November 28, 2025 • 22 mins
On this new episode, what albums from the years 2020 through 2025 would you call a classic? Let's talk about it!
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Support on CashApp: $Vegasworldinc77
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Become a YouTube Member today!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Coming up on this week's episode of Hip Hop Now Podcasts.
Don't call it a classic. A couple of albums that
I feel comfortably calling classics. Let's do it. Welcome to
jip Hop Now, Pop Fat Mask, did you from the future?
(00:21):
You know what to do? Show as out of my
padfe so disrespect the leg hip hop can say this today.
Let's get right the business. What up, y'all? I am
your host Vegas and this is hip Hop Now Podcast.
Hey podcast specifically designed to keep you caught up on
(00:42):
all things hip hop music and culture that happened throughout
the week. Big shout out to those listening in audio
form on iHeart iHeart Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify podcast. We
appreciate you. You know what I'm saying. Definitely subscribe if
you haven't. But also a big shout out to those
(01:03):
watching right here on YouTube. The channel was hip Hop
Now Pod. We are on the road to twenty five
thousand subscribers by the end of twenty twenty five, and
we are at twenty three thousand, fastly approaching twenty four.
Maybe by the time this drops we're already be at
(01:25):
twenty four. But let's get right into the business and
do what we came here to do now. In September,
I wrote an article on my substack called don't Call
It a Classic. It was a topic I was going
to do as a bonus episode, which I'm doing right
now on the YouTube channel and on audio podcasting, but
(01:48):
I kind of let it sit for a minute because
I wrote about it and I wanted you to read
about it. Now. I get it, some people read all
they want to read is the title and that's it,
and I get it. But in general, as a hip
hop fan, and I know you're a hip hop fan
because you're watching, we like to talk a lot about
(02:10):
classic albums. What's the classic, what isn't? But more importantly,
is it too soon to call an album a classic? Now?
Old heads will tell you, you know, some of them
will say something crazy like you got to give it
ten years, though we don't even know if we'll be
here in ten years. Okay, so let's not wait to
(02:33):
have that discussion. Some people will tell you the minute
they press play on one song to destroy it as
a classic. You're wrong on s. But if we want
to think about this organically as music fans, as hip
hop heads, typically, you know when an album is special.
(02:54):
Sometimes you know based off of press and play, and
here they're in the first couple of songs and saying,
there's no way this gets whack with the next couple
of songs. Sometimes you know what's going to happen right now.
You don't run on social media and call it a classic.
But you're listening you like, this might be special, right.
(03:18):
And then most of the time you know, when you're
done listening to one of these albums, you tell yourself,
this is special, this is one of the best of
the year. This could be an all time album. But
I think in a lot of ways, when people talk
about classics, they really just like an album a lot, right.
(03:39):
Whoever else likes it doesn't factor into their enjoyment of
the album. But I feel like certain albums, when you
call them a classic, they are without a doubt good right,
But also their moment in time, you know, musically, and
this goes beyond hip hop, but their moment in time musically,
(04:02):
like when you press play after a year or two years,
you remember the time when you first heard it. You
remember what was going on, what the climate was, what
everybody else was saying about the album. So to me,
it's sometimes it's really easy to just look at an
album and call it a classic. Now, granted, everybody doesn't
(04:24):
have to like it, but if there's a general consensus
among hip hop heads, and because we have the benefit
of thinking, well sometimes benefit of social media, then we
can kind of get an idea of the really special
projects based off of from our timeline and people who
(04:47):
we see talk about albums and how they talk about
this one versus that one. So, with all of that
being said, I decided to basically say, okay, since twenty twenty,
what albums I feel, without a doubt comfortably calling classics.
(05:11):
And that's what we're gonna do here today. So if
you read the article, good looking, share it with people.
If you want to read the article is below in
a comment section. Please know that it's not along drawing
out I'm not writing a book about these things. I'm
just stating the facts. But for the benefit of people
(05:33):
who enjoy video, I'm going to share that with you
right now. So let's get right to the business of things.
Don't call it a classic classic album since twenty twenty.
I hope you can see that as I scrolled through it.
And I'm just gonna read my introduction. You see the
(05:54):
first one up there, call me old school, not unk,
but considering it hip hop album for classic status takes time.
There are albums that prove they are special the minute
press play. It's rare, but it's possible. Since twenty twenty,
we've seen a lot of dope music, but there are
albums that go far beyond such common praise. Shout out
(06:18):
to all the content creators who've covered this topic previously.
