Albums 30 thru 21

30. Blitzen Trapper – “Furr” This one of the five albums I bought after being underway for two months and I bought with only reading one review on it. “Furr” struck a deep chord with me. It is one of those songs that dive deep into what we all want to get back to: a perfect world. “I lost the taste for judging right from wrong” this kind of song writing and story telling resembles that of Dylan. “Black River Killer” is another great song from this album. It is a graphic story about a murderer set in the old west. These songs are two of my favorite songs; maybe of all time.

Key Tracks – “Furr, “Black River Killer” and “God and Suicide”

29. Drive-By Truckers -“Decoration Day” The Drive-By Truckers are somewhere between country and rock & roll, but regardless of what I label them they flat out rock. The cool thing about these guys is they have three, some times four lead singers in their band. Just as Nas is the voice for black oppression, The Truckers have their finger on the pulse of poor blue-collar whites of the south (don’t be confused with redneck Toby Keith fans). These guys have substance.

Key Tracks – “My Sweet Annette”, “Outfit”, Heathens” and “Decoration Day”

28. D’Angelo – “Voodoo” This is the last we heard from this genius and its too bad because this was a modern masterpiece. It has to be my favorite R&B album from this decade. It’s too bad that when you bring up this album people automatically think of the video for “Untitled”. It is so much more than this. The album is the PERFECT soul album. I think this is the reason why we have not heard from D’Angelo since.

Key Tracks – “Devils Pie”, “Africa”, “Spanish Joint” and “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”

27.N*E*R*D* - “In Search Of…” This is quite an amazing marriage between hip-hop and rock. But what makes it different is that its performed by black artist and a not white artist, like most who try to mix the genres. Call me crazy, but in the song, ”Tape You” it totally sounds like they sampled the music from Disney’s “Electric Light Parade”. The sound of this album is erasitable.

Key Tracks – “Run To The Sun”, “Lap Dance”, “Baby Doll”, “I Am High” and “Bobby James”

26. Matisyahu – “Live At Stubb's” After hearing this guy on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” it took me over a year to find this album. It was worth the wait. Even being a live album it’s still one of my favorites. I find it a little weird that he would choose to have his debut album live. Who would of thought one of the coolest artists of this decade would be a hesetic Jew (Hey how about saying the whole word?) excuse me, Jewish reggae rapper.

Key Tracks – “Warrior”, “King With Out A Crown”, “Exaltation” and “Sea To Sea”

25. Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – “Fever to Tell” This is the debut from YYYs that skyrocketed their career as one of the biggest acts in indie alternative music. “Maps” was the first single off the album and will remain a classic. YYYs are a genuine rock act that can’t really be compared to anyone else. Raw guitar, head banging rhythms, and in-your-face lyrics make Fever to Tell their best.

Key Tracks – “Maps”, “Y Control”, and “Tick”

24. Kanye West – “Graduation” Kanye couldn’t possibly make a third classic album in a row could he? He did. I know he’s hyped up a lot, but he lives up to the hype. His albums are for all levels of hip-hop fans. The greatest track for me on this album has to be “Everything I Am”. Why? Well that’s easy: two of hip-hops greatest producers on one track. You can have Dr. Dre (one of the best producers ever) my all time favorite is DJ Premier* of the legendary hip-hop group Gang Starr collaborating together for one amazing product.
*Without Premier you would not have the sampling that is so much connected to hip-hop. No Puff Daddy, Wyclef, Alchemist, Kanye or J-Dilla.

Key Tracks – “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”, “Good Morning”, “Good Life” and “Everything I Am”

23. Common – “Be” Kanye West was the Executive Producer of this album and it made a great difference. Common is the rap artist that won’t be appreciated until he is past his prime. He will get a lifetime achievement award by the Grammys all the while they look past him while he makes classics. His lyrics are out of this world. On “The Corner”, he gets to work with the Godfathers of hip-hop: The Last Poets. These guys put down poetry over deep drum tracks as far back as the 1970 before hip-hop was born in the Bronx.

Key Tracks – “Be”, “The Corner”, “The Food” and “Go”

22. Jay-Z - “Blueprint” I will never forget on 9/11 this album was released and the first thing I did after school was to go and get the CD. There was a big deal about the diss song aimed at Nas, which was a sample of The Doors’ song “Five To One”. Their battle was epic, all on wax and it stops there- unlike Biggie and Tupac’s coastal battle. Jay won for the best beat, but Nas won for lyrics. My favorite track has got to be “Renegade” featuring Eminem, hands down. These are two of the greatest MCs of our time at their peaks and Eminem knocks it out the park with his best lyrics ever (in my opinion). I will be the first to say over all Jay-Z is a better MC than Eminem, but I think Em knew that he had to bring it on this track and he did.

Key Tracks – “Renegade”, “The Take Over”, “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” and “Heart Of The City (Ain’t No Love)”

21. The White Stripes – “Elephant” The song “Seven Nation Army” is the second best song of this decade, only behind OutKast’s “Hey Ya”. With that being said, the basic cord melody on this song is timeless. Besides this song you get a classic rock & roll album and the best from The White Stripes.

Key Tracks – “Seven Nation Army”, “In The Cold Cold Night”, “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” and “Ball & Biscuit”