We’ve already gone over most of these but there are still a few we’ve never discussed. I’m not sure if these are all of the albums that received 4.5 mics/broken records (through 1995) but it’s a start. You be the judge. Was the rating correct? If not, what should have been the rating on all of these albums?
FYI – Instead of wasting a ton of time searching through every Source I own, I swiped some of these reviews from http://ifihavent.wordpress.com/ so thank SLurg when you get a chance.
~Vincent~
Here are my views, and I’m going to focus squarely on the ratings:
Ice Cube – Death Certificate
This album should’ve been 5 mics. Cube fires on all cylinders, and this my friends is his best album hands down.
Boogie Down Productions – Sex And Violence
I wouldn’t have given this 4.5, but I feel the rating for this album should’ve been 3.5, respectively. KRS is a legend, no doubt, but this album was the lesser of the BDP albums.
EPMD – Business Never Personal
I agree w/ the 4.5 rating for this album. I wouldn’t change it.
Redman – Whut Thee Album
For Red’s debut album, I have to listen to this one again, but I’m pretty sure my rating would be 5 mics.
Dr.Dre – The Chronic
5 mics hands down. Nuff said. NO filler, other than that “Doctor’s Office” skit, but even that pointless skit can’t drag this awesome album down.
De La Soul – Buhloone Mind State
Very good album that I would’ve given 4 mics.
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
My 3rd favorite album of all time. 5 mics completely.
Outkast – Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
I’ve been back and forth about the rating for this album, but w/ hindsight being 20/20, I’d go the full monty on this one and give it 5 mics.
Mobb Deep – The Infamous
5 mics material here. This is Mobb Deep’s best album.
And last but not least…….
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
My #2 favorite album of all time. A VERY COMPLETE 5 mic album, and anyone who thinks otherwise is crazy, lol.
By: Wayne on December 10, 2008
at 3:53 pm
another good post vincent, bringin back mad memories son, im glad i have most of these issues. so here we go!
Ice Cube: i have this LP, it is pretty dope. im gonna go ahead and stick with the orig. rating on this one. 4.5 sounds right. at this time Cube was that MC, he had the torch then. This LP also has one of Cube’e best tracks “True 2 The Game”!!
KRS-One: i know im gonna get killed for this, but i never heard that LP yet. so i cant say much on this one. and im not gonna disrespect KRS for trying to give him a rating on this. so this will be continued at a later date……
EPMD: i have this one as well, its another dope LP. i would say 4 or 4.5 will do. U just cant front on “Crossover” or “Headbanger”, those are timeless classics.
Redman: this is one of my fav’s right here, i would say the Source got it right with 4.5. I kinda remember when this 1st dropped, “Time 4 Sum Aksion” was that joint, i mean Tyson came out to it so u already know what time it was when that came on!
Plus u cant forget about “Tonights da night” & “Blow ur mind”!!
Dr.Dre- this LP is beyond a 5 mic rating to me. This changed the whole landscape of hip-hop when this came out. I was in the 5th grade when this came out and everybody and their mama was playin this joint!! so i cant see how the Source messed this up. beyond 5 mics!
De La Soul: this LP is pretty dope as well. i think the Source got it right with 4.5. i mean all i bang on this album is “Breakadawn” & “Ego tripppin”. so a 4 or 4.5 is appropriate for this.
Wu-Tang: this LP to me again is beyond 5 mics. This album changed hip-hop again and put the east coast on top! I remember when my boy 1st told me about this group in the 7th grade. all he told me was that they used kung-fu sounds. i was like what? but when i seen the CREAM video, i was hooked. those images stay in ya head forever. They had like 4-5 singles just off this LP, thats crazy! 5 mics isnt enough for this LP!!
Outkast: u kidding me 4.5? please, this is a 5 mic classic easy!! They was the 1st ones to break through aTL & the south period!! (props to UGK & Eightball & MJG) but how can u front on “Players ball” & ‘Git Up & Get Out” and etc!! my joint was “Aint No Thang”, i remember bangin that tape like 4-5 times a night. I loved these dudes right from the jump. like Andre said at the ‘95 Source awards “the south got somethin to say!!” who knew?
Mobb Deep: beyond 5 mics, no questions asked. I remember seeing that “Shook Ones pt.2″ video, another one of vivid images that stay in ur mind. Same goes for “Survival of the Fittest” video, that record just brings out the grimiest in u. I remember hearing their album for the 1st time at school, a friend let me hear it and i couldnt get past “Give Up the Goods”, i must have repeated that song like 10 times. Then next was “Temperature’s Rising”, i repeated that song like 10x and so on and so on. That album means alot to me, beyond mics!!
Raekwon: u already know how i feel about this album from ur last post!! Beyond 5 mics, no questions asked. Legendary LP.
By: brandan on December 10, 2008
at 4:01 pm
I don’t have time to check all my back issues now, i’m sure Main Source had 4.5 also but I can’t think of any other right now. May be Run DMC’s best of. I’m surprised there were not more than that, especially during Reginald C Dennis ”5 mics embargo”.
By: SLurg on December 10, 2008
at 8:02 pm
@ SLurg
Yeah they did. And it got bumped up to 5 in 2003. The album was pure granite.
The biggest flaw The Source exhibited during the reign was their blatant East Coast bias.
Like I said earlier, they saw firsthand the immediate impact The Chronic made, so a 4.5 (and the 4 they gave to Doggystyle for that matter) was just inexcusable.
So the rating for Sex & Violence is bullsh*t. That’s a 3.5 easy. (Like Wayne stated). Matter fact, the 5 Mics they gave to Edutainment ain’t cuttin’ it either.
FTR: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Death Certificate, Enter The 36 Chambers, The Infamous, & The Chronic were all eventually corrected. (Rightfully so too).
I still don’t see how that Cuban Linx review justifies the rating. And I always point out there would be NO Menace II Society without Death Certificate. Look at the songs. Every scene influenced the Hughes Brothers to put that side of humanity on the big screen.
Back to it:
Outkast- The thing about Kast is they continued to get better as they got more experienced. Even when their albums kept growing more ecletic hair, the styles continued innovate. Now Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik is cool @ 4.5 Mics but when you consider what ATLiens and Aquemini brought to the table, realistically, it’s a 4. Dudes got talent.
Redman – Reggie is one of the rawest MCs that ever lived but his first 3 albums are 4 Mics. Nothing more, nothing less. One big maxi cipher session. You could switch out songs and it wouldn’t change things not a bit.
De La Soul – Buhloone Mind State may be their best album in terms of fludity and accessibility, but it’s just a 4.
EPMD – This could go either way. At the time of it’s release, this joint was definitely crack on the streets — with a touch of Nino Brown, but now, it’s just another good album. I’ma say 4.
By: TC on December 11, 2008
at 4:52 am
@SLurg – Kool G Rap’s Killer Kuts also received 4.5 mics but since it was a compilation, I didn’t post it up.
By: vincentlopez on December 11, 2008
at 5:42 am
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