The Hip Hop Thread

Eric B. & Rakim - "Follow the Leader" (1988)

The follow-up album to 1987's highly praised "Paid In Full" debut album is a very strong example of the early hip hop sound. Rakim's rapping is excellent & is the main driver behind the duo's success. The opening title track is one of the greatest tracks in hip hop history in my opinion. The overall consistency in the tracklisting means that there's a only a bee's dick between "Follow the Leader" & Public Enemy's classic "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" sophomore album that was released just a month earlier which should give you an indication of the overall quality of offer here.

For fans of Boogie Down Productions, EPMD & Big Daddy Kane.

4/5

Ultramagnetic MC's - "Critical Beatdown" (1988)

The debut album from Ultramagentic MC's is a fairly enjoyable affair that perhaps suffers a little from being released in the same year as classic records from Public Enemy & Eric B. & Rakim as it's difficult not to draw comparisons with "Critical Beatdown" sitting on a slightly lower rung. The main reason for that is that the tracklisting doesn't really get going until track seven with all of the best material coming towards the back end of the album. Kool Keith is clearly the better of the MC's with producer Ced Gee being noticeably (& perhaps unsurprisingly) less cool. This is not a bad listen overall however, unlike the two classics I mentioned earlier, I can't see myself feeling like returning to it all that regularly. I'm much more likely to include the best material (like the brilliant "When I Burn") in my custom Spotify playlists.

For fans of Kool Keith, Boogie Down Productions & EPMD.

3.5/5