The Top 10 Hot Joints Of 2003

I had to follow Jason and EJ and post my list. Well, here it is, my picks of the Best CDs in 2003. I also included links, so you can actually listen to the album (or singles) and judge for yourself.

1. OutKast :: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

   Hip-hop is about an emotional and musical experience. To listen to Andre 3000's The Love Below is to flash back to three decades of classic soul ("Hey Ya"), cross that with the melodic balladry of Steve Wonder, and then embrace the rich grooves of Earth, Wind & Fire ("Prototype"). The Love Below is a shock to the system that successfully fuses Andre's R&B recall and his hip-hop sophistication. He can make the ladies swoon on the Paisley funk of "Spread" and showcased his lyrical ingenuity on "Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre" where he raps for 6 minutes without a pause. Andre is sexual chocolate.

   On the flipside, Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is downright stankalicious. The futuristic b-boy fullfills his music around the atmosphere of celebratory crunkiness. For example, there's "The Way You Move," a doo-wop-meets-crunk dance-floor trembler. There's "Church" a gospel-esque crunk fusion with Pastor Boi spitting introspective testimonials. There's "Bowtie," a player's anthem that gives a nod to George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic. And Boi shows that a big-time player like himself can have a social conscious on the anti-conflict sentiment "War."

   There are a few idiotic music critics who have questioned whether or not Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is a true hip-hop recording. They also criticized OutKast for being too experimental. Whether 'Kast's double-LP is considered an R&B album; or a rap album; or an experimental album, or even a "crossover" album, it was simply dead on the money. OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is a hip-hop masterpiece.

   

2. Little Brother :: The Listening

   Whether you love or hate what has become of hip-hop, one thing is clear: Hip-hop is the leader in artistic innovation in popular culture. Little Brother is on the forefront of that artistic movement. And their debut CD The Listening is a wonderful aural experience. The old-school hip-hop motif and production value featured on The Listening had some critics calling it a novelty record, but it's not. In fact, it's an essential album, and a long overdue evolutionary (revolutionary?) step into "classical" rap music. Drawing inspiration from the old-school — A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Prince Paul, Pete Rock and EPMD — the North Calackie trio (aka the Justice League crew) are modern-day hip-hop fusionists who have reinvented the lyrical and beat improvisations that once made rap music such a personal and musical experience. (Listen to the group's hip-hop ode "The Listening").

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