One of the hardest things about composing a list that highlights amazing albums within a ten year span is making the cut from the eleventh album to the tenth. There are so many albums that I wanted on that list, but couldn't do it. Here are some of them.
OutKast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - The individual creativity of both Big Boi and Andre 3000 come out on this album. It is basically their solo work combined on a double disk of fire. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is a hood favorite while Three-Stacks' The Love Below is more poetic and ventures into numerous different styles of music. The hottest singles off the album were "Hey Ya!" and "Roses," which both came off of 3000's The Love Below. Personally, I think Speakerboxxx is better.
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele - This album just made the cut. Released January 25th, 2000, Supreme Clientele displays classic Wu beats by RZA and Mathematics to name a few. Check out the classics "Apollo Kids" featuring Raekwon and "Mighty Healthy".
Nas - Stillmatic - This would be album #11 if the list was more expansive, and damn I am disappointed it couldn't show up anywhere because it deserves all the recognition it could get. A Nasir Jones classic that addresses issues from the government and foreign policy in the track "Rule" to street life in "Got Yourself A..." to his world famous Jigga diss "Ether".
Talib Kweli - Quality - Amazing flow and lyrics combined with classic production from J Dilla, Kanye West, Ayatolla and more make for a high quality album (pardon that grade school caliber pun). Kweli's "Get By," to me, is one of the best tracks to ever come out this decade and it has nothing to do with its mainstream appeal. Quality also delivers upbeat tracks like "Shock Body" to the mellower "Put It In The Air" featuring DJ Quik. This album is easily Kweli Greene's best work since his collaboration with Mos Def on Black Star. Some of my favorite lines and flows come from this album.
50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin' - It is almost amazing that you could go from this album to work like Curtis and Before I Self Destruct. 50 is a prime example of not staying true to the roots. Get Rich Or Die Tryin' had numerous hood favorites, but since then his work has been a product of industry standards. He's making bank, but loosing respect by doing so. GRODT was incredibly hyped, and lived up to its standards, putting out chart topping singles "In da Club", "21 Questions" and "P.I.M.P." The album ventured out of the east coast/New York style of sampling and used more synths, clap drums, horns - it basically sounded like a Southern album coming out of South-side Jamaica Queens, N.Y.
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