Here are a few albums between twenty twenty and twenty
twenty five I feel comfortable calling classics. First up twenty
twenty Stove God Cooks, Reasonable Drought. I mean, some of
(06:40):
y'all just discovered Stove God, and that's fine. I'm not
trying to be elitist. Some of y'all just discovered them,
but I wasn't necessarily one of those to run to it. Also, right,
shout out to the homie Kill. He's like, YO, listen
to this new album of God Cooks. I said, what
(07:01):
kind of name is that? Like? What kind of name
is that? It's called reasonable Drought? Hmm, wow, you evoking
the the essence of another classic and jay Z's Reasonable Doubt.
And then it also said produced by Rock Marciano. Now,
(07:21):
those who know me, I'm not the biggest Rock Marciano fan.
When it comes to him as an MC, I don't
hate him, but I'm not the biggest fan. Or when
it comes to the production. I think that dude. I
think that dude holds the essence of boom back in
his soul. And this is exhibit A through z this album.
(07:46):
From the time you press play, especially if you know
Stove God, it's everything you anticipated. The first track, what
is it? Let me see what my right up says,
because I know I wrote it here the break Lights joint.
You know what I'm saying, I can't remember. But nevertheless, no,
(08:09):
we're not gonna do that. We're gonna find it. Okay,
give me one second, Rose Royce, break Lights right. I
don't know why I kept forgetting that. I was mixing
it up with something else. But again, the minute you
hear that beat drop and Stoveguards start flowing over that joint,
(08:29):
I was like, Okay, I could see why people like this,
And yes, I know the cover's kind of crazy, but
forget that. When I tell you you press play if
you already like Stove God, if you're waiting for the
new album This would be Worth your time. Next up
(08:52):
two thy and twenty one Nas and Hip Boys Magic.
This joint dropped on Christmas Eve when we didn't know
we were even getting another project, let alone within the
same year from NAS and hit Boy, and as you
can see the cover throwback NAS with the fronts and
(09:13):
the Queensbridge Hallway, the album just captured that asseence right
like from songs like Speechless where the beat you just like, wow,
this is what we're doing now. The reason why I
call this a classic, and I chose this particular NAS
(09:35):
and Hit Boy album versus Kings's East III, which I
kind of also feels like a classic, I think because
this one was so I don't know, it wasn't anticipated, right,
We didn't know it was dropping, We didn't know what
it would be. We didn't understand whether that cover meant
(10:00):
something or not. But for anybody who wanted not see it,
Jones to get as close to an illmatic vibe in
twenty twenty one, this was it. Dope, concepts, beats everything everything.
(10:21):
It's basically damned and flawless. And for those who may see,
oh well, if it's damn Nick, it can't be Classic. Look,
there songs I skip on Illmatic. I'm not even gonna lie. Now,
there's songs I used to listen to back in the days,
but there's a song or two I would just be like, eh, skip,
(10:42):
you know what I'm saying. So if I could skip
songs are Illmatic, I could skip a song on Magic,
But most of the time I don't. And I feel
like this was almost just as impactful as King's Disease
three that were be followed up the next year, I believe,
(11:03):
but in its own if you if you was around
during like early nins, like let's just say Illmatic dropped
and then the aliens came and got you and put
you in a time machine, put you in twenty twenty one,
and this is what you heard, Like yo, this is
what NAS is doing in the future. You'd be like, yo,
He's still added Classic next twenty twenty two. Freddy Gibbs
(11:31):
sol so separately. I feel like Freddy Gibbs probably doesn't
have a whack release. I mean you can literally go
through the majority of the albums he's put out mixtapes
and feel mostly albums, but and feel like he just
doesn't miss And I didn't think he could do anything
(11:56):
better than what he's done in the past, and I
felt like anything he did up until this point would
just be like more of the same, and not even
in a bad way, but so so separately was special,
especially the deluxe because I know some people don't like
deluxe albums, But what I liked about the deluxe version
(12:18):
of this album is a lot of the deluxe songs
were released prior to this album, So when this was released,
I'm not gonna lie, I was a little annoyed that
those songs weren't on the album, and then they put
them on the album in the form of a deluxe version.
Now this isn't the deluxe cover that you're looking at.
