BYHH GW2: Group D - 2000 vs. 2006

[kokkinos]

My ranking for the singles:
T-1st: Jay-Z - Big Pimpin' (ft. UGK)
Can't say it ranks among my favorite Jay-Z performances, but the beat and UGK more than make up for it.
T-1st: The Pack - Vans
Super cool stuff, tons of fun.
3nd: Nelly - Ride Wit Me (ft. St. Lunatics)
I can't say I have any particular memories with this song, but it takes you back in time anyway.

4th:Uffie - Pop the Glock
I appreciate out of the box picks, major props to Tha1ChiefRocka for nominating this, but uhm, no.

Yeah, it was close. Despite 2006 having the best pick of the matchup (Ghostface Killah - Fishscale), it falls just short againist the all-around 2000 team. Case closed.

[cestuneblague]

Why did I think Uffie was welsh? I guess she has English parentage but she mostly grew up in differnt US military areas and Paris? Where the fuck is that accent from? Is that just the weird proto-Autotune that's on display? Anyways I have a feeling this song may cost a few votes, but I... don't hate it? Donno, maybe it's just quarantine horniness at play or just liking the dated kitsch of it all, who knows. Again I almost used "Informer" this round so this probably would've felt tame by comparison.

But yeah good matchup all around, My Ghetto RC feels both kind of vintage E-40 but then also kind of weird and full of unusual-to-him sounds the more it goes on, not his very best but again like Charlie underrated. Fischscale is the best thing here, Ghostface Killah in his most complete Ghostface form, 00s-era masterwork. Vans single was a lot of fun and like Pop that Cock pretty indicative of future trends.

And yeah, brining it to 2000, Stankonia has it's highs and a few lows, and I think there's a sore spot with a lot of Outkast fans as this is where they started crossing over with the indie-rock and pop crowds who almost immediately annoited this their magnum opus, but after re-listening to Aquemini and which felt like not only a tighter but more singularly compelling combination of their more ecletic styles, this definitely feels more throw-it-all-on-the-wall and obviously not everything sticks. But the peaks are fucking Everest-worthy, and if this is a band's third or fourth-best album that's really saying something about their legend. Kind of the last true Outkast album in a sense as well as Speakerboxx/Love Below kind of felt like deuling solo debuts with crossover help. I've actually never heard Binary Star before but I do like it quite a bit, defintely giving off that turn-of-the-millenium underground Northern vibes. Big Pimpin is fucking fantastic even if theory I think it should be unbearable, again maybe helped by that distinctive UGK touch, and Rid Wit Me is just completely numb to me, perhaps overplay has unfairly done it in a bit.


So again really touch to decide, might need Ghetto RC and Binary Star more time to sit but both have a really good shot here.

[RoundTheBend]

2000 (captain: Repo) (10)
OutKast - Stankonia (3)
Binary Star - Masters of the Universe (2)
Nelly - Ride Wit Me (ft. St. Lunatics) (3)
Jay-Z - Big Pimpin' (ft. UGK) (2)

vs.

2006 (captain: Tha1ChiefRocka) (8.5)
E-40 - My Ghetto Report Card (2.5)
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2.5)
The Pack - Vans (2) This was hard to rate. On one hand I dug the production on the other hand I don't give a shit what shoes you wear or why. It's not even fun like the ADDIDAS song (well my 10 year old memory said it was). I went from 2 to 2.5 probably 4 times while listening to it.
Uffie - Pop the Glock (1.5)
Yeah I guess I leaned to even disliking this. It basically sounded like Kesha but even Kesha is better. Idk I guess it can be fun, but I don't know how to have that.

Those albums from 2006 are pretty good, but those singles are rough.

I think Stankonia has a curse to it... I think it's the beginning of an end, even if when it's good it's some of their best work. Same with the rest of their career after this. Still a great hip-hop album.

And yes I stand by Big Pimpin' having pretty good flow in the verses but everything else is lackluster for me, especially the chorus.

[PossiblyMichigan]

From just the albums I'm leaning '06. Fishscale to my money is the only masterpiece of the four records here. Ghostface Killah just going in with some genius storytelling it's a stellar collection of beats. All that good stuff. My Ghetto Report Card is not the E-40 masterpiece that we have in the 99 bracket but it's him at some of his most unhinged. I mean I'm probably gonna play Gouda the next time I have the opportunity to DJ live. Some amazing uses of the vocoder on this thing. Dated? Sure. But also not to my money out of place or unanticipated in his discog. E-40 had his ear to hyphy since at least 02, but sure, nothing this swamped with it.

