Back for another round of hip-hop-history! Today's era: the early 2000s. Before I get started though, two shout-outs: First, to 2Pac. I forgot him in yesterday's post, somehow! Here are a few links to his tracks. He and Biggie were the two massive legends of 90s hip-hop. That brings me to the second shout-out, to Biggie Smalls. Today is the 14th anniversary of his death. To that end, here's a link to one of my favourite free-styles of his, against 2Pac. Enjoy!
2000 - 2006
This period holds a nostalgic place in my music library. Remember, I was only 13 in 2004, so tracks and albums from this period were some of my first musical experiences! The most personally significant from this period is the album College Dropout by Kanye West. Before he became an egomaniac, Kanye was a musical prodigy. I remember when my brother got this CD and I grabbed it and played it on repeat for...years. I was that 13-year-old singing "drug dealing just to get by"! Starting off with that track, We Don't Care, the album is a classic. All Falls Down, The New Workout Plan, Two Words, and Through the Wire were my anthems!
This was the height (in my opinion) of hip-hop's mainstream success. Artists such as 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Eminem, Jurassic 5, Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Outkast, Gnarls Barkley, and many, many others took part in this. Hip-hop also started to become internationally adopted. There are British artists like Ms. Dynamite from England, Japanese producers like Nujabes, and pretty much every developed country had a movement. The import of hip-hop to Britain spawned the grime genre, while many Japanese producers tinged their productions with the club jazz sound becoming popular at the same time.
One of the best albums (in general) in this period is Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by Outkast. It's pretty much half Big Boi and half Andre 3000, and it's the Andre half I tend to focus on. Featuring the classics Hey Ya! and Roses, other tracks tend to go forgotten. I'd like to point out my personal favourite on the album, and while it isn't a hip-hop track, I thought I'd bring it up while this album has the spotlight. I'm talking about My Favourite Things, the Squarepusher/Sound Of Music tribute track, masterfully executed and musically complex. It's a rewarding listen.
Also in this period is the rise of Lupe Fiasco, one of mainstream hip-hop's more talented lyricists, I've still got to get his new album Lasers, but Food & Liquor, released in '06, is awesome! Tracks to note are Kick, Push and Sunshine.
There was (and still is) a healthy underground hip-hop community in this period. Little Brother, One Self, Slum Village, Madlib, MF Doom, CYNE, and a whole slew of others kept the genre innovative. More popular (but still not exactly mainstream) artists include Ghostface Killah (my favourite Wu Tang member), The Roots, k-os, Pete Rock, Common, and others had solid releases.
I end this period in the year 2006 because this is the year of J Dilla's death. He was one of the most talented producers of all time, and I attribute (in part) the influx of instrumental hip-hop albums post-2006 to the release of Donuts and his death three days later. He had never been so popular in life as in death, and so many artists thereafter tried to emulate his innovative sound, and this will be explored tomorrow.
For now, enjoy the links! I'll be back with the stunning conclusion to this trilogy tomorrow.
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