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This feature was originally published on September 9, 2009.
As Joni Mitchell once sang, "you don't know what you've got till it's gone." Even now, as we approach the end of 2011, we're still trying to make sense of the first decade of the 2000s—or “The Aughts,” as we've taken to calling them around these parts.
Sometimes you hear an album and know instantly that it'll be a classic. Track after track, it hits you, lightning striking the same place 10 to 15 times. You get that feeling of premature nostalgia, where you imagine yourself playing the album for your kids in 20 years and hoping they think that you're cool. Other times, you reluctantly listen to an album and know that you'll probably never hear it again. If you get all the way through it, you say to yourself, "That was fine," before putting on one of the albums like the former, that still makes you feel like you're hearing it for the first time. It's not the average album's fault; if everything were a classic, there would be no classics, right?
Our opinions have evolved over the last two years, but this list—and all the lists in our Best Of The 2000s series—stands as an enduring snapshot of Complex's taste at the end of ’09. As we pulled together The 100 Best Albums of the 2000s, we kept asking ourselves: Which albums will we want to keep booming in our ears for years to come? Which CDs will we keep hard copies of, even when everything has gone digital? What combination of tracks is so beautiful, so magical, that it remains relevant even as we move into a new decade? Some albums slip away, forgotten forever in a matter of months. But some albums, whether we know it in the moment or they require years of reflection and re-listening, become timeless, permanent residents in our music libraries.
From Kanye West to the White Stripes, find out where all your favorite artists landed on our epic countdown.
Related: The 50 Best Albums of 2016
Related: The Best Albums of 2017
Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak (2008)
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "Heartless"
OK, so it took us a couple months to admit it, but at this point it's undeniable—'Ye went out on a serious limb with this one, replacing raps with sing-songy Auto-Tune blues and chopped soul with '80s pop synths. And it actually worked. Matter of fact, it was amazing.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
808s was recorded in Hawaii over one month during a break in the summer leg of the "Glow In the Dark" tour.
The Concretes - The Concretes (2003)
Label: Astralwerks
Key Track: "Warm Night"
With eight members and three female lead singers, this Swedish indie group had the potential to be a disaster. Luckily their self-titled debut is easy to love, with sweet melodies and spacious arrangements.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Longtime Concretes vocalist Victoria Bergsman left the group in 2006 to focus on her solo project Taken By Trees.
The Killers - Hot Fuss (2004)
Label: Island
Key Track: "Mr. Brightside"
The Cozy Time Book Club would be a more appropriate name for this Vegas band, but we digress. Their memorable debut delivers moody, keyboard-infused pop rock that's obviously influenced by '80s bands like The Cure and Joy Division. No wonder the British press was on their dick like Susan Boyle.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
In addition to standard formats, the album was released on 7" vinyl, in a box of 11 discs.
El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead (2007)
Label: Definitive
Key Track: "Run the Numbers"
Five years after his abrasive and confusing solo debut Fantastic Damage, the Company Flow captain returned with this surprisingly well-crafted album of psychedelic hardcore hip-hop that hit our vital nerve.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
ISWYD features contributions from members of Mars Volta, Nine Inch Nails, and Cat Power.
Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004)
Label: Epic
Key Track: "Float On"
(Not so) mopey indie rock for the masses. After capturing the critics with their major label debut The Moon & Antarctica, Double-M broke through to the O.C. crowd with this more pop-friendly effort.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Good News is the only Modest Mouse album recorded without drummer Jeremiah Green.
Slim Thug - Already Platinum (2005)
Label: Boss Hog/Star Trak/Geffen
Key Track: "3 Kings" f/ T.I. & Bun B
Released at the height of the mainstream's infatuation with all things Houston, Slim Thugga's debut is an unexpected mix of half Screw-influenced H-Town music produced by Mr. Lee, and half-quirky electro tracks from the Neptunes. Despite mixed reactions upon it's release, this LP was definitely ahead of its time. Or maybe we just need to kick this syrup habit.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
It's called Already Platinum because Slim Thug claims to have sold over a million units of his local Houston mixtapes.
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
Label: Warner Bros.
Key Track: "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell"
The Flaming Lips—or, as we like to call them, Herpes—was already known for their orchestral psychedelia, but the tenth time around Wayne Coyne and his band of merry pranksters struck the perfect blend of poppy sounds and melancholy sentiments. If Pink Floyd was around in the Internet Age, this would be their Dark Side of the Moon.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
A secret message hidden on the right spine of YBTPR reads "You Have Found The Secret Message, Do You Have too Much Time on Your Hands? ...Let it Go."
Gorillaz - Demon Days (2005)
Label: Virgin
Key Track: "Kids with Guns"
Damon Albarn lost Dan the Automator and Del for the G'z sophomore effort, but picked up Danger Mouse and De La Soul, so... yeah, it was all a wash in the end. A bathing ape, you might even say. *wink*
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The album cover is a nod to the Beatles' Let It Be.
Ludacris - Back for the First Time (2000)
Label: Disturbing tha Peace/Def Jam South
Key Track: "What's Your Fantasy" f/ Shawnna
Southern hip-hop dominated radio airplay in the 2000s, and no artist epitomized this movement more than Ludacris, who was originally a radio DJ himself. With ferocious verses, shout-along hooks and early Bangladesh-produced bangers, Luda's breakout LP is by far his best.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
BFTFT is virtually the same as Luda's indie debut Incognegro, plus a few new tracks like the Neptunes-produced "Southern Hospitality."
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (2005)
Label: Wichita
Key Track: "Helicopter"
High-energy Brit rock that sounds like a hipster dance party waiting to happen. With punchy post-punk instrumentation and a serious tone, Bloc Party's debut was a long-overdue reminder of how urgent and exciting simple rock could be. Ring the alarm!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Silent Alarm producer Paul Epworth also called the shots on Maximo Park's A Certain Trigger and The Rakes' Capture/Release.
Chromeo - She's In Control (2004)
Label: V2
Key Track: "You're So Gangsta"
A-Trak's brother and the Canadian version of Turtle get funky over commercial-friendly throwback electro beats. With a barrage 808s and vocoders, the duo is the ironic yin to T-Pain's Roger Troutman-inspired yang.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"Needy" was featured in a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercial, "Rage" in a McDonald's spot, and "You're So Gangsta" in an ad for Heineken.
Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block (2007)
Label: Wichita/V2
Key Track:: "Young Folks"
Three Swedish dudes make eerie indie rock influenced by '60s pop music. Next thing you know, their songs are getting licensed for every commercial and TV show, and Kanye and Drake are releasing cover versions. Could PB&J be the new Ace Of Base?
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The whistle in "Young Folks" was supposed to be a placeholder, but it sounded so good they decided to keep it.
N.E.R.D. - In Search of... (2001)
Label: Virgin/EMI
Key Track: "Lapdance"
In 2001, the Neptunes were the biggest producers in pop music, but their first release as artists (under the group name N.E.R.D.) was decidedly anti-pop, with a lead single about strippers and an apparent influence of hallucinogenic drugs throughout. Which is why they forgot what they were searching for mid-sentence.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Originally recorded with traditional Neptunes synths, the label had the group re-record the album with a live rock band.
Sean Price - Jesus Price Superstar (2007)
Label: Duck Down
Key Track: "P-Body"
Duck Down experiences a renaissance thanks to this exceptional sophomore solo album from the 30-something Heltah Skeltah member, the first Boot Camp release to crack the Billboard 200 chart since the '90s. Dru Ha, meanwhile, still gets the p*ssy 'cause he tells 'em that he's Spanish.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
SP was known as "Ruckus" in the mid-'90s. As far as discarded rap names go, that's a hell of a lot better than "Big Moon Dog" a.k.a. Big Pun.
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (2008)
Label: Modular
Key Track: "Lights & Music"
Australian electropop group storms the indie rock world with moody '80s-influenced melodies and guitar-laden beats inventive enough to fit in with a house set. Throw another shrimp on the barbie... and please don't step on my blue suede boat shoes.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"Lights & Music" was featured in FIFA 09.
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006)
Label: Def Jam
Key Track: "Be Easy"
Wu-Tang's only consistent member delivers his most cohesive LP in years thanks to two new collaborators—MF Doom and J. Dilla—who added a soulful anchor to Ghost's always-fresh lyrical attack. This was Ghost's first album without RZA, but no one seemed to mind. Except maybe RZA, of course.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Ghost stopped smoking weed during the recording of Fishscale.
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool (2007)
Label: 1st & 15th/Atlantic
Key Track: "Superstar" f/ Matthew Santos
Okay, so the "concept" behind Lupe's second album doesn't really make much sense, but it sure does sound good. The Chicago MC landed his first real hit with "Superstar" and backed it up with a diverse, inventive album created in collaboration with in-house producer Soundtrakk. How's that for a concept?
YOU AUGHTA KNOW: "Dumb It Down" was originally recorded with a different chorus, but label execs told him it was too intellectual, so he recorded the present chorus to spite them.
Young Buck - Straight Outta Ca$hville (2004)
Label: G-Unit/Interscope
Key Track: "Let Me In" f/ 50 Cent
No one expected the new kid from Nashville, TN to drop the best non-50 G-Unit album, but that's exactly what happened. By sliding a few Southern hip-hop producers like Three 6 Mafia in with Sha Money's regular NYC beat factory, Buck found a winning formula for gritty, post-regional street rap. Later he would just get so confused. *sob*
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Young Buck was originally down with Juvenile's UPT camp, and 50 offered him a deal after Buck worked with the G-Unit on 50 Cent Is the Future.
Out Hud - S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D. (2002)
Label: Kranky
Key Track: "This Bum's Paid"
A little like some of the dark, indietronica fuckery from the rest of the decade, except these dudes and dudettes play their own instruments. Definitely our favorite six-song, vocal-free album of the 2000s!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
We are very excited to report that members of Out Hud are also in !!!
Capleton - More Fire (2000)
Label:VP
Key Track: "Jah Jah City"
After toying with some more hip-hop-influenced material in the '90s on his two Def Jam releases, the Jamaican vet found his voice with this solid set of straight-ahead dancehall, laced with his fiery rhetoric.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Capleton started as a "slackness" DJ, whose first big hit was "Bumbo Red."
G-Unit - Beg for Mercy (2003)
Label: G-Unit/Interscope
Key Track: "Poppin' Them Thangs"
Released just 10 months after 50's game-changing debut, Beg For Mercy capitalized on G-Unit mania with a solid set of tracks that established Young Buck and Lloyd Banks as solo artists. Free Yayo!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Most of BFM was recorded on the Roc-A-Fella/G-Unit tour in the summer of 2003.
The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows (2004)
Label: Record Collection
Key Track: "The Rat"
Reverb-heavy garage rock band pushes past the obvious Strokes comparisons on their serious-minded sophomore set that proved they had bigger fish to fry than a measly Saturn commercial.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The band recorded much of Bows + Arrows at Sweet Tea Sutdios in Oxford, MS; they returned there to record their latest album You & Me.
Justice - † (2007)
Label: Ed Banger Records
Key Track: "Phantom"
The funkiest French house duo since Daft Punk broke onto the international scene with this ambitious pastiche of innovative instrumental disco that's catchy enough for pop radio play. And that's a cross we're happy to bear.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"Genesis" features a sample of 50 Cent's "In Da Club" that's so short it's unrecognizable.
Cam'ron - Come Home With Me (2002)
Label: Diplomat/Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "Oh Boy"
Killa Cam's most commercially successful album might have led to the breakup of Roc-A-Fella, but it was probably worth it. This is classic New York City rap; an impressive career resurgence aided by sped-up Just Blaze beats and the introduction of an 18-year-old Juelz Santana. Oh boy!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Cam and Dame wanted to make "Welcome to New York City" a single, but Jay Z refused to be in the video.
