With his sophomore album, Maxwell arguably paved a way for future artists to take his creative template and apply it to their own artistry.
Read moreBlack Eyed Peas’ Debut Album ‘Behind The Front’ Turns 26 | Album Anniversary
Together with their follow-up release, ‘Bridging The Gap’ (2000), the Peas’ inaugural LP offers the portrait of a group of hip-hop artists staying true to their ethos and sound.
Read moreDef Squad’s ‘El Niño’ Turns 25 | Album Anniversary
While not the strongest output within their respective recording repertoires, ‘El Niño’ remains notable for uniting the skills of Erick Sermon, Redman & Keith Murray on wax.
Read morePublic Enemy’s ‘It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back’ Turns 35 | Album Anniversary
Public Enemy’s landmark second LP is one of those rare albums that lives up to all of the superlatives that have been heaped upon it since its release three-and-a-half decades ago.
Read moreBig Daddy Kane’s Debut Album ‘Long Live The Kane’ Turns 35 | Album Anniversary
Deservedly regarded as one of the strongest hip-hop debut LPs ever recorded, ‘Long Live The Kane’ formally established Big Daddy Kane as a lyrical force to be reckoned with.
Read moreRun The Jewels’ Eponymous Debut Album ‘Run The Jewels’ Turns 10 | Album Anniversary
‘Run The Jewels’ was originally intended to be a one-off project. However, the album caught fire in a way that neither El-P nor Killer Mike ever conceived.
Read moreLiz Phair’s Eponymous Fourth Studio Album ‘Liz Phair’ Turns 20 | Album Anniversary
Looking back, ‘Liz Phair’ is a good album, full of vibrant emotion and wry observation, with an outsized cultural impact.
Read moreAretha Franklin’s ‘Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)’ Turns 50 | Album Anniversary
In all measures, and relative to the rest of her prolific discography, ‘Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)’ presents Aretha Franklin at her most esoteric.
Read moreGang Starr’s ‘The Ownerz’ Turns 20 | Album Anniversary
‘The Ownerz’ was definitely what Gang Starr loyalists had grown to expect, as the album emerged as one of the top five hip-hop albums of 2003.
Read moreGuster’s ‘Keep It Together’ Turns 20 | Album Anniversary
While ‘Keep It Together’ feels like a giant pivot away from the apocalypse-in-waiting of ‘Lost and Gone Forever,’ it’s not a betrayal of Guster’s identity as a band.
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