Is The Foreign Exchange's "Connected" The Best Hip Hop Album This Decade?

[purpheartgrapes]

^Same to you sir, as a matter of fact everyone in this post. The best part about these threads is getting put onto new music.

 

[bigblackafronation18]

o yea, below the heavens=one of the best albums ive ever heard

and this is after i met blu and was like...ehhh

 

[purpheartgrapes]

Where'd you meet Blu at?

 

[bigblackafronation18]

man in LA, if you know one person that raps, you know everybody that raps....lol
ive met him on a few occasions, mostly at shows

 

[-Red-]

To be fair I've never heard this album but...

Ghostface Killah- Supreme Clientele
Cormega- The Realness
Cormega- The True Meaning
M.O.P.- Warriorz
Brother Ali- The Undisputed Truth
Nas- Lost Tapes
Jay-Z- Blueprint (I agree it's overrated but music this decade has been pretty terrible)

...are probably my favorite albums of the decade off the top of my head. I may have to check this out now...

 

[mytsharp]

Like Water For Chocolate released in 1999.

My-T.

 

[bush man 2002]

as much as i rock with Phonte....thats a stretch homie

 

[sstutter]

If CD's in this discussion, LR deserves to be too.

 

[mace40]

Originally Posted by PurpHeartGrapes

-Blueprint is one of the most overrated albums this decade, not one of the best and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as anything else in this thread.

-Be is one of my favorite albums ever, the only reason why I left it off my original list is because I was kind of trying to limit it to one release per artist. As for FF,

I'm actually a fan of it and think it receives way more hate than it deserves but I just can't agree with that.

The juxtaposition of those two statements has me worried for your sanity. Here's how it should have read.

Originally Posted by PurpHeartGrapes

-Be is one of the most overrated albums this decade, not one of the best and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as anything else in this thread.

-Blueprint is one of my favorite albums ever, the only reason why I left it off my original list is because I was kind of trying to limit it to one release per artist. As for [AG/TBA],

I'm actually a fan of it and think it receives way more hate than it deserves but I just can't agree with that.

 

[mcflyyy]

it's not

it's an overrated album by people who wanna seem like special hip-hop fans

it's not that good actually

way too soft for my taste and i love melodic music

i can name ten albums since 2000 that are better

 

[eddiehouse5]

i can name ten albums since 2000 that are better
then do it. the point of this thread is to put people on, not to hide information. spread that knowledge.

 

[harlem on the rise]

Stillmatic
Untitled
Diplomatic Immunity
The Realness
College Dropout
Blueprint
The Black Album
Philadelphia Freeway
The Documentary
Like Water For Chocolate
The Cold Vein
The Self Science
Get Rich Or Die Tryin
Hell Hath No Fury

& BE is VERY overrated . . . Nowhere near Com's best work

 

[ill legal operation]

Originally Posted by McFlyyy

it's not

it's an overrated album by people who wanna seem like special hip-hop fans

it's not that good actually

way too soft for my taste and i love melodic music

#116 Black Music that Black People Don't Listen to Anymore

All music genres go through a very similar life cycle: birth, growth, mainstream acceptance, decline, and finally obscurity. With black music, however, the final stage is never reached because white people are work tirelessly to keep it alive. Apparently, once a music has lost its relevance with its intended audience, it becomes MORE relevant to white people.
Historically speaking, the music that white people have kept on life support for the longest period of time is Jazz. Thanks largely to public radio, bookstores, and coffee shops, Jazz has carved out a niche in white culture that is not yet ready to be replaced by Indie Rock. But the biggest role that Jazz plays in white culture is in the white fantasy of leisure. All white people believe that they prefer listening to jazz over watching television. This is not true.

Every few a months, a white person will put on some Jazz and pour themselves a glass of wine or scotch and tell themselves how nice it is. Then they will get bored and watch television or write emails to other white people about how nice it was to listen to Jazz at home. "Last night, I poured myself a glass of Shiraz and put Charlie Parker on the Bose. It was so relaxing, I wish I had a fireplace." Listing this activity as one of your favorites is a sure fire way to make progress towards a romantic relationship with a white person.

