“For ’96, the only MC with a flu…”
written by Just K
written by Just K
Classic line delivered on a classic album in a year full of classics. Jay-Z wasn’t the only one with the flu, though. If it dropped in ‘96, it was probably sick. It’s like you weren’t allowed to release a CD that year unless it had the potential to be timeless. ’96 was actually the year that I really started listening to hip-hop. It was the year the influenced me enough to end up writing about this music every week. And in my humble opinion, musically, 1996 was easily the best year in hip-hop.
First up you had the most prolific one, Tupac Shakur, dropping All Eyez on Me and his first posthumous release, The Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theory, in the same year. Then we got the classic debut from Jay-Z before he gave himself 22 aliases. Nas ruled the world with his follow up to Illmatic while Busta Rhymes and Ghostface both released their first solo projects with The Coming and Ironman, respectively. The most rugged member of the Def Squad produced arguably his best work with Muddy Waters and a young dude from the west coast gave us At the Speed of Life way before he had any notions of pimpin’ rides. Another west coast debut that was criminally slept-on came from Ras Kass with Soul on Ice. Seriously, name another year that saw that many gems.
And I didn’t even get to the group albums yet.
Two guys and a soulful female realized their potential with the release of The Score; it was the first legitimate rap cassette I ever owned that I can proudly claim to this day. I just can’t find it in me to claim MC Hammer and Kris Kross with much pride. De la Soul’s Stakes is High album was brilliant, with the title track having one of the illest hip-hop beats of all time. The Roots came through with Illadelph Halflife (I’ll never forget the What They Do video) while a little group from Atlanta had the whole world riding Elevators with ATLiens; this was the first hip-hop single I ever bought – ahem, not counting Jump from Kris Kross. Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz, and Benz, Renee, and Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless (some die with a name, some die nameless) - yup, it was all on the Lost Boyz debut. Beats, Rhymes, and Life from a Tribe Called Quest and Hell on Earth from Mobb Deep. Oh, and in case you were looking for a west coast group joint, Cube, WC, and Mac 10 linked up in ’96. I could do this all day with all of the heat that came out of 1996. There was so much creativity, originality, and diversity in the music. You couldn’t ask for anything more from the music.
I didn’t even get to the Geto Boys reunion album or Hall of Game from E-40 or Ridin’ Dirty from UGK (no, not the song from Chamillionaire) and countless other brilliant albums. 1996 = best year in hip-hop…period.
5 comments:
Damn.
Damn.
Damn.
From the title, i knew you were going to bring some s**t. I never saw '96 as my favorite year. I always thought it was '98 but I might have to reconsider. I might just lump 94-98 together and just have a Hip-Hop classic orgy.
LMFAO
Damn.
Classic after motherf***ing classic.
A HIP HOP ORGY.....nicely put.
With all the greatness that came out of 96, I wonder if any year after 2000 can even compete........
No, its a hip-hop CLASSIC orgy... not just a regular orgy.
And no, there isn't one particular year that can compete on that level.
'06 and '07 were strong with some solid albums but not like the 9-6.
I stand corrected. The CLASSIC, makes all the difference.
Really, what's better than a classic orgy? lmao. Sounds invigorating.
But seriously, I think I was spoiled by The Score being my first real hip-hop album. I mean, The Score, son! One of the GOATs in my opinion as far as albums go. I wish someone would challenge '96. '98 was a hot year too. I think Pun came out of that, a pair of albums from DMX and the emergence of Jay-Z the superstar, but I dunno if it's bangin' like '96 was banging.
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