My Top 79 Hip-Hop Albums of All-Time

Edit: List has been updated! Albums new to the list are Guess Who's Back?, Listennn: The Album, Fishscale, H.N.I.C., Pt. 2, Dogg Food and Straight Outta Ca$hville.

Yesterday, someone asked me who my top 5 rappers were. To me, that's something incredibly hard to do. Because I like different rappers for different reason.
That's like asking what do you prefer, a steak or ice cream? You just can't compare!!!

There are other reasons too. I tend to only listen to 3 albums max per artist. That way it forces me to diversify my music and discover new shit. So there isn't 1 musician that I could say I'm a fan of.

To me, it would be much simpler to just name my favourite albums; and that's what I suggested to him. So he asked me what my favourite albums were and I started looking at my music collection. After a while I realized that I would have more than 20 albums in my list. So I decided to write down all my favourite albums and make a post about it.

So here it is, my top 79 favourite hip-hop albums of all-time!

2Pac - Me Against the World (1995)
2Pac - All Eyez on Me (1996)
50 Cent - Guess Who's Back? (2002)
8Ball & MJG - Comin' Out Hard (1993)
213 - The Hard Way (2004)
Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock: The Album (1986)
Big Punisher - Capital Punishment (1998)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Creepin on ah Come Up (1994)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - E 1999 Eternal (1995)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - The Art of War (1997)
Cam'ron - Purple Haze (2004)
Common - Like Water for Chocolate (2000)
The Diplomats - Diplomatic Immunity (2003)
DJ Drama - Gangsta Grillz: The Album (2007)
DJ Khaled - Listennn: The Album (2006)
DJ Khaled - We the Best (2007)
DJ Khaled - We Global (2008)
DMX - It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998)
The Dogg Pound - Dogg Food (1995)
Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992)
Dr. Dre - 2001 (1999)
Fabolous - Loso's Way (2009)
The Fugees - The Score (1996)
Ghostface Killah - Ironman (1996)
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele (2000)
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006)
Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990)
Ice Cube - Raw Footage (2008)
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (1998)
Jay-Z - The Black Album (2003)
Jay-Z - American Gangster (2007)
Kanye West - The College Dropout (2004)
Kanye West - Late Registration (2005)
Kanye West - Graduation (2007)
Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreaks (2008)
Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon: The End Of Day (2009)
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Road to the Riches (1989)
Krayzie Bone - Thug Mentality 1999 (1999)
Lloyd Banks - Hunger for More (2004)
Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor (2006)
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool (2007)
Method Man & Redman - Blackout! (1999)
Missy Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly (1997)
Mobb Deep - The Infamous (1995)
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides (1999)
Mos Def & Talib Kweli - Blackstar (1998)
N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton (1989)
Nas - Illmatic (1994)
Nas - Stillmatic (2001)
Nas - God's Son (2002)
Nelly - Country Grammar (2000)
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die (1994)
The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death (1997)
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers (1995)
OutKast - ATLiens (1996)
OutKast - Aquemini (1998)
Pharoahe Monch - Internal Affairs (1999)
Pimp C - Sweet James Jones Stories (2005)
Pimp C - Pimpalation (2006)
Prodigy - H.N.I.C., Pt. 2 (2008)
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)
Redman - Whut? Thee Album (1992)
Rick Ross - Deeper Than Rap (2009)
Rick Ross - Teflon Don (2010)
The Roots - Phrenology (2002)
Run-D.M.C. - Run-D.M.C. (1984)
Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell (1986)
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle (1993)
Snoop Dogg - Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006)
T.I. - King (2006)
Tha Dogg Pound - Dogg Food (1995)
Three 6 Mafia - When the Smoke Clears (2000)
Timbaland & Magoo - Welcome to Our World (1997)
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (1991)
UGK - Ridin' Dirty (1996)
UGK - UGK 4 Life (2009)
Warren G - Regulate...G Funk Era (1994)
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
Xzibit - 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz (1998)
Xzibit - Restless (2000)
Young Buck - Straight Outta Ca$hville (2004)
Young Jeezy - Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005)
Young Jeezy - The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102 (2006)

Yeah, I know, that's a lot of albums! But I really don't know which albums to take out to make the list shorter. If I did take 1 out, the list would feel incomplete and not a true reflection of my taste.

If reading this list provoked the hip-hop geek in you, please remember that these are the albums that I love from the beginning to end. There are a lot more albums that I like, but aren't perfect.

Also remember that I like dumbed down music just as much as I like a rapper who truly knows how to spit.

I wonder if any of you see a similarity in these albums. Like sometimes, when people do a list of their top rappers/albums, you can usually notice some sort of similarity between what was named. The sound, approach, vibe, message, etc.

Anyways, don't be afraid to comment. Tell me what you think!

Bitches Love Smilies

Dat Ass by ~edielflaco on deviantART

I've just uploaded a bunch of my smilies on deviantART.
Most are designed to fit with the standard Windows Live Messenger smilies.
To check out the rest, go here. Enjoy!

If you got any good ideas for smilies, holla!

Taste The Colours

Taste The Colours by ~edielflaco on deviantART

I made this a while back. Like at the beginning of the year. Why am I posted it now? Because I can. I made this as a forum signature. I wanted to make something different. Usually people take pictures and add all kinds of effects on it. Although I want to get better in that aspect, that's not really my style. I've been drawing since I was a kid and that's the way I prefer to express myself visually.

When I drew it, I was listening to Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon. (My favourite album from 2009 by the way.) The beats on that album gives you a vibe of being on another world. While the lyrics are emotional and personal. So I guess that you can see how the music influenced me on my drawing.

Now that I look at it, I feel that I couldn't done better. But whatever, what's done is done.