Robin Thicke - A Beautiful World (2003)
Label: Nu America/Interscope
Key Track: "A Beautiful World"
We wanted to hate when it dropped, but this is a great blue-eyed soul record. His follow-up became a huge commercial success with the adult contemporary R&B set, but this is the slept-on gem that started it all.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The song that would become Lil Wayne's "Shooter" appeared on this album as "Oh Shooter."
Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals (2007)
Label: We Are Free
Key Track: "Wait for the Summer"
The Brooklyn hipster band made diverse, psychedelic rock music that would make the Talking Heads proud. At least we think so.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Their song "Say Yes" was featured in an episode of Entourage.
T.I. - Urban Legend (2004)
Label: Grand Hustle/Atlantic
Key Track: "U Don't Know Me"
After blowing up with "Rubberband Man," Tip was forced to go to prison for a year before recording his true crossover album. With some classic DJ Toomp trap music sitting side by side with big name producers like Swizz Beatz and Scott Storch, this is where Tip solidified his spot as the South's #1 rapper.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"U Don't Know Me" was never supposed to be a commercial single, but after radio wouldn't stop playing it, it went on to be Tip's biggest song ever.
R. Kelly & Jay Z - The Best of Both Worlds (2002)
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam/Jive
Key Track: "Green Light"
The ill-fated collaborative album from these two legends is understandably overlooked, but we'll say it—this would be considered a classic if video of R. Kelly (or a guy that looks a lot like him, in a house that looks a lot like his) peeing on teens hadn't leaked weeks before the LP's release.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
As the album began to leak, R. Kelly's alleged underage sex tape was serviced to the media, causing Jay Z to disown the project.
The Fucking Champs - IV (2000)
Label: Drag City
Key Track: "Esprit de Corpse"
Two guitars, a drummer that kicks some righteous ass and no muddling the message with vocals = prog metal pwnership at its finest.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Prior to IV the band added "Fucking" to their name to avoid a lawsuit by the '60s group The Champs.
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere (2006)
Label: Downtown Records/Atlantic
Key Track: "Crazy"
Cool videos, a cool concept, and a cohesive album gave Cee-Lo's underappreciated talent a second chance and proved that Danger Mouse could be more than a clever English spy... mouse.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"Crazy" was the first song in the U.K. to reach no. 1 based on downloads alone.
Blu & Exile - Below the Heavens (2007)
Label: Sound in Color
Key Track: "Show Me the Good Life" f/ Aloe Blacc & Joseph
Sad truth: the main reason underground hip-hop falls short is that it's too much spit, not enough real shit. That's not a problem here; Blu goes in with a style that blends the laconic mood of sunny California with the cerebral bravado of a New York guttersnipe. If this is the rest of the subterranean was really like, we'd go back to rocking the strappy North Face full-time.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Exile also produced Mobb Deep's "Pearly Gates."
TV On the Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (2004)
Label: Touch and Go/4AD
Key Track: "Staring at the Sun"
TVOTR came on the New York rock scene and took things to another, more sophisticated level. Calling this "experimental rock" only makes us sad that making good music is somehow daring. Though we do have a question about these so-called bloodthirsty babes: does that mean they suck it or not? KILLA!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"Satellite" concerns a man waiting for his girlfriend's cell phone to get service.
Jay Z - The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "1-900-Hustler"
Why this was marketed as a Jay solo still eludes us, since it's arguably the best weird-blend-of-crew-and-roster-based album out there. Even Memphis Bleek tore it down, and earlyish glimpses of everyone from Beanie to Kanye ("This Can't Be Life" was one of his first major production placements) make for a vivid snapshot of when the Roc had the radio on lock. We were even listening to it the day we ran into Memph at Quizno's. He makes a mean panini. Pause.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"Parking Lot Pimping" was the intended first single, but two days before the video shoot Jay recorded "I Just Want to Love U" and scrapped everything in favor of that.
Common - Be (2005)
Label: G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen
Key Track: "The Corner"
After Electric Circus confused and amused the music world in 2002, Common chilled out on the weird hippie shit and teamed up with Chi Town's new genius on the block, Kanye West, for a much-touted return to a more traditional "hip-hop" sound and it sounded like home.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Common returned to Chicago for inspiration and wrote much of Be while staying in his old neighborhood.
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (2002)
Label: Ipecac/Interscope
Key Track: "Go with the Flow"
We've never been that into the glam-meets-evil aesthetics of metal, but we love its ethos: kick ass by any means necessary. So when some unassuming lads from Southern California manage to make most metal bands seem like boo-hooing pussies, you know they're hardbody (no Rob Halford). And when they put together a concept album about driving through the desert and kicking the ever-living shit out of everything in their way? SOLD!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
QOTSA front man Josh Homme stole Rancid front man Tim Armstrong's wife!
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)
Label:Jagjaguwar
Key Track: "Blindsided"
Look, we have feelings, too, and we like driving around in a Volkswagen listening to acoustic feel-bad music as much as the next guy. But when we need true melancholy, we turn up the Bon Iver. This is the album we play while we're breaking up with chicks. Of course, once they're gone, we cue up the Queens of the Stone Age and call up some trifeys for a gymnastic threeway. Fuck feelings, anyway, amirite?
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The name "Bon Iver" came to singer Justin Vernon while he was watching an episode of Northern Exposure.
The Kills - Midnight Boom (2008)
Label: Domino
Key Track: "U.R.A. Fever"
Boy meets girl, boy and girl team up to make some brilliant lo-fi rock. So what if Gossip Girl used one of the tracks off this album ("Sour Cherry") and catapulted them to mall-hero status? From garage ("M.E.X.I.C.O.") to unassuming funk ("U.R.A. Fever"), the shit still bumps.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The Kills' lead singer went on to join Jack White's Dead Weather.
