Meccapolis Top 100 NY Hip Hop Albums List (Full List In OP)

[bigde09]

The Infamous in no shape, form, or fashion is better than Illmatic or Only Built For Cuban Linx

You act like they not even close to Illmatic when in reality both do some things better than Illmatic.

 

[Don Jesus]

These are my top three albums all time. Not just NY. They are all perfect masterpieces. Ultimately it comes down to personal preference. On most lists, Illmatic is in the top spot. This one has Infamous. No point in trying to tear down one or the other. Let’s just appreciate the finest hip hop has to offer and not get bogged down in semantics and personal preference.

You seem to be a heavy Mobb Deep fan so you’d probably agree with me on this

Nas as much of a legend he is gets too much sometimes when it comes to these lists whereas Mobb Deep is seen as the Outlawz to his Pac when that’s not the case

Infamous did things Illmatic didn’t and people don’t like to dive into this because they wanna brownnose Nas. But facts are facts

A lot of people have Illmatic as #1 bc it’s what people told them to do and they’re scared to have an unpopular opinion

 

[Ziggiy]

You act like they not even close to Illmatic when in reality both do some things better than Illmatic.

OFCL yes.

Infamous No

 

[Mike Wins]

Faith Newman polished and crafted his project by knowing who to hire as producers

Theres a reason why his beat selection was questionable after she left the picture

What her and Q Tip did is a false equivalence

Q Tip helped Mobb Deep not become another Illegal or Da Youngsta’z or Kris Kross but helping them mature their sound. Q Tip did not craft their project on some “yall be the artist and let me do everything else” shyt. He took what Havoc and Prodigy was already doing (Shook Ones Part 1 showed they were already distancing themselves from that teenage rap lane but it was way too dark) and helped them add some textured elements to it using his extensive jazz and musical knowledge. When Q Tip left the picture, Mobb Deep became Mobb Deep as Hell On Earth was them growing into who they are becoming the quintessential rap duo of NYC and creating a sound that got dubbed as the “winter” sound.

When Faith Newman left Nas, Nas was finding himself and chased radio hits and etc and had hits and had misses. It Was Written’s direction was greatly influenced by OB4CL (another Loud Records album).

It’s not the same. Both acts are legends tho

You can say the same thing happened to Mobb Deep once Matt Life and Schott Free stopped being A&R and Executive Producing their projects.

 

[Don Jesus]

1). Faith Evans didn’t put Illmatic together. Nas and MC Serch did. Do your history

2). Nas NEVER ran “away” from Ilmatic. He couldn’t and wouldn’t do the same thing twice, especially as he’d already mastered the rugged street poet style. He’s said this himself numerous times.

3). Prodigy borrowed from Nas not vice versa. And both Prodigy and Hav were influenced by Illmatic when making The Infamous. And you don’t have to take my word for it.

“While we were on our promo tour for the album, Nas dropped the Illmatic album; that really overshadowed our feeble attempt at rap music. Illmatic was and still is one of the best rap albums ever. Nas was an incredible songwriter, and the beats he chose were just as good. “Halftime,” produced by Large Professor, was the best song out. During an in-store appearance in Washington, D.C., they were playing that song. “When I attack there ain’t an army that could strike back, so I react never calmly on a hype track… Whenever I freestyle I see trial nikkas say I’m wow, I hate a rhyme biter’s rhyme, stay tuned, Nas, soon the real rap comes at halftime….” It made us want to hurry home and start working on a new album.”
Excerpt From
My Infamous Life
Albert "Prodigy" Johnson


“The whole projects is playing his music. I mean he's like a God at this point. Here we come, trying to come after that and get the approval of our projects, our friends and.... It just fizzled. It's a dud. You know what I mean? So it's like, "Damn, we want to make something that everybody in the projects is playing Yo, along what Nas is doing." So when we got that second shot, it was like, "We can't fukk this up. We got to really put our heart and soul into this."- Havoc

There is no Infamous without Illmatic. But besides that Illmatic lyrically and thematically head and shoulders above The Infamous

1. Whether it was Faith or Serch doesn’t matter fact is he had to get polished

2. Stop caping. Of course he’d never admit he struggled to find himself musically but the fact is he did. There was a way he could have done a follow up to Illmatic without it being commercialized he just didn’t know how to. Theres a reason Steve Stoute is a heavy consigliere in his career

(This isn’t me shytting on It Was Written)

3. In the same book Prodigy tells you Nas stole some of his ideas but says it in a kind way.

The “Nas is him and everybody borrows from him” thing is played out. Nas took elements from Raekwon and AZ in terms of fashion and he took elements from Prodigy in terms of subject matter and ideas and vision (the Queensbridge Finest album was Nas taking Prodigy’s idea)

I have to say this multiple times because you dudes be emotional but once again this isn’t Nas slander

 

[Don Jesus]

You can say the same thing happened to Mobb Deep once Matt Life and Schott Free stopped being A&R and Executive Producing their projects.

