Top 20 Hip-Hop Albums of 2000 – 2009: The Tracks

As promised, some bonus material!  I selected one track from each of my top 20 and made a youtube playlist.  I’m aware T.I. is missing.  Thank his label for making every single one of his videos either silent or not embeddable.  I suppose 2003 was a different era of internet distro.  In any case, enjoy…

The Top 20 Hip-Hop Albums of 2000-2009: Part 2

As promised, here are the top 10 albums of the decade. Check it out, leave some feedback, and come back tomorrow for a special bonus installment.

10. J Dilla (Jay Dee) – Donuts
(Stones Throw, 2006)

While this album’s weight was increased by its release within days of its creator’s death, this instrumental collage would be a classic regardless of the circumstances.  One of the greats of all time, Dilla used chopped up samples and dusty drums to make beats that were sometimes delicate and beautiful and at others pounding, cold and mechanical.  Almost four years after his death, they continue to define the sound of Detroit’s underground scene.  This album, jumping from one brief moment of bliss to the next, was an appropriate final statement for such a unique talent.

9. The Game – The Documentary
(Aftermath, 2005)

The Game’s debut album revealed some of the qualities that would make him both a standout and one of the biggest oddballs in hip hop this decade.  On one hand, he is a gifted lyricist who stands up well to the large bill of marquee name rappers and producers on the album.  On the other, he name drops and fawns over so many other rappers that he is at times corny and strange.  Still, this album, made before his falling out with 50 Cent and Dr. Dre, was a superior effort.

8. T.I. – Trap Muzik
(Atlantic, 2003)

Proclaiming himself the king of the south, T.I. showed immense potential on his second album.  Hardcore but polished enough for crossover success, T.I. took the usual set of dope boy/rapper cliches and managed to turn out an original and engaging set of songs.  Paired with beats from David Banner, Jazze Pha, Kanye West and others, perhaps the best production he ever received on a whole album, this record set a standard T.I. has yet to improve on.

7. 50 Cent – Get Rich Or Die Tryin’
(Interscope, 2003)

6. Outkast – Stankonia
(La Face, 2000)

The follow-up to the masterpiece, Aquemini, this album did not disappoint.  With a playful, experimental spirit, this disc was, in retrospect, an interesting bridge between the former and 2003′s landmark Speakerboxx/The Love Below.  Big Boi and Dre took on such subjects as illegitimate pregnancy, American excess, suicide and drug use in a variety of ways that made this record constantly fresh and engaging.  Despite weighty subject matter on much of the album, they kept the overall tone light enough to be listenable, helped by inventive rhyming, diverse experimental production, and possibly the most clever set of skits on a rap album ever.  BREAK!

5. Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
(Jive, 2006)

The long-delayed sophomore album from brother duo, Clipse, was nothing if not proof that there is room for originality in even the most well-trodden hip-hop subjects.  This cold, neurotic album was cocaine-obsessed, but even their boasting and talk of material wealth were tempered constantly by a sense of impending doom.  A stripped down and spaced out set of menacing tracks from The Neptunes was one of the most cohesive and impactful of the decade.  With equal parts of contrition, ambition, unapologetic malice (no pun intended) and paranoia, these skilled rappers made a complex and brilliant record.

4. Jay-Z – The Blueprint
(Roc-A-Fella, 2001)

If we had any doubts as to who was running this rap ish in 2001, the second track of this album cleared them up quickly.  Hov manhandled the microphone and did not let go the entire record.  Production led by Timbaland, Just Blaze and Kanye West (in the start of what would become his meteoric rise in hip-hop) offset the classic verses to make an album that showed Jay on top of all he surveyed.  Tracks like “Girls, Girls, Girls,” “H.O.V.A. (Izzo),” and “Heart Of The City” make this an enduring classic of early 2000′s rap.

3. Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele
(Sony, 2000)

In what would turn out to be the last classic Wu-Tang album, Ghostface proved once again that he could possibly be the most engaging storyteller in hip hop even if listeners didn’t know what the hell he was talking about half the time.  With the clan’s best ear for beats, Starks selected some gems from a group of RZA disciples and others.  A solid string of all-in-the-family guest appearances and intricate, if confusing, rhymes from Starks showed, one last time, what the Wu-Tang was capable of at their best.

2. Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
(La Face, 2003)

While the scope of this album goes a bit beyond “hip-hop,” I remember what section of the record store this was in when I bought it.  Experimental albums are often positioned as ahead-of-their-time only to turn out to still suck years later, but this album truly did get better with age.  The split album concept confused fans when it came out, and even in 2009, many still haven’t fully processed what it meant creatively to the duo on this album or since.  Both albums were experimental in their own way, Big Boi with a unique synthesized funk that stayed firmly rooted in rap and 3000 assuming the persona of a more playful Prince.  Each showcased their talents brilliantly and together they helped pave the way for acceptance of experimentation in rap, R&B and funk in the latter part of the decade.

