THE BEST ALBUMS OF EVERY YEAR … SINCE THE DAWN OF RAP: Old School (1979-1986)

I’ve decided to do this: A list of the rap albums that FOR ME AND ONLY ME represent the best of each year since the launch of the genre.  When I say “for me and only me” I mean this is based solely on my personal taste, and not on how influential the album might have been or how “important” the heads say it is.  There are lots of critically acclaimed artists and albums that will be left out–even ones I appreciate–but to get in this series it must be an album that:

(a) Is good from start to finish, with a minimum of filler/skipped tracks

(b) I still listen to on the regular

(c) Doesn’t feel dated and is of high quality

I’m starting this feature with the Top 10 of the “Old School.”  This period is usually defined as ending around 1983-84, when the New School artists began to emerge.  That’s a reasonable demarcation–especially when looking at full rap albums–because before 1983, rap was largely driven by singles with albums being an afterthought.  It’s hard to listen the entirety of, for example, the Sugar Hill Gang’s debut album or any Grandmaster Flash record from beginning to end.  But as singles, there is no denying the power of “Rapper’s Delight.”  Similarly, “Jamonit” and “The Message” are timeless cuts–but the albums they appear on?  Mostly filler.

The lack of quality albums didn’t change immediately with the rise of the New School.  1984 and 1985 brought us records by Run DMC and LL Cool J, but overall, solid rap albums of this era were pretty few and far between.  Then, 1986 brought the Beastie Boys.  After that, in 1987, albums began going from good to great.

So, I don’t have an albums list for each year before 1987.  Next time, for 1987, that changes.  Today, we launch this series with a list of the top 10 albums released in the years before ’87…

10. Planet Rock: The Album by Africa Bambaataa (1986).  Okay, the title track came out a few years earlier—but the album pared with with Renegads of Funk and Lookin’ for the Perfect Beat so…Solid album.  Like the ones before it on this list, it’s a bit dated.  But those three songs are worth the price of admission.

9. Fat Boys by Fat Boys (1984).  Part gimmick and not politically correct of course, but some undeniably great verses and unbridled joy.  And maybe instead of focusing on the “fat jokes” we can call it the first body positive record?  Best cuts: Jailhouse Rap, Stick ‘Em, Can You Feel It?  I mean, those three songs were some of the most fun I’d had listening to music that whole year.

8. Run-DMC by Run-DMC (1984). 

This is the first truly great rap album, end to end, track by track.  Every cut was fantastic.  It was also the first rap album to move towards a harder edge sound—and began the genre’s evolution away from just being an extension of disco/dance music.  It did for rap what Led Zeppelin did for rock and roll.

7. Wild Style Original Soundtrack (1983). 

A fantastic representation of the definitive sounds of this era, with new songs from many of the lesser-known legends: Grandmaster Caz, Cold Crush Brothers, Grand Wizard Theodore and more.

6. Schoolly D by Schoolly D (1985).  Perhaps the first gangsta rap album?  Best cut: PSK What Does It Mean.

5. Escape by Whodini (1984).  I admit that this album has a bit of filler but it’s also got four of the best rap songs of this era: Friends (later sampled extensively by MF DOOM), The Freaks Come Out At Night, Escape, and my personal favorite: 5 Minutes of Funk.  So I’m including it, in interests of “separat[ing] the good stuff from the junk!”

4. King of Rock by Run-DMC (1985).  These guys dominate this list.  Best cuts: King of Rock, You Talk Too Much, Can You Rock Like This?

3. Radio by LL Cool J (1985). 

Rap’s second (chronologically) truly great album.  From the first hard hits of “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” this album grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go.  Best cuts: Rock the Bells, That’s a Lie, I Need a Beat (remix), Dear Yvette.

2. Licensed to Ill by The Beastie Boys (1986).  Dismissed as frat rap, it’s important to remember that this album had true chops (No Sleep Til Brooklyn, Paul Revere), the definitive party anthem of the day (Fight For Your Right), drinking and sex (She’s Crafty, Brass Monkey), and “real” hip hop songs that even today feel fresh and powerful (Rhymin’ and Stealin’, Slow and Low).  Just skip “Girls.”  It’s awful.

1. Raising Hell by Run-DMC (1986).   This album is basically a greatest hits album.  I’m not singling any specific songs out because Goddamn, every song is amazing.  It’s also got the first rock/rap collaboration, with Aerosmith.  I never thought, 40 years later, that more people would remember Run-DMC than Steve and Joe…

Honorable Mentions:

• Mantronix by Mantronix (1986).  I can’t listen to it all the way through, but it’s a great early electronic rap album)
• Kurtis Blow by Kurtis Blow (1980)
• Hot, Cool, and Vicious by Salt N Pepa (1986).  An early example that rap can be just as good when it’s got two X chromosomes—and first platinum album by a woman (or women) in this genre.  Key songs: Push It, I’ll Take Your Man.
• UTFO by UTFO.  Again: the entire album isn’t good, but Roxanne Roxanne is my second-favorite Old School Hit.  My first? Jamonit by Newcleus.