MyNamesCody - Resurrection

Initial Argument:
Commons 2nd album released in 1994 played a big role in the early years of hip hop. Having a ton of competition in 94 (Illmatic, Ready To Die) Resurrection held its ground and gave hip hop some great songs. The albums filled with punchlines, wicked flow changed, conscious lyrics, and hard hitting beats

I stagger in the gathering possessed by a patter-in
That be scattering
Over the global my vocals be traveling
Unraveling my abdomen it’s slime that’s babbling
Grammatics that are masculine

…And those are the INTRO bars to the album. This album is filled with these kind of multi-syllabic bars. Also, this is one of the first albums that introduced lines that continued on into a different bar, when usually they would end

And you know how junk food goes right through ya
So I return to the a-rab, then on the way back
I stop- at the liquor store, grab me a six pack
Knowin' that once I’m done with that I’ll be back
To get some more

Common continued to use this type of rapping all throughout his career and is definitely an innovator. Also, did you know No I.D almost produced this whole album? He produced 13 out of the 15 tracks! The beats on here are stellar 90s beats with heavy drums, and a fantastic range of sample usage. There are overall 37 samples used throughout this album! Heres a beat that should NOT be missed

The beats on here, although containing some heavy drums, are extremely relaxing. The jazzy, piano samples are beyond smooth. In a time where NY hip hop was in full force, this Chicago jazz hip hop was incredibly refreshing

Lastly, this album holds one of the greatest hip hop songs of all time, I Used To Love H.E.R. This is a song that truly impacted the hip hop world. This song is a innovator for concept songs and is a perfect example of story telling and detail. The song has been on plenty of lists and is something Common is recognized for

Overall, this album is considered a classic in many areas. Although the album didn’t sell much (2000 sells during the time of release), theres no doubt its some of Common & No I.Ds best work. Its not an album that should be missed when talking about classic 90s hip hop

Rebuttal:

Jay-Hovas_Witness - Madvillainy

Initial Argument:
Madvillainy is a truly unique album. Hailed as a classic by most heads and critics yet it’s influence and impact are really only visible in underground hip hop. It didn’t sell weight, it didn’t start a movement and change the game, it never graced the top 40 or received any substantial airplay yet somehow it remains a monstrously acclaimed and heralded album. The album boasts an impressive array of accolades:

• Received a Metascore of 93/100 on Metacritic making it the third highest scored rap album on the site
• Pitchfork rated the album 9.4/10 and ranked it at number 13 on their list of the top 100 albums of 2000-04 and number 25 on their list of 100 best albums of the 2000s
• Rhapsody ranked the album number 1 on their Hip-Hop’s Best Albums of the Decade list and number 13 on the 100 Best Albums of the Decade list
• Positive reviews from Allmusic, Entertainment Weekly, The New Yorker, PopMatters, Slant Magazine, Stylus Magazine, and The Village Voice

So the question becomes, “how does an album with average commercial success, zero commercial influence, and little mainstream significance receive such an impressive amount of acclaim and respect?” The answer to that question is quite simple: never in the history of rap has an album been made to parallel the experimental and technical marvel that is Madvillainy. It is absolutely one of a kind. What sets this album so far apart from any other is the complimentary pairing of two of the most unique artists in hip hop: the eccentric and innovative Madlib on the beat and the technically unparalleled MF DOOM on the mic
The production over which DOOM raps often plays second fiddle to his fascinating mazes of lyrical and technical verbiage and enthralling villain persona. However, Madlib’s experimental instrumentals and quirky sampling serve as the perfect soundscape for DOOM’s eccentric raps. Throughout the album, Madlib sprinkles obscure or just plain random vocal samples that provide information or even serve as song lyrics. For example, the intro track “The Illest Villains” tells a story through a long string of these samples which are pieced together to form full and coherent sentences to introduce the villain theme that carries on throughout the entire album

