Cube was always the better MC, but he's not always had the better production. As far as I'm concerned, like so many others, he was never better than with Dre behind him. Dre's only done two albums, but it's got much higher quality control, I think.
Personally I prefer the Bomb Squad to Dre as producers, and the Bomb Squad influenced work on The Predator. I think that's probably his best work, better than anything he did with NWA, but that's mainly due to the fire of his delivery rather than the production. It's good, but not better than The Chronic. In the end I think the mixture makes for a better album than The Chronic.
Most rap albums have some filler on them. Every rapper seems to think they need to fill the disc to maximum capacity and it means there's a lot of filler. Compton's classic tracks stand up, I think, though. The one I think gets too little appreciation out of the classic ones on there is 'Gangsta, Gangsta.' I love that it spins off in a totally different direction a few minutes in, there aren't many artists who do that in rap these days. They tend to go beat, bass, that'll do.
100 Miles And Runnin', the song, is I think their crowning achievement outside of Cube. It's like a James Bond theme but with the n-word in it. It's so epic and widescreen, you don't get that much in rap and I wish it happened more often. Plus, despite the hilariously unnecessary bits with Eazy, 'Just Don't Bite It' has a really killer beat, a real slinky one that makes me want to dance. And I NEVER dance.
As for Efil4zaggin - I think it gets too much of a bad rap, no pun intended. It is highly flawed, yes, and again, really overlong, but I think it's got enough classic moments to be worth looking at. I think that they were so aware of their own hype that at times they were even sending themselves up, like on 'Automobile' which I long to learn to play for a girlfriend one day. A jazzy piano groove about rape in a car? What's not to love? Plus, I think that the beat on 'Real Niggaz Don't Die' among Dre's most stunning work, especially if you listen to how it collapses from speaker to speaker on headphones. I wish he'd done more stuff like that. Again, it's epic, and I like that!
I'm with you on Gangsta, Gangsta, it really doesn't do what you expect. You've hit the nail on the head with 100 Miles And Runnin' as well, it always calls The Warriors to mind for me (I think deliberately) and it does have that epic feel. Efil4zaggin though I've only managed to sit through a couple of times. The production is good, definitely, but lyrically their desperation to be as nasty and misogynistic as possible just grates too much for me. As for the filler on rap albums it is sadly largely true, but records like Enter The Wu-Tang, It Takes A Nation... and yes, The Predator all manage to avoid it for me. So much as I love the classic NWA tracks that's what will always keep Straight Outta Compton from the list of the very greatest rap albums for me.
Author
Topic: what is your favourite HIP HOP/RAP album? (a picture thread) (Read 12103 times)