CLASSIC STATUS: Welcome To Our World

Timbaland & Magoo
Welcome To Our World (1997)
Classic Status
by Arik C.

When listening to Timbaland doing his grunts, his "uhs" and his "vicka-vicka-vickas" on his older work, it's very difficult to avoid conjuring up the persona of the new Timbaland:  The body-building pop-champion.  It takes a bit to remember what Timbaland once was.  He wasn't just a pop chart-climbing superproducer, but a super talented producer climbing the industry one sick drum loop at a time.

CLASSIC STATUS: Labcabincalifornia

The Pharcyde
Labcabincalifornia (1995)
Classic Status
by Josh B.

 Almost all “alternative” hip-hop heads will agree that the first Pharcyde album, Bizarre Ride 2 the Pharcyde is a classic, which I agree with.  Dropping in 92 there was nothing like it.  Sure there were other groups rocking jazzy beats with positive lyrics but Pharcyde was different.  They were able to put out a party record that was crazy, funny, dirty, carefree, and honest.  They were young guys growing up in South LA and they wanted to talk about their experiences that did not involve gunplay and G-Funk.  You would also be hard pressed to find another group that utilized a Fender Rhodes like them either.  I mean besides The Roots who else was?  Now you might be asking yourself “Why isn’t he doing Bizarre Ride as a classic status?” well it is because most people already know that is a classic.  What a lot of people need to realize is that The Pharcyde has two classic albums not just one, something that a lot of critics seem to not recognize.  Which brings me to the 1995 CLASSIC Labcabincalifornia. 

CLASSIC STATUS: Maid of Gold

Villain Accelerate
Maid of Gold (2003)
Classic Status
By Lewis S.

In my darkest times and latest hours, I find refuge in what I imagine to be the greater discontent of my favorite instrumental artists. Others may try to listen to something with sticky “pep” or forcefully uplifting bubbles, but I prefer to stew in brood sauce and wallow in the sad mustard of something bitter, determined, and beautiful.

CLASSIC STATUS: Things Fall Apart

The Roots
Things Fall Apart (1999)
Classic Status
By Lewis Scaife

Hip hop beats are the raspberries of contemporary music. Favorite albums tend to molder on the shelves if they are not actively consumed. If the artist gets washed up, the product quickly disintegrates into mushy globules of something that was once delicious. What was fresh and expensive yesterday quickly turns to compost.