If Illmatic is the greatest rap album ever

[classicmaterial]

I considered Illmatic to be the greatest rap album ever until recently when I realized that over time The Black Album has taken its place.

However....in answer to your question, if Illmatic is #1, Low End Theory is #2

 

[Mr. Manhattan]

The general consensus of Illmatic is widely renowned critically acclaimed as the Greatest hip hop album of all time cut the hating bullshyt and accept it
its not my favorite album but its understood why


whats number 2 is the real argument...

i always see Paid in Full being brought up also

 

[Billy Ocean]

Cuban Linx. Masterpiece album.

 

[jalamanta]

So yall telling here that that 40 minutes album is the best shyt hip-hop ever produced?

 

[Billy Ocean]

So yall telling here that that 40 minutes album is the best shyt hip-hop ever produced?

Threadstarter didn't say it WAS the best hip hop album ever. He said it was the general consensus that it was the best hip hop album ever. And I really don't see why anyone would want to dispute that.

 

[bigesco]

1)Infamous
2)Illmatic
3)MATW
4)War Report
5)Soul Food

 

[inndaskKy]

Threadstarter didn't say it WAS the best hip hop album ever. He said it was the general consensus that it was the best hip hop album ever. And I really don't see why anyone would want to dispute that.

Illmatic is the safest album to claim as the greatest which is why its reputation is slightly overrated. It's absolutely one of the dopest albums ever in terms of just straight up spitting and is a perfect example of the classic east coast sound. Also, there are no real weak tracks on the album which gives it the feel of flawlessness. However, one important thing it lacks relative to a lot of other great albums is substance. Yeah it's a great general description of a view on the world from the perspective of someone who grew up in the ghetto (something the Michael Eric Dyson book describes), but all of the tracks have kind of a general topic and still include a lot of the rapping about rapping references that he kind of inherited from the Rakim style. A lot of the verses are really interchangeable content-wise. He never really fully investigates any one theme fully. It's its great strength but also its most obvious flaw.

Look at albums like Death Certificate, Edutainment and Me Against The World and you will find an element that is missing from Illmatic. Nas hadn't really developed his song writing ability all that much on Illmatic. It was all just raw talent which was good enough to make a great album but kept him from writing songs with more depth such as Undying Love, Dance etc. that he later wrote. That's why Illmatic ultimately is less powerful and great than an album like MATW.

 

[Billy Ocean]

Illmatic is the safest album to claim as the greatest which is why its reputation is slightly overrated. It's absolutely one of the dopest albums ever in terms of just straight up spitting and is a perfect example of the classic east coast sound. Also, there are no real weak tracks on the album which gives it the feel of flawlessness. However, one important thing it lacks relative to a lot of other great albums is substance. Yeah it's a great general description of a view on the world from the perspective of someone who grew up in the ghetto (something the Michael Eric Dyson book describes), but all of the tracks have kind of a general topic and still include a lot of the rapping about rapping references that he kind of inherited from the Rakim style. A lot of the verses are really interchangeable content-wise. He never really fully investigates any one theme fully. It's its great strength but also its most obvious flaw.

Look at albums like Death Certificate, Edutainment and Me Against The World and you will find an element that is missing from Illmatic. Nas hadn't really developed his song writing ability all that much on Illmatic. It was all just raw talent which was good enough to make a great album but kept him from writing songs with more depth such as Undying Love, Dance etc. that he later wrote. That's why Illmatic ultimately is less powerful and great than an album like MATW.

I agree that Nas became a more well rounded MC post-Illmatic. Tracks like Undying Love, I Gave You Power, or Rewind indicates that. But with all that said, Illmatic is still looked upon as the greatest hip hop album of all time by most hip hop connoisseurs. It's not the greatest hip hop album of all time, in my opinion, but I hold it in higher regards than Death Certificate, Edutainment, or Me Against the World. It's a beautiful debut album that was created by a young MC that could very well be looked at, for generations to come, as the best MC ever.

 

[classicmaterial]

It may be held as the greatest hip hop album of all time, but my thoughts are that it's held that title for almost 20 years, are we really gonna say that nothing has dropped in the last 18 years that tops it?

People said Citizen Kane was the greatest movie of all time, then Shawshank Redemption came along, now a lot of people call that the greatest movie of all time. Just because something has always held the spot does that mean it always has to?

 

[Real Talk of NY]

It may be held as the greatest hip hop album of all time, but my thoughts are that it's held that title for almost 20 years, are we really gonna say that nothing has dropped in the last 18 years that tops it?

People said Citizen Kane was the greatest movie of all time, then Shawshank Redemption came along, now a lot of people call that the greatest movie of all time. Just because something has always held the spot does that mean it always has to?

Dude, rap today is no where as quality as it was 20 years ago. Rap was at its apex in the 90's. Rappers arent even allowed to control their own projects anymore. Commercialism took over the game.

 

[inndaskKy]

I agree that Nas became a more well rounded MC post-Illmatic. Tracks like Undying Love, I Gave You Power, or Rewind indicates that. But with all that said, Illmatic is still looked upon as the greatest hip hop album of all time by most hip hop connoisseurs. It's not the greatest hip hop album of all time, in my opinion, but I hold it in higher regards than Death Certificate, Edutainment, or Me Against the World. It's a beautiful debut album that was created by a young MC that could very well be looked at, for generations to come, as the best MC ever.

Fair enough, I personally put Illmatic as top 5 prolly but not number 1 either. It's likely to come out on top in polls though because it's the go to album to describe what a classic is and people can easily agree to its greatness. But I still sometimes wonder if Illmatic would come out on top in a poll among hip hop heads or maybe The Chronic or Doggystyle since they too are widely recognized as classics and are safe choices in that regard.

 

[classicmaterial]

Dude, rap today is no where as quality as it was 20 years ago. Rap was at its apex in the 90's. Rappers arent even allowed to control their own projects anymore. Commercialism took over the game.