The Golden Era of Rap for the 2K Generation

When people think of the Golden Era in rap, names like Rakim, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane come to mind. I personally appreciate everything they did to pave the way for our generation of entertainers, but I really can't relate to their music and I don't listen to it that much. In my case, the Golden Era was from the 4TH QUARTER of 2002 to the 1ST QUARTER of 2004.

(For those not familiar with the quarter system, releases dates are broken down into 4 quarters, JAN/FEB/MARCH, APRIL/MAY/JUNE, and so on.)

I've been a big fan of rap music since around 1994. It had grown from listening to an artist here & there and basic radio hits to "digging in the crates" and actually buying & listening to a variety of sounds & genres of rap.

At the end of 2002, I was making the transition from High School to College. I was relying heavily on music as an escape from studying/applying to schools and also as a High-Enhancer during my various weed-smoking escapades as a youngster.

Looking back on it, I realize how spoiled I was around that time. The amount of quality CD's that came out during that time is mind-boggling. The following CD's were released from the 4th Quarter of 2002 to the 1st Quarter of 2004:

Jay-Z- The Black Album
Kanye West- College Dropout
State Property- State Property Presents the Chain Gang Vol. 2
Young gunz- Tough Luv
The Diplomats- Diplomatic Immunity
50 Cent- Get Rich or Die Tryin
G-Unit- Beg For Mercy
T.I.- Trap Musik
Three 6 Mafia- Da Unbreakables
Outkast- Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Freeway- Philadelphia Freeway
Juelz Santana- From Me to U
Roc-A-Fella- Dame Dash Presents the Dream Team
Ludacris- Chicken & Beer

... and those are just the major releases. Albums like Hi-Teknology by Hi-Tek and Electric Circus by Common also provided some classic tunes. I'm sure im missing others on that list as well.

Out of those albums, I would put AT LEAST 3 of them on my favorite albums of all-time list (Hint- I was a big Roc/SP/Dipset fan around that time). Those albums are, for the most part, each respective artists' best work. I vividly remember riding up on AMTRAK to visit Temple University as a prospective student and playing Diplomatic Immunity over and over. I can remember feeling like Jay really went out with a bang with "My First Song." (Little did I know he would indeed come back like MJ wearin the 4-5). I remember listening to every song on State Prop 2 without skipping one track. I can remember the goosebumps I got the first time I heard "Spaceship" by Kanye West. I was never a huge fan of 50 Cent, but there's no denying the hit-after-hit variety that he provided on Get Rich or Die Tryin. I can remember the whole G-Unit CD being played at house parties when I was a Freshman. T.I. was at his best on Trap Musik, where he was still able to more-than-effectively strattle the line between street and commercial. "Ridin Spinners" captured the fad so perfectly and also provided Lil Flip one last breath before T.I. took his life as a rapper. People were skeptical of Outkast coming out with solo projects, and I think most people liked Andre's LP better, but I liked them both and thought they defied all haters and took a big risk which resulted in two smash hits("Hey Ya" and "The Way You Move"). Freeway had such a new, unique style and although his voice was a bit much at times, I was still a big fan of Philadelphia Freeway. I was a huge fan of Dipset so nuff said bout Juelz lol. And hearin "One for Peedi" and "Home of Philly" made me feel right at home even though I had only recently become a resident in the area. Even Luda, my arch nemesis, had a plethora of bangers on his KFC & Bud Lite LP.

The one thing that all these artists had in common was their collective hunger. Some of the albums above were those artists' first, and that in itself was motivation to put their best product out. Some of the albums were efforts by the artists' to solidify their growing buzz or acknowledge their legitimacy as Hip-hop heavyweights. Some of the albums were an artists'grand finale (or was supposed to be in one artists case) or goodbye to mainstream fans. Other albums were collective efforts by a group of artists who were at the top of their game at that time and were able to co-exist and shine equally on a major stage. Unfortunately, the majority of cliques in the rap game from that time have disbanded for a number of reasons. It's unfortunate because now is when we need their best efforts the most, and barely any of the artists mentioned above still have the fire or skill they once possessed.

With all that being said, here's a playlist I made that has a few tracks from each of the cd's mentioned above. I wasn't able to get all the ones I wanted, but it's still a mix that probably contains more quality tracks over a 1 1/4 year span than the amount of quality songs that have been released in the 5 years since the "Golden Era". Enjoy!!



- J. Todd