(12:38):
This is the original. But when I tell you samples, beats, bars, fast, slow, concepts, humor,
pocket in and out of pocket, well he's always in pocket,
but you know what I mean, Like his flow is
just effortless over anything. I just felt like, not above all,
(13:01):
but for twenty twenty two, if there was an album
I had to call a classic, it's this one. And
if maybe you you know, always hear about Freddy Gibbs,
but I don't know, I haven't really gotten into them.
You know, I haven't listened to anything. What should I
listen to? Start? Heead fan. There's plenty of places where
you can start. Start here. You like this a lot,
(13:23):
absorb it, go back and listen to other music. But
I feel like this album is a classic. Next twenty
twenty three Killer Mike Michael. Now we know this one
of Grammy and all that good stuff. It was in
my top five of the year, obviously with the most
(13:45):
of these projects I'm talking about, and some people like
to do this thing on the internet that says, when's
the last time you listen to it? It's their way
of proving it wasn't as good as you thought it was.
You were just caught up in the hype. I really
hate that, because when's the last time I listened to
(14:06):
mcaveelly All eyes on me? I don't listen to classics
every day all day, even if they knew old or whatever.
I go. I got extensive music collection, especially with hip hop,
and I go back to joints and you can go
if you haven't heard Killer Mike's Michael since twenty twenty three,
(14:28):
when you go back and listen, you're not gonna be like,
it's not as good as I thought it's great. It
is great. It is as good as you thought. And
for those who heard the New Daylight album and Killer
Mike getting Busy on there, you can go to this album,
you can go to Run the Jewels. This guy can rap.
(14:50):
This guy is thoughtful in his raps. Right, it's not
just somebody who's nice. Him being nice on the mic
goes without saying it takes a little bit more energy
to tell your story. This deep into the game, right,
Like he's been in the game for a long time.
(15:11):
He's kind of told his story, but he told his story.
It's such a fantastic way that made it interesting for
you to listen without feeling like, all right, man, where
the joints at? You know, where the boom back? Like
he kind of gave you everything you know, from hip
hop to gospel, all types of vibes. And what I
(15:31):
like about it is he's completely transparent and you believe him. Right.
Some people are going to tell you they came up
through hard times and when they was locked up for
two seconds, or when they was on a corner corner
not really selling anything but sneak of money. You know,
some people will embellish that. But the guys who make
(15:54):
the special music are those who are vulnerable in their raps,
who tell you about things that may not be the
easiest to talk about. And I feel like Michael is
just one example in hip hop of that, and in
twenty twenty three, I feel comfortable calling it a classic
back then and right now. Next in twenty twenty four,
(16:16):
Common and Pete Rock teamed up for an album called
The Auditorium Volume One, and I'm not even gonna lie.
I wasn't expecting anything monumental. I didn't know what bad
Common was gonna be in whether he was gonna be
really basic with the bars, and he was. He was, definitely.
(16:37):
He definitely showed up on this album. But Pete Rock
is the all star on this project. What he was
able to do to capture the essence of hip hop
history without being predictable, without its sounding like oh that's
just another version of that song. No, everything was perfect special.
(17:03):
I mean again, some people will say, when the last
time you listened to this album yesterday? Okay, it's great.
I feel like Colmon got another classic on his hand,
and so does Pete Rock. Auditorium Volume One is very dope.
I'm assuming in twenty twenty six, will get volume two.
(17:25):
Will it be a classic, will it be as good?
Who knows? But this one was special, so check it out.
And lastly brand new. I thought to myself, I even
put an asterisk on the side of it. Maybe I'm
just caught up in the hype. Maybe that's what it is.
(17:49):
Maybe after this year, when we get other artists and
other albums, maybe even this year, when we get other albums,
I won't be as I'll like it and it will
probably be in my top five, but I won't feel
as bold to call it a classic. It's a classic, y'all.
(18:09):
This is a classic from the first record that lotch
you in from a relatable standpoint, whether your parents are
still here or they passed, everybody is something that everybody
will be able to relate to because at some point
(18:31):
in time, everybody is going to have to deal with that,
right So, even if your parents are here, you probably
think about it, you know, And that song. Initially, I've
always I felt like, damn, why they start with that song?
Maybe they should have ended with that, But I think
that's what makes it so dope. Because they start with that,
they tell the story, you feel the pain you connect
(18:54):
with it. But man, when change in Whip starts, it
is a ride from beginning to end, the bars, the flows,
the precision in which they enunciate words so that lines
(19:14):
and metaphors and every punchlines or whatever connect in ways
that maybe on it take you a couple of listeners
to be like, Damn, I didn't even hear when he
said that, them telling their stories without blatantly telling every story.
