10 Anticipated Rap Albums for 2006
1. Ghostface – Fish Scale (Def Jam)
2. The Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury (Whatever Label They Ended Up On)
3. Juvenile – Reality Check (Atlantic)
4. Outkast – Idlewild Soundtrack (Arista)
5. E-40 – My Ghetto Report Card (Sick Wid It/BME)
6. The Coup – Pick A Bigger Weapon (Epitaph)
7. Turf Talk – The West Coast Vaccine: The Cure (Sick Wid It)
8. Cormega – Urban Legend (Legal Hustle)
9. Wise Intelligent – The Talented Timothy Taylor (Intelligent Muzik)
10. Killer Mike – Ghetto Extraordinary (Purple Ribbon)
Other artists I might like to actually hear albums from next year. About half of em have been idle (either due to label politics, laziness or a combination of both) for the past ~3 years (and the other half – the bay cats mostly – will probably drop a few solid singles and a mediocre album): Da Backwudz (Wood Work), Bubba Sparxx (The Charm), Cannibal Ox, Crooked I, Devin, Dr. Dre, Fam-Lay, Federation, Field Mob (Lights Poles & Pine Trees), Freeway (Free At Last), Frontline, Goodie Mob, Jay-Z, Ked, KLC (The Drum Major), Konkrete, M.O.P., Nas (?? the jury’s still out on whether or not he can still make good records), Oschino (and Sparks?), PEACE, Peedi Crakk, Percee P, Pharoahe Monch (Inner Visions), Project Pat (Crook By The Book), Raekwon (Cuban Linx II), Rah Digga, Ras Kass, Redman, Rosco P. Coldchain, San Quinn, Scarface, The Team, Witchdoctor (God Is Good), Young Chris, Young Dro, Young Zee and probably a slew of other shit I’m forgetting.
November 30th, 2005 at 2:42 am
Killa Season?
November 30th, 2005 at 4:56 am
I’ll definately be grabbing that new Coup album, along with Paris’ new effort, PE’s “Rebirth of a Nation”, and the new albums from The Terrorists, Murder One, Insane Poetry’s mixtape and album (hopefully they get released).
My most anticipated album release is SPM’s “When Devils Strike” but that looks like it’s never coming out…
And finally, I can’t forget the return of NATAS with “N OF THA WORLD” coming out in Jan/Feb on Warlock Records.
Should be a good year for hip hop if all goes to plan.
PEACE, EMVEE.
November 30th, 2005 at 5:22 am
Killer Mike? come on
November 30th, 2005 at 7:05 am
So I guess Witchdoctor’s new record is coming out on Cunninglinguist’s A Piece Of Strange Records. I guess that’s a good thing, I’ve never listened to those guys because they have a terrible name. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna go to a record store and ask for Cunninglinguist.
November 30th, 2005 at 7:07 am
also killer mike is the hungriest rapper alive. if he gets the right production his record will be a fucking beast.
and i had no idea that a new terrorists album was coming out. that should be interesting.
killa season is my most anticipated film.
November 30th, 2005 at 7:29 am
im wonderin when the next dead prez is gon drop
November 30th, 2005 at 8:29 am
Won’t bother listing my top ten here since who cares, but am surprised the Ghostface/MF DOOM collabo “Swift and Changeable” hasn’t been mentioned. Ghostface on rhymes plus Doom on beats should be insane.
November 30th, 2005 at 10:56 am
ditto, and i’m curious about the Lil’ E Prince of Compton album, it’s a westcoast thang.
November 30th, 2005 at 2:51 pm
Like you said in a short review of it earlier, Street’s Disciple was half of a good album and the other half was about Kelis, but I still wanna hear this Neptunes beat Nas got in a bidding war over and paid 2 mil for that’s supposed to be on NASDAQ Dow Jones. And Clipse, hell muthafuckin’ yeah, it’s been too long since they last dropped.
November 30th, 2005 at 3:15 pm
The Team has a “for the streets” mixtape/dvd, “Go Music,” comin out dec. 6th presented by the siccness (siccness.net) and “World Premiere” drops jan 24th.
What you think about the new 40 and quinn singles? i bang em, but i hope there’s better stuff on their albums.
Also there’s this young rapper out of oakland by the name of UnJust. imo i think his lyrics are hard and he’s definately got some talent. check out his mixtapes (for free) at turfquake.com
November 30th, 2005 at 4:38 pm
DAMN!!!!!