I mean You could. We both have valid points

 

[Peak]

I'm not mad at the IDEA of The Infamous being the #1 NY rap album, given that everything we think about what New York sounds like (grimy, boom bap, winter, menacing, etc) is perhaps best illustrated on that album. But...Illmatic led to The Infamous.

I'd argue that Enta Da Stage and Midnight Mauraders influenced The Infamous more than Illmatic did...at least sonically.

 

[Mike Wins]

Also Faith Newman and Steve Rifkind didn’t do the same thing. Rifkind’s talent was being smart enough to let the rappers do what they wanted to do. So we not gonna act like he was the genius behind the musicality of the album. Faith Newman wasn’t the genius behind the musicality of Illmatic but she organized the right producers to bring the best out of him. Steve Rifkind did not need to do that. infamous is solely self produced with 3 beats from Q Tip who was practically a third unofficial member of Mobb Deep (for just that album) the way Trag was to Capone N Noreaga if you wanna get technical. It’s not like it’s a random Pete Rock beat in the middle of the album. The q Tip beats on Infamous were not Tribe Called Quest-ish at all

Wasn't talking Steve Rifkind. Was talking Matt Life and Schott Free who was A&R and Executive Producers on The Infamous and Hell On Earth. They did A&R for Cuban Linx too. Matt Life was also EP on Capital Punishment among other things. Loud had an incredible A&R team back then.

Mobb Deep ain't go from Juvenile Hell to The Infamous in two years without label help or guidance. And that's no knock on them just saying they had plenty label help too.

 

[skillz2]

Full list

Can anyone say that hand on heart that they heard all 100 these albums from start to finish at least once? I counted around 80 that I can recall hearing, which I thought was quite high. - However, that Mase joint being so high was perhaps the biggest surprise.

 

[mobbinfms]

Also weird to go with two Mobb albums in the top ten, but only one Biggie album.

Unless I’m mistaken, Mobb and Wu the only artists/groups with two top ten placements.

Also, unless I’m mistaken, HOE the highest rated album from 96, and is now, officially, the best album of 96. I’ve been saying this for decades but good to see it is now being officially cemented.

Both Hav and Mega been posting this list on IG. Pretty clear this is the definitive list.

 

[L. Deezy]

1. Whether it was Faith or Serch doesn’t matter fact is he had to get polished

2. Stop caping. Of course he’d never admit he struggled to find himself musically but the fact is he did. There was a way he could have done a follow up to Illmatic without it being commercialized he just didn’t know how to. Theres a reason Steve Stoute is a heavy consigliere in his career

(This isn’t me shytting on It Was Written)

3. In the same book Prodigy tells you Nas stole some of his ideas but says it in a kind way.

The “Nas is him and everybody borrows from him” thing is played out. Nas took elements from Raekwon and AZ in terms of fashion and he took elements from Prodigy in terms of subject matter and ideas and vision (the Queensbridge Finest album was Nas taking Prodigy’s idea)

I have to say this multiple times because you dudes be emotional but once again this isn’t Nas slander

breh, this is a Nas board. You gotta accept that.

Illmatic should have been higher. Like number 1 higher

 

[L. Deezy]

You seem to be a heavy Mobb Deep fan so you’d probably agree with me on this

Nas as much of a legend he is gets too much sometimes when it comes to these lists whereas Mobb Deep is seen as the Outlawz to his Pac when that’s not the case

Infamous did things Illmatic didn’t and people don’t like to dive into this because they wanna brownnose Nas. But facts are facts

A lot of people have Illmatic as #1 bc it’s what people told them to do and they’re scared to have an unpopular opinion

smh

 

[DOSDUMUNI]

I'd argue that Enta Da Stage and Midnight Mauraders influenced The Infamous more than Illmatic did...at least sonically.

You can KIND OF hear the Buckshot influence in Havoc’s cadence.

Again, KIND OF…before I get torched in this thread.

 

[Jards]

Infamous is 100% more impactful than Illmatic - it basically defined the whole sound of Queensbridge

 

[THE K-MAN]

No Stunts Blunts and Hip-Hop is a crime