Along with Jazz, white people have also taken quite a shine to The Blues, an art form that captured the pain of the black experience in America. Then, in the 1960s, a bunch of British bands started to play their own version of the music and white people have been loving it ever since. It makes sense considering that the British were the ones who created The Blues in the 17th Century.

Today, white people keep The Blues going strong by taking vacations to Memphis, forming awkward bands, making documentaries, and organizing folk festivals. Blue and Jazz music appeal mostly to older white people and select few young ones who probably wear fedoras. But that doesn't mean that young white people aren't working hard to preserve music that has lost relevance. No, there are literally thousands of white people who are giving their all to keep old school Hip Hop alive.

Even as you read this, white people are telling other white people about the golden age of Hip Hop that they experienced in a suburban high school or through a viewing of The Wackness.

If you are good at concealing laughter and contempt, you should ask a white person about "Real Hip Hop." They will quickly tell you about how they don't listen to "Commercial Hip Hop" (aka music that black people actually enjoy), and that they much prefer "Classic Hip Hop."

"I don't listen to that commercial stuff. I'm more into the Real Hip Hop, you know? KRS One, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, De La Soul, Wu Tang, you know, The Old School."

Calling this style of music 'old school' is considered an especially apt name since the majority of people who listen to it did so while attending old schools such as Dartmouth, Bard, and Williams College.

What it all comes down to is that white people are convinced that if they were alive when this music was relevant that they would have been into it. They would have been Alan Lomax or Rick Rubin. Now the best they can hope for is to impress an older black person with their knowledge.

Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[ill legal operation]

 

[mace40]

As a white person, I am going to go crank Ghetty Green.

After I pour myself a glass of Shiraz and put Charlie Parker on the Bose. It is so relaxing.

I wish I had a fireplace.

 

[jp310]

This album is great but i wouldn't say its the best of the decade

 

[eddiehouse5]

thank god white people are keeping hip hop alive, without them buying all our records, and showing us love, where would we be?

 

[ydbounce]

that article was type nice
like its just funny to me to see a whole bunch of white kids break dancing and doin moves that are older than me and call it keeping "real hip hop"aliv,.
while some black kids in Harlem come up with new dances and those same break dancers call it wack
thats just off to me
to each his own though
I notice the underground gets so much love on the net but none of these artists get any type of recognition anywhere
idk it doesnt add up

 

[ill legal operation]

Originally Posted by eddiehouse5

thank god white people are keeping hip hop alive, without them buying all our records, and showing us love, where would we be?

Clearly you've never read #93

...

#93 Music Piracy

White people have always been renowned for having ridiculously large music collections. So when file sharing gave white people a chance to acquire all the music they ever wanted, it felt as though it was an earned right and not a privilege.
When (not if) you see a white male with a full iPod, ask him if all of his music is legal. If he does not immediately launch into a diatribe about his right to pirate music, you might have to nudge him a bit by saying "do you think that's right?" The response will be immediate and uniform.

He will likely rattle off statistics about how most musicians don't make any money from albums, it all comes from touring and merchandise. So by attending shows, he is able to support the musicians while simultaneously striking a blow against multinational corporations. He will proceed to walk you through the process of how record labels are set up to reward the corporation and fundamentally rob the artist of their rights, royalties and creativity. Prepare to hear the name Steve Albini a lot.

Advanced white people will also talk about how their constant downloading of music makes them an expert who can properly recommend bands to friends and co-workers, thus increasing revenues and exposure. So in fact, their "illegal" activities are the new lifeblood of the industry.

When they have finished talking, you must choose your next words wisely. It is considered rude to point out the simple fact that they are still getting music for free. Instead you should say: "Wow, I never thought of it like that. You know a lot about the music industry. What bands are you listening to right now? Who is good?"

This sentence serves two functions: it helps to reassure the white person that they are your local "music expert," something they prize. Also, it lets them feel as though they have convinced you that their activities are part of a greater social cause and not simple piracy.

If you bring up this issue with white person who says "nah bro, I don't give a %@%%, Dave Matthews has enough money as it is." You are likely dealing with wrong kind of white person.

