Please use the thread to discuss the selections and inform everybody of your voting intentions. A poll will be added at a later date in order to tally votes, once everybody has had the opportunity to listen to all of the selections. If there are specific links to the albums or singles you have nominated (on Youtube, Spotify, etc.) that you would prefer voters to listen to, please post them in this thread. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Last edited by Skinny on 02/10/2021 19:49; edited 1 time in total
Holy cannoli. These look like 2 great teams based off what I have heard (missing 1 album and a couple singles). Likely a tough choice. _________________ -Ryan
Holy cannoli. These look like 2 great teams based off what I have heard (missing 1 album and a couple singles). Likely a tough choice.
Yeah, no matter what else is with it, whenever To Pimp a Butterfly was going to be pulled, it's a mountain.
I wasn't super hot on Summertime '06 when it came out, but I've grown to appreciate it more over time. Still think it's a slightly overstuffed record, but there's plenty of great stuff in the tracklist.
Stress and Blowout Comb are two of the best records of the 90s, hip-hop or not. They even pair together really well.
This might boil down to the fact the A$AP Rocky single could sink 2015 for me. It's the only thing here I don't like. Just have to figure out if 2015's highlights balance it out.
This round, I went with a theme. All four of my nominees are considered jazz rap.
Need to listen to the singles again before commenting, but excellent album choices Purplepash! This should be a formidable match. _________________ Add me on RYM
Very happy to see To Pimp a Butterfly dropped before my match against 2015
This is a great match-up. TPAB is probably my favorite rap album but The Extinction Agenda is nearly as incredible, an album that sounds hugely ahead of its time. I love Summertime '06 but agree that it's fairly overstuffed, and given that it contains two near perfect singles ("Norf Norf" and "Senorita") I wonder if it wouldn't have been better used as a double dip. I guess this means that "Lift Me Up" is included, which is sneakily one of my favorite raps songs lyrically. I mean:
"All these white folks chanting when I asked 'em, "Where my n***** at?"
Going crazy, got me going crazy, I can't get with that
Wonder if they know I know they won't go where we kick it at
Ho, this shit ain't Gryffindor, we really killing, kicking doors"
And
"Man, I need to fight the power, but I need that new Ferrari"
And
"Uber driver in the cockpit look like Jeffrey Dahmer
But he looking at me crazy when we pull up to the projects"
Vince goes off on this album and I think the highlights outweigh some of the lesser material. So for albums I'm definitely leaning 2015, mainly because Blowout Comb hasn't quit clicked for me. I'll give that one another listen before voting.
As for singles I'm tilting 1994 because Tribe vs A$AP Rocky is about as lopsided as it can get. Need to listen to the other two though. _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
This is a great match-up. TPAB is probably my favorite rap album but The Extinction Agenda is nearly as incredible, an album that sounds hugely ahead of its time. I love Summertime '06 but agree that it's fairly overstuffed, and given that it contains two near perfect singles ("Norf Norf" and "Senorita") I wonder if it wouldn't have been better used as a double dip. I guess this means that "Lift Me Up" is included, which is sneakily one of my favorite raps songs lyrically. I mean:
I feel like I need to add that I think the (somewhat) title track Summertime is one of the best hip-hop songs of the decade. Beautiful track.
I used to put that Erule song on summer mix CDs. I think I found it on Limewire back in the day. I probably haven't heard it in over a decade. It's a great choice. To Pimp a Butterfly is the best album here, and Summertime '06 is strong, but those 2015 singles are pretty underwhelming. 'Talking to My Diary' is perfectly serviceable, a grown-up, tasteful, cautiously majestic Dre song that does nothing to harm his reputation but nothing to enhance it either, a song as pleasant but ultimately forgettable as its parent album. I like it while it's playing, but cannot recall much about it after it finishes. My thoughts on 'L$D' are even less enthusiastic, to be honest. 1994 includes two albums I respect and like a lot, one of which (Stress) I used to love but whose charms have actually worn off over the years, while Blowout Comb is an album that only goes up in my estimation with time, probably as a direct result of seeing Digable Planets live a few years back supporting Lauryn Hill. 'Electric Relaxation' is obviously amazing, but it sounds pretty weird out of context when I'm so used to hearing it as part of the album. One of my favourite songs from one of my favourite albums, and yet I'm not sure how I feel about it as a single, if that makes any sense whatsoever.
Good matchup. Will have to do some relistening before deciding, just putting some brief initial thoughts out there. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
I've listened to all four albums multiple times and not that long ago, so this was a quick match to finish listening.
Blowout Comb: 4.5/5
Stress: The Extinction Agenda: 4/5
Listen Up: 4.5/5
Electric Relaxation: 4.5/5
1994 Total: 17.5/20
To Pimp A Butterfly: 5/5
Summertime '06: 4/5
Talking To My Diary: 3/5
L$D: 3/5
2015 Total: 15/20
I would have given the version of L$D in the music video a 3.5. It adds a verse from Excuse Me and thus becomes an actual hip-hop song. But the version released as a single and on the album is an r&b track with no rap verses:
not a bad 2015 team by any means (I mean it's got TPAB so it can't be all bad) but this is an easy '94 vote for me. Erule is an inspired choice, particularly alongside Electric Relaxation which captures a similar energetic-yet-chilled-out vibe that I love, and really that energy carries over to the albums as well (with Blowout Comb maybe more on the chill side and Organized Konfusion more on the energetic side, and with both being masterpieces). This kind of reminds me of why I really liked LedZep's team last round in that in addition to all the picks just being solid they also could easily sit next to each other on a playlist and flow together naturally while still being a very varied collection of music. one of my favorite teams of the tourney so far for sure _________________ A Variety of Artists
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