Damn, after reading through this thread I've been reminded about a lot of albums I love, so I'm gonna put some more thought into my top 5 before posting..

@R Productionz I seen an explanation somewhere before so I simply googled for it and found this, hope it helps (:


"[Nas - First Verse]
look here see, pretty mike shanked two face al
over some gal
find the body dead in the aisles
death by strangulation, microphone cord a dirty broad
guess theyll never play it again Sam
damn that was my jam
now she's on the lamb
she made it out wit 200 grand
what a scam
while these two compete on who's the star of the show
golden legs there makes off wit the doe
I read the paper there wit joe da butcher
he said "one glance is all it took ya, she's a real looker
they say her old mans a bootlegger
transporting in any weather and at this rate we'll never get her"
fellas think its time to call it a night
all this talk of this mystery dames gettin me tight
thought I saw her in my eyesight, right
hate to spoil the party
what are you guys havin? the same?
waiter another round for the gang
its strange how I always felt outta place
joe da butchers my ace, but in comes freckle face
so I said see you later
fore hurt him and his two ugly thumb breakers
met them in louisiana wrestling gators
and any idiot can tell there involved wit the caper
so I pulled the revolver on my waist up
between the patrol car and the grey truck behind the streetlamp was a silouhette
white gloves and a real long cigarette
whattya ya know all this time she's got me in her scope
she spoke says " the devils got you guys be the throat
your conspiracy theories won't work without evidence
that's the reason why eric b is not president"

ya see?

[Nas - Second Verse]
look here see, I know you got soul your trying to hide it
how did you kill a man out in cypress?
one eyed charlie
he only hangs with the criminal minded
says you guys did it doggystyle is he lyin?
she says " walk this way ill tell you a childrens story
we hit the bodega got her a few 40s
we jumped in my ride
we drove and she cried
twist off the cap there and opened her mouth wide
swallowed it
whole bottles half empty
drinks like a fish, now she's past tipsy
truth came out as we got to her suave house
chopped and screwed her mouth and sat me on the couch
I said its gettin late cmon give it to me straight
who's ya sponsor lady?
she says bill gates
whattya born 77? 78?
she says "nah it goes way to an earlier date, slave times
claims the slaves said rhymes but she fell in love wit some fella named clive
who?
clive campbell from sedgwick ave, the bronx
now she shows me the cash
I said who's clive? don't play wit me skirt!
she said clive campbell.....he's kool herc

Ahaaa Ahaaaaa

[Nas Outro]
listen up sweetheart, now we gettin somewhere
as she's talkin she starts vanishing in thin air
but before she drops the money bag on the floor and died
she said if you really love me, ill come back alive

-----
SYNOPSIS

now lets get some things straight since its a story there's characters, setting and plot

the plot is who killed hip-hop?

the setting is 1930s the golden era; the manifestation of jazz, mobsters, bootlegging and organized crime

the characters are nas the detective and his partner joe da butcher

freckle face who is joe da butchers connection to the underworld

and hip-hop who is the girl in the story a.k.a. the gal

now what happens is pretty mike and two face al kill each other and the gal runs off with the money

pretty mike and two face al are B.I.G. & Tupac and its a psuedonym for hip-hop maximizing its commercialism which is why the gal runs off with the money

the murder of two face al is directly referencing tupac dying first

now this all occured at some club where the excellent record jams go on sung by the gal

that is why nas says damn that was my jam because she will never be singing there again

the setting is further portrayed through the uses of microphone cord as the murder weapon and the fact the body was found in the aisle

now joe da butches represent the average hip-hop listener

his name simply breaks down to joe a.k.a. the average joe schmo and da butcher part is a reference to "chewing the fat" which means just kicking simple convo chillin

now after joe mentions to nas that he realizes he's falling for her nas hits the bar a lil aggitated

he realizes its the same scene at the bar but says f*ck it and drinks are on him

that represent nas going commercial and he admits it but tries to counteract that by saying "but I always felt outta place" which means he sold out but still puts out real hip-hop

