ABW’s Top 5: AP3.0

5th Letter

5th Letter

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ABW’s resident admin gives us his top 5.

5. Lupe Fiasco

After his initial introduction to me in "Touch the Sky", it wouldn't be until his second album "The Cool" that I would listen to a full body of work from him. I went back to listen to his debut album many many years later despite having heard the singles but wasn't listening to them if that makes sense. His career hasn't been a bad one but I would've liked a better trajectory for him. A lot of people do not like the "treasure hunt raps" he is known for but I love them. A dude made some visuals for some of his more layered songs and that made the songs that much better. One of my Favorite songs from him is probably. Wordplay, breath control, pace is just stupid

 
4. Kanye West
Late Registration was such an impactful album. I was in college and the sped up soul sample was doing crazy numbers. It was everywhere. IDC who may have pioneered it but Ye took that shit to another galaxy. Early Kanye really felt like that dude that wasn't street but was street adjacent. The dude the dealers protected and told him to go to school and be somebody. His early features were some of my most memorable moments in music. He definitely has like a top 3-5 first 3 album run that won't probably be matched. His second acts of albums weren't terrible by any means but the first act are practically flawless imo

Favorite song is easily
 
3. Lil Wayne
This is easily one of those you had to be there moments. I remember in school the convos about Wayne being the same age as us and just how dope he was as a teenager. Wayne's first act of his career to me will always hold a special place to me. I remember the first time I heard "block burner" on the radio. Not a single curse word. He made to where you find rap his lyrics without really worrying that you had to censor yourself. The sound effects he would make always landed and never sounded out of place. Second act Wayne gave us the first 3 Carter's. Again, you had to be there when it was leaked in Nola with all the controversy surrounding CMR and everybody leaving and rumors of Wayne signing to the ROC. This dude has so many songs to choose from but I'ma go with one of my favorite songs from the first Carter
 
2. Juvenile

Yeeeeeaaaaahhhh nigga. Juvenile

Criminally underrated. One of THE best story tellers in hip hop and I'll stand on that. Juvie was the standard for cash money. I always felt like juvie wasn't rapping but was telling a story with words that matched. One of my biggest disappointments was that he wasn't allowed to do features. I would've loved for him to do something like HNIC that BG did with Prodigy. The first time I heard Soulja Rags, that had everybody at school rapping that shit in the hallways. Juvie definitely rapped like he was that older brother/cousin that was just trying to give you game.


My favorite song is easily Ha. The visuals take it over the top
 
1. Jay Z
Y'all ever heard the term reverse crate digging? Essentially it's when you discover a sample through a song then you go back to the original. That describes me and exposure to Jay.

Once I got out of my Southern bias in college, my first actual Jay album was Blueprint. This album was EVERYWHERE in New Orleans. I had heard the singles from him over the years but was never moved to listen to the albums but that changed with Blueprint and I've been a fan ever since. Jay just has a way with words. Whether it's the usage or pronunciation of them, he definitely has a style a lot have tried to emulate. A lot of Jay songs to choose from but one of my favorite is
 
Lupe Stan has Kanye over him?

IMG_2957.jpeg
 
Goldie said:
@AP3.0

I forgot what sparked it, but a few weeks ago I was hunting the web for why Juve wasn't in the "Down Bottom " video, I couldn't find shit. But if CM had that rule in place it'll make sense now.


But CM did features for 3-6, NORE, Nelly, etc
Click to expand...
That was different. I think that was just a scheduling thing or a label thing where they wanted Drag on to probably get some solo shine.

What I meant was, prior to the ruff Ryder/CMR tour, them dudes did practically no outside features with other artists.

I don't count juvie on the Snoopy track and Jay on Ha remix. Juvie imo didn't really get to take his talents to their highest levels cause of the CMR ecosystem rules.
 
Louisiana is represented.
That Juvie description is exactly how I feel about him. Dude was always dope. Super underrated.
The reason why Juvie wasn't in the Down Bottom video was Baby wanted too much money.
I have a mix cd floating around somewhere that's called Featuring CMR. It's pretty much every song they were featured on. People can downplay it but they were everywhere. They was even on The Wood and Blue Streak soundtracks.
 
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