The Great Overrated Rap Debate
Jazzy saxaphones are the principal target of this iconoclastic post from Meal Deal. Entitled, “The top five overrated rap albums of all time”, it’s a careful dismantlement of some of hip-hop’s most cherished idols, one which had me quickly reaching for the delete button on my iTunes.
Before launching into his list, Meal Deal begins by removing UK rap albums from contention, declaring them a priori to be shit. He has a point – parochialism does no favours for cultural criticism (I should know; I’m forced to listen to Israeli hip-hop) – but he shouldn’t overlook a few UK classics. Tinny Skinnyman is indeed dross, but Brand New Second Hand by Roots Manuva is a claustrophobic classic (particularly when listened to travelling on a train across Eastern Europe), as is Klashnekoff’s first LP (which sounds like it could have been made in NY in 1995) and Jehst’s Return of the Drifter. Some of Lewis Parker’s output isn’t bad either. Read more
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