F*** that

somewhere in rural America

It Was Written better

Eh....it really boils down to preference.

I think Illmatic is a classic but there's many contenders.

The Infamous, OB4CL, Doggystyle, MBDTF, TPAB, Low End Theory, It Was Written, RD, 3 Feet High And Rising, GRODT, MMLP, IDAHIH, ATLiens, Ready To Die, Soul Food, etc. are on the same level.

A lot of niggas who act like Illmatic is in another stratosphere don't even be f***ing with rap like that tbh. Just going off critics and popular opinion.

Some1 make the thread.. TPAB vs illmatic

Musically, TPAB is levels above Illmatic and I love Illmatic's beats but it's hard to make the case for Illmatic having better beat selection than the flawless mix of beats and live jazz on TPAB.

Lyrically, though, Illmatic is much more cohesive and has stronger displays of storytelling, rhyme schemes, and flow.

Kendrick's rapping on TPAB was good too though.

Basically, Illmatic > TPAB when it comes to rapping and cohesion but TPAB > Illmatic when it comes to production and subject matter.

When it comes to a solo artist who writes their own s*** bodying an album, I do narrowly prefer TPAB over Illmatic due to its incredible production, but Illmatic #2 for me. Timeless, been spinning it a lot lately.

On what f***in planet is Doggystyle in the same category as Illmatic lol

Doggystyle a classic but Snoop does not have bars like that.

every planet that album firstly influenced so many west coast artists and secondly it’s an insane collection of great fun songs not everything gotta be wakanda raps on jazz beats

My #1 hip hop album of all time but I'm not mad if someone thinks "doggystyle" or "the chronic " is better

Midnight Marauders

Chronic incredible

I thought we were talking ab like lyrical albums, not just any hip hop album. there's a few albums i'd put ahead of Illmatic

Doggystyle never did it for me tbh. Gin & Juice and the Intro are f***in fire though. Snoop recycles rhymes too much and it's not like the rhymes he's recycling are that clever.

i thought we were talking ab lyrical albums though

My favorite hip hop album is a Three 6 Mafia album and my 2nd favorite is a DJ Shadow album I'm fine with non-lyrical s*** lol

Lord Infamous and Project Pat are lyrical rappers. They just have Southern accents and unorthodox flows.

Lol naaahh this super slept on though

Def one of my favorite tapes oat and one of my favorite displays of rapping no cap. Bruh wasn’t even pressing the gas on this and still murdered it

I really liked how he was coasting on these beats. Lowkey sounded like he was in his Wayne bag with the flow and how he was coming with punchline after punchline

I wish we could’ve got an album when he was in this form. During F&L he had moments when his flow would run on, his verses were wordy, and you could hear every breath he took lmao he cleaned it up on The Cool but Enemy of the State was such a perfect pocket bc he had the swag and his flow was more in control

S/o to you for posting this it’s not talked about enough fr

rodeo

Illmatic slander corny

Yeah I was joking

I feel you on that. It's why I hate Atlantic Records sooo much. 08/09 Lupe was on one, so no doubt any album released during that period would have been on point. It's really sad that Enemy of the Sate isn't talked about among some of the all time great mixtapes

Supreme Clientele comes close

I'm mad if someone thinks either of those is better. I can accept Life After Death or Supreme Clientele

Whole Lotta Red out now

people saying TPAB as if DAMN isn't better than TPAB and as if Illmatic isn't better than both

Bizarre Ride II Tha Pharcyde

the World is Yours is top 10 rap track ever

that third verse