Best engineered hiphop albums of all time

[Kompakt]

Attention to sound quality and sonics here, success complements it and not personal taste.

in my opinion the best engineered hiphop albums for referencing

1. Eminem- Marshall Mathers LP
(lots of grammys including audio engineering grammy for 'kill you'-- best example of a hiphop album with simplified yet effective production and selling over 20million worldwide--'Criminal' is legendary)
2. Kanye West- Late Registration
(fiona apples producer/engineer, lots of grammys)
3. Dr Dre - Chronic 2001
4. Jay Z- Blueprint
5. 50 Cent- Get Rich Or Die Tryin

Who just quite didnt make it to my list: Nas- Illmatic, NWA- Straight outta Comption, Wu Tang- 36 Chambers, Snoop Dogg- Doggystyle, Common- B.E

Aftermath camp takes 2 years or more for an album and is prolly the only rap label which really pays detailed attention to sound engineering.

[Jahrome]

Wow.....you overlooked Life After Death? That CD set the standard for every Hip-hop CD released after it.

[HIGHENDONLY]

Vanilla ice ice baby..it sounded so good cause when it came ou it was on tape..haha

[upscaps]

prolly the only rap label which really pays detailed attention to sound engineering.

you cant be serious.

Wu Tang- 36 Chambers as the best engineered hiphop albums for referencing

??? 4trk cassette masters with extra loud vocals and dirty & unbalanced as it can come. that was their sound but its definately not a hip hop album anyone would wanna reference for a mix lol!

many rap labels for many years have had great sounding records. dre dont corner the market on that. Murder Inc, Bad Boy, Ruff Ryders, Timbaland's labels, Neptunes labels, Trackmasters labels, Rocafella, Nas' albums on columbia especially Stillmatic, Def Jam, So SO Def, Missy on elektra, Busta rhymes on elektra, Fabolous on elektra, etc. list goes on and on. Dre is talked about most on the internet but there have been alot of great sounding records throughout hip hop history. You may not dig what they do but Nelly, Trick daddy, Lil Jon, Jeezy albums sound good engineering wise.

Best in my opinion was BIG "Ready To Die" on bad boy or even "Life After Death." I reference those to this day. when i say best i mean best by a tiny margin.

The engineer with best sounding records in hip hop for quite some time to me is Jimmy Douglass and he dont work for aftermath.

I know this is like the 20th time this topic has been discussed but i get sucked in every 5th time or so. lol!

[NesNeedsGear]

big - ready to die album.

Big's voice sounds HUGE on most of the tracks. My personal favorites are his Vox on "Everyday Struggle", "Ready To Die", "Me And My B*tch", and "Unbelievable" . They sit in the mix perfectly, have the right amount of reverb, a sweet 'verb tail cutoff, and is precisely EQ'd with every track.

I still own the original CD and 12" which I bought in 94. The original master sounds MUCH better than the "re-master" release they put out a couple of years ago.
Don't even get me started on how it sounds on VYNIL.

Another vote (are we allowed two votes???...who gives a sh*t..lol)
Lauryn Hill - Miseducation

The grammy's speak for themselves.

[jazzy655]

Lauryn Hill - Miseducation
yes sir

[P. Rene]

ghostface-Supreme Clientele"

[Eager2Know]

My personal favourite is this one

IAM - L' Ecole du Micro D'Argent

never heard anything so "clean" and powerful and yet so "dirty" and "in your face".

You should try that one, it's always in our studio as a reference, I always wonder what equiment has been used on that one.

AFAIK (if I'm not mistaken) it was mixed in NYC Greene Street Recording Studios, is that correct?

Anyways 2 fricking thumbsup

P.S.: The 4th track - La Saga might be known, it was recorded with Dreddy Kruger from the Wu-Family

[ozzborn]

laryn miseducation
50 get rich or die tryin
common like water for chocalate
P.E. fear of a black planet
portishead dummy (i know its not hip hop but, its a classic)
jigga blueprint
em the emenem show
mobb deep murda musik


my personal refrence choices

[salomonander]

i don't know...lot's of stuff mentioned here seems really akward to me. especially the ones in the original post - don't get me wrong but those albums completely fail to capture the essence of hip hop (at least what i feel hip hop music is). it's always hard to say if a hip hop album is well engineered....especially on the older stuff. often the production was mind blowing but the vocals sounded horrible.
well, here are some records i really dig sound wise (and musically)

Smiff-n-Wessun the shining
Jeru the damaja Wrath of the Math
Nas illmatic
Sadat X wild cowboys
tribe called quest beats, rhymes and life
KRS ONE KRS-ONE
De la soul Stakes Is High
Fugees The score
Pharcyde Labcabincalifornia

these are some albums that actually sound like hip hop. not like that badly programmed, digital crap that wins grammies.