Not Only Does It Sound Dope, But It Looks Dope

Clavilux 2000 - Interactive instrument for generative music visualization from Jonas Heuer on Vimeo.

The Clavilux 2000 is an interactive instrument for generative music visualization, which is able to generate a live visualization of any music played on a digital piano. The setting of the installation consists of three parts: A digital piano with 88 keys and midi output, a computer running a vvvv patch and a vertical projection above the keyboard.

For every note played on the keyboard a new visual element appears in form of a stripe, which follows in its dimensions, position and speed the way the particular key was stroke. Colours give the viewer and listener an impression of the harmonic relations: Each key has it's own color scheme and "wrong" notes stand out in contrasting colors.
All stripes stay and overlap each other in an additive way, so at the end a kind of pattern remains – a summary of the music – which will be always unique since the notes of the composition aswell as the interpretation of the piano player are influencing the outcome. Furthermore the piano player can switch between the standart 2d view and an additional 3d view of the visualization while playing.

http://jonasheuer.de/index.php/clavilux-2000/

Dope.

The Top 38 Albums of the Decade

As some of you may have realized, we in another decade. So I thought, shit, why not make a list of the top 10 albums of the pass decade?! Then when I saw my list, I thought, okay, maybe top 25 albums... I removed a few from my list, but then I got to a point where I didn't know what I should removed. Since all the albums in the list were banging! So shit, fuck it. I bring to you the top 38 albums of the decade!

Supreme Clientele - Ghostface Killah (2000) (Hip-hop)
Country Grammar - Nelly (2000) (Hip-hop)
A Lo Cubano - Orishas (2000) (Hip-hop)
Stage One - Sean Paul (2000) (Dancehall)
Sao Paulo Confessions - Suba (2000) (Latin)
Discovery - Daft Punk (2001) (House)
Gorillaz - Gorillaz (2001) (???)
In My Memory - Tiesto (2001) (Trance)
Guess Who's Back - 50 Cent (2002) (Hip-hop)
Phrenology - The Roots (2002) (Hip-hop)
Diplomatic Immunity - The Diplomats (2003) (Hip-hop)
The Black Album - Jay-Z (2003) (Hip-hop)
El Abayarde - Tego Calderon (2003) (Reggaeton)
Purple Haze - Cam'ron (2004) (Hip-hop)
The College Dropout - Kanye West (2004) (Hip-hop)
Calle 13 - Calle 13 (2005) (Reggaeton)
Demon Days - Gorillaz (2005) (???)
Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 - Young Jeezy (2005) (Hip-hop)
Destroy Rock & Roll - Mylo (2006) (House)
Pimpalation - Pimp C (2006) (Hip-hop)
Tha Blue Carpet Treatment - Snoop Dogg (2006) (Hip-hop)
The Underdog/El Subestimado - Tego Calderon (2006) (Reggaeton)
We the Best - DJ Khaled (2007) (Hip-hop)
American Gangster - Jay-Z (2007) (Hip-hop)
Cross - Justice (2007) (House)
The Cool - Lupe Fiasco (2007) (Hip-hop)
Gangster for Life - Mavado (2007) (Dancehall)
808s & Heartbreaks - Kanye West (2008) (???)
Seeing Sounds - N*E*R*D (2008) (???)
H.N.I.C., Pt. 2 - Prodigy (2008) (Hip-hop)
Trilla - Rick Ross (2008) (Hip-hop)
Paper Trail - T.I. (2008) (Hip-hop)
Caribbean Connection - Various Artists (2008) (Reggaeton/Dancehall)
Man On The Moon - Kid Cudi (2009) (Hip-hop)
If Tomorrow Comes - Maino (2009) (Hip-hop)
Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do - Major Lazer (2009) (Dancehall)
Deeper Than Rap - Rick Ross (2009) (Hip-hop)
UGK 4 Life - UGK (2009) (Hip-hop)

As you can see, I just posted a list. No mention as to why I like those albums. Shit, I would've written why I like the albums if the list was shorter. But I sure ain't gonna write 38 different reviews! I don't have that much free time!

And there's like 4 albums that I couldn't really categorize, cause they are a good mixture of different styles and come out with their own style in the process. Which is really dope if you ask me.

If you asking why one of your favourite album is not on the list, there are a couple reasons for that. First reason could be that I didn't listen to every single album from the last decade, dummy. Other reason is that it probably sucks.

The Accidental Keyboard Masterpiece

So today I cleaned up part of my keyboard. It was getting really, really dirty. I didn't finish tho, probably gonna do the letters another day. While I was cleaning up my keyboard I had notepad open. This is the work of art that resulted from the cleaning.

.++


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I had to edit it a little bit so that it wouldn't stretch the whole page. Please don't judge me.

The Events of 9/11 Forever Changed Me

Before 9/11, like every other kid, I didn't really care about politics, history, religion and culture. I was in the 8th grade at the time and I only cared about video games, the popular music, comic books and girls. But the moment I saw footage of the towers on the news, my life changed.

I remember I went home for lunch and while I ate some spaghetti that my mother had left me, I turned on the TV and it was already on a news channel. I didn't really understand what was going on. But it sparked my curiosity and made me want to know more about this and why would someone do this.

On my way back to school, I picked up a newspaper and see if there was anything related to this. That was the first time I actually read the newspaper. At school, I would join those who talking about politics. I started watching the news instead of watching some of the shows for teenagers I used to watch. I read books and searched the net when I didn't know something.

It didn't instantly change me, but it set me forth on the right tracks. It made me a lot more aware of the world we live in. It made me aware that we shouldn't blindly trust the government and that countries will fight for money. I'm not talking about people in a specific government, but about the various nations currently hungry for power. We should get our mind right and not let ourself get hypnotized by the various forms of the media.