M.O.P. - Warriorz (2000)
Label: Loud/Relativity
Key Track: "Ante Up"
The Mash Out Posse has been kidnapping fools and putting themselves in danger of vocal polyps for nearly 20 years. And this may have been their crossover moment, sampling rock anthems ("Ante Up" and "Cold as Ice") to get people amped as FUCK. Brownsville in this sumbitch!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
According to legend, M.O.P. secured the Foreigner sample for "Cold As Ice" by getting Mark Ronson to hit up his stepfather.
Mastodon - Blood Mountain (2006)
Label: Warner Bros.
Key Track: "Colony of Birchmen"
In the '70s, everyone liked to air-drum to Rush. In the '80s and '90s, it was Guns 'n' Roses and Megadeth. But there's a new King of the Air Drummers in town, and it is fucking MASTODON. You like your metal old-fashioned? Clean-sounding vocals, mythological concepts, and every so often a sinister ballad with a cryptic title ("Pendulous Skin")? This is your shit, trust.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Blood Mountain is the highest peak in the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail.
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (2007)
Label: Domino
Key Track: "Peacebone"
Sometimes, when you're trying to describe music to someone, you use the word "whimsical." You don't know why you do it, or if it's even accurate, but that's all you can think of. Well, that band was probably Animal Collective, and you were probably talking about this album. How six-minute jams sound whimsical is beyond us, but they manage to do it.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The album's title was inspired by a packet of jam lead singer Panda Bear opened on a transatlantic flight to Greece.
Nas - God's Son (2002)
Label: Columbia
Key Track: "Made You Look"
This is us being excited about Nas. *blink, blink* At least it happened once this decade. Anyhow...More of the real emotion he promised on Illmatic, less of the flossy fantasies he pooped out on Nastradamus. Personal, real, and finally some real ammo for the "King of New York" barbershop argument. They shootin'!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Nas's mother, Ann Jones, died less than a year before he released God's Son.
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black (2006)
Label: Universal
Key Track: "Rehab"
We'd call it blue-eyed soul, but homegirl's pupils were so dilated that we can't be sure what color they actually were. So much rawness—we mean the soul, not whatever she was ingesting—even Ghostface jumped on there. The first of many British white pop/soulstresses of the '00s, and far and away the realest.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"Tears Dry on Their Own" samples the backing music to the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
The Knux - Remind Me In 3 Days... (2008)
Label: Interscope
Key Track: "Bang! Bang!"
The self-described "Nirvana of rap," this hipster-hop New Orleans duo brought a polished, but still DIY aesthetic to their criminally under-appreciated debut, doing their own production, playing their own instruments, and squeezing themselves into their own skintight jeans. If you hear them Lindsey boys are playing live nearby, do yourself a favor an peep these Knux.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The Knux were originally New Orleans residents, and moved to Hollywood after Katrina to record 3 Days...
Bubba Sparxxx - Deliverance (2003)
Label: Beat Club/Interscope
Key Track: "Back in the Mud"
The first and only redneck rapper to really kill shit. Deliverance is to Bubba what Lord Willin' is to Clipse: a single-producer album (in this case, Timbaland, with some help from Organized Noize) that marries verse and sound in a once-in-a-lifetime syzygy. Look it up!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
No men squealed like pigs during the making of this album.
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free (2004)
Label: Vice/Atlantic
Key Track: "Dry Your Eyes"
The U.K.'s grime movement kinda came and went, but with its dense, spoken word-ish raps that read like a noir book on tape, AGDCFF left its mark. Trends come and go, but flow—even when it's masked as "anti-flow"—is forever.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
AGDCFF is a concept record documenting a day spent seeking to recover lost money.
Radiohead - Kid A (2000)
Label: Capitol
Key Track: "The National Anthem"
Released in the fall of the decade's first year, Kid A's experiments in electronica and the 'Head's funkiest beats provided a template for where much of rock would go in the Aughts. In an alternate, better-sounding universe, Jay Z is pals with Thom Yorke, not Chris Martin.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
During the recording of Kid A, lead singer Thom Yorke read Ian McDonald's Revolution In the Head, a chronicle of the Beatles' recording techniques.
Ratatat - Classics (2006)
Label: XL Recordings
Key Track: "Loud Pipes"
"Ratatatat-tatatat like that and I never hesitate to put a..." OK, not quite Dr. Dre, but Ratatat's guitar-synth attack did sound a lot like pop beats from rap's Golden Era thrown into a indie rock/electronica spin cycle. The effect was totally unique, and totally of a piece with the decade's genre-bending ethos.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Parts of this album were recorded in a home owned by Bjork in Upstate New York.
Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon (2006)
Label: Ibid Records
Key Track: "Cowbell"
In the decade where indie rock either went to the garage or the computer-generated beats store, T'NT made a left turn just by keeping the rig pointed straight ahead: jangling guitar-based pop with just enough newfangled bells and whistles to make you know which Bush Administration they were recording during. Fuck CDs: As any true audiophile knows, the original analog cassette tapes provide a warmer sound.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"Insistor" is featured in the game Major League Baseball 2K7.
The Game - The Documentary (2005)
Label: G-Unit/Aftermath/Interscope
Key Track: "How We Do"
Remember when 50 Cent had the golden ear and the midas touch? This might just be the peak of the dynasty. Seven Dr. Dre tracks, some Just Blaze and Havoc mixed in, and plenty of assists from the usual suspects (Em, Nate Dogg) and the verse of 50's life? It's enough to forgive the constant name-dropping
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The Documentary's original title was Nigga Witta Attitude Vol. 1.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)
Label: Cranky/Constellation
Key Track: "She Dreamt She Was a Bulldozer, She Dreamt She Was Alone in an Empty Field"
Rock's long had orchestral aspirations, but nobody's done it like GY!BE before: dense, meanderingly-focused compositions that build inexorably towards crushing denouements (get that French-English dictionary poppin'). OK, first Jesus, now you're telling us the emperor's black, too? What's next, the president?