the symbolism in the bar scene is that joe the da butcher is nas partner but his southern connects (freckle face and company) are involved wit this crime

joe is none the wiser a.k.a. the average listener supports southern music regardless of all this south trash talk (jeezy,ludacris,lil jon,rick ross)

nas gets a lil ticked off and heads outside and realizes the gal has been trailin him the whole time

that's basically saying that even though he didn't kno it hip-hop HAS been followin him for a while

next thing she steps out the shadow and he says "all this time she had me in her scope"

in her scope = interscope
nas starts the story saying "death by strangulation" but death = def

basically he was saying that def jam started the "killing" (when it commercialized hip-hop) and now interscope
runs it

at this point he is saying the crackers took control of the art hence the reference to conspiracy theorys behind this whodunit

"that's why eric b is not president" pretty much sums it up

so def jam chokeholded the game and then universal picked it up

at this point nas has some evidence so he starts interrogating the broad

"I know you have soul quit tryin to hide it" is obviously saying that hip-hop has soul but its obscured by the commercialism

nas uses the interrogation wisely by bringing up cypress hill and snoop dogg referencing the solid albums just flippin the phrases

if you can't figure it out then your pretty f*ckin stupid

she (hip-hop) supposedly killed a man in cypress which is a project in brooklyn

cypress hill how I could just kill a man

and one eyed charlie (krs-one) who only hangs with the criminal minded (bdp) said they did it doggystyle (snoop dogg) but obviously referencing sex

at this point she puts everything in perspective for nas IN ORDER because nas was out of chronological order by mentioning 92 then 91 then 88

so she begins by asking him to "walk this way" (run dmc) and she will tell him a childrens story (slick rick)

this is starting out raw hip-hop in the 80s

"got her a few 40s" is now referencing the west coast era domination as well hoppin in the "ride"

at this point hip-hop started losing "it" because it was being bombarded by commercial gangsterism and losing its origins

the getting tipsy part refers to hip-hop totally losing control and becoming almost completely pop (the bad boy era)

"as we got to her suave house chopped and screwed her mouth" is now moving on to the south moving on in at the close of the shiny suit era and is cleverly flipped to nas getting oral sex by hip-hop he finally gave in

after he f*cks her she spills the beans and tells him that bill gates sponsored her to destroy hip-hop through means of downloading and extreme piracy

remember hip-hops father was a bootlegger and now her sponsor is one of the largest helpers in the creation of bootlegging

at this point she just breaks down and admits she is IMMORTAL because no regular human could be alive in BOTH slave times AND the 1930s

she says she came from that era and had many lovers since but her one true love was kool herc (pioneer of hip-hop, some say sole creator)

but then she obviously f*cked him over and fell to the pressure of the root of all evil, money (the 200 grand) (by the way 200 grnd in 1930 is worth MILLIONS)

at this point the gig is up and she begins to fade away magically but lets nas know its his inner spirit that really keeps hip-hop alive

she really didn't need the money in the end"

^ woah, i figured out some parts of that before but seriously .. woah... not that right thurr is DEEP

nas was always my favourite lyricsit but in my eyes he just turned from ''Godlike'' to ''tha gawd damn god himself'' (no offence to religeous people..lol)

man.. its crazy how much thaught the man puts into his songs
this song is simply genius..

kinda makes me wonder how nas lived before he blew up.. i mean the man didnt even finish elementary school and has such amazing lyrics lol!

anyway, thanx alot for clearing that up.. ^^ ive been wondering for years now... just.. woah... lol..

Nas is def one of my top fav lyricists/artists of all time.. I've think I've got every album from him, even his demo tape that got him signed to Columbia back in the day.

Schooling is over rated (not that I encourage anyone to drop out or anything like that). I mean with all the success stories of self made millionaires it just goes to show that you don't always have to follow the clear cut path to make something of yourself in this world.

^ its defenitly overrated but shouldnt be underrated either..
i think high school and colleges are overrated (not all of em)
but elementary school is vital for evolving your brain and learning how to ''think'' properly

would a 10 year old who isnt in school do math? hell no lol
so that makes me wonder how he still got this smart and creative ^^

Agreed, elementary is prolly enough depending on the persons intelligence, and how focused they are on something.