[salomonander]

....and i personally find aftermath to be one of the most horrible "hip hop" labels ever. do yourself a favour and check labels like stonesthrow
that still release decent albums by creative people. sorry - i don't want to sound rude or anything but this topic can really get me worked up.

take care

[XHipHop]

Most stuff from D & D Studios and most stuff from Dr. Dre's camp.

[salomonander]

Originally Posted by XHipHop

Most stuff from D & D Studios and most stuff from Dr. Dre's camp.

yeah man d&d studios was the sh*t

[jgrif08]

Wu tang 36 chambers as an example of good engineering...

Now I've heard it all

[XHipHop]

Originally Posted by jgrif08

Wu tang 36 chambers as an example of good engineering...

Now I've heard it all

It's all in the eyes (ears) of the beholder. I think it sounds fantastic.

[ozzborn]

i think the diffrence is what type of music do you make.

i dont make music like rza,neptunes,swizz beats,or rocwilder. these producers are great but i fall into the melodic producers like dre,havoc,hi-tek,dre and vidal,scott storch,just blaze.

if you listen to my tracks on my myspace page you will probably agree.

if your a percussive based producer your refrences would be different.

just my opinion.

[paultools]

Originally Posted by salomonander

Pharcyde Labcabincalifornia
.

Thanks!

[illynoise]

Originally Posted by Kompakt

Attention to sound quality and sonics here, success complements it and not personal taste.

in my opinion the best engineered hiphop albums for referencing

1. Eminem- Marshall Mathers LP
(lots of grammys including audio engineering grammy for 'kill you'-- best example of a hiphop album with simplified yet effective production and selling over 20million worldwide--'Criminal' is legendary)
2. Kanye West- Late Registration
(fiona apples producer/engineer, lots of grammys)
3. Dr Dre - Chronic 2001
4. Jay Z- Blueprint
5. 50 Cent- Get Rich Or Die Tryin

Who just quite didnt make it to my list: Nas- Illmatic, NWA- Straight outta Comption, Wu Tang- 36 Chambers, Snoop Dogg- Doggystyle, Common- B.E

Aftermath camp takes 2 years or more for an album and is prolly the only rap label which really pays detailed attention to sound engineering.

The Kanye album isn't even close. I thought it sounded okay at best!

What about "the low end theory"? ATCQ stuff still sounds great. The Roots first couple........

[illynoise]

Originally Posted by salomonander

i don't know...lot's of stuff mentioned here seems really akward to me. especially the ones in the original post - don't get me wrong but those albums completely fail to capture the essence of hip hop (at least what i feel hip hop music is). it's always hard to say if a hip hop album is well engineered....especially on the older stuff. often the production was mind blowing but the vocals sounded horrible.
well, here are some records i really dig sound wise (and musically)

Smiff-n-Wessun the shining
Jeru the damaja Wrath of the Math
Nas illmatic
Sadat X wild cowboys
tribe called quest beats, rhymes and life
KRS ONE KRS-ONE
De la soul Stakes Is High
Fugees The score
Pharcyde Labcabincalifornia

these are some albums that actually sound like hip hop. not like that badly programmed, digital crap that wins grammies.

So everything from 94-96? :-)

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by illynoise

So everything from 94-96? :-)

Basically anything coming out of NYC in the 90's mixed by Bob Brockman, Prince Charles Alexander, Bob Power or Tommy Uzzo.

[jlotto]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Basically anything coming out of NYC in the 90's mixed by Bob Brockman, Prince Charles Alexander, Bob Power or Tommy Uzzo.

the process back then: 2", ssl console, mix to 1/2", record in big rooms with great mics and great outboard w/ Great Budgets! they used akai samplers, sp1200, mpc3000, & analog hardware synths, etc.

real different from Mboxes, motu converters, softsynths, cheap mics & pre's, and songs recorded/mixed by bedroom engineers thru cheap monitors in untreated rooms. Also alot of analog console guys were struggling with mixing ITB for a bit and it showed and still showing (not as much).

I know a good engineer can deal with anything but it will never sound as good as that same engineer in unique room C w/ 2" multi going to 1/2" thru the ssl. (was my fav room. had the greatest view from the lounge).

thats the sound everyone misses. but everyone needs to take heed of the process the created those great sounding records.

with that said, ready to die was it for me. Prince charles and rich travalli did their thing. but the beats were phat and warm and big, the vocals were huge. tracking was good, and herb powers mastering was it.

