T.Q.D: T.Q.D's Corner

Welcome to the latest installment of T.Q.D's Corner.  This edition will be the sequel to a previous post I simply call, "What were people thinking?".  The first installment discussed 5 albums by legendary Hip Hop artists that are much better, in my view, than they are given credit for.  On this second installment, we will revisit 5 albums by certified legends that I think are not all they are cracked up to be.  This list was hard to narrow down.  About 20 albums come to mind when I brainstormed this list (ask me for the rest later), but since I'd rather explain instead of simply list, I've kept parts 1 and 2 short. 

Before we get started, let me say that I don't necessarily think these albums are weak (though in some cases, yes).  Their placement on this list means they are highly regarded by critics and the masses as classics, which I believe to be far from the truth.  And of course as always, I'm not afraid to have an opinion, so feel free to disagree.  Let's get it started (no MC Hammer). 

1. Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush The Show

People seem to have this strange obligation to hold an artist's (whom they respect) first album in high regard, no matter what comes later.  The unwillingness to accept that an artist can get better seems to be given to some and not others.  This album fits the bill.  Yo! Bum Rush The Show is absolutely not one of the best Hip Hop albums of all time.  It isn't even one of the best Public Enemy albums of all time.  It Takes A Nations Of Millions To hold Us Back, Fear Of A Black Planet, Apocalypse '91, Muse Sick N Hour Mess Age, He Got Game, There's A Poison Goin On..., and Rebirth of A Nation are all better.  I'm not sure how anyone can listen to the Public Enemy catalog and disagree.

What we are dealing with is an album that is simply okay.  Public Enemy was just getting their feet wet.  Yes, "Public Enemy Number 1" is a certified classic song, but that's about it.  The rest of the album was a collection of just okay songs.  It should also be noted that Red Hot Chili Peppers fans may recognized the first song, "You're Gonna Get Yours", which the band covers in many of their live shows...but I digress.

By all accounts, Public Enemy's live show was like nothing that had ever come before.  However, their studio sound feature beats rather generic for for the time and Chuck D, simply hadn't found his voice yet.  On album number 2 and beyond, he grew to become the living legend that he is today.  On Bum Rush he might as well have called himself "Chuck DMC".  That's no shot at DMC (underrated in his own right), but Chuck simply hadn't become his own man yet.  As a result, the album was nice, but nothing special. 

In interviews with members of the group, they attribute the initial lukewarm sales (though in later years it eventually went gold) to the masses simply "not getting it yet".  I'd argue the slow sales were a result of the group not being great just yet.

2. 2Pac - All Eyez On Me

Anyone who remembers the time, knows that this album was going to be an absolute smash hit.  A recently bailed out of jail 2Pac, was set to follow up his classic Me Against The World album on the label to finally to dethrone Def Jam as Hip Hop's king of the hill: Death Row Records.  The stage was set to sell a ton of records and he did...and of course there was the beef with Biggie, but that situation is much too deep (and lame, if you ask me) to get in to.

I don't remember going anywhere in the summer of 1996 without hearing someone bumping this album.  I remember my brother, driving me around bumping this album non-stop.  The common opinion of this album is that you can take or leave disc 2, but that it's a classic based on disc 1 alone.  Me Against The World is a classic.  I'll argue that logic in itself is flawed if you think about it for more than 5 seconds.  All Eyez On Me is a bloated dud with a few classic songs and not much more.

So you don't think I'm a total spoil sport, let me tell you what I do like about this album.  "Ambitionz Of A Ridah" was the perfect way to set it off.  The beat is killer, and the rhyme pattern used is top 5 when it comes to 2Pac songs.  "Mind Made Up" featuring Tha Dogg Pound, Method Man, and Redman, is arguably one of the top 10 (easily top 20) Hip Hop posse cuts of all time.  "No More Pain" also holds a special distinction to me as one of the shortest 6 minute songs I've ever heard.  There are a few other jamsI thought were okay on this one, but a lot of it, especially when I look back now: doesn't stick to the ribs.  It sounds like he just made a ton of songs, and everything made the final cut.  Considering what we know of his output (see plethora of posthumous material), I'm going to guess that was the case.

Also, this album fits the mold for what I hate most about a lot of Hip Hop records: too many damn guests.  2Pac doesn't spend  a lot of time flying solo on the mic.  I don't care who you are, that lose points with me...especially when most of your guests are wack.

3. Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death

I am going to declare this one of Hip Hop's most influential albums, but not for reasons that most people might think.  In fact, this album's influential legacy is the very reason I like maybe half the songs and find the other half to be garbage...and I'm going to blame this more on Puffy than anyone else.  It has become common knowledge that Puffy loves the radio hit and Biggie was never a fan and preferred the raw street jams.  Nonetheless, Puffy's fingerprints are all over this album.

This album is the moment we saw many mainstream rappers (to this very day) try and make albums with "a song for everyone".  On this particular album, there is a song for everyone.  There are introspective jams, club jams, storyteller jams, raunchy sex jams, pop hits, grimy street jams, posse cuts, and damn near everything else you can think of.  As a result, an album by an otherwise gifted emcee only sounds half as good as it should.  There's too much filler trying to pander to each potential listener.  As a result, we are left with no cohesion at all.  This is not really an album.  It's a collection songs.  However, like pretty much every double album, it could be condensed in to something much greater than what we got.

That's not to say there aren't good songs, because when the album is on, it's on.  However, for every "Kick In The Door" and "What's Beef", we have to sit through "Fuckin You Tonight" and "Nasty Boy".  I like exactly half of this album and ignore the other.  The reverberations from this album can still be heard to this day.  How many albums have you heard in the past 10 years where the record could been much better, but wasn't because the cohesion of an album was forgone in order to please everyone? 

There's also the issue of B.I.G. being immediately catapulted from "dope" to "great" or "greatest" in the eyes of many having died a couple weeks before the album was due to be released.  Regardless of your opinion on this record, let's be real.  Unless he laid a complete egg of Vanilla Ice proportions, this was bound to be called a classic by the masses and critics, whether people truly believed it or not.

4. EPMD  - Strictly Business and Unfinished Business

People familiar with my fondness for late 80's-early 90's Hip Hop might be surprised by this one, but it's very simple.  Erick and Parrish just weren't that good yet.  The EPMD catalog doesn't begin until Business As Usual.

The beats on both of these albums are good for there time and could certainly be considered groundbreaking for their time.  However, the mic skills and more importantly their mic presence was severely lacking.  The rhymes didn't really stand out much to me.  They weren't bad, but when you're albums come out at the same time as Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Rakim, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, and many more at their most groundbreaking points, there just wasn't anything special.  However, the masses don't share my opinion, since of these albums went gold.

Mic delivery on the first two albums straight up doesn't exist.  The vocals are dull and contain no feeling/passion whatsoever.  These albums froma delivery stand point sound like they were reading off the paper trying to get the words right before the real take, then just decided to record the practice run.  If an amateur raper came along rapping like Big Daddy Kane's first album, they'd be called a promising up and comer.  An amateur who came along imitating EPMD's style from their first two albums would be laugh off the mic and told never to rap again.

I'm not saying EPMD was weak, but I am saying their first two albums are, at least when it comes to mic stance.  When Business As Usual come around, they became the dope duo that people give them credit for.  Their next two albums Business Never Personal and Back In Business (yes, they loved business) were also quality as well.

Their first two albums are certainly influential, since one can hear many lines bitten from them through the past couple decades.  However, much like with choice number one this list (though Yo! Bum Rush is better than these two put together), EPMD simply hadn't found their groove yet.

5. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton

Yeah, I said it.  This album is overrated.  Influential?  Yes.  Often imitated?  Yes.  All that memorable?  No. 

This album to me, just doesn't stick to the ribs.  Even in my young days of enjoying anyone who said motherfucker more than twice, I found myself, listening to the title track, "Gangsta, Gangsta", then skipping to "Dopeman", then turning off the album.

It's no secret that Ice Cube was light years ahead of the group in the skills department (also see: Scarface vs. the other Geto Boys).  All one has to do is listen to this album and look at his accomplished solo career.  He was the giant, carrying the load with comrades who simply weren't in his league.  MC Ren was a solid rapper, but he couldn't touch Ice Cube and didn't really hit his stride until he went solo.  Dr. Dre was a beast on the beats, but we all know he has no emcee skills of his own.  And Eazy-E, just like Dre, had a good voice, but depended on Ice Cube writing for him.

Beyond those three classic songs I previously mentioned, there's a lot of macho posturing that simply never did it for me and to a certain extent sounds pretty corny now.  And I the only one who found it laughable to tack "Something 2 Dance 2" at the end of such a hardcore record?  I'm all for variety, but come on... 

...and that about sums up my list.  I'm sure some people disagree with me, which is fine.  I have a feeling people would disagree even more with the one's I left out.  And that's all for this month's addition of T.Q.D's Corner.  What will we chat about in April?  Stay tuned.