Prove to me that there's a hip hop album with more complex wordplay than Illmatic....

see also individual members' solo projects.

Rakim is another contender. Back when I was in college, I once described him to a friend as the Gerard Manley Hopkins of hip-hop. I would like to go back in time and punch that era of myself.

You were a still born baby
Mother didn't want you, but you were still born
Boy meets world, of course his pops is gone
What, you figure
That chalky outline on the ground is a father figure?

The Dr Octagon album, maybe?

All the songs about washing the dishes with Kelis and the time he farted in bed on their honeymoon on "streets disciple" > "life's a bitch" + "the world is yours" + "ny state of mind" + "one love" put together !

I know this is really asking for trouble, but: why? On the one hand, I feel & agree with your sentiment at some basic level - i.e., that the question is somehow comparable to "name me one better album than [insert classic-rock mainstay]" - but on the other hand, what's specifically objectionable about the question? Use of the word "clever"? It certainly can't be "internal rhymes," which seems to me a fair aesthetic criterion: certainly, not every cares about skillful internal rhymes, but there's nothing wrong with being a person who does.

(still, if the question were "Has there been an album more technically accomplished, lyrically, than Illmatic" - well: is there anything 'wrong' with such a question?)

1) a bunch of people either support the obvious canon or decide its time for them to go "ACTUALLY, artist a's best album is X!" where X is some recent old-man release which may or may not be better, they'll name a bunch of other rap albums without expounding on them in any meaningful way (beyond "dope rhyme schemes!" another poorly defined criteria), which adds nothing to any discussion because

2) no one has defined 'complex' and i can't think of a meaningful way to discuss Illmatic's 'complexity' in a way that will actually get me thinking about what why I like or appreciate the album (and ironically this is exactly what I wrote about in my review of the new AZ album)

Let's just name Aesop Rock, Sage Francis, Dose One and other homosexual unregistered child offender looking nerd-rappers too and get it over with.
― ELLI$, Friday, 25 November 2005 12:01 (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

:D

I got a copy of Illmatic yesterday. Good, innit.

Btw, I don't necessarily think internal rhymes or clever phrasing makes a rap record good. I like Nas's latest LPs better than Illmatic anyway.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Friday, November 25, 2005 7:53 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Word life, gawd. "Streets disciple" is definately better than "illmatic".

All the songs about washing the dishes with Kelis and the time he farted in bed on their honeymoon on "streets disciple" > "life's a bitch" + "the world is yours" + "ny state of mind" + "one love" put together !

― ELLI$, Friday, November 25, 2005 8:24 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink