It’s every rapper’s dream to create an album that stands the test of time. An album that gets the ‘classic’ title just like Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt, Nas’ Illmatic or The Chronic by Dr. Dre – and go down in history books as one of the best in the history of hip hop. However, today the word ‘classic’ is being used loosely with little regard to its meaning, and there’s always unnecessary haste to confer hyperbolic ranks to albums before they even drop. According to oxforddictionaries.com, classic is something that is “Judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.” Check out the following instances when artists gave the coveted title to their albums or projects they worked on…
Vado
Project: Gunz N’ Butta (2011: Collaborative album with Cam’ron)
Said: “It’s our first album and I promise it’s so much of a classic, It’s like all the Boss Of All Bosses tapes put together. We hit y’all from all angles – we hit y’all from the streets, for the ladies, for the club,” Vado said in 2010.
Gucci Mane
Project: Baytl (2011)
Said: “We got production from Zaytoven. People can expect some real good music. I think people are going to be surprised. Baytl by Gucci Mane and V-Nasty album is definitely a classic album,” he told XXL magazine IN 2011.
Tyga
Project: Careless World: Rise Of The Last King (2012)
Said: Tyga tweeted in 2011, “Ready for y’all to hear The album now if could its so much bullshii involved with samples and other shi. I promise this album will be classic.this is my life!!! Ur gonna luv it.”
Busta Rhymes
Project: E.L.E. 2 (upcoming)
Said: “I just think that all of the necessary ingredients that were needed to make this album classic are coming to the table, which is gonna bring a whole other dynamic, a whole other feeling,” Busta said of his upcoming album last year.
Trinidad James
Project: All Gold Everything (upcoming)
Said: “‘All Gold Everything’ is a place in time. It’s a classic forever, five years, 20 years, 100 years from now,” the rapper stated about his single back in April. On his album he gushed, “When you hear the album, even if it sold one copy, or five copies, and you got one of those copies, you would know this is a classic, straight up and down.”
DJ Mustard
Project: My Krazy Life (2014)
Said: The producer compared YG’s album to Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, “I feel like we came together with a classic album. Like The Chronic, really. For sure. It’s like our generation of The Chronic, you know what I’m saying? This is Snoop and Dre all over again.”
Future
Project: Honest (2014)
Said: In June, Future stated, “I knew I could make hit records, but I wanted to make sure I had a complete album. And sequencing the album was a really big part of that. Honest is a timeless album. People are going to look back like, ‘Man, he had so many classics on there.”
Nicki Minaj
Project: The Pink Print (upcoming)
Said: “What’s next? It’s just a classic album, that’s all I can think about right now,” Nicki said bout his upcoming third album scheduled for a December release.
French Montana
Project: Excuse My French (2013)
Said: “I feel like it’s gonna be a classic. I feel like it’s gonna be the best album to come out in a decade,” he said last year February.
Project: Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head (2012)
Said: “I’m proud of all the material that’s on there. I think I’m gearing up to present a classic album to these people, because that’s the material they deserve, so that’s what we’re working on, classic,” T.I. said in September 2012.
50 Cent
Project: Street King Immortal (upcoming)
Said: “STREET KING IMMORTAL is going to be a classic,” the rapper tweeted in July 2012
Yo Gotti
Project: I Am (2013)
Said: “The album already crazy so far. I think it’s gonna be a classic, definitely one of my best albums yet,” said the rapper in June 2013.
Written by: Moza Moyo