soulquarians tetraptych

sort of unfair to compare anything to voodoo.

i heard like water for chocolate first, though (pretty sure i heard phrenology by the roots before it, but not things fall apart), and that introduced me to a whole world of music, from dilla and slum village to d’angelo himself. still holds up for the most part (that stray line in the otherwise excellent “dooinit” is hard to hear nowadays)

Such is this insane run that I think Voodoo is only third for me

I was a NYU student at the time of this run ‘97-‘01 and would regularly see Questlove on 6th Ave, near Electric Lady (where all these albums were recorded) and he always looked like he hadn’t seen the sun in days. Who knew he was making such an unimpeachable run.
There’s no wrong answer here but there is a right one and the poll will tell.

all are great but mama's gun is pretty clearly my favourite

Don't make me choose

POLL it up
POLL it throuuuuuuugh
POLLIN' it right back
to you

I mean, it's Voodoo. But I voted for TFA, it made an impact on me first and I had a ball listening to it again after Questlove's deep dive on Open Mike Eagle's podcast.

Voodoo is a special occasion record, you don't just throw it on carelessly in the background. I mean, you could, but I try not to. TFA is a real 'throw it on' record. If I had to pick one record that's the best *sounding* album I've ever heard, it's probably the one. Every track is memorable and has its own little gimmick or special feature.

Quest also pointed out that Black Thought doesn't actually have all that many verses on TFA compared to most Roots albums, which I think is another reason why it's the last great Roots album. Sounds like a diss but it's not, it lets him stick out rather than carrying the full load, and there's a sense of mystery to it (who are all these people?!).

Pretty crazy that the Common record, with Dilla at the helm and the best Common record by a mile (imo), is only the 4th best record here. :)

This is so hard, but I ended up going with TFA. It was the first of this batch I heard and absolutely fell in love with it, so I'm giving it the nod for that. But yeah, these are all incredible records.

I agree that Common's ranks fourth here, but the high points (Time Travelin', The Light, Funky for You) give me major pause

fourth? i'm probably voting for it

although every time i put on things fall apart i'm like "this is the best beat ever... no this is the best beat ever... no this one"

(basically just describing the "ain't sayin' nothin' new" -> "double trouble" -> "100% dundee" sequence)

(uhh forgot "love of my life" in there, it also counts)

I loooove Heat > Cold Blood > Dooinit.

(only recently realized that Dooinit is made from 'Give It To Me Baby', though it's obvious once you know!)

my argument for like water for chocolate is among these records it is the album most with its head stuck in a psychedelic haze/cloud of weed smoke, every song has unreal depth in its production like its made from particles and shaped by time (mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn). and common is just sort of the perfect rapper to occupy that space, even when he's straight battle rapping every verse is like he's emerging from a secret hatch in the previous

nobody really cracked the code to rapping over a dilla beat like common did

I’ve been revisiting these records in the hope of answering this question and honestly I have no idea

ditto on the first half of that sentence and have been tempted to vault TFA into the top spot as a result, though don't think i can bring myself to do it (and i already voted for erykah by rote when the thread started)

if anyone needs anything to sway their opinion on this, here's the og geto heaven with d'angelo. that it's been retconned in favor of the embarrassing macy gray remix is a malicious personal insult to hiphop and this era in specific.

I admit to liking both versions tbh, but the album version is clearly superior

i pick mamas gun

rich, that's what's so aggravating! go look at it on streaming - the stupid macy gray remix _is_ the album version presently!

(me with extra brainpower thinking: ope, was the family stand sample uncleared on the og? hmmmm...)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I love that for us

yeah, tough choice for me between erykah+common. ultimately went w/erykah. good results.