And most importantly, Malice with the comeback of the Year.
(19:37):
This dude is come Back of the Year, MC of
the Year. I know what Nas was doing rapping on
every one of the seven Icons, seven Legends, and I
know people, especially if this DJ Premier joint its flames,
will want to give it up to him. But I
gotta stick with Malice, because when you've been out of
the game in this way for this long and everything
(20:02):
you touched from this album to your features on Jid's
album and Mob Deep, and you ain't missed a beat,
you sound better. This album is incredible, y'all. And last
but not least, the simple fact that it's all produced
by Pharrell. People love all the tracks, they love this album,
(20:27):
but they be real slow to say Pharrell did it.
Pharrell produced this old joint and I know people saying, yo,
producer of the year, you know Alchemist, But the only
reason why I wouldn't say Alchemist is only because he
put out a lot but everything ain't great. He just
put out a lot of music, so it's kind of
(20:48):
like he's overwhelming the category. But this is Pharrell's offering
this album, and I ain't. There may be one track
where people was like, I kind of like that one.
I think it's all things Considered, and I feel like
I like that one too. I thought it was going
to be the Skip, but I let it rock every time.
(21:10):
I let it rock every time. This album has extreme
replay value. That's what's most important about all of these albums.
I chose extreme replay value, excellent in almost every category, beats, concepts, flows, everything.
(21:34):
So there you have it. Those are five albums since
twenty twenty that I feel comfortably calling classics. In the
comments section below, I want you to put five albums
from twenty twenty only five chill, just five that you
(21:54):
if you know, maybe gun to your head you feel like, okay,
this is a classic, or maybe you feel comfortably calling
them a classic even if you don't have five, maybe
you have three since twenty twenty, let me know what
they are. You can follow me on social media at
Vegas World, I n C and check out this podcast
(22:16):
and audio form Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart and where you
get your audio podcast listening, and right here on YouTube.
Support the channel by subscribing. Come remember if you wanted
to see this early because this was available early to
members and content like this, Just know this about me.
(22:40):
If you don't. Not a critic, I'm a fan Pace
Coming up on this week's episode of Hip Hop Now Podcasts.
Don't call it a classic. A couple of albums that
I feel comfortably calling classics. Let's do it. Welcome to
jip Hop Now, Pop Fat Mask, did you from the future?
(00:21):
You know what to do? Show as out of my
padfe so disrespect the leg hip hop can say this today.
Let's get right the business. What up, y'all? I am
your host Vegas and this is hip Hop Now Podcast.
Hey podcast specifically designed to keep you caught up on
(00:42):
all things hip hop music and culture that happened throughout
the week. Big shout out to those listening in audio
form on iHeart iHeart Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify podcast. We
appreciate you. You know what I'm saying. Definitely subscribe if
you haven't. But also a big shout out to those
(01:03):
watching right here on YouTube. The channel was hip Hop
Now Pod. We are on the road to twenty five
thousand subscribers by the end of twenty twenty five, and
we are at twenty three thousand, fastly approaching twenty four.
Maybe by the time this drops we're already be at
(01:25):
twenty four. But let's get right into the business and
do what we came here to do now. In September,
I wrote an article on my substack called don't Call
It a Classic. It was a topic I was going
to do as a bonus episode, which I'm doing right
now on the YouTube channel and on audio podcasting, but
(01:48):
I kind of let it sit for a minute because
I wrote about it and I wanted you to read
about it. Now. I get it, some people read all
they want to read is the title and that's it,
and I get it. But in general, as a hip
hop fan, and I know you're a hip hop fan
because you're watching, we like to talk a lot about
(02:10):
classic albums. What's the classic, what isn't? But more importantly,
is it too soon to call an album a classic? Now?
Old heads will tell you, you know, some of them
will say something crazy like you got to give it
ten years, though we don't even know if we'll be
here in ten years. Okay, so let's not wait to
(02:33):
have that discussion. Some people will tell you the minute
they press play on one song to destroy it as
a classic. You're wrong on s. But if we want
to think about this organically as music fans, as hip
hop heads, typically, you know when an album is special.
