My Favorite Album Picks

One of the aspects that I love most about this album is the world that it creates and the story that it tells. That story depicts a dystopian future where corporations and dictators rule with little regard for human life while regular folk suffer in extreme poverty and violence and how Deltron Zero fights back against it. It does a very good job of immersing you in its world and I can't say I've seen it replicated in any other album. Another aspect that I enjoy is how "of its time" the album sounds, it's a view into the distant future of 3030 but Del still has bars about MS-DOS and Y2K. It's a sort of retro futuristic vision of the future that I find charming.

This whole project is a collaboration between the French hip-hop group Jazz Liberatorz and a bunch of different artists including SlimKid3, Apani B Fly, Buckshot, and J Live. I just think it's super cool how they were able to bring together such a great group of artists from across the world and create such a cohesive project. The whole thing feels like a love letter to hip-hop and jazz and the culture that surrounds it.

I wanted to have some De La rep on my list and I was between this and 3 Feet High and Rising. Ultimately, I think I prefer the more serious sound of Stakes is High. The production and lyrics come together in perfect harmony and it creates such a good listening experience. While I love the bouncy, fun, and positive feel of 3 Feet High and Rising, I think De La Soul found their true style with this album and have cemented their place in my personal Rap Hall of Fame.

This is a genuine masterclass in storytelling, not just in rap, or music, but all of media. The album refers to itself as a "short film" and it's completely justified. Everything about the album is cinematic, from the production, to the lyrics, and to the track order. The story it tells contains many sides, it's tragic but hopeful, sad but celebratory. It covers the entire range of emotion. You can go from the heart-wrenching Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst to the proud and boastful Compton. It's also amazing how an album with so much depth can also be such a good casual listen as well, with songs like Swimming Pools and m.A.A.d city. This list is unordered but this is very likely my favorite album, period.

While many others may choose Love Deluxe or Diamond Life as their preferred Sade album, Promise holds a special place in my heart. This was the preferred album played around my house when I was younger and it's obviously left an impression on me. I just love the vibe that it conveys. The instrumentation is magical and soothing, coupled with Sade's vocals it's a perfect choice for a late night drive. To me it's all I want from an R&B album.

It's a classic for a reason. This is the quintessential jazz rap album, in fact Tribe are considered one of the founding forces behind the sub-genre. The beats are second to none with immaculate sample usage. Of course, the rapping is top-notch as well with clever bars that address a variety of issues. Q-tip and Phife's flows also complement each other really well in a way reminiscent of Mos Def and Talib Kweli, where one comes in more slow and mellow and the other more fast and aggressive.

DOOM truly was a generational rapper. His flow on this album is simply unmatched, the way his words feel as if they're twisting into each other, perfectly meshing together to create his rhyme schemes. It's mind boggling. This is especially exemplified on tracks like Meat Grinder, where his flow is almost hypnotic. All of this not to mention the beats. Madlib's production on these tracks is phenomenal, he has such a distinct style that feels so raw and odd which gives a lot character to the project and works extremely well with DOOM's style.

While Metaphorical Music is considered a jazz rap album, it is unmistakably different from the sound of Native Tongues or similar. The way Nujabes blends them feels more focused on creating an introspective, moody/vibey sound. It's very laid back and chill. Even when there are features from rappers like Funky DL, Cise Starr, or Substantial the rapping seems to serve the overall mood primarily. This creates a very enjoyable mellow, almost nostalgic, sound. I also seem to notice new little details on each listen that adds a new layer of enjoyment to each track. Just a great nice listen overall.

This album is effective in making you feel something deep within yourself. The lyrics are thoughtful and precise, but playful and light when they need to be. His literary inspiration really comes through as many lines feel as though they were lifted straight from a novel. The acoustic instrumental is grand and feels like the score of a movie, and it perfectly conveys the feeling of each song. It's like Dixon is able to directly beam the desired feeling into my chest in the first seconds of each track.

Simply beautiful.