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by jlotto

the process back then: 2", ssl console, mix to 1/2", record in big rooms with great mics and great outboard w/ Great Budgets! they used akai samplers, sp1200, mpc3000, & analog hardware synths, etc.

real different from Mboxes, motu converters, softsynths, cheap mics & pre's, and songs recorded/mixed by bedroom engineers thru cheap monitors in untreated rooms. Also alot of analog console guys were struggling with mixing ITB for a bit and it showed and still showing (not as much).

I know a good engineer can deal with anything but it will never sound as good as that same engineer in unique room C w/ 2" multi going to 1/2" thru the ssl. (was my fav room. had the greatest view from the lounge).

thats the sound everyone misses. but everyone needs to take heed of the process the created those great sounding records.

And don't forget the quality of engineering. Between the guys i mentioned you have guys who have mixed hit records in every genre not just rap so they have a great scope when it comes to making great sounding records.

Originally Posted by jlotto

with that said, ready to die was it for me. Prince charles and rich travalli did their thing. but the beats were phat and warm and big, the vocals were huge. tracking was good, and herb powers mastering was it.

Yeah its a shame PC retired(he is now on the faculty Music Production program at Berklee). But seeing as he saw where things went in the current music scene i don't blame him.

[upscaps]

the process back then: 2", ssl console, mix to 1/2", record in big rooms with great mics and great outboard w/ Great Budgets! they used akai samplers, sp1200, mpc3000, & analog hardware synths, etc.

real different from Mboxes, motu converters, softsynths, cheap mics & pre's, and songs recorded/mixed by bedroom engineers thru cheap monitors in untreated rooms. Also alot of analog console guys were struggling with mixing ITB for a bit and it showed and still showing (not as much).

I know a good engineer can deal with anything but it will never sound as good as that same engineer in unique room C w/ 2" multi going to 1/2" thru the ssl. (was my fav room. had the greatest view from the lounge).

thats the sound everyone misses. but everyone needs to take heed of the process the created those great sounding records.

How true

[con?one]

Dr. Dre - 2001
ATCQ - The Low End Theory
D'Angelo - Voodoo
Jay-Z - The Blueprint
Amel Larrieux - Infinite Possibilities

[LoopQuantum]

Originally Posted by illynoise

The Kanye album isn't even close. I thought it sounded okay at best!

What about "the low end theory"? ATCQ stuff still sounds great. The Roots first couple........

Yep. low end theory is amazing, probably my pick. AWESOME record, production was killer. My only beef, if I remember correctly, is that pretty much everything Bob Power ever did was at 93 BPM.

[con?one]

Originally Posted by LoopQuantum

My only beef, if I remember correctly, is that pretty much everything Bob Power ever did was at 93 BPM.

haha, that's not bob power's fault.
btw... "scenario" is what, like 100bpm?
the early to mid 90s was REALLY heavy on the 91-95bpm anyway though

[khameln]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Yeah its a shame PC retired(he is now on the faculty Music Production program at Berklee). But seeing as he saw where things went in the current music scene i don't blame him.

I'm studying with him now, I'm gonna squeeze every last drop of knowledge :D

And no, he's not retired; He's not mixing quite as much as he once was, but he's still active in the industry and works on different projects.

[LoopQuantum]

Originally Posted by con?one

haha, that's not bob power's fault.
btw... "scenario" is what, like 100bpm?
the early to mid 90s was REALLY heavy on the 91-95bpm anyway though

You're right, I just associate it with Power for some odd reason. Maybe b/c he was my favorite Hiphop producer at the time....his work
with Erykah Badu was great too.

[brainmeat]

Doggystyle and Ready to Die are two of the best.



I think 36 Chambers is good lo-fi.


Black Moon's Enta Da Stage is horrible lo-fi or maybe "mixed-fi". It's bad though. The beats are so poorly mixed and the levels and sonic clarity vary from song to song. The vocals are recorded and mixed adaquetely but then comes the occassional crappy reverbs. That album gives me a headache. I'd nominate it for worst engineering on a notable release. Not to be negative or anything.

[J Epic]

I think Illadelphia Halflife and Things Fall Apart sound awesome. And if you can say 36 Chambers sounds good for its LO Fi sound, then you gotta put Fantastic Vol. 1 on there. That whole album feels like you're chillin in the studio while its being made. Also all though it isnt my favorite album from him MOS DEF The New Danger sounds really good too.