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Originally Posted by Mankycaaant
See everyone on this forum harps on and on about "classics"
What makes an album a "classic", media telling you so? Time doesn't change anything. It just gives people an abhorrent illusion of nostalgia and a longing for the past. What you're in effect saying is an album can't reach "classic" status until it has aged to a certain point. But that is the weakest criteria I've ever heard for an upgrading in ones opinion of a subjective matter.
Biggie's albums are classics and GKMC, MBTDF, etc aren't because they're newer. That's just ridiculous.
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Well the dictionary definition of classic actually mentions time:
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clas·sic
/ˈklasik/
Adjective
Judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.
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Why's it so ridiculous that we can't judge it over a period of time? It could sound good now & dated in 10 years, or it could be ahead of it's time. A classic should be able to last the ages. This is why I don't think MMLP is a classic for example, most of the production sounds dated and very 'of the time' in a bad way, that doesn't mean I don't like it. I hammered it for a solid year when it came out and because it was when I started secondary school I feel nostalgic listening to it, doesn't mean I can't be objective about it though. I actually don't think Eminem has any classics to be honest.
I think as a general rule of thumb a classic album should tread some new ground or expand on something that's already been done and take it to a new level. You can't just make an album full of catchy tunes that isn't innovative at all and call it a classic. I don't care how many people listen to it in 20 years time or whatever. The whole thing is pretty subjective though imo.
I can't count the amount of times I've heard a new release, been giddy over it then a couple weeks later it's been gathering dust. I look back a few years after it came out and I realise it wasn't all that. Take Dizzee's Boy In Da Corner for example, nobody can deny that's a classic album. It is ten years old this week and still sounds fresh today, nobody has managed to recreate that sound and he was definitely ahead of his time and definitely trod new ground, there was no filler and fans of all genres can appreciate how good that was and entirely self produced at 17 years old. I'd say it's a classic album.
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Are you honestly telling me Eminem would have had the same success if he weren't a gimmick rapper? His gimmick was that he was the white underdog in the black man's yard and if that weren't enough he had to run with the whole 'Slim Shady' shtick when the novelty of his colour started wearing off. After that came the worst of all Eminem stages in the self righteous 'my daughter this, my daughter that' stage. I just find Eminem repulsive and it insults me that people think he's one of the best.
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There were white rappers before him. Fact is if he wasn't skilled he'd have been found out quickly and he wasn't. '98-'02 he was up there.