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
LYSFLATH is entirely instrumental, consisting of four tracks clocking in at more than 18 minutes each.
Lily Allen - Alright, Still (2006)
Label: EMI
Key Track: "LDN"
Barely a singer and definitely not a rapper, Lily Allen was utterly unique when she burst on the scene with Mark Ronson's poppy, mod-hop beats and her infectious, funny sing-songy flows about all the fun things bad girls like to do. Yeah, it's a guilty pleasure for dudes, but we're not afraid to admit it: Lily = the trifey we'd wife in a minute.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The album's title references a phrase Allen's brother used for "cool" and was also inspired by the Albert Einstein aphorism: "Nothing changes until something moves."
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (2007)
Label: Columbia
Key Track: "Time To Pretend"
Beats that bounce, a tuneful low end, and quirky samples that gnaw at your brain like pleasant mosquitos (plus more beats that bounce): MGMT became the dance soundtrack for '08. You don't even have to be high to enjoy their charms (but it certainly don't hurt).
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The video for OS's lead single, "Time to Pretend," has garnered over 12 million plays on YouTube.
The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001)
Label: Sympathy for the Record Industry
Key Track: "Fell in Love With a Girl"
The album that first gave folks outside the indie rock establishment a hint that there was something special going on with the ambiguously-related duo from Motown. With no bass and rudimentary drumming, the Stripes still brought a strut to rock that had been missing from the genre for years.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
WBC was dedicated to Loretta Lynn, prompting a friendship between the Stripes and the country music legend.
The Libertines - The Libertines (2004)
Label: Rough Trade
Key Track: "What Became of the Likely Lads"
The U.K.'s version of the Strokes managed to be not quite as good as their American counterparts, although that might just be because of the crack.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Prior to recording their eponymous second LP, vocalist/guitarist Pete Doherty served time in prison for breaking into fellow vocalist/guitarist Carl Barat's flat.
Madvillain - Madvillainy (2004)
Label: Stones Throw
Key Track: "America's Most Blunted"
Madlib and MF Doom team up for one of few underground rap records that live up to the hype, a disc with equal parts buttery soul samples and delightfully off-kilter obtuse rhymes. Peanut Butter Wolf thanks them for making him a thousandaire.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Madlib produced "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Strange Ways" in Brazil using a portable turntable, a cassette deck, and a SP303 sampler.
Kanye West - Late Registration (2005)
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "We Major" f/ Nas & Really Doe
Remember when 'Ye was pigeon-holed as the "sped-up soul sample" guy? With his sophomore LP, he quickly put that to rest, crafting the most baroque hip-hop album of all time, with Jon Brion playing all the instruments Kanye didn't know how to play. He had finer efforts during the decade, but LR was the disc where Yeezy officially declared school to be in session. You must learn!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Kanye spent nearly $2 million recording Late Registration.
Three 6 Mafia - Most Known Unknown (2005)
Label: Hypnotize Minds/Sony
Key Track: "Stay High" f/ Young Buck, Eightball & MJG
Before they gained fame as the most enthusiastic Oscar winners of all time, these Dirty South vets crafted their most unexpectedly soulful record yet, a high energy ode to the good life in the middle of the decade, before the recession and failed reality shows set in. And maybe a lesson for hip-hop as it enters its fifth decade: it's supposed to be fun, folks.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
MKU was the last Three 6 album to feature longtime member Crunchy Black.
The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)
Label: Sub Pop
Key Track: "Such Great Heights"
Ben Gibbbard of indie rock darlings Death Cab for Cutie teamed up with producer Jimmy Tamborello and came up with a novel concept for lo-fi hipper than thou rockers: syncopated electronic beats. Along with LCD Soundsystem, the Postal Service ushered in the "indietronica" movement that ended up as the background music for countless mid-decade advertising campaigns.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Give Up is the second highest-selling Sub Pop album after Nirvana's Bleach.
Clipse - Lord Willin' (2002)
Label: Star Trak/Arista
Key Track: "Grindin'"
Rap had been talking about the coke trade for years, but never with as much style and intricacy as the Thornton Brothers. And with the Neptunes taking a break from their Midas Touch phase to provide the disc with its nerve-jangling (albeit still toe-tapping) sonic backdrop, Lord Willin' would be a sign of things to come in rap for the rest of the decade.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Pusha and Malice were originally not fans of the beat for "Grindin'" but Pharrell convinced them to record it.
At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command (2000)
Label: Fearless/Grand Royal
Key Track: "One Armed Scissor"
We're not sure why it's called "emo," 'cause this shit is as hard as it gets. After grinding for years in the punk rock underground, ATDI emerged into the mainstream in 2000 with their most sonically mature effort yet. Sadly the group split up soon after ROC, but the groups they went on the form (Mars Volta, Sparta) would fly the post-hardcore freak flag high for years to come.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Iggy Pop provided background vocals on "Rolodex Propaganda" as well as voicing the kidnapper in "Enfilade."
The-Dream - Love Vs. Money (2009)
Label: Radio Killa/Def Jam
Key Track: "Rockin' That Shit"
The new master of R&B proved that his shockingly good 2007 debut wasn't a fluke with this even-better follow-up. With an endlessly inventive supply of quirky electro beats from Tricky Stewart and LOS Da Maestro, Dream shines like a young Atlanta R. Kelly with an inferiority complex. We mean that as a compliment.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
LVM features a song about having sex while listening to R. Kelly called "Kelly's 12 Play." R. Kelly remixed it and confessed he still does it to his old music too.
Devin the Dude - Just Tryin' Ta Live (2002)
Label: Virgin
Key Track: "Lacville '79"
Back before every rapper was singing his hooks, Devin was (still is) a singer that could rap his ass off. With his languid, comic flow and beats perfect for the pre, after and after-after parties, JTTL was the Dude at his best. In a perfect world, he'd be a multi-media superstar by now; as it is, we say give it twenty years, "Doobie Ashtray" becomes this generation's "Born in the U.S.A."