Now, to sound completely contrarian, I'd probably take any Outkast album that's not Idlewild over Stankonia, even Speakerboxxx/The Love Below that's so fun front to back I don't even care about the vast amounts of filler. Not that Stankonia doesn't have amazing highs (the two singles obviously, So Fresh, So Cleans hook, Humble Mumble, etc) but these are all things that I've like swallowed the importance of and as a consistent package fails to really grab me.

Binary Star is solid but ten years removed from my first infatuation with this record I kinda feel like One Be Lo's stuff outstrips this you know? Not to totally write off Masters of The Universe but I always feel like One's the more confident emcee and not much on this really impresses me as much as the weaker cuts off of sonogram and there's definitely nothing as tightly written as enecS eht no kcaB.

Singles tho both 2000's cuts totally blow this Pack track out of the water BUT I will not stand this Uffie slander on my timeline. Sure, this is barely rap and I don't know why it's here but Ayesha Erotica and Slayyyter are literally giving Uffie power high fives as they sprint across the finish line to cult pop stardom. And these vocal effects my godddd. This bracket really comes down to how much I decide I should weight singles

[baystateoftheart]

Stankonia: 4/5
Masters Of The Universe: 3.5/5
Ride Wit Me: 4.5/5
Big Pimpin': 3.5/5

2000 Total: 15.5/20

My Ghetto Report Card: 2.5/5
Fishscale: 4/5
Vans: 3.5/5
Pop The Glock: 2/5

2006 Total: 12/20

Ride Wit Me is one of the best singles of the tournament, while Pop The Glock is one of the worst (despite being ahead of its time and influential on other, better music).
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[19loveless91]

Alright so these albums have been a new listen for me (apart from Stankonia, but even that was a while ago). Despite Fishscale confirming I should spend more time with Ghostface's albums, 2000 win this pretty easily for me. It's true that both of these albums are a bit too long, and it wouldn't hurt if they lost a little bit of fat, it's still mostly just excellent music, and I think in this matchup in particular both lyrically and production wise closer to what I enjoy in hip hop (bawp tendencies if you will).
I also didn't think I'd ever hear the words "My goal is to win the Indy 500" in a hip hop record.

Albums: Stankonia = Masters of the Universe > Fishscale > My Ghetto Report Card
Singles: slight edge to 2000, not that thrilled about any of them though.

[Skinny]

I went 2006 in the end; that Ghostface + E-40 combo was just too alluring.
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2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.

[LedZep]

1. Fishscale - Proooobably my favourite Ghostface album. It's very comparable to Supreme Clientele, both have immaculate production and beats, albeit very different, Supreme Clientele is more coherent album thanks to RZA handling all the production, but Fishscale beats are fire from start to finish (a bit like Mm... Food vs Madvillainy, I personally choose Madvillainy and Fishscale). Both have several lulls in the tracklist, both feature Ghostface at his best. The best album here.
2. Masters of the Universe - Fantastic underground hardcore rap, a sound which I enjoy a lot and here it's done right. Is it blasphemous to say it's more consistent than Fishscale? Lots of highlights as well, loved that KGB russian roulette skit.
3. Stankonia - Very uneven, I prefer the first three albums (yes, even Southernplayalistic slightly), but the highlights are (almost) as good as Fishscale highlights. Gasoline Dreams, So Fresh So Clean, B.O.B., Humble Mumble are all top tier cuts.
4. My Ghetto Report Card - While I really enjoy Earl's energetic, unique rapping style, it can tire me after a while. Happened with his 1999 effort which was too long for my liking, this one is similar. The more commercial hyphy sound which he was chasing here is interesting, it's more immediate and I mostly dug it, but as an album it's still marginally worse than Stankonia.

1. Big Pimpin' - Far and away the best single, a banging beat and good rapping by UGK (Jay's verses are ok).
2. Vans - A fun jam, sounds pretty fresh even in 2021. Not anything mindblowing though.
3. Ride Wit Me - not my favourite pop rap in the tourney (or in general), the Cam'ron single was so much better.
4. Pop the Glock - Already wrote about that one.

Overall very hard to decide. The singles are pretty disappointing, none are very good except for Big Pimpin', so I'm leaning 2000 based on that and Binary Star. But voting against Fishscale when there's nothing I absolutely love on that 2000 team seems weird. I'll either throw in a last second vote for 2006 or abstain.
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[Skinny]

2000 wins, 10-6.
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2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.

[cestuneblague]

Aww... Duffy. That's the Welsh girl I was thinking of. I think I prefer Uffie slightly.