Behind all of the bizarre samples that provide a comic book-like aura, Madlib’s mysterious, atmospheric beats create the perfect canvas. “Accordion” for example, is a simple accordion loop yet it creates a mesmerizing ambiance that sets the tone for DOOM’s reflective verse. Madlib’s natural ear for sampling helps him to create unconventional new beats that still sound brilliant

Despite Madlib’s cutting-edge production, DOOM refuses to be outdone. DOOM is a rapper with no equal in terms of technique; his flow is completely distinct with idiosyncratic variation of syllables and emphasis from line to line, his confusing stream of consciousness stories create a crazy cartoonish vibe, and he uses obscure slang and references and clever wordplay that create lyrical labyrinths. DOOM displays each of these the best he can throughout Madvillainy

His nuanced flow is well displayed on every track for example on “ALL CAPS” DOOM almost completely abandons meter, ending his lines in random and always different places within each measure yet he somehow makes it sound smooth and rhythmic. Look at these lines

Plus nobody couldn’t do nothin' once he let the brick go
And you know I know that’s a bunch of snow
The beat is so butter
Peep the slow cutter
As he utters the calm flow
Don’t talk about my moms, yo

Notice the wide range of syllables used for each line. When DOOM raps this he doesn’t just naturally vary his tempo to keep the bars even, he simply uses it to create a bizarre rhythm. Possibly the best display of this is “Figaro” on which DOOM once again forgets meter and adopts the whackiest rhythms he can make. Not once though all of this though do his flows ever sound unnatural or non-cohesive with the beat

One of DOOM’s specialties is using obscure slang and references that are difficult for people to understand like in these lines

Hey bro, Day Glo, set the bet, pay dough
Before the cheddar get away, best to get Maaco
The worst hated God who perpetrated odd favors
Demonstrated in the perforated Rod Lavers

These lines seem slightly like gibberish or at least like non-sequiturs but to someone who understands the oblique references these lines make complete sense. Each of these lines contains a reference that helps to provide hidden information

• Day Glo paint to denote obviousness
• Macco auto repair
• God to 5 perctenters means a black person
• Rod Laver’s adidas shoes

All of these together help to paint a picture through coded language

DOOM also expresses his cleverness using wordplay and punchlines all over the place. “Accordion” contains numerous idioms that DOOM flips and plays with to create new meaning such as

It’s like the ends to the means

This line plays off of the common phrase “means to an end” which means that the destination is what’s important and not the journey. DOOM flips this around to mean that rapping should be done only for the sake of the art and not as a route to money and fame

DOOM uses countless other literary devices and forms of wordplay though none of them quite as notably rare and finessed as the triple syntax found in “Accordion”. Without an example, a double syntax is a very difficult technique to explain and equally difficult to understand. It occurs when a common word or syllable is used to link two phrases to give the phrases or words within the phrase multiple meanings. DOOM uses this twice, linking three phrases together hence a triple syntax. This technique is so rarely used (I only know of three uses in rap including this one) that it is astonishing that DOOM employed it twice in a row (I have never seen that)

A gun fight and they come to cut the mixmaster
I-C-E cold, nice to be old

DOOM starts by paraphrasing the popular idiom “bring a knife to a gunfight” and brilliantly uses the phrase “cut the mix” as a lead into “Mix Master Ice” a legendary DJ, which leads into “ice cold” which DOOM uses to describe himself as a cool and controlled rapper. The cleverness and technical brilliance paired with the sheer anomaly of language manipulation basically forces a mental orgasm on English nerds!

And of course, DOOM wouldn’t be able to properly emphasize his villain persona based on the popular Marvel super villain Doctor Doom without the cartoon and comic book style lyrics. On Madvillainy, DOOM references several cartoons and comic books:

• Pinky and The Brain

Doom, are you pondering what I’m pondering?

