - The 18th Letter
>Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
>Latyrx - The Album
>Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night
>Various - Rhyme & Reason - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
>KRS-One - I Got Next
>Gravediggaz - The Pick, The Sickle And The Shovel
>Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes...
>The Beatnuts - Stone Crazy
>New Forms - Roni Size & Reprazent

Taped:
>Killarmy - Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars
>Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus
>Boot Camp Clik - For The People
>O.C. - Jewelz


>Non Rap Albums:

Purchased:
>Erykah Badu - Baduizm
>Depeche Mode - Ultra

Taped:
>Daft Punk - Homework
>The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
>Luke Vibert - Big Soup
>The Crystal Method - Vegas
>Ween - The Mollusk
>Blur - Blur
Likwidation - Tha Alkaholiks

I copped these when they dropped:

>Common - One Day It'll All Make Sense
>LL Cool J - Phenomenon
>The Whoridas - Whoridin'
>Kool Keith - Sex Style
>Killarmy - Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars
>Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
>Organized Konfusion - The Equinox
>Rakim - The 18th Letter
>Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus
>Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
>Big Mike - Still Serious
>Boot Camp Clik - For The People
>Muggs - The Soul Assassins (Chapter 1)
>Diamond D - Hatred, Passions And Infidelity
>Boogiemonsters - God Sound
>The Lady Of Rage - Necessary Roughness
>Jay-Z - In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
>EPMD - Back In Business
>Ant Banks - Big Thangs
>Vooodu - Dark Regions
>Latyrx - The Album
>Artifacts - That's Them
>Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night
>Various - Rhyme & Reason - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
>Jungle Brothers - Raw Deluxe
>KRS-One - I Got Next
>Rampage - Scouts Honor... By Way Of Blood
>Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes...
>The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death
>Scarface - The Untouchable
>The Beatnuts - Stone Crazy
>Gravediggaz - The Pick, The Sickle And The Shovel
>Luniz - Lunitik Muzik
>Tha Alkaholiks - Likwidation
>Various - The Lawhouse Experience, Volume One
>Lost Boyz - Love, Peace & Nappiness
>O.C. - Jewelz
>Mic Geronimo - Vendetta
>No I.D. - Accept Your Own & Be Yourself (The Black Album)
>Various - Soul In The Hole


I got up on these later. Some are really dope. Some are i-ight:

>Royal Flush - Ghetto Millionaire
>CRU - Da Dirty 30
>Capone -N- Noreaga - The War Report
>Teflon - My Will
>Various - Southwest Riders
>The Firm - The Album
>Mood - Doom
>Mack 10 - Based On A True Story
>MC Eiht - Last Man Standing
>Tracey Lee - Many Facez
>Psycho Realm - The Psycho Realm
>DJ Premier - Haze Presents: New York Reality Check 101
>DJ Pooh - Bad Newz Travels Fast
>GP Wu - Don't Go Against The Grain

Abstract Tribe Unique - Mood Pieces
Atmosphere - Overcast

.

Defined the end of my Junior and beginning of my Senior Year of High School, lol. Too many on there to list but I remember...

- running track in the spring of 97 and having the WU and Life After Death double cassettes on repeat.

- For whatever reason, Mary J's Share My World was the shit during the summer while doing summer practice for Football in the Fall, lol

- Busta's When Disaster Strikes had every damn HS band trying to do that beat (to varying degrees of success, lol)

Way too many honorable mentions so I'm not going to bother. I just can look at this list and get nostalgic. Hell, even TRU reminds me of working at Kroger, lol.

>Defined the end of my Junior and beginning of my Senior Year
>of High School, lol. Too many on there to list but I
>remember...
>
>- running track in the spring of 97 and having the WU and Life
>After Death double cassettes on repeat.
>
>- For whatever reason, Mary J's Share My World was the shit
>during the summer while doing summer practice for Football in
>the Fall, lol
>
>- Busta's When Disaster Strikes had every damn HS band trying
>to do that beat (to varying degrees of success, lol)
>
>Way too many honorable mentions so I'm not going to bother. I
>just can look at this list and get nostalgic. Hell, even TRU
>reminds me of working at Kroger, lol.
>

Ain't nuthin changed but my bank account. I'm still the saaaame!

The samples they used and how they used them on that album was a parade of hilarity. I always feel like somebody's watching meeeeeeeeee! Pop pop pop pop GOES MY NIIIIIIIINE! They sampled Candy too. They were relentless and no song was safe from Mo B Dick and them. Ridiculous. I can hear songs from that album and be back in college immediately. What a wild time. And I was already 'desegregated' hiphop-wise by then. So I was listening to everything I knew about and liked. Wu, Mobb Deep, Snoop/Death Row, Pac, Big, No Limit, Dungeon Family, UGK, Houston stuff of course, LL during like his 3rd run where he was doing more pandering to the ladies but would still bust people's ass out of nowhere on a I Shot Ya, whatever. Good times.

I also remember BEGGING PEOPLE to give JayZ's Reasonable Doubt a chance. People were hating on his voice. I was like 'LISTEN TO THE DAMN RAPS! THIS DUDE IS GOING IN!'. For a while, I thought Carter was doomed to fail. But nope...HKL hit and then it was on.

They tried to sample and hit ALL genres...it worked... I remember girls liking 'Freak Hoes', lol. I think back then my hiphop collection was so diverse...I could have this beside Enta Da Stage beside Ol Dirty beside Return of the Boom Bap. A wild time indeed my friend. I came to college in 98...and that was a year in itself (but I'll stick to the title subject, lol).

The big thing about Jay Z I recall was people were saying he ain't have no waves in his hair, LOL. I think for me, it was when I heard "Can I live" for the first time. Him rapping over the Look of Love somehow matched perfectly.