perfect albums?

[Archie Goodwin]

Nevermind.

[Bauce]

[Darkhorse]

[broken robot]

[Bauce]

So I think Jay-Z's "The Blueprint" is a perfect album as well, and probably either 2nd to Illmatic or 3rd to Enter the Wu Tang, but I know most hip hop fans would crucify me for putting it that high. A lot of Jay-Z fans would be pissed that I even put it over Reasonable Doubt.

I just think it's about the most balanced album I've ever heard, with production and lyrics complimenting each other so flawlessly.

There are plenty of albums you could argue to be technically "better" than the Blueprint, such as Liquid Swords or Paid in Full, but when we are talking about a "perfect" album, I feel there's a different criteria than just being "most good".

[broken robot]

Yeah I agree, it's also what's fun. That said, I have to admit that I have embarrassingly little knowledge of Jay-Z, other than Blueprint III. I'll give the blueprint a whirl. There are also some classic albums that because they sound different from the contemporary aesthetic, usually more minimalist, take a little getting used to. I listened to Reasonable Doubt once through for example but haven't given it a good try. That said once I found PE I became addicted. Also Dre's The Chronic is still really fun to blast.

[Bauce]

Yeah the Chronic is another candidate for a perfect album.

What makes this discussion difficult for me is that many albums disqualify themselves from being perfect despite having superior content because they lack efficiency. Most of the albums I consider perfect have less tracks on them because by definition an album cannot be perfect if it includes any skippable songs.

While I wouldn't quite call it perfect, Common's Be is very close to a perfect album, even though it's nowhere near the best, because it's so efficient and plays fluidly as one solid piece of work. Ghostface is one of my favorite rappers but none of his solo albums are contenders to be called perfect in my eyes because even his best albums sound like a great compilation of songs more than a cohesive album to me.

Anyway, definitely check out the Blueprint. The first time around appreciate the surface value: the mindblowing production and Jay's awesome flows. Then listen to it again and you'll catch on to the insanely clever wordplay burried within his seemingly straight-forward lyrics. That's kind of been the signature of Jay-Z's best work that allows him to be the most successful mainstream hip hop act while maintaining a ton of respect among serious hip hop fans, though he hasn't really done it all that well since The Black Album.

[broken robot]

So that probably disqualifies PE because of flava flav's tracks right. I don't mind skits for example when they're integrated. I think Kanye's College Dropout did a great job with that. I also think there are some great concept albums like The Cool which can be longer if they're structured right.

Yep, will check blueprint out, one of my favorite Jay-z lines of all time is "I jack I rob I sin/ amen I'm jackie robinson/ 'cept when I run base, I dodge the pen." Someone on youtube broke down the multiple meanings (baseball, hustling, hip hop "bass").

[The Dharma Bum]

Flava flav was the only real musician in Public Enemy

[Bauce]