One of the worst feelings in the world is experiencing a wildly heralded classic and finding it overrated. Despite the consensus, sometimes, the popular form of media isn’t nearly as good as raved about. Conversely, one of the best feelings you can have is discovering something truly slept on, finding a hidden gem that stands out from the pack. There is tremendous catharsis in unearthing underrated hip-hop albums that should be considered in the same lens as other classics.
It’s even better when said albums don’t sound dated either. Oftentimes, there are records that sound tied exclusively to its time period. However, the music nerd in me loves hearing how influence can transcend time and inform artists today. To avoid boring consensus and forgoing full hip-hop history, we must embrace records and create our own distinct canons with artists. Consequently, here are four underrated rap records that fans should revisit with a fresh set of ears.
Four Underrated Hip-Hop Albums That Still Sound Great in the 2020’s
Blu- Her Favorite Colo(u)r
Blu’s Below the Heavens with producer Exile is arguably the quintessential coming of age hip-hop album. The soul samples and the reflections on 9-5 working show a young rapper grappling with the jarring reality of adulthood and what his memories all equal up to. For a lot of passive fans, this might’ve been where their journey with Blu started and ended. Any of his gravelly textured tapes afterwards seemed inaccessible, a different spin on the boom bap aesthetic people loved.
However, I’d argue Her Favorite Colo(u)r is his opus work, grainy in its texture and firmer in its cloudy, grayer disposition. If Below the Heavens is about a 20 something trying to figure out his life, Her Favorite Colo(u)r is when you’re too old for the coming of age. By that point, the mundanity slowly sets in and the depression still permeates in the mind. Heartbroken samples weave into Blu’s moody vignettes, light creeping into messy rooms, scratchy beards and sweatpants.
Her Favorite Colo(u)r remains one of the most underrated hip-hop albums because it acts as a progenitor of the shift towards lo-fi, bedroom rap aesthetics that dominate the internet age. It’s daring and informal but extremely approachable, cementing Blu as rap’s everyman.
Kingpin Skinny Pimp- King of Da Playaz Ball
The impact Memphis has had on hip-hop can never be overstated. Typically, a majority of the influence gets associated with Three 6 Mafia, starting with a foundational rap record like Mystic Stylez. However, a lesser discussed associate like Kingpin Skinny Pimp can end up going undiscussed in this conversation about great Memphis artist.
King of Da Playaz Ball is a fantastic place to start, one of the more underrated hip-hop albums of the 90s as a whole, let alone in the South. The humidity and ominous graveyard production from DJ Paul and Juicy J haunt the proceedings of the record. Murder is a mere byproduct of the Memphis environment. Everyone is on edge of police and people trying to take Kingpin’s livelihood. The youthful menacing and unease recalls the tension in a lot of drill music. Additionally, new artists today like BabyChiefDoIt and YFG Fatso easily fall in the lineage of old Memphis raps.
Trick Daddy- Thugs Are Us
Fans might overlook just how great Trick Daddy was during his prime. He was a legitimate hitmaker from the late 90s to the mid 2000s, a gold slug-wearing Floridian with a gruff, country delivery. Thugs Are Us might be his opus, the bridge between his infectious animation and grizzled demeanor. “I’m a Thug” quietly exists as a strongly empathetic depiction of street living, the uncertainty around the lifestyle and how Trick Daddy prospers regardless. Meanwhile, “Where U From” is gutter, a raw depiction of South Florida living. “Dipping corners, pulling bitches in old Chevy’s baby/Dubs or better, candy’s and leather,” he grunts.
Trick opened up the avenue for Florida rap to be taken seriously. When looking at the South at the time, it mostly existed in Atlanta or Memphis. There was Miami bass like 2 Live Crew but for some, it almost seemed gimmicky. Thugs Are Us washes away this perception of Florida and cements the Sunshine State as an integral part to Southern hip-hop.
Lloyd Banks- Hunger For More
Oftentimes, when people think of G-Unit, their minds will immediately go to its leader 50 Cent. Get Rich or Die Tryin exists as one of the few unanimous rap classics we have, alongside Illmatic or Ready to Die or All Eyez on Me. However, real fans of the group could rattle off a myriad of different records. The G-Unit mixtapes like No Mercy No Fear and God’s Plan cemented each member’s credibility before they released their bulletproof debut album Beg for Mercy.
However, one of the most underrated hip-hop albums from this era was Lloyd Banks’ Hunger for More. The record is near bulletproof, a sampler platter of sorts that shows Banks capable of doing any kind of rap record. He bridges hardened street rap that recalls the LOX with rich, lavish stylings and aspirations, club anthems, romance, and weed jams. Hunger for More definitely plays like a major label outing in the mid 2000s. However, the bones of this period can still be traced to today. Griselda emphasizes quality of rapping with ambitions for mainstream viability like Banks. Lloyd Banks is still the blueprint on how to pull off a variety of different styles while maintaining top tier raps.
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