EDIT: SOURCE MAGAZINE BIAS PROVEN TO BE MYTH - Source Top 100 Albums list

[Rapmastermind]

yeah. it was a bit different back then. Because you had be classic. Now you just have to be good since everything else is so bad.

But Ready To Die is one album that there is nothing revisionist about it. It's one of the few that came out, was called classic(even though i agree we probably didn't say that word)/important/impactful etc by fans and magazines and Big was the man.

I'd say the first Wu Tang album was like that too. But i'd even go as far as to say something like Cuban Linx was right at that level of being something that was considered very very good but we didn't straight up call an instant classic. Even though it was.

So much of this stupid revisionist/classic debate comes from younger people and two albums (Reasonable Doubt and It Was Written) and mostly everything they say about the time is completely wrong.

Yeah back then, "INSTANT CLASSIC" wasn't really used in Hip Hop nor was "GOAT" or greatest of all time. It was a big deal for "ILLmatic" to get 5 when it dropped but people did feel "Ready To Die" was speical when it came out as well as "36 Chambers" and "ILLmatic".

 

[Rapmastermind]

And the first one bricked too.

LOL, you mean "Blunted on Reality"? That album made me a fan of them. I loved the singles cause I use to watch the videos. "Vocab" and "Nappy Heads". What's funny is this album dropped 2 years before "The Score" but even the biggest Fugees fans don't acknowledge it. LOL @ this album dropping the same year as "ILLmatic" and "Ready To Die". But yeah I think it sold something like 150k copies so it flopped bad but they were unknown so those weren't terrible numbers looking back but they were on a major.

 

[mobbinfms]

I was born in 1980. In the 90s - "classics" were the albums from the 80s. Criminal Minded. Paid in Full. Straight Outta Compton. To be a "classic" an album had to be old. Ready to Die was just an amazing album.

 

[mobbinfms]

You have to remember The Source is a EASTCOAST Mag so they did hate on Westcoast albums. I think they didn't even review "All Eyes On Me" at the time. It was just wrong to say that's not a Pac Classic in 1998 2 years after his death. Are they kidding? it's not debatable. You can throw rocks at Pac's 1st two albums but you can't say sh!t about those last 3. I understand some say "Makaveli" is debatable but at the very least MATW and AEOM are certified and can't be touched.

So now that we know 2 Pac albums made the list, the chronic originally got 4.5, and all the west coast albums on this list, do you still think there was overwhelming coastal bias (if you ever did, I don't want to put words in your mouth )

 

[Taadow]

"The Score" was an INSTANT CLASSIC man. It dropped and people were hailing it one one of the best rap albums. After "Fu-Gee-La" came out it was a wrap man. NaS was opening for the Fugees on tour, not the other way around. "The Score" is also one of the biggest rap albums ever internationally. Wyclef said the album sold over 15 million copies around the world. It only sold about 6-7 in the states so that joint went Diamond internationally, it sold 5 Million in Europe alone. "The Score" is on the list cause it was that Big.

We aren't talking about how "big" it was - we're talking about is it one of the "top 100 rap albums" as of 1998.

It had some cool cuts on there, but it wasn't a top-to-bottom classic.
Folks actin' like Fugees was droppin' classic verses on that ish...

 

[Taadow]

is anyone suppose to take you seriously after saying that?

*points to door*

What "amazed" you on The Score, cuzz?

What rhymes and music rocked your world?

 

[Rapmastermind]

We aren't talking about how "big" it was - we're talking about is it one of the "top 100 rap albums" as of 1998.

It had some cool cuts on there, but it wasn't a top-to-bottom classic.
Folks actin' like Fugees was droppin' classic verses on that ish...

They were dropping Classic songs Period. Memorable Songs. That's what makes Classic albums. Songs people can put in and say, "Yeah that joint is fire". The Damn President of the US said "Ready or Not" is one of his favorite songs. They had way to many memorable songs on there for it NOT to be Classic. The only rocks you can throw at the album was maybe the Skits but some of them joints was funny.

 

[DaveyDave]

is anyone suppose to take you seriously after saying that?