I know Nas reads a lot of books, so that must be one way he educated his mind, and I doubt he was worried about what 5 x 7 equaled back in the day when he was tryin' to figure out what syllables he should rhyme together

No disrespect intended guys, but lets keep it about great produced albums. Less talk on nas and just pm each other with that info. Just my 2 brown Lincolns($0.02)

1. Tupac - All Eyez on Me
2. Bone Thugs n Harmony - Creepin on a Come up
3. Above the Law - Uncle Sam's Curse
4. Tupac - Thug Life
5. Young Lay - Black 'n Dangerous

THANKS!! myspace.com/emiseeinstrumentals

Tons of albums have great production, but for me personally, if I had to rank a top 5, the following 5 would take it. These are albums that are diverse in style within the songs, yet each song is tailored towards the artist(s) so well that their style really comes through on all tracks giving the entire albums a unified feeling.

Nas - Illmatic (produced by: DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor)
Raekwon - Only Built For Cuban Linx (produced by: RZA)
Jay Z - The Blueprint (produced by: Kanye West, Just Blaze, Eminem, Timbaland)
Dr Dre - Chronic (produced by: Dr Dre)
Non Phixion - The Future is Now (produced by: Necro, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor)

1.Amerikka's Most Wanted- Prodctn The Bomb Squad
2.Ready to Die- Prdnctn Eazy Moe Bee,Premo
3.Nas's - Illmatic - Premo & Pete Rock
4.The Chronic-The legendary Dr. Dre
5.The D.O.C. No 1 can do it better-The legendary Dr. Dre

Chronic and 2001

im from the south so you know most of mine are going to be southern artist.

1. juvenile 400 degrees.(mannie fresh) this is the album that put mannie fresh on the map even though he was making beats wayyyy before it.
2. dr. dre chronic 2001. (dr dre) it was a toss between this and the original but i like 2001 better.
3. trick daddy book of thugs(righteous funk booggie) this is the hottest album to ever come out of miami and it was all produced by one man. if you never heard it look it up.
4. kanye west college drop out(kanye west) this will always be his best album to me
5.eminem marshall matters lp (i believe dre did most of the album if not all) classic album

ghetto dope(producer klc)

hmm...big ups to the fort minor mention.

I'd have to say:

The Documentary- The Game (Dr. Dre, Kanye, Just Blaze, Timbaland, a few others)
Illmatic- Nas (DJ Premier, Large Professor, QTip, Pete Rock)
2001- Dr. Dre (Dr. Dre, Scott Storch)
36 Chambers- Wu Tang Clan (RZA)
The Blueprint-Jay Z (Kanye, Eminem, Just Blaze, Timbaland)

honorable mention to College Dropout by Kanye

Reasonable Doubt
Illmatic
The Blueprint Series
College Dropout
Shock Value

wow forgot The Documentary

Hmmm my top 5 would have to be...in no particular order

1. Blue Scholars-Bayani
2. The Grouch-Show You the World
3. Fort Minor- Rising Tide
4. Kanye-College Dropout
5. Dre 2001

Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Foyd
Black Bastards - KMD
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm - A Tribe Called Quest
De La Soul is Dead - De La Soul
The Blueprint - Jay-Z (that's the first hip-hop record I ever bought, and it's ridiculous!)

Big up to Emplex for having Blue Scholars on his list!

How could I have forgotten "Silent Alarm" by Bloc Party, and the self-titled album by Kasabian!

Justin Timberlake Future Sex/Love Sounds for me is one of the best

The 5 best produced albums IMO would be:
(In no particular order)

Group Home-Livin' Proof prod. by Preemo
Nas-Illmatic- prod. by Preemo, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Q-Tip, and L.E.S.
Dr.Dre-The Chroinic prod. by Dr.Dre
Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx prod. by The RZA
Mobb Deep-Hell On Earth prod. by Havoc

Blah theres to many good albums to name...