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
JTTL is the only album other than Nas' It Was Written to feature production from both DJ Premier and Dr. Dre.
Damian Marley - Halfway Tree (2001)
Label: Motown
Key Track: "It Was Written"
Sure, "Welcome to Jamrock" was the ubiquitous anthem of '05, but Halfway Tree was Marley's finest album (and the most underrated reggae LP of the past 15 years). With production from Swizz Beatz and cameos from Treach and Drag-On, HT's Jamaican-American mash-up seemed a lot like what we imagine Damian's pops would sound like in the 21st Century—which is high praise indeed.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Halfway Tree is a landmark in central Kingston, Jamaica where a cotton tree once stood.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell (2003)
Label: Fiction/Interscope
Key Track: "Maps"
Rock went back to its stripped down roots in the Aughts, with an emphasis on the basics: guitar, drums, and vocals, and nobody had a voice quite like the Yeahs' Karen O. "Maps" ended up being the love song of the decade, and we can finally admit it: chick-fronted indie rock groups are cooler than chick-fronted rap groups (sorry Crime Mob!).
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Fever to Tell was produced by TV On the Radio guitarist Dave Sitek.
Prodigy - H.N.I.C. (2000)
Label: Relativity
Key Track: "Keep It Thoro"
As rap's Shiny Suit Era began to fade, Prodigy kicked off the Aughts with a jolt of highly-lyrical New York gangsta rap. Featuring an all-star production cast that included Alchemist, Rockwilder, and Just Blaze, H.N.I.C. seemed to presage a decade of dominance for P that, sadly, was not to be. He did keep it thoro, though.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Prodigy was allegedly robbed at the video shoot for "Keep It Thoro."
The Black Keys - Attack & Release (2008)
Label: Nonesuch
Key Track: "Strange Times"
The Keys' sparse whiteboy blues got the Danger Mouse treatment in 2008 and saw their sonic ante upped immensely without losing their blasted-out Rust Belt snarl. Sounds good to us, then again, we've been huffing rubber fumes all afternoon.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
A&R features guitar work from longtime Tom Waits collaborator Marc Ribot.
M.I.A. - Kala (2007)
Label: XL Recordings
Key Track: "Paper Planes"
Another high-water mark in the decade's musical miscegenation mish-mash: Your favorite rapper's favorite Clash-sampling daughter of a Sri Lankan freedom fighter/terrorist made a more challenging noisy follow-up to her challenging and noisy debut. And it sounded so sweet.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Kala is named after M.I.A.'s mother. It also means "time" in Sanskrit.
Cam'ron - Purple Haze (2004)
Label: Diplomat/Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "Down and Out" f/ Kanye West
Even though he was persona non grata at the Roc-A-Fella offices by the time it dropped, Cam's fourth full-length stands on its own within a Roc catalogue that includes Jay's and Kanye's records. Mr Giles at his non-sequitur-dropping finest: "Computer's putin'." The New York Times called him "one of hip-hop's most appealing surrealists." We call him "King Jaffe Joffer."
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The first single from PH, "Get Em Girls," was released a full year prior to the album.
Daft Punk - Discovery (2001)
Label: Virgin
Key Track: "One More Time"
At the dawn of the Aughts, DP got slick and assaulted the mainstream with a synthpop sound that was both relentlessly danceable and influential. Pros: Inspired lots of girls to take Ecstasy and ask for it one more time. Cons: Inspired way too much Vocoder fuckery.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Discovery serves as the soundtrack to the film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem.
Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt (2004)
Label: Subliminal Sounds
Key Track: "Gjort Bort Sig"
Swedish psych rock with a little heavy metal flute. We have no idea what they're saying, but gjasktra denken foofilheifer!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Lead singer Gustav Ejstes played all of the instruments on TDL.
Hot Chip - The Warning (2006)
Label: DFA
Key Track: "Just Like We (Breakdown)"
Employing more vintage synths than a Moog convention, HC got complicated with their second full-length LP and saw their electro-pop blow up and go pop in '06. A sonic stew not unlike Kraftwerk meets R. Kelly. We're not saying that Kells actually hit off Kraftwerk's daughters and the ensuing offspring grew up to be Hot Chip, but you know...
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The Warning was recorded in vocalist Joe Goddard's bedroom.
The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers (2006)
Label: V2
Key Track: "Level"
Jack White proved that he wasn't bass-averse, teaming with a trio of indie rock veterans for a side project that was funkier (albeit a more conventional) than his "day job" in the White Stripes. Although apparently he was never married to any of his Raconteurs bandmates.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
In Australia, the group is known as "The Saboteurs" because a local band already has the Raconteurs name.
Gorillaz - Gorillaz (2001)
Label: Virgin
Key Track: "Clint Eastwood"
Damon Albarn's cartoon supergroup with Del and Dan the Automator was the high point of the '00s rap-rock collabos: the best of both worlds, without the lamery of either. And if you're curious as to why they didn't name the band after another animal (like, say, a cheetah), the answer's simple: 'Cause that little muthafucking cheetah can't hang with a gorilla.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"M1 A1" features a clip from the movie Day of the Dead.
Young Jeezy - Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005)
Label: Corporate Thugz/Def Jam
Key Track: "Go Crazy"
Don't front: you thought there was a good chance this ad-lib genius who said he wasn't a rapper would be a flash in the pan, right? But it turns out Jeezy only made it look easy, and if you peep his debut closely, you can see it was there all along: more wit than bluster, and more flow (did someone say je ne sais quoi?) than a basement full of open mic MCs.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Jay Z rushed to get his verse for "Go Crazy" in time for the album release, but missed the deadline.
