THE YEAR OF 2017 has been the year of the Rap Veteran. The 90’s rapper has been dominating the year in album releases. If you only following commercial media there is a belief that quality Hip-Hop has been taken away and is no longer being put out in today’s era. However, that is not true. So far, this year we have had some noteworthy projects from Hip-Hop Legends such as:
Prodigy – Hegelian Dialectic (The Book of Revelation)
Sean Price – Imperius Rex
Jay-Z 4:44
Mc Eiht – Which Way Iz West
Kool G Rap – Return of the Don
Krs – 1 – The World is Mind
Raekwon – The Wild
Masta Killa – Loyalty Is Royalty
Wu Tang Clan – The Saga Continues
Public Enemy – Nothing Is Quick in the Desert
David Banner – The God Box
Rockness Monsta – Rockness A.P
Big Boi – Boomiverse
Snoop Dogg- Make America Crip Again & Neva Left
Styles P – Vibes (with Burner) & (The Seven with Talib Kweli)
Talib Kweli – Radio Silence & The Seven
Krayzie Bone- Eternal Thug & E 1999 The Letherface Project & Thug Brothers with Young Noble
Bong Thugs (Krayzie & Bizzy Bone) – New Waves
Jadakiss & Fabolous – Friday on Elm Street
What has been great about the albums listed is the majority of the rappers have maintained the same style of music we have enjoyed throughout the 90’s. When Mathematics gave a recent interview for the new Wu tang album he said he wanted that original sound that we loved from the 90’s and made it a point to use equipment from the 90’s for that sound. Big Boi brought back the legendary Organized Noize production team for his album. Mc Eiht had DJ premier executive produce his project and Jay-Z used No I.D for the 4:44 project.
One fear that many fans have is that a beloved rapper from the 90’s would try to conform to the sound of modern day commercial rap music or follow what radio claims is the dominant sound today. Such as have Mike Will or Metro Boomin production in order to fit the format of today’s commercial platform. To the pleasure of these artist true fans, that was not so. Many decided to maintain their style. Raekwon seemed to learn from what failed on F.I.L.A and corrected the mistakes on The Wild. He has a guest list of Lil Wayne and G-Eazy but the production fit of what we want from the Wu lyrical swordsman.
The recent music from 80’s rappers like Kool G Rap, Krs-1, & Chuck D prove that they have not shown any loss of talent. This is evident with the recent leak from Kid Capri’s new song with LL Cool J. Kool G Rap’s latest album Return of the Don (produced entire by Moss) uses a high amount of features but they are features we want to have G rap spit with. With the likes of Sean Price, Raekwon, Termanology, Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn, Nore and Kxng Crooked successfully combines the style of old school with early 2000’s and new school.
The unfortunate reality of this year’s release of albums from these legends is that many if not all did not get recognition on the radio. NORE made a point on an interview that we need a place for 90’s rappers that are putting music out to get heard. It was a fair point because if it was not for the passing of Prodigy this year his last album would not have been mentioned when it was released. Sean Price’s album released on the anniversary of his passing gave a few stations the chance to speak on it. So, believe that Hip-Hop Music that gritty and grimy street Hip-Hop the 90’s left us is still heard. It is just like back in the day although it is back underground where the great albums originate from.
