Will Hip-Hop Ever Produce Another Classic Album?

After naming my female cat “Andre3K” and finally getting our second cat “Biggie” a friend, I posted a question on twitter to @djbooth “Did Andre3K & Notorious B.I.G” ever collaborate on song, remix, or any musical track together? While I think the answer is no, it got me thinking about the state of hip-hop as a whole. As I threw a CD mix in my car (lost my ipod cable) that had some Gangstarr, A Tribe Called Quest, OUTKAST, The Roots, & NaS , I quickly realized that most of the tracks that I had taken had been from “classic albums.” Now, I’m not rating these albums, but Illmatic, Moment of Truth, Things Fall Apart, Midnight Marauders, and ATLiens are all CLASSIC ALBUMS. Listen to them track one through end and find one song that is below awesome. There is not one. Even the skits are classic.

While I do not know the music industry that well, I think it’s safe to say that the way music is listened to and shared has changed dramatically in last the few years. I’m not saying anything groundbreaking here. Napster, P2P music sharing, the internet, iTunes have all contributed to a dramatic shift in how fans get, listen and share music with one another. Youtube, Twitter, Facebook are social platforms designed to spread that music virally. We “like” artists, we “tweet and retweet” links that musicians have given for free music.

In the past although artists were getting screwed over royally by their labels, (many still are I am sure) the labels made sure that there was buzz about a new album releasing. I mean I remember the anticipation of a new album releasing. You’d read about them in music magazines, you’d hear a single for the first time on the radio instead of it being leaked, and then you’d run over to by the CD from Tower Records or SOUNDTRACK (Brooklyn Stand up) the day it came out. The labels also would never release an album in competition with another artist from a different label. This enabled you the time to listen time to enjoy the flow of one track to the next. What I always hoped for was that I would hear something new. Whether it was a sample or a metaphor, something that I could laugh at or just be memorized by.

Now a lot of what’s going on in the music industry today is great. Music companies are losing money, because artists don’t necessarily need them to put out good music. You have young artists getting their music out on minor labels, and becoming big sensations through the internet. Wiz Khalifa, Tyler, The Creator, Jay Electronica, J Cole, I mean the list goes on and on. These aforementioned artists have used the internet, and their skill and marketing prowess to build hype, make money and release some pretty good music. But are they releasing classic albums? Is it mostly hype? Or is it just mostly a bunch of really good songs on an album with one or two “ehhhhhh tracks?”

Now although I am not conceited enough to think my taste in music (especially in hip-hop) should be the barometer for determining what constitutes a classic album, I do think that most of us will agree that a “classic” contains an entire album of great; lyrics, production, beats, social concepts while having that constant rotation, playback 10 years from now feel.

Over the past few months in particular, artists have been flooding the airwaves with new music. Mixtapes are king, and hype is at an all time high. There are laughable sensations like Lil B’ (20million youtube views) and there are rappers out there that are sending hip hop sites new music everyday. As a listener it is hard to keep up frankly. Kush & OJ by Wiz Khalifa, Pusha T after that, Big K.R.IT the day after and 3 weeks later its Frank Ocean.. The list goes on and on. I’ll see postings from my friends to listen to this, and e-mails saying download this mixtape and not that one. But how can you tell what are the Lil’ B tracks and which are the “bangers?” I’ll be the first to admit I can’t keep up. How can you judge these albums on their quality without enough time to listen to them? Over the past year, there have been 5 new hip-hop albums that I have listened to more than 5 times from start to finish.

* The Roots “How I got Over”
* Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”
* Raekwon “Shaolin vs Wu Tang”
* Big Boi “Sir Lucious Left Foot…The Son of Chico Dusty..”
* BIG K.R.I.T “return of 4Eva”

I dare you to find me 5 hip-hop albums from the past year that you have listened to more than 5 times from start to finish. Now if you have, ask yourself, are any of these “classic albums?”

In the 5 albums that I have selected I think that two of them have the potential to be considered classics. Both The Roots & Kanye West album’s have that chance. They have all the elements I look for I will still listen to them start to finish from time to time. While with albums I mentioned, I will listen to a specific track of their album from time to time (in some cases more). That is where I think the music industry in hip-hop is headed. Lots of really good music, lots of excellent tracks from time to time, but rare to find a “classic” or even a complete album from start to finish.

I hope that as listeners and as a community that we haven’t pushed the artists to create more content than they are capable of.. Sometimes I wish the internet would slow down a bit, and instead of giving us more quantity, they would give us more quality. It’s not that I don’t think there can be any more classic albums, I just think its much rarer to find them these days.

Anyway, its my opinion & would love to hear your thoughts.

(This article first appeared on FictionGrata. Be sure to follow @dhalioua.)