Santogold - Santogold (2008)
Label: Downtown Records
Key Track: "L.E.S. Artistes"
The Philly punk rock vet behind Stiffed dropped a M.I.A.-meets-Blondie electro-pop masterpiece. We haven't been this psyched to shop at Urban Outfitters since their "Ithaca is Gorges" t-shirts dropped!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Despite it being her nickname since the '80s, Santogold was forced to rename herself Santigold after an infomercial jeweler with the same name threatened a lawsuit.
Eminem -The Eminem Show (2002)
Label: Aftermath/Interscope
Key Track: "White America"
In 2002, Eminem had been a part of the fame machine for three years, and TES would prove his most complicated work to date, simultaneously outward looking ("White America") and inward ("Cleanin' Out My Closet"). This album, combined with his biopic later in the year, would turn Em from controversial villain into unlikely people's champ and leave the entire nation chanting for an encore.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
TES was scheduled for a June 2002 release, however Interscope pushed the release date up to May 28 due to bootlegging concerns, and many stores sold the album as early as May 26.
T.I. - Trap Muzik (2003)
Label: Grand Hustle/Atlantic
Key Track: "Rubberband Man"
His debut was largely unremarkable but yielded the regional hit "Dope Boyz" and that became the blueprint to Trap, his superb sophomore release. Backed by Toomp and Kanye, T.I. vividly detailed the exploits of the trap, earning Pharrell's endorsement as "the Jay Z of the South," and making new-found fans go wild like the Taliban.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The Kanye West beat for "Doin' My Job" was originally given to a then-unknown Rick Ross.
The Strokes - Is This It (2001)
Label: RCA
Key Track: "Last Nite"
Rock music suffered a crisis of leadership after the passing of Nirvana, but this LP became the flagship statement of a hip, lo-fi rock revolution that had been simmering for years in the underground scenes of New York, Detroit, and LA. Coke rap, coke rock, who nose the difference? Now pass the spoon!
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The LP originally featured a song called "New York City Cops" that was removed from the U.S. version after 9/11.
Scarface - The Fix (2002)
Label: Def Jam
Key Track: "Guess Who's Back" f/ Jay Z & Beanie Sigel
If hip-hop's dead, somebody forgot to tell Big Bad Brad. And there's no more compelling evidence of this than his shocking 2002 set which found the 30-plus gangsta rap pioneer contemplative and mature, and backed by the incredibly soulful production of Kanye, Mike Dean, and the Neptunes. O meet G.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The Fix was the last album to receive a 5-mic rating from The Source...until Lil' Kim's The Naked Truth.
Young Jeezy - The Recession (2008)
Label: Corporate Thugz/Def Jam
Key Track: "Crazy World"
So, after three LPs it turns out that your favorite rapper's favorite trapper is actually a better rapper than your favorite rapper. And more importantly, he knows how to put together a more sonically thematic, focused, and purposeful long-player than him, too. Now just imagine if Jeezy tried.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Two weeks after The Recession's release, Lehman Brothers went under.
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury (2006)
Label: Re-Up/Star Trak/Jive
Key Track: "Mr. Me Too" f/ Pharrell
It's dark and hell is hot, but when the kings of the cocaine flow were forced to spend four years locked in label purgatory, the music they and the Neptunes made for the group's sophomore album only got harder and colder. Thank God, you devil.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
HHNF sat on the shelf for more than three years before finally being released.
D'Angelo - Voodoo (2000)
Label: Cheeba Sound/Virgin/EMI
Key Track: "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"
After scoring with his overtly poppy debut, D'Angelo took a decidedly darker, more challengingly obtuse tact with Voodoo and in doing so, crafted the artistic peak of the neo-soul movement. Oh, and then to celebrate he got a blowjob in the LP's first video.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Voodoo was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York at the same time as Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun and Common's Like Water For Chocolate.
Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)
Label: Merge
Key Track: "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"
Anthemic shout-rock that features every instrument but the kitchen sink (actually they probably play that, too). We're not ashamed to say we can even dig the hyper-sensitive vocal stylings, although we're pretty sure our lives aren't quite that dramatic.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Funeral was recorded for $10,000, and went on to sell 750,000 copies.
Jay Z - The Black Album (2003)
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "Public Service Announcement"
There hasn't been this much hullabaloo about a retirement since Jenna Jameson hung up the kneepads. Only difference is, for his supposed swan song, with all-star production from Kanye, Timbaland, Rick Rubin, Eminem, and Just Blaze, Jay did a lot less sucking (though it did blow... up).
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
"99 Problems" marked Rick Rubin's return to rap production after a 10-plus year hiatus.
Birdman & Lil Wayne - Like Father, Like Son (2006)
Label: Cash Money/Universal
Key Track: "Stuntin' Like My Daddy"
This painfully overlooked LP would be our favorite Weezy album ever—as it finds him at his lyrical pinnacle, effortlessly loose, but still focused, over a bevy of great T-Mixx and Scott Storch tracks—if we could just get our hands on the version with his reference vocals for all the Baby verses. Still, who'da thought Baby could crack the Top 20 of any list (other than Scariest Alleged Drug-Dealing Murderers, of course)?
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
No doves were kissed on the mouth during the photo shoot for the LFLS cover.
The Diplomats - Diplomatic Immunity (2003)
Label: Diplomat/Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "Dipset Anthem"
The quintessential body of work courtesy of Dip Set's three-headed monster, thanks to its endless quotables and infectious soul-flavored tracks, Cam'ron, Jim Jones, and Juelz quietly crafted hip hop's most slept on double album. We really mean it.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Diplomatic immunity was first established as international law at the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (2007)
Label: DFA
Key Track: "North American Scum"
One man band man James Murphy struck gold with Silver, combining his typically ironic song writing with a bevy of uptempo, hummable beats. Apparently the sound of silver is also the sound indie rock wallflowers 'round the world saying, "Oh shit, you mean we have to..to...dance?"
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
SOS was dedicated to the memory of Dr. George Kamen, one of the psychiatrists responsible for pioneering group therapy.
