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. What of the top five itself? His analysis of Paid in Full by Eric B & Rakim finally gave me the courage to press delete, although to me it’s just always sounded dated. If that’s apologetics, so be it. Rakim’s nickname is God, which makes taking him on a risky undertaking. The 18th Letter is a good record, and we can only speculate what him and Dr Dre might have been capable of putting together. On balance, though, I think Freddie Foxx was right when he brazenly challenged the R’s reputation.
I don’t own The Low End Theory, but A Tribe Called Quest are another group who weigh down my iPod without me ever listening to them that much. Q-Tip’s dope, but their output remains just a little bit laid back for my liking. Still, World Tour’s a classic. Moving on to 2pac, it’s important to remember that he never benefited from the same quality of production that his contemporaries did. Easy Mo Bee saved his best for Ready To Die; Dre was exhausted (at least at that time) by The Chronic and Doggystyle. As a voice (if not quite as an emcee), 2pac remains compelling, and it’s a shame his reputation has been dragged through the dirt by the gravediggers.
Three Feet High & Rising is perhaps the most overrated album in rap history, although it does contain two seminal records – The Magic Number and Eye Know. Eye Know is also the greatest hip-hop love song ever, albeit not in a particularly crowded field. Plus, as a friend of mine more versed in these matters than me tell me, it’s apparently pretty cool to listen to when you’re stoned and the sun is shining. Oh, and the jibe at Bryter Later is unnecessary, although I suppose it is to Five Leaves Later what No More Mr Nice Guy (more jazzy saxaphones there) is to Moment of Truth.
Which brings us on to Meal Deal’s number one most overrated rap album of all time – Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back. No, no, no, no, no. Now, my copy of this is scratched, and I still haven’t replaced it, which means I haven’t listened to it for some time. But it’s not over-rated in the slightest (except from when Q-type publications or whatever it is people read nowadays place it above Illmatic, which is also not overrated). Taking shots at Chuck D’s earnestness is too easy, and Meal Deal neglects to mention that It takes a nation of millions’ revolutionary fervour was offset by Flavor Flav’s witty interventions, deployed to particularly lethal effect on Party for your right to fight. A massively influential record, on all kinds of diverse artists, and the blueprint for mixing politics hip-hop, still a worthy endeavour, however the naysayers might nay.
Anyway, I salute Meal Deal for his efforts and eagerly await his Top Five underrated rap albums of all time…
UGK for life…