YO this list looks like I coulda made it my damn self for real… I’m juiced about every single one of those albums cuz I havent heard a album I really liked in a long time… Bun B’s was tight but man the game fell off bigtime! I cant wait to hear all these albums.
And yea check out Unjust… I went to HS wit that nigga so maybe I’m biased but he’s no joke on the mic tho.
November 30th, 2005 at 4:40 pm
I really think no-one sounds better over a 6/8 beat right now than Killer Mike, and I hope he capatalizes on this.
November 30th, 2005 at 4:40 pm
Oh and to that cat Remy: YES killa mike… he’s a concious rapper wit a grammy already under his belt. Thats all i need to know to go pick up the album but on top of that he really is a sick MC.
November 30th, 2005 at 6:02 pm
I’ll be buying at least the first 7 of those albums pretty much automatically, it’s a good list.
November 30th, 2005 at 6:46 pm
jose have you heard lil’ e rap? i read a message board joke once that said they should get ice cube’s son to ghostwrite.
November 30th, 2005 at 8:57 pm
yeah but Lil’E is getting trained by the D.O.C. to rap now, that can’t be bad. He organized an N.W.A. reunion, a Bone Thugs track, and Dr.Dre of all peoples no lie… so I think the artists he’s around with are gonna polish him up a bit. Hey, Eazy-E never wanted to be a rapper either but he made “Boyz N the Hood”.
November 30th, 2005 at 9:13 pm
hell yea on the Ghostface….noz do you konw anything about the release date for that? was supposed to be Dec 13th, but since its Def Jam that was never realistic.
about the Doom/GFK collabo: Doom supposedly has about 7 beats on FishScale so Im assuming the Doom/Ghost album will have a lot of Doom rhymin on it. lookin forward to those a lot.
how can you not put Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 on there???should be number 1 my frriend.
peace
November 30th, 2005 at 9:54 pm
“how can you not put Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 [OR MF DOOM/GHOSTFACE RECORD] on there???”
because i suspect these records will not be released next year.
alternate answer for cuban linx 2: because busta rhymes is exec. producing.
alternate answer for Doomer Face: because MF doom only has one style and releases six albums a year.
jose – i wasn’t trying to diss lil eazy, im not familiar with his work at all. the lineup you mention looks nice to me.
November 30th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
and evan isn’t ghostface to “street” for your tastes?
November 30th, 2005 at 11:03 pm
A few thoughts:
Which half of “Streets’ Disciple” was “the good half”? That record was a massive terd–the only two moderately interesting cuts on there were the ones where Nas got his Prince on and rapped in drag.
People, please stop repeating that ridiculous internet rumor that Nas purchased a track from the Neptunes for $2 million–common sense should tell you that that’s simply not true, for a myriad of reasons.
And, noz, did we or did we not receive information from an industry insider that the upcoming Busta Rhymes album will be a classic?
November 30th, 2005 at 11:10 pm
pretty sure ‘kast’s album is called “idleWILD.”
December 1st, 2005 at 2:38 am
i doubt idelwild will be rap. cuban linx 2 will be a classic although i personally dont believe it. im hearing it from many insider fronts tho. despite the bussabuss. also, the next busta rhymes album will be his first one where a&r isnt forcing him to be wildin out dorkmode, its supposed to be an entirely different album. ghost and doom is going to be relegated to each others albums and wont be a full seperate album. redmans album wont see light on def jam. NASDAQ will be good, all premier beats, how can you hate on that? i doubt the new dre will see 2006 and if it is going to you might as well download it now…also…jay z??!?!
December 1st, 2005 at 3:30 am
Cocaine Hyacinth, are you an… *Industry Insider* ???
December 1st, 2005 at 4:33 am
I thought Ghosts CD was coming out soon, like in 2 weeks?
December 1st, 2005 at 11:33 am
“I thought Ghosts CD was coming out soon, like in 2 weeks?”
nope, as said above it got pushed back. when i saw ghost live here in chicago a few weeks back he said that it was coming out in february.
hey noz, what is that picture from? it reminds me of the cover for the incredibly shitty nintendo game ‘Anticipation’.
also another big album for is ODB – A Son Unique. has that whole thing leaked yet? is it ever actually coming out?
December 1st, 2005 at 8:02 pm
do industry insiders actually have a clue what really makes an album great? Or do they base such opinions on percieved potential for visibility based on things like the # of neptunes tracks on it???