TV On the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)
Label: 4AD/Interscope
Key Track: "I Was a Lover"
"We want cookie!" Seriously, we think the reason the mainstream press keeps referring to soul music in these art rockers' sound is 'cause they got mad black dudes in the group, but whatever, shit is weird and it rocks.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Coincidentally, Cookie was named the fourth best album of the year by three different publications: Rolling Stone, Slant, and Stylus.
Usher - Confessions (2004)
Label: LaFace/Arista/Jive
Key Track: "Yeah!" f/ Lil Jon & Ludacris
One of the few end-to-end burners in modern R&B, this LP yielded both bangers and ballads alike, and brimmed with all the bravado Usher ever had... before he married your grandmother.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Confessions sold more copies (1.1 million) in its first week than any record by an R&B artist.
Kanye West - The College Dropout (2004)
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "All Falls Down" f/ Syleena Johnson
Everyone hated on Kanye for being an arrogant dickhead, but when he brought hip-hop back to its roots—with soulful loops, sped-up vocal samples and gritty drums—while at the same time pushing it forward, and then out to the masses, they all shut the fuck up. Enjoy the silence, 'Ye.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
CD was nominated for 10 Grammys and remains 'Ye's best-selling album to date.
The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)
Label: Gold Standard Laboratories/Universal
Key Track: "Inertiatic ESP"
Crunching jazz-metal-salsa hooks, blissed-out ADD songwriting, and Rick Rubin's perfect pitch production. Tied with Whitney Houston's debut for best album recorded while the artist(s) were high on crack. Allegedly. Allegedly high on crack.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
MV member Jeremy Michael Ward died of a heroin overdose four weeks prior to the release of DLITC, prompting the group's other members to give up opioids.
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter II (2005)
Label: Cash Money/Universal
Key Track: "Shooter" f/ Robin Thicke
With its unending, effortless verses, and uncharacteristically soulful beat selection, it was the second Carter that put Weezy in the "best rapper alive" conversation. That was back when men were men and kissing your daddy on the lips didn't need to be paused.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
C2 is the first Cash Money album to include no production credits from Mannie Fresh.
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele (2000)
Label: Razor Sharp/Epic/Sony
Key Track: "Nutmeg" f/ RZA
When Wu Tang debuted Ghostface Killah was the nine-man group's sixth biggest star, but Tony Starks' second set set him apart not only from his crew, as the Clan's true star, but also from all of hip hop's painfully linear thinkers. Why the rapping-in-a-bath-robe-holding-an-ice-cream-cone thing never took off we'll never know.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
After putting out "Mighty Healthy,", Ghost delayed the release of SC to serve a short prison term.
The White Stripes - Elephant (2003)
Label: V2
Key Track: "Seven Nation Army"
It took the two palest whites in rock n' roll (an already anemic affair) back to its black roots. But where their first couple discs's distortion limited the group's appeal, Elephant's polish propelled them to new heights: indie rock that's played at major sporting events. Camper Van Beethoven's fan asks: "Is nothing sacred?"
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Elephant was recorded strictly on analog 8-track equipment, including some designed in the pre-Beatles era.
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex / LoveSounds (2006)
Label: Jive
Key Track: "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around"
On his second solo set, Timberlake partnered with uber-producer Timbaland and his protege Danjahands to conjure a pop masterpiece, whose superior songwriting and precise production transcended all the genres it tapped for inspiration (R&B, dance, hip hop). And you know it's gotta be that incredible for us to put former cockboy poster-child J.T. in our Top 10.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
FS/LS was recorded entirely at Timbaland's Thomas Crown Studios in Virginia Beach.
OutKast - Stankonia (2000)
Label: LaFace/Arista
Key Track: "B.O.B."
With Stankonia, one of rap's most progressive groups ever outdid themselves and broke every convention of commercial hip-hop (see: "B.O.B." as first single). And in doing so they unwittingly created a perfect blueprint of cross-cultural mash-up that would set the tone for music on both the rap and rock sides of the aisle for the rest of the decade. So fresh, and so clean, indeed.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Stankonia was originally titled Sandbox.
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Label: Aftermath/Interscope
Key Track: "The Way I Am"
This is the album that threw the entire world into a tizzy of Marshall-mania and catapulted Eminem to the echelon of Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Elvis. There's nothing quite like his brilliantly dark, funny and controversial, dissection of fame, fortune, family—and himself. Eleven years later, anyone who's ever heard the album is still a Stan.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Guinness Book of World Records-certified as the fastest-selling album of all time.
50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003)
Label: Aftermath/Shady/Interscope
Key Track: "What Up Gangsta"
Combining aggressive flows, hypnotic song-writing, and big-budget production from the likes of Dr. Dre and Eminem, 50 Cent crafted an ultra-violent Thriller of rap, with virtually every album cut getting spins on radio stations across America. The other Mr. Jackson proved that it's perfectly fine for rappers to sing all their hooks and pose shirtless on their album cover—as long as they've been shot nine times.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
The beats for "Back Down" and "Heat" were originally intended for Dr. Dre's collaboration with Rakim.
Kanye West - Graduation (2007)
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "Can't Tell Me Nothing"
As we recall, you know, Ye loves to show off—but we never thought he would take it this far. The Omega to Stankonia's Alpha, Yeezy took 'Kast's genre-bending blueprint and made it better, faster, stronger, redefining the boundaries of rap, while cementing his position as the decade's top tastemaker in the process. Now he truly can't be told nothing.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Graduation's artwork was designed by renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
Jay Z - The Blueprint (2001)
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Key Track: "The Takeover"
A pitch-perfect bird's eye view of celebrity, from the celebration to the angst, featuring a re-revolution in hip-hop production—via Kanye, Just Blaze, and Bink—that brought rap back to its soulful roots, The Blueprint is a flawless listen from top to bottom. Any naysayers left with a reasonable doubt after his first five LPs had to concede that Jay was hip-hop's master architect of the album format.
YOU AUGHTA KNOW:
Jay recorded the bulk of the album during a single long weekend in Miami.