(02:54):
Sometimes you know based off of press and play, and
here they're in the first couple of songs and saying,
there's no way this gets whack with the next couple
of songs. Sometimes you know what's going to happen right now.
You don't run on social media and call it a classic.
But you're listening you like, this might be special, right.
(03:18):
And then most of the time you know, when you're
done listening to one of these albums, you tell yourself,
this is special, this is one of the best of
the year. This could be an all time album. But
I think in a lot of ways, when people talk
about classics, they really just like an album a lot, right.
(03:39):
Whoever else likes it doesn't factor into their enjoyment of
the album. But I feel like certain albums, when you
call them a classic, they are without a doubt good right,
But also their moment in time, you know, musically, and
this goes beyond hip hop, but their moment in time musically,
(04:02):
like when you press play after a year or two years,
you remember the time when you first heard it. You
remember what was going on, what the climate was, what
everybody else was saying about the album. So to me,
it's sometimes it's really easy to just look at an
album and call it a classic. Now, granted, everybody doesn't
(04:24):
have to like it, but if there's a general consensus
among hip hop heads, and because we have the benefit
of thinking, well sometimes benefit of social media, then we
can kind of get an idea of the really special
projects based off of from our timeline and people who
(04:47):
we see talk about albums and how they talk about
this one versus that one. So, with all of that
being said, I decided to basically say, okay, since twenty twenty,
what albums I feel, without a doubt comfortably calling classics.
(05:11):
And that's what we're gonna do here today. So if
you read the article, good looking, share it with people.
If you want to read the article is below in
a comment section. Please know that it's not along drawing
out I'm not writing a book about these things. I'm
just stating the facts. But for the benefit of people
(05:33):
who enjoy video, I'm going to share that with you
right now. So let's get right to the business of things.
Don't call it a classic classic album since twenty twenty.
I hope you can see that as I scrolled through it.
And I'm just gonna read my introduction. You see the
(05:54):
first one up there, call me old school, not unk,
but considering it hip hop album for classic status takes time.
There are albums that prove they are special the minute
press play. It's rare, but it's possible. Since twenty twenty,
we've seen a lot of dope music, but there are
albums that go far beyond such common praise. Shout out
(06:18):
to all the content creators who've covered this topic previously.
Here are a few albums between twenty twenty and twenty
twenty five I feel comfortable calling classics. First up twenty
twenty Stove God Cooks, Reasonable Drought. I mean, some of
(06:40):
y'all just discovered Stove God, and that's fine. I'm not
trying to be elitist. Some of y'all just discovered them,
but I wasn't necessarily one of those to run to it. Also, right,
shout out to the homie Kill. He's like, YO, listen
to this new album of God Cooks. I said, what
(07:01):
kind of name is that? Like? What kind of name
is that? It's called reasonable Drought? Hmm, wow, you evoking
the the essence of another classic and jay Z's Reasonable Doubt.
And then it also said produced by Rock Marciano. Now,
(07:21):
those who know me, I'm not the biggest Rock Marciano fan.
When it comes to him as an MC, I don't
hate him, but I'm not the biggest fan. Or when
it comes to the production. I think that dude. I
think that dude holds the essence of boom back in
his soul. And this is exhibit A through z this album.
(07:46):
From the time you press play, especially if you know
Stove God, it's everything you anticipated. The first track, what
is it? Let me see what my right up says,
because I know I wrote it here the break Lights joint.
You know what I'm saying, I can't remember. But nevertheless, no,
(08:09):
we're not gonna do that. We're gonna find it. Okay,
give me one second, Rose Royce, break Lights right. I
don't know why I kept forgetting that. I was mixing
it up with something else. But again, the minute you
hear that beat drop and Stoveguards start flowing over that joint,
(08:29):
I was like, Okay, I could see why people like this,
And yes, I know the cover's kind of crazy, but
forget that. When I tell you you press play if
you already like Stove God, if you're waiting for the
new album This would be Worth your time. Next up
(08:52):
two thy and twenty one Nas and Hip Boys Magic.
This joint dropped on Christmas Eve when we didn't know
we were even getting another project, let alone within the
same year from NAS and hit Boy, and as you
can see the cover throwback NAS with the fronts and
(09:13):
the Queensbridge Hallway, the album just captured that asseence right
like from songs like Speechless where the beat you just like, wow,
this is what we're doing now. The reason why I
call this a classic, and I chose this particular NAS
(09:35):
and Hit Boy album versus Kings's East III, which I
kind of also feels like a classic, I think because
this one was so I don't know, it wasn't anticipated, right,
We didn't know it was dropping, We didn't know what
it would be. We didn't understand whether that cover meant
(10:00):
something or not. But for anybody who wanted not see it,
Jones to get as close to an illmatic vibe in
twenty twenty one, this was it. Dope, concepts, beats everything everything.
