I believe that I have a strange and wide spectrum of music. These days I listen to various kinds of music but over the last two years or so the main type I listen to is probably indie music. My favourite artists/bands are as diverse as The Kinks, The Jam, The Clash, The Specials, Madness, Oasis, Nas, Eminem, Sway, Dizzee Rascal, Kano, Arctic Monkeys, Libertines, Kasabian, The View, UB40 amongst many others. I also love listening to my old drum n bass and garage tape and CD packs...good memories!!!
To me, this album is brilliant and their greatest work. I was only seven years old when it was realeased in 1995. At this time I typically liked pop music as do most children, but when my dad bought this album home I couldn’t get enough of it. I still don’t know why as I was not a fan of any type of Rock music until bands like The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys came along. I think that this shows how special this album is and was. It contains the two massive hits: ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ as well as other well known and loved Oasis tracks such as 'Champagne Supernova' and 'Roll With It'. There is often debate as to whether this album is better than 'Definitely Maybe' the bands classic debut. I would have to say that 'What's The Story' comes a close second in quality, but as this was the album of the two that we had at home, this is the one I picked. Oasis are my favourite band of all time and this was my first experience of them.
This album is probably my favourite of my picks. I had always loved Oasis but other than that at the time of first hearing this, I was never really a fan of the Rock scene. Before the release of this album, the Arctic Monkeys had built up so much hype that I couldn’t ignore it. I had heard a few tracks from the album and loved them. I then decided to get the album. I love every song on the album which is pretty rare for an album. I think that the thing that is so great about the Arctic Monkeys is their lyrics and subject matter. Musically they are not too different from many bands out at the moment but on this album, they are singing about everyday things such as going clubbing (main theme in most songs), 'chav' culture (A Certain Romance), Moody Girlfriends (Mardy Bum) and anyone can relate to them- even The Prime Minister Gordon Brown who says, "The Arctic Monkeys Really Wake You Up In The Morning".
Illmatic is the amazing debut album of rapper Nas. This album was released in 1994 but I never heard it until 2006. He is one of my favourite rappers, releasing some albums before I even new of him. In 2003 I got 'God's Son' his 6th album and loved it. I also liked his next few albums. As every album he's produced has been dubbed inferior to 'Illmatic' I decided to explore his back catalogue. Nas is arguably the greatest rapper alive, possibly the greatest ever. He is always mentioned in any serious hip-hop fan's top 5 and has everything needed to become a great: image, voice, flow and lyrical ability. On this album he uses complex rhyming schemes to tell stories that portray life as a youth in the slums of America (Queens Bridge Projects, New York to be precise) and all of this as a 19/20 year old. It is a raw stripped down album and the lyrics are the best I have heard of him or anyone else.
Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ is the debut album of rapper 50 Cent. This was the first hip-hop album that I had bought at the time and was released in 2003. Following the smash single, 'In Da Club' and follow up single '21 Questions' I instantly became a fan. I then borrowed the album from a friend and thought it was brilliant so I bought it. For me, this is 50 Cent at his best, when he was hungry for success. There is hardly a skippable song on the album. This is great for a 20+ track album. It features great collaborations, most notably those with Eminem and features great production from Dr. Dre. Since this album 50 Cent has produced two albums that have been heavily criticised. If only 50 Cent was as hungry as this on his follow up albums.
Eminem’s second album, released in 2000 is probably his greatest and definitely most controversial. At the time I wasn’t a huge fan of Hip-Hop but I loved his singles from the album such as ‘Real Slim Shady’, ‘Stan’ and ‘The Way I Am’. I didn’t get the album until some years later however. I believe that Eminem is at his best on this album because of the diversity in subject matter of the album. For example ‘Stan’- about an obsessed fan, ‘Who Knew’ a stab at critics who blame him for the actions of others, ‘Kim’ the disgusting yet brilliant (fake) tale of him killing his then current wife. These days Hip-Hop artists tend to limit there raps to girls, cars, gangster and money. Eminem caused huge controversy with this album due to his subject matter, but his homophobic and mysogynistic rhymes are the thoughts of his alter ego, 'Slim Shady' and are not meant to be taken seriously. Also lyrically Eminem is amazing using complex rhyming schemes and hard-hitting humorous punchlines throughout.