No 90s Hip Hop Album has Stood The Test of Time Quite Like Mobb Deep’s The Infamous - GOAT Album

[mobbinfms]

Breh, by the time Mobb Deep dropped Infamous, Wu was already huge. They were a group in 1993 that defied mainstream standards and shifted the sound towards the grimier style that artists that came after would adopt and everybody else had to adapt.

Grimy NY hip hop was being made before Wu, by Mobb Deep among many others.

Illmatic was not an underground album.

Yes it was.

Commercial and mainstream are not the same thing.

Agreed.

Neither is a negative term nor a stigma. It is only viewed that way because purists have this view of anything that is commercial or mainstream is soft or not Hop Hop, which is not only wrong, but conpletely ignorant.

They are absolutely negative terms for hip hop artists with artistic integrity. You can throw “sell out” as another related term with a negative connotation.

Illmatic is for all intents and purposes a mainstream album that was slept on by the masses.

What are the mainstream elements of Illmatic? What is the song for the radio? The song for the girls? The song meant for an audience outside of fans of underground NY rap?

It’s less mainstream than Infamous because nothing on it has the catchiness of the hook of "Shook Ones Pt. 2". And this is where your understanding of what's mainstream is skewed. Hooks/choruses are a huge part of having mass appeal. Even the most casual Hip Hop fan knows the hook to "Shook Ones Pt. 2" if they know nothing else. That is a huge part of the song's appeal outside of the beat.

I agree with you that having a hook, catchy or not, was more mainstream than not having one, but by 93, hooks in underground grimy NY rap were commonplace and there was no stigma associated with them.

I agree with you that Shook One’s has one of the most iconic hooks in hip hop history, but there is nothing mainstream about it.

The mainstream came to Mobb Deep, Mobb Deep didn’t come to the mainstream.

 

[JustCKing]

Grimy NY hip hop was being made before Wu, by Mobb Deep among many others.

Who was bigger than Wu with that sound though?

Yes it was.

Illmatic was definitely not an underground album.

They are absolutely negative terms for hip hop artists with artistic integrity. You can throw “sell out” as another related term with a negative connotation

Breh, you are confused on this subject. Making commercial and mainstream records doesn't make you a sell out. You have to actually compromise the integrity in order to sell out. Simply making a commercial song or being mainstream isn't sell out. That's why people who were saying Nas sold out with Illmatic proved they didn't understand Nas as an artist or even understood what they were listening to on Illmatic to say he sold out with IWW. The only differences between the two is that IWW has singing on it, the production is more polished less raw, has catchier choruses, and more features. He was rapping about gansters and mobsters on Illmatic, it was just more extreme on IWW. One of the singles sampled the King of Pop by sampling Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", which was already popular as SWV had just used the same sample.

What are the mainstream elements of Illmatic? What is the song for the radio? The song for the girls? The song meant for an audience outside of fans of underground NY rap?

LOL. This discussion is lost on you. An artist doesn't have to make sings for girls to be mainstream or commercial.

Nas had videos from Illmatic in rotation on MTV. How was he not mainstream?

The mainstream came to Mobb Deep, Mobb Deep didn’t come to the mainstream

That is still mainstream. Just because it was more organic, doesn't make it any less mainstream.

 

[boogers]

man i love p and havoc but theyre not the end all be all of hiphop. tons of better shyt came out in 95

 

[Whips-n-Chains]

man i love p and havoc but theyre not the end all be all of hiphop. tons of better shyt came out in 95

Tons?


You can reasonably argue:

Me Against the World (I'll take infamous every time)

OB4CL (chef takes take this one, imo)

Liquid Swords (infamous has more versatility, but I'm not mad if someone takes LS)

Safe + Sound? ....nahhhh

Dah Shinin' .....nahhhh

Soul Food? ....not even close

E.1999 ....reasonable debate I guess

 

[mobbinfms]

Who was bigger than Wu with that sound though?



Illmatic was definitely not an underground album.



Breh, you are confused on this subject. Making commercial and mainstream records doesn't make you a sell out. You have to actually compromise the integrity in order to sell out. Simply making a commercial song or being mainstream isn't sell out. That's why people who were saying Nas sold out with Illmatic proved they didn't understand Nas as an artist or even understood what they were listening to on Illmatic to say he sold out with IWW. The only differences between the two is that IWW has singing on it, the production is more polished less raw, has catchier choruses, and more features. He was rapping about gansters and mobsters on Illmatic, it was just more extreme on IWW. One of the singles sampled the King of Pop by sampling Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", which was already popular as SWV had just used the same sample.



LOL. This discussion is lost on you. An artist doesn't have to make sings for girls to be mainstream or commercial.

Nas had videos from Illmatic in rotation on MTV. How was he not mainstream?



That is still mainstream. Just because it was more organic, doesn't make it any less mainstream.

You clearly don’t understand what these words mean, not in the context of 90s hip hop but not even just the general definitions.

Make a thread claiming that Infamous and Illmatic were mainstream albums and you’ll see how wrong you are.

 

[mobbinfms]

Tons?


You can reasonably argue:

Me Against the World (I'll take infamous every time)

OB4CL (chef takes take this one, imo)

Liquid Swords (infamous has more versatility, but I'm not mad if someone takes LS)

Safe + Sound? ....nahhhh

Dah Shinin' .....nahhhh

Soul Food? ....not even close

E.1999 ....reasonable debate I guess

Infamous was the best album in 1995. OBFCL is a close second.

 

[Whips-n-Chains]

Infamous was the best album in 1995. OBFCL is a close second.

I ain't mad at this

My personal top 3 of OB4CL, Illmatic, The Infamous have all rotated as which is my #1. Last couple years it's been Cuban Linx, but then I start to play it out and something else moves in that slot.

 

[mobbinfms]

I ain't mad at this

My personal top 3 of OB4CL, Illmatic, The Infamous have all rotated as which is my #1. Last couple years it's been Cuban Linx, but then I start to play it out and something else moves in that slot.

That’s my top three right there.

 

[Heavy_Handz]

The Infamous… is at the very top of the list of greatest Hip-Hop albums of the 90’s.

Alongside Doggystyle, The Chronic, Illmatic, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Midnight Marauders, Ready To Die, The Diary, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, Reasonable Doubt, All Eyez On Me, Life After Death, ATLiens, Aquemini, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, etc.

It’s all subjective.