(10:21):
It's basically damned and flawless. And for those who may see,
oh well, if it's damn Nick, it can't be Classic. Look,
there songs I skip on Illmatic. I'm not even gonna lie. Now,
there's songs I used to listen to back in the days,
but there's a song or two I would just be like, eh, skip,
(10:42):
you know what I'm saying. So if I could skip
songs are Illmatic, I could skip a song on Magic,
But most of the time I don't. And I feel
like this was almost just as impactful as King's Disease
three that were be followed up the next year, I believe,
(11:03):
but in its own if you if you was around
during like early nins, like let's just say Illmatic dropped
and then the aliens came and got you and put
you in a time machine, put you in twenty twenty one,
and this is what you heard, Like yo, this is
what NAS is doing in the future. You'd be like, yo,
He's still added Classic next twenty twenty two. Freddy Gibbs
(11:31):
sol so separately. I feel like Freddy Gibbs probably doesn't
have a whack release. I mean you can literally go
through the majority of the albums he's put out mixtapes
and feel mostly albums, but and feel like he just
doesn't miss And I didn't think he could do anything
(11:56):
better than what he's done in the past, and I
felt like anything he did up until this point would
just be like more of the same, and not even
in a bad way, but so so separately was special,
especially the deluxe because I know some people don't like
deluxe albums, But what I liked about the deluxe version
(12:18):
of this album is a lot of the deluxe songs
were released prior to this album, So when this was released,
I'm not gonna lie, I was a little annoyed that
those songs weren't on the album, and then they put
them on the album in the form of a deluxe version.
Now this isn't the deluxe cover that you're looking at.
(12:38):
This is the original. But when I tell you samples, beats, bars, fast, slow, concepts, humor,
pocket in and out of pocket, well he's always in pocket,
but you know what I mean, Like his flow is
just effortless over anything. I just felt like, not above all,
(13:01):
but for twenty twenty two, if there was an album
I had to call a classic, it's this one. And
if maybe you you know, always hear about Freddy Gibbs,
but I don't know, I haven't really gotten into them.
You know, I haven't listened to anything. What should I
listen to? Start? Heead fan. There's plenty of places where
you can start. Start here. You like this a lot,
(13:23):
absorb it, go back and listen to other music. But
I feel like this album is a classic. Next twenty
twenty three Killer Mike Michael. Now we know this one
of Grammy and all that good stuff. It was in
my top five of the year, obviously with the most
(13:45):
of these projects I'm talking about, and some people like
to do this thing on the internet that says, when's
the last time you listen to it? It's their way
of proving it wasn't as good as you thought it was.
You were just caught up in the hype. I really
hate that, because when's the last time I listened to
(14:06):
mcaveelly All eyes on me? I don't listen to classics
every day all day, even if they knew old or whatever.
I go. I got extensive music collection, especially with hip hop,
and I go back to joints and you can go
if you haven't heard Killer Mike's Michael since twenty twenty three,
(14:28):
when you go back and listen, you're not gonna be like,
it's not as good as I thought it's great. It
is great. It is as good as you thought. And
for those who heard the New Daylight album and Killer
Mike getting Busy on there, you can go to this album,
you can go to Run the Jewels. This guy can rap.
(14:50):
This guy is thoughtful in his raps. Right, it's not
just somebody who's nice. Him being nice on the mic
goes without saying it takes a little bit more energy
to tell your story. This deep into the game, right,
Like he's been in the game for a long time.
(15:11):
He's kind of told his story, but he told his story.
It's such a fantastic way that made it interesting for
you to listen without feeling like, all right, man, where
the joints at? You know, where the boom back? Like
he kind of gave you everything you know, from hip
hop to gospel, all types of vibes. And what I
(15:31):
like about it is he's completely transparent and you believe him. Right.
