LISTA COMPLETA
5.) Ghostface - Fishscale
With crack-rap ascendant, Wu-Tang’s iron man dares Young Jeezy to tell everything he knows — not by showing off fresh slang but by displaying his knowledge of old-school slangin’. As always, Ghost raps on the edge of some kind of breakout or breakdown, but whether revitalizing Bomb Squad freneticism or settling into the ominous luxury of RZA soul, it’s the beats that seal the deal.
7.) Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Hell Hath No Fury is, in part, a showcase for Clipse’s longtime buddies the Neptunes: All skeletal, insistent grooves and mind-fuck atmosphere, cuts like “Chinese New Year” are ill enough to raise goose bumps. Brothers Pusha T and Malice simply love to rhyme, and on a series of coke-slinging anthems their clever, singularly fluid flows intertwine like the two guys share a brain. And the banging “Wamp Wamp” and snap-track “Mr. Me Too” are simply head-and-shoulders above almost anything on radio.
16.) Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
“Now come on everybody, let’s make cocaine cool/ We need a few more half-naked women up in the pool”: Fiasco’s debut is smart, ballsy hip-hop both backpackers and Jay-Z fans can love. The A-list production helps: Kanye pumps “The Cool” full of dark funk, and the jazzy “I Gotcha” has the best Neptunes beat the Clipse didn’t get.
18.) The Roots - Game Theory
The best band in hip-hop still refuses to make records conventional enough to get over on radio and luxury-SUV stereos. Game Theory is classic studio Roots, full of invention and left turns. It doesn’t quite have the lift of the band’s shows, but there’s a consolation prize for Philly-soul heads: a cameo on “Long Time” by one of the city’s R&B greats, Bunny Sigler.
25.) Rhymefest - Blue Collar
A freestyle veteran who’s worked many jobs to support his habit, Chicago’s Rhymefest is life-size. He can brag because that’s part of the tradition he loves, but he’s funny about it. Blue Collar is the rare big-label hip-hop record to honor the part of black street life that wishes there were no corner boys. A major talent we’re lucky to have, Rhymefest makes you wonder how many others like him don’t happen to know Kanye West.
