10 Dope Rap Acts Who Could Not Top Their Freshman Albums

50 cent

» by May 15, 2012, 15:07pm

Raekwon
Freshman Opus: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
# of tries: 4
Close but no Cohiba: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Part II

Raekwon's debut OB4CL aka “The Purple Tape” is musical perfection, period. And how do you top that? You don't. And Raekwon hasn't. This is another situation were an artist unintentionally set the bar too high. While OBCL2 was drop, none of the albums in the Chef's catalog truly comes close to recapturing allure of the OG. And probably no future albums will either.

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  • mfmusic

    Supreme Clientele > Ironman.  Not by much, but by enough that Ghostface shouldn't be on this list.

    • Ronnie Smmmoke

       I agree...Supreme Clientele topped Ironman and Starks'll tell you that himself.
      BTW...
      Reasonable Doubt and Cuban Linx I???? Waaaaaay better than their follow-ups although the follow ups were good too.
      I'd put Eric B. and Rakim, Pharoah Monche, Mos Def and EPMD on this list too.

      • Dahead

        idk about Mos. Don't get me wrong Black on Both Sides, was a heavyweight, but I'd have to give it and The Ecstatic a tie.

      • Ronnie Smmmoke

        Oh make no mistake I take nothing away from Ecstatic but I just think it's hard to improve on perfection.
        One brotha!

    • http://twitter.com/StellasKid Ian

      Completely agree!

  • http://iamqueenbobbi.com/ QueenBobbi

    you lost me on the last two. maybe Puff's No Way Out should have been added.. or Mase's Harlem World? But Reasonable Doubt and TM101 comes down solely on opinion. there are arguments for or against them both. cool list tho.

    • Johnnyquestt

       Which Jay-Z album is better than Reasonable Doubt??? Not much of a debate.  And there's no way that TM102 or 103 can compare to 101... not even close.

      • Ducker.

        Blueprint

    • Whojstall11

      blueprint

      • Dahead

        blueprint moves waaaayy more fluidly than Reasonable Doubt. Understand, I'm not discounting RD, its without a doubt a great, but when I listen to the Blueprint, I can't find a single second that I would change. Whereas, on RD, you could have cut it down a little. Well, I will say, Lyrical Exercise was kinda meh, so yeah maybe RD was better.

  • KennyX93

    Illmatic dropped April 19, 1994. And yes I already knew that. And then second every real hip hop head knows It Was Written was just as good as Illmatic if not better. Only extreme backpackers and people who swear Illmatic is the greatest album known to man can't get past that. By the way Hip Hop Wired no one respects your site.

    • Jslonaker45

      cosign it was written being better than illmatic. that I am had some joints too. after that, its been hit or miss for nasir. I gotta say supreme clientele was better than ironman too. and that still standing goodie mob album was better too. sue me.

    • Universe5

      It was written...better than Illmatic?...*ed lover face* "Come'on SON!!..."

  • Just Sayin

    You should have put The Game on this list. He will never make an album better than the Do*****entary. Most of it I agree with. Jay Z is subject to opinion. He has a couple albums some may claim to be great depending on your age and mindset.  

    • http://twitter.com/Cliff_Huxtable_ Olaitan Akinsola

      The Do*****entary DEFINITELY should have been on this list.

  • Slick

    the black album??

  • Old School Hip Hop Head

    How could you not include Wu Tang, the Pharcyde, and Cypress Hill on this list.

    • Dahead

      Labcabincalifornia>Bizarre Ride II

  • screagle101

    Twista hasn't come close to topping Adrenaline Rush, the "Illmatic" of chicago

  • Dyoung01

    DMX-Dark and hell is hot...ridiculous!

  • Mlittle2082

    snoops Last Meal was closer to Doggystyle,than any other1,relisten(is dat a word)to it...

  • Mlittle2082

    Dat Jeezy one is kinda hard tho....

  • HH Head

    Nas had a lot cl*****ic Bozo! Uh, I hate when newbies write ignorant articles.

    • HH Head

      CL*****ICS

  • Dahead

    Why does no one have the ***** to admit, that even though damn near everything he drops is (good), Kanye aint never going back to College Dropout?

    • djay2

      Although the sound did change, you can't say Kanye doesn't improve and stretch the boundaries of Hip-Hop with every album. Production and lyrically. Besides Graduation was his best work imo.

  • Maggiewhite934

    ===blackwhiteplanet.c~0~m =====

          
    Here____Is____the___place___where___you___can___meet____interr/acial_single___who____are___searching____for___their__-
    __special____someone 

           

    • Gregnice2

      Fat Joe been tryin to make another. Jealous. Ones. Envy. for the past twenty years but all he does is make a fool of himself and get ate on his own tracks by feature artist

  • Vagabond Jonzes

    Nas' Stillmatic > > > Illmatic, Supreme Clientele > > > Ironman, and The Do*****entary needs to be on this list...

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