In the even more rare situation where someone says "it's all paid for, and it's all transferred from vinyl." You have found an expert level white person and must treat the situation carefully.

Because of the availability of music online, a very strict social hierarchy has been created within white culture whereby someone with a large MP3 collection is considered "normal," a large CD collection is considered to be "better," and a person with a large vinyl collection is recognized as "elite."

These elite white people abhor the fact that music piracy has made their B-sides, live performances, and bootlegs available to the masses. Their entire life's work has been stripped of its rarity in terms of both object and sound on the record. The best thing you can say to them is: "vinyl still sounds better."

However, it is recommended that you do not let this conversation drag much longer. If you let them continue talking to you they are likely to spend hours talking to you about bands you've never heard of and providing you with a weekly mix CD of rarities that you do not want.

 

[ps2child]

wow cant believe a thread was made about this record. my gosh nicolay and tay killed this collab. when my boy put me on this years back i was hooked. thatswhen i started listening to little brother and exposed to more indie music. since then i never listened to the radio again. im sorry but this is a classic.timeless music ftw.

 

[mace40]

My biggest problem with that site is that it's on point too often.

 

[ill legal operation]

^ He hustled it into a book quite nicely too...

 

[purplexgrapes]

Good lord, the turn this thread has took...

Originally Posted by sStutter

If CD's in this discussion, LR deserves to be too.

I honestly don't think it does but if it did I would agree with that

Originally Posted by mace40

Originally Posted by PurpHeartGrapes

-Blueprint is one of the most overrated albums this decade, not one of the best and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as anything else in this thread.

-Be is one of my favorite albums ever, the only reason why I left it off my original list is because I was kind of trying to limit it to one release per artist. As for FF,

I'm actually a fan of it and think it receives way more hate than it deserves but I just can't agree with that.

The juxtaposition of those two statements has me worried for your sanity. Here's how it should have read.

Originally Posted by PurpHeartGrapes

-Be is one of the most overrated albums this decade, not one of the best and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as anything else in this thread.

-Blueprint is one of my favorite albums ever, the only reason why I left it off my original list is because I was kind of trying to limit it to one release per artist. As for [AG/TBA],

I'm actually a fan of it and think it receives way more hate than it deserves but I just can't agree with that.

Jay stans

Originally Posted by McFlyyy

it's not

it's an overrated album by people who wanna seem like special hip-hop fans

it's not that good actually

way too soft for my taste and i love melodic music

i can name ten albums since 2000 that are better

Not a personal attack but I've seen your post for a while, you seem like one of those guys that knows just enough about music to not sound like an idiotbut when you try to get to deep you're immediately exposed.

Originally Posted by Harlem On The Rise

Stillmatic
Untitled
Diplomatic Immunity
The Realness
College Dropout
Blueprint
The Black Album
Philadelphia Freeway
The Documentary
Like Water For Chocolate
The Cold Vein
The Self Science
Get Rich Or Die Tryin
Hell Hath No Fury

& BE is VERY overrated . . . Nowhere near Com's best work

With the exception of Blueprint I'm not mad at any of those. I'm a huge fan of Com so I may be a little biased towards Be but Resurrection, Like WaterFor Chocolate, and One Day It Will All Make Sense are all better than it imo.



And ILLEGAL Operation I'm not really seeing the relevance of your post. Feel free to explain.

 

[youtubesensation]

i like the little stories about white people.. funny.. but i hope your not comparing little brother fans to them. I do know for a fact that white people dothat. Its a symbol of class, same as clothes, and any other thing. Some white people feel weird around black people so they feel they have to over compensateto prove their knowledge is greater than most white hip hop fans.

I've been a fan of hip hop for most my life. This helped me get to know some really good underground rappers, but I still feel that Masta Ace > Eminemand Phonte > 50 Cent.

But thats just my opinion. Soulja Boy makes better club music than Nas, but that doesn't make him a better Rapper.

 

[mali700]

black star came out in 98 decade ten years... but hold on Stillmatic came out in 01 so no and then there's everything that Starvin Harlem posted except forIMO Diplomatic Immunity I'm taking foreign connection over that but that's just me personally...