• Animaniacs

Some even say he might need some psychiatrist

• Whacky Races

Dick Dastardly and Muttley with sick laughter

• G.I. Joe

Villain, Metal face to Destro

• The Flash

Hands so fast he can out-spin the Flash

• Thor

Keep it low key

• The Lion King

Off pride tykes talk wide through scar meat

And several more, not to mention the countless DOCTOR DOOM and villain references in DOOM’s lyrics and multiple personas and even in Madlib’s sampling. Even the few guest features include cartoon/comic book/villain references in their lyrics

All of these together make the album incredibly creative, technically brilliant, and thematically cohesive but it wouldn’t be the legend that it is without the met important aspect; DOOM’s rhymes. DOOM’s signature skill is his unmatched rhyming. In “Raid” he boasts

Wrote the book on rhymes

DOOM proves this statement in every way possible. There is absolutely no doubt that DOOM is the best rhymer of all time. Nearly half of DOOM’s lyrics on Madvillainy rhyme which is about twice the average. Not only does he rhyme more often but he uses a huge variety of rhymes

• slant rhyme

Insted of trying to riff with the broke war veteran
Spliff made him swore he saw heaven he was seven

• internal rhyme

Hold the cold one like he hold a old gun
Like he hold the microphone and stole the show for fun

• semi-rhyme

She could mind the toaster if she sign the poster
A whole host of roller coaster riders

• masculine perfect rhyme

Still back in the game like Jack LaLanne
Think you know the name, don’t rack your brain

• feminine perfect rhyme

How DOOM hold heat, and preach non-violence?
Shhh, he ‘bout to start the speech, c'mon, silence

• unaccented rhyme

How Med hold heat like Clint East is reborn?
Leave you with more holes than a dartboard

• mind rhyme

Spit so many verses sometimes my jaw twitches
One thing this party could use is more… Booze

And this isn’t all. No rapper has ever managed to reach DOOM’s level of rhyming and he puts it all out there on Madvillainy
I used the word ‘unique’ probably four times as often as I would typically allow a word to repeat in my writing, but it is the only word fitting to describe this album. Madvillainy is simply and completely one of a kind

Rebuttal:
Resurrection is a fantastic album. It’s pioneering and legacy greatly exceed even a majority of classics. However because of the immense progress that was made in rap during the nineties it failed to define it’s generation. It didn’t even dominate it’s year! 1994 is clearly one of, if not the greatest in the history of the art and while Resurrection did play a part in that, there are a lot of albums that keep it from taking center stage. Two albums in particular eclipsed the impact of Common’s masterpiece, Ready To Die and Illmatic. Two of the greatest albums of the genre and even in all of music. These albums almost completely eclipse Resurrection, casting a yet to be eradicated shadow on the album. Common was the unfortunate victim of timing and despite timing being the album’s only flaw, the fact remains that the single uncontrollable flaw has proven fatal

Madvillainy however has not had such an issue. While it lacks the influence that Resurrection has it is in no way short on skill. And even more importantly it’s impact is undeniable. As explained in my initial argument, never before or since had any rap album with so little exposure and commercial success garnered so much acclaim. Not to mention that Madvillainy had a lot of competition as well. DOOM had to go up against albums from De La Soul, Cam’ron, Eminem, Ghostface Killah, Twista, Ludacris, The Roots, Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, T.I. and most importantly Kanye’s classic debut, College Dropout. Still Madvillainy holds it’s legacy and shattered all preconceived barriers and broke into new territory. Only Kanye’s album can even compare to this day and everyone was already watching Kanye. DOOM was an underground artist so far from the public eye that people needed binocular’s just to see him. Madvillainy should be mentioned with Black Star and Fantastic Damage, yet it’s legacy is more on par with mainstream heavyweight’s like The Blueprint and MMLP. DOOM somehow managed to not be out-shined and furthermore catch more light than anyone could have expected

Madvillainy served as a defining moment in hip hop and didn’t even have to add to the art form nor to the genre, while Resurrection achieved both and still can’t keep up