|
The Low End Theory. Illmatic. The Chronic. Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers. Fear of a Black Planet.Doggystyle. Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. Ready to Die. The list of indisputably brilliant early to mid ‘90s hip-hop long players may not be an extensive one, but it’s still an awe-inspiring one nonetheless. All of the aforementioned albums enjoyed considerable critical and commercial acclaim, and are universally revered as prime specimens of the hip-hop long form. Must-own masterpieces, in other words. Quintessential compositions that define the latter half of hip-hop’s so-called golden age. Or as music critic Tony Green has referred to the period, hip-hop’s “second golden age.”
There are also a handful of albums that most critics and fans alike typically consider second-tier classics. Mecca and the Soul Brother. De La Soul is Dead. Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. One For All. 93 ‘Til Infinity. Daily Operation.Midnight Marauders. Enta Da Stage. While not as critically untouchable as the top-tier, these LPs are still regarded as some of the best the genre has ever produced.
Then there are a handful of “sleeper” albums that wouldn’t necessarily be classified as underground, but never transcended beyond a few spins here and there on late-night specialty DJ radio shows, a few plays of their lone singles on Yo! MTV Raps or Rap City, and the obligatory 3 or 3.5 mic reviews in The Source. Let’s call this the peripheral tier, comprised of the albums that faded into relative obscurity within a year or two of their release (or even sooner, in some cases), only to be dusted off periodically by the most devoted of hip-hop heads.
But while the upper echelon of decades-old hip-hop joints continue to be lovingly reissued on limited edition colored double-vinyl with 3-D album artwork, there are a number of albums that warrant reevaluation and celebration. The following list – while not exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination – revisits the 18 unsung albums that most immediately come to mind for me.
Granted, this list could have been much, much more expansive, as there are easily fifty or more albums that qualify for the “underappreciated” tag. So to narrow the list down, I’ve chosen only albums by artists who haven’t been heard from recently, say in at least the past five to ten years. With a few exceptions, most of these albums never even remotely scratched the surface of the Billboard charts and are the only albums the respective artists ever released. Hence why you won’t find albums like Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs’ Life of a Kid in the Ghetto (1991), Showbiz & A.G.’s Runaway Slave (1992), or Group Home’s Livin’ Proof (1995), as each of these artists have popped up on records here and there over the years.
As with pretty much every list you’ll ever come across, the selections here are not exempt from subjectivity and certainly reflect your author’s personal biases. So if you disagree with any of these choices or happen to discern any albums that are omitted from the list, let us know in the comments section below!
http://www.soulhead.com/2015/10/12/longplaylove-18-underrated-90s-hip-hop-albums-youve-likely-forgotten-by-justin-chadwick/
|
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
The Lesson
#/media/File:Firefly.png)