Some people are going to tell you they came up
through hard times and when they was locked up for
two seconds, or when they was on a corner corner
not really selling anything but sneak of money. You know,
some people will embellish that. But the guys who make
(15:54):
the special music are those who are vulnerable in their raps,
who tell you about things that may not be the
easiest to talk about. And I feel like Michael is
just one example in hip hop of that, and in
twenty twenty three, I feel comfortable calling it a classic
back then and right now. Next in twenty twenty four,
(16:16):
Common and Pete Rock teamed up for an album called
The Auditorium Volume One, and I'm not even gonna lie.
I wasn't expecting anything monumental. I didn't know what bad
Common was gonna be in whether he was gonna be
really basic with the bars, and he was. He was, definitely.
(16:37):
He definitely showed up on this album. But Pete Rock
is the all star on this project. What he was
able to do to capture the essence of hip hop
history without being predictable, without its sounding like oh that's
just another version of that song. No, everything was perfect special.
(17:03):
I mean again, some people will say, when the last
time you listened to this album yesterday? Okay, it's great.
I feel like Colmon got another classic on his hand,
and so does Pete Rock. Auditorium Volume One is very dope.
I'm assuming in twenty twenty six, will get volume two.
(17:25):
Will it be a classic, will it be as good?
Who knows? But this one was special, so check it out.
And lastly brand new. I thought to myself, I even
put an asterisk on the side of it. Maybe I'm
just caught up in the hype. Maybe that's what it is.
(17:49):
Maybe after this year, when we get other artists and
other albums, maybe even this year, when we get other albums,
I won't be as I'll like it and it will
probably be in my top five, but I won't feel
as bold to call it a classic. It's a classic, y'all.
(18:09):
This is a classic from the first record that lotch
you in from a relatable standpoint, whether your parents are
still here or they passed, everybody is something that everybody
will be able to relate to because at some point
(18:31):
in time, everybody is going to have to deal with that,
right So, even if your parents are here, you probably
think about it, you know, And that song. Initially, I've
always I felt like, damn, why they start with that song?
Maybe they should have ended with that, But I think
that's what makes it so dope. Because they start with that,
they tell the story, you feel the pain you connect
(18:54):
with it. But man, when change in Whip starts, it
is a ride from beginning to end, the bars, the flows,
the precision in which they enunciate words so that lines
(19:14):
and metaphors and every punchlines or whatever connect in ways
that maybe on it take you a couple of listeners
to be like, Damn, I didn't even hear when he
said that, them telling their stories without blatantly telling every story.
And most importantly, Malice with the comeback of the Year.
(19:37):
This dude is come Back of the Year, MC of
the Year. I know what Nas was doing rapping on
every one of the seven Icons, seven Legends, and I
know people, especially if this DJ Premier joint its flames,
will want to give it up to him. But I
gotta stick with Malice, because when you've been out of
the game in this way for this long and everything
(20:02):
you touched from this album to your features on Jid's
album and Mob Deep, and you ain't missed a beat,
you sound better. This album is incredible, y'all. And last
but not least, the simple fact that it's all produced
by Pharrell. People love all the tracks, they love this album,
(20:27):
but they be real slow to say Pharrell did it.
Pharrell produced this old joint and I know people saying, yo,
producer of the year, you know Alchemist, But the only
reason why I wouldn't say Alchemist is only because he
put out a lot but everything ain't great. He just
put out a lot of music, so it's kind of
(20:48):
like he's overwhelming the category. But this is Pharrell's offering
this album, and I ain't. There may be one track
where people was like, I kind of like that one.
I think it's all things Considered, and I feel like
I like that one too. I thought it was going
to be the Skip, but I let it rock every time.
(21:10):
I let it rock every time. This album has extreme
replay value. That's what's most important about all of these albums.
I chose extreme replay value, excellent in almost every category, beats, concepts, flows, everything.
(21:34):
So there you have it. Those are five albums since
twenty twenty that I feel comfortably calling classics. In the
comments section below, I want you to put five albums
from twenty twenty only five chill, just five that you
(21:54):
if you know, maybe gun to your head you feel like, okay,
this is a classic, or maybe you feel comfortably calling
them a classic even if you don't have five, maybe
you have three since twenty twenty, let me know what
they are. You can follow me on social media at
Vegas World, I n C and check out this podcast
(22:16):
and audio form Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart and where you
get your audio podcast listening, and right here on YouTube.
Support the channel by subscribing. Come remember if you wanted
to see this early because this was available early to
members and content like this, Just know this about me.
(22:40):
If you don't. Not a critic, I'm a fan Pace
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