December 1st, 2005 at 8:10 pm
am I the only one who heard the new busta rhymes album leak??? I mean that wasn’t fake right? with the song that has Game and DJ Quik on it? that shit sucked.
December 1st, 2005 at 10:27 pm
“and the other half – the bay cats mostly – will probably drop a few solid singles and a mediocre album”
funny that pertains exactly to keak, yet you fail to mention him. wait wait wait, he’ll be too busy poorly promoting Super Duper Hyphy to actually care about grumbling over 15 other tracks in order to throw together an ‘album’ (with the requisite close up mugshot cover). keak homie, prove me wrong and release something that resembles a product. that being said, its gotta be so fun to be the hottest thing on the streets of the bay without needing or caring to adhere to industry norms.
noz, first time i was directed to your site was for that yuk-game diss exchange…i just want to say that in retrospect, the outcome (game blowing up, then well…and of course yuk treading some serious water) is hilariously frustrating.
may the rap chronicles continue…with my hyphy energy drink in hand.
December 2nd, 2005 at 10:36 am
nice list, but camron and JR Writer were definitely missing. as was yukmouth “Million Dollar Mouthpiece”. do you really think Pedro Crakk will ever actually drop??
December 2nd, 2005 at 6:30 pm
Oliver-
its easy to hate on keak but you have to acknowledge that he is at least partially responsible for bringing Bay Area to where its at right now in the game.
December 3rd, 2005 at 7:09 pm
nas streets disciple is a badass album how can you not like cuts like: Suicide Bounce and Nazareth Savage. those cuts alone are better than most rappers entire records. check out U.B.R and message to the feds too.
“I make that real shit and you wont buy the record”
December 3rd, 2005 at 7:23 pm
suicide bounce is awful.
December 4th, 2005 at 12:30 am
Listen to what Nas talks about on “Rest of My Life”, some real shit there…
December 4th, 2005 at 5:27 am
looks like another year where good rap is non-existant. Only thing on the whole damn list I will get is the coup.
December 4th, 2005 at 6:07 pm
Seems liek enough people have mentioned the Doom/Ghostface album for me to talk about it yet again.
I never thought I would say this but I’m hyped for Budden if he drops in 06, especially if Blaze is behind the boards with the sort of form that man has been on.
December 4th, 2005 at 9:55 pm
2006 is gonna be great. Chino XL is dropping “Poison Pen: The Lost Tapes” and Immortal Technique is releasing “The Middle Passage”. I’m looking forward to em’…
December 5th, 2005 at 7:58 am
I’m definitely looking for that KLC shit. Lil Boosie. Bump J (hometown pride, I doubt it’ll be a classic) – speaking of Chicago, GLC…? Konkrete kill it on Got That Purp so yeah. Can Ox I’ll give a shot, but I almost feel like Cold Vein was good by accident these days, how bad Vast’s solo was. Nas can still make good records, we’ll see how long the “all DJ Premier beats” thing lasts haha. Scarface said he was done rapping forever in a murder dog interview didn’t he? Maybe I’m crazy. I guess this doesn’t count as ‘rap’ even though he raps, but Daddy Yankee’s new album I will cop and enjoy. Oh yeah, Jody Breeze. Best BndH as far as I’m concerned.
Ghost, Clipse, Juvie, the Coup for sure. E-40, Outkast and Turf Talk to a lesser extent.
December 5th, 2005 at 8:00 am
(Haha if I talk too much about Boosie and Jody Breeze though it’ll be like I’m biting Padgett’s style. He was right about those though.)
December 5th, 2005 at 8:40 am
I definitey check out The Coup cause Boots always does his thing. I’m curious to hear the Wise Intelligent cause he still got it for sure. He has a track on the new JEL album (which is dropping in Feb ‘06 by the way)which is tight. On the subject, there will also be a new X Clan in the early part of ‘06 that should be good cause Brother J sounds as good as ever. The Crooked I makes me curious. Honestly, I really want to hear that Rosco P Coldchain, that one single I have from him is the joint. I swear I never heard anyone play it but me!
December 5th, 2005 at 5:14 pm
Rah Digga? I wish she would just go away! be a soccer mom or join the P.T.A JUST DO NOT PUT OUT ANY MORE MUSIC
December 6th, 2005 at 2:22 am
I think Coldchain is good too actually! And funny.
Also did everyone forget about Foxy Brown?
December 6th, 2005 at 2:38 am
1. Musical Youth- Dutchie 2017
2. Chuck D on ACID! Flava Flav straight edge.
December 6th, 2005 at 5:52 pm
I like your list, because it is comprised of a diverse list of rappers. I got that juve on bootleg tho, and if the copy i received is legitimate, then Juve has not steppd up his game since Juve the Great. I think he needs Cash Money, or at least Baby to lace him with one or two bangers. Think about the tracks that he made singles off of his last album. Bounce Back and In My Life were the tracks he sent out to the public. Nolia Clap wasn’t on there, nor was his verse in the video that was released. He needs cash money, and that’s all there is to it. That new Wayne, however, that is vicious. I got that and it is fire, despite the fact that Mannie Fresh is not featured. I wish you could do a blog entry that discusses how important the producer is to a track, because I have been wondering that for some time. The Wayne CD is fire and features almost no big name producers (at least in my opinion, and I am a Scratch magazine subscriber and fledgling producer). The same can be said about Mos Def’s “Black on Both Sides” LP. No superstar producers, yet a solid album nonetheless. Anyway, I’ve ranted for entirely too long and I doubt anyone will read this, but that’s my two cents. Holla.
December 8th, 2005 at 4:59 am
This relates partly to the Log Cabin post before, oddly enough:
I downloaded Ellay Khule’s new album. It’s fucking awesome. I hadn’t thought of checking him out until I read that post.
Alternately, I waited forever for the new 3MG to come out, because 3MG Live in Tokyo was pretty good. Terrible. Like, unlistenable almost.
I guess it kind of forced me to admit that the Legends crew is getting worse and worse. Hate to admit it, because I’m from the bay area. I also have the entire Log Cabin album. It’s ok, and I was surprised that you left Sunsprayed and Time & Space off. Best songs on the album.
I will be happy if a new Cannibal Ox record comes out though.
December 8th, 2005 at 11:34 pm
david – i went back and forth about listing cannibal ox. not only do i agree that cold vein was very random in it’s niceness and didn’t make any sense in light of any of the artists involved previous/current work, but also it’s aged pretty horribly. i pulled it out a few days ago and about half of it’s practically unlistenable. but i don’t know, i really loved that shit when it came out, and i’d like to keep a glimmer of hope that it’d be a proper follow up. vordul’s a really fucking good rapper technically, but vast almost always comes awful and he just keeps getting worse. but i mainly listed it because i want to keep my indie rap cred up.
kevin – that jel track is pretty tight, i did a double take when i heard him on there. it’s hard to believe that it’s been damn near ten years since new world order, but PRT never missed a step (outside of that 2001 12″ from the album they rightfully scrapped i think). wise is really one of the most underrated rappers of all time, although i might be biased because of his local hero status. he’s talking the new record up like it’s gonna be something very personal, which i think can only be a good thing. “still black” is real nice, but i’m not entirely sold on the new 12″
as for x-clan, isn’t a x-clan but not really project, ie brother j and a bunch of other random dudes performing other the name? either way j does still sound fresh on the few things i’ve heard from him so it’d probably be worth checking. if wise intelligent, the coup, pe and x-clan all (or even half of them) drop good albums next year it could be a good look for aging political rappers.
and we played the shit out of that roscoe p. coldchain. the album he was supposed to put out on star trak boasted a crazy production lineup. i’m also glad fam-lay’s getting a push again. they were two rappers with unique styles who i was really siked to hear over neptunes production (especially in the wake of lord willin)
December 11th, 2005 at 1:03 pm
THE best album of 2006 is missing “Killa season” by Cam’ron. His verses on the Juelz’ are off the hook.
December 13th, 2005 at 12:02 am
Rhymefest! Don’t know how I didn’t list him – Scratch has a breakdown of who’s doing the beats on his new album (Cool&Dre, No ID, Kanye, Mark Ronson, Emile and Jon Brion)
December 13th, 2005 at 9:17 pm
the No ID and Emile joints on Rhyemfest’s album are pretty tight…
December 14th, 2005 at 11:48 am
Don’t forget, Pimp C is free so ya know UGK gonna come out with some FIRE!
December 15th, 2005 at 12:11 pm
don’t forget Kevin Federline’s album, that leaked single was HOT, just ask Britney, most slept on (the couch) rapper /dancer of the year!
February 15th, 2008 at 4:59 am
http://www.sendspace.com/file/84jtrm