The Album of the Decade:

Kanye West – College Dropout
(Roc-A-Fella, 2004)

The Top 20 Hip-Hop Albums, 2000-2009 (Pt. 1)

Normally this time of year, I post a top 10 list of the year.  This being the end of the decade, however, I thought it was a good chance to take a look back at the last ten years in rap and some of my favorites.  This is part one of a two-part review.  Look for the finale in the next day or two.  And now, without further ado, my choices for the top 20 of the 2000′s:

20. Devin The Dude – Just Tryin’ Ta Live
(Virgin, 2002)

Houston emcee Devin the dude has been one of the great storytellers in hip hop since his late 1990′s debut.  He hit his peak in this 2002 release, blending his tongue-in-cheek tales of sexual misadventures and the woes of the common man with a suite of production truly worthy of them.  Syrupy smooth and lowdown, the beats glide under Devin’s easy singsong drawl.  Tracks like “Fa Sho” and “Doobie Ashtray” cement this album as a true Texas classic.

19. Young Jeezy – The Recession
(Def Jam, 2008)

The Snowman’s third album found him trading in a little of the hustle and stunt mantras that filled his Thug Movitation albums for a slightly more sober look at the economic recession.  Jeezy delivers insights in character, little nuggets of truth filtered through his simplistic flow and hollered over banging production.  The result is an album which plays like a report from the ground level, without of the pretentiousness that accompanies other artists’ looks at the economy.  If not a masterful work of art, this album is definitely a cultural document of its time.

18. Snoop Dogg – R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece
(Geffen, 2004)

After a strange trip through Master P’s No Limit family, Snoop’s Paid Da Cost To Be Tha Boss showed that Snoop was still a credible force in post-2000 hip hop.  It took a blockbuster single to shove him all the way back into the spotlight though, and that came in the form of the Neptunes-laced “Drop It Like It’s Hot.”  Around that single, however, was a great album that dabbled in various styles from hardcore to dance-rap and pulled them all off well.  With this release, Snoop proved that his Cali drawl was still as relevant as ever in rap.

17. Sean Price – Monkey Barz
(Duck Down, 2005)

One of the more random releases of the new millennium, this album single-handedly spawned a Boot Camp Clik revival in the last half of the decade.  Left for dead by hip hop somewhere in the 1990′s, Price, also known as Ruck from Heltah Skeltah, came back re-branded as a hardcore rap Rodney Dangerfield.  Proclaiming himself “the brokest rapper you know,” Price put out a set of truly hilarious, but still menacing tracks filled with ridiculous one-liners.  With gritty soul production coming partially from the Justus League’s Khrysis and 9th Wonder, this offbeat album was a great surprise.

16. Jaylib – Champion Sound
(Stones Throw, 2003)

A collaboration of two mad geniuses of underground hip hop, Champion Sound is off-kilter perfection.  Producer-emcees Jay Dee (aka J Dilla) and Madlib exchanged beats and rhymes back and forth across the country to cobble together this smoked out symphony.  The low-fi beats jump illogically from one sample to the next and the rhymes are sometimes elementary and sometimes almost senseless.  Inexplicably though, it all fits perfectly together, and this has proved to be an album with serious staying power over the years.

15. Kanye West – Late Registration
(Roc-A-fella, 2005)

Kanye West’s second album updated the formula that made his debut, College Dropout, so successful and proved that his star would last for years to come.  With a little extra polish from rock producer John Brione, Late Registration was still a soulful affair, but one that moved away from West’s signature chipmunk sound and was more dense and layered.  West maintained his “Benz and backpack” persona and brought in several very effective guest spots to pick up any slack his comical bragging left.  Not a game changer like College Dropout, this was still one of the best crafted records of the decade.

14. Ludacris – Word Of Mouf
(Def Jam, 2001)

Imperfect when taken as a total album, this is still one of the best collections of rap singles of this decade.  Atlanta rapper Ludacris had a major commercial breakthrough with this record, led by radio and video titans like “Area Codes,” “Move Bitch” and “Rollout (My Business).”  Production by Timbaland, Organized Noize and others paired well with Luda’s edgy flow and one-liners.  Some of the album cuts lacked the punch of the singles, but this was a landmark album for a talented artist.

13. Deltron 3030 – S/T
(75 Ark, 2000)

This collaboration between Dan The Automator and Heiroglyphics’ Del Tha Funkee Homosapien is a futuristic sci-fi concept album that is every bit as dorky as it sounds.  Del drops acrobatic rhymes that fuse SAT vocabulary and Star Trek buzzwords.  Dan’s rich, sprawling, cinematic beats are some of the greatest of this era of hip hop.  This is admittedly not an album with mass appeal, but it does not try to be.  It is, however, hugely rewarding for those who can push their coolness aside for a moment.

12. Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter II
(Cash Money, 2005)

This album marks the apex of Weezy’s development of an artist, his matured rhyme style fit into the most balanced set of songs he has yet put together.  Coming on the heels of the Mannie Fresh split from Cash Money, he proved that he can make quality music with other producers.  Singles like “Fireman” and “Hustler Music” as well as excellent album cuts such as “Receipt” and “Mo Fire” make this a very good album.  In the years since this release, Wayne has shown a lot of potential and at times brilliance, but he has yet to match this record in consistency.

11. Jay-Z – The Black Album
(Roc-A-Fella, 2004)

This album was a retrospective of a career that turned out not to be over, but it was still powerful.  Hov’s rhymes mixed with beats by Kanye West, The Neptunes, Rick Rubin and others made several classic tracks.  The theme of looking back on possibly the most successful career in rap history pulled the album into a cohesive whole.  Independent of any bait and switch, this album is one of the best of the decade.

So ends the first half of my picks.  Give me some feedback via the comments and check back soon for the finale.