Friday is sports/entertainment day on invisible blog.

by Jason Proe

I recently watched clips from a show MTV did called Hottest MCs in the Game. The goal of the show was to determine the ten “hottest” MCs “in the game right now.” A panel of hip-hop experts sat around a table and selected the top ten. I was pretty impressed by the panel, the depth of discussion and their reasoning seemed pretty sound for most of their choices. A lot of the rankings hinged on mix-tapes, which I don’t listen too anymore so I can’t say I understand all their choices. Apparently, 50 cent puts out good mix tapes which explains his ranking.

1. Kanye West
2. Jay-z
3. Lil Wayne
4. Rick Ross
5. Snoop Dogg
6. 50 cent
7. Lupe Fiasco
8. Young Jeezy
9. Andre 3000
10. T.I.

This show and the panel’s discussion reminded me of the days when I used to avidly read The Source (I link to the Wikipedia page because for some reason there website is still under construction!) before it lost all of its journalistic integrity. I always thought the reviews were good, although there was clearly a northern bias. Because I grew up in the south, The Source exposed me to a lot of music that I wouldn’t have purchased otherwise. For example, I am a huge Wu-Tang fan because 36 Chambers received 5 mics in the Source. Before there were MP3s I probably purchased at least 3 tapes and 2 CD’s of this album to replace old ones.

I did a quick search on the “internets” to see if I could find a list of the albums that have received 5 mics over the years. My first thought after finding what I thought was a reputable list was, “I only have tapes of some of these albums and I am too cheap to buy them again in digital format. What should I do? Do I even own a tape deck? How do I digitize them?” Concerning my last question, Lifehacker has a pretty good guide on converting tapes to digital format. Of course, you could always just by the CD.

My second thought was, “I can’t believe I don’t have a copy of The Chronic anymore.” I broke down and bought that immediately. My third thought was, “Where are Outkast’s other albums?” Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik - classic. ATLiens - classic. Stankonia - also a classic. Again, northern bias.

Finally, the last five albums on the 5 mic list (with the exception of The Blueprint) are questionable. The last five albums to receive 5 mics from The Source are:

1. 2001 — Dr. Dre
2. Stillmatic — Nas
3. The Blueprint — Jay-Z
4. The Fix — Scarface
5. The Naked Truth — Lil’ Kim

Again, these albums were released after the Source lost all credibility, but DAMN. Lil’ Kim got 5 mics? Where does one go to find a reputable list of the best hip-hop albums over the last 8 years? If you know, give us a shout in the comments. My personal project in the next few weeks is to compile a reputable list. Feel free to chime in. Check back here in a couple of Fridays for the best hip-hop since 2000!