*points to door*

It's not amazing. I was a fan back in the day but not to the point where it was my fav album or anything. It didn't knock any of my fav albums out of rotation for long. You talk about Clef like he was the Ice Cube of the group and dropped undeniable classics after they broke up. Lauryns album didn't have enough rapping for me and I was disappointed with that from a Hip Hop perspective.

 

[DaveyDave]

is anyone suppose to take you seriously after saying that?

*points to door*

It's not amazing. I was a fan back in the day but not to the point where it was my fav album or anything. It didn't knock any of my fav albums out of rotation for long. You talk about Clef like he was the Ice Cube of the group and dropped undeniable classics after they broke up. Lauryns album didn't have enough rapping for me and I was disappointed with that from a Hip Hop perspective.

 

[Rapmastermind]

So now that we know 2 Pac albums made the list, the chronic originally got 4.5, and all the west coast albums on this list, do you still think there was overwhelming coastal bias (if you ever did, I don't want to put words in your mouth )

How many Westcoast albums were getting 5 MICS though outside of the Cube LP (Where he used Eastcoast production). I'm not saying it was a HUGE Bias but there was some bias to non-east albums. The only time I felt the West overracted was at 95 Source Awards. They acted like the Source wasn't showing the west Love when if you look at the winner list it was pretty balanced:

Winners
Artist of the Year, Solo: Snoop Doggy Dogg
Artist of the Year, Group: Wu-Tang Clan
New Artist of the Year, Solo: Notorious B.I.G.
New Artist of the Year, Group: Outkast
Single of the Year: "Flava In Ya Ear" -- Craig Mack
Album of the Year: Ready To Die -- Notorious B.I.G.
Lyricist of the Year: Notorious B.I.G.
Producer of the Year: Dr. Dre
R&B Artist of the Year: Mary J. Blige
Reggae/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year: Mad Lion
Video of the Year: "Murder Was The Case" -- Snoop Doggy Dogg</B>
Live Performer of the Year: Notorious B.I.G.
Soundtrack of the Year: "Above the Rim"
Best Acting Performance: Ice Cube -- "Higher Learning"
Lifetime Achievement Award: Eazy-E
Pioneer Award: Run DMC

 

[DaveyDave]

There was a bias as far as a lot of west coast albums, and southern joints not getting their proper due in reviews. The Cheojic only 4.5 and the song they complain about is Little Ghetto Boy!!?!?

I don't remember specifics but east coast albums might get a half a mic or full mic extra where a west coast album might get the same less for no real reason except it's from the west. Not necessarily being bumped up to 5 mics but maybe from an average 3.5 up to 4 or 4.5 it's a big difference.

 

[vampire xtc]

What "amazed" you on The Score, cuzz?

What rhymes and music rocked your world?

They were dropping Classic songs Period. Memorable Songs. That's what makes Classic albums. Songs people can put in and say, "Yeah that joint is fire". The Damn President of the US said "Ready or Not" is one of his favorite songs. They had way to many memorable songs on there for it NOT to be Classic. The only rocks you can throw at the album was maybe the Skits but some of them joints was funny.

^^sums it up

ironically one of my fav songs on the album is probably the most overlooked "family business"

also the fugees first lp i liked it was huge by no means

but nappy heads(original) went off of course the remix is what popped off for them and vocab was my shyt also

now come to think about it mentioning vocab

digable planets reachin was snubbed from this list

cool like that and nickle bags of funk was on heavy rotation back in the day for me

 

[vampire xtc]

There was a bias as far as a lot of west coast albums, and southern joints not getting their proper due in reviews. The Cheojic only 4.5 and the song they complain about is Little Ghetto Boy!!?!?

I don't remember specifics but east coast albums might get a half a mic or full mic extra where a west coast album might get the same less for no real reason except it's from the west. Not necessarily being bumped up to 5 mics but maybe from an average 3.5 up to 4 or 4.5 it's a big difference.

need album examples to compare for that claim

 

[intilectual recipricol]

a fakket list made by fakkets and of course for fakkets

 

[Danie84]

...that I can't believe as a 90s kid, I took the words of the Source, as Hip-Hop's gospel