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Everybody has to have a plan, and for HIPHOP.COM, our path through this art form is signposted by the classic records that have changed our lives. If you want to check where our heads were at when we put this thing together, or would like to get a glimpse of what this site's founders consider to be the quintessential heartbeat of the on-wax manifestations of hip hop culture, then the place to head is the HIPHOP.COM Foundation Selection - our checklist of the 200 essential releases no self-respecting hip hop head should be without.
There were a few rules we used in compiling the list:
Firstly, no artist could feature more than once - otherwise, half of the list could easily have been made up of releases by a dozen artists. This forced us to carefully consider which release we felt best summed up both a particular artist's career to date, and which one best exemplified the kind of musical, lyrical and conceptual values HIPHOP.COM prizes. There are exceptions, though: if an artist has released records as part of a group and as a solo artist, they're eligible for the list under both identities. And there's a couple of instances where the credit on a record fails to accurately record the artist(s) responsible, and we've gone for what we know to be the truth, regardless of what the record was billed as at the time of release.
Second, we restricted our list to artists from the USA. This isn't a dis to anyone from the rest of the planet - in fact, it's the opposite: until we're able to cover scenes in Japan, Germany, France and elsewhere as knowledgeably and thoroughly as we can the US, then we'd be being tokenistic, and doing those artists a disservice. Look for a global Foundations Selection in the not-too-distant future.
Thirdly, and most importantly, each record on the list had to pass one simple test: is it, by all rational and reasonable measure, a certified, stone-cold, all-time hip hop classic? If the answer wasn't a resounding "yes", it didn't make the list.
Crucially, like hip hop itself, the Foundations Selection isn't fixed in stone. It will change, from time to time - new records will arrive in our lives that demand inclusion; old classics that just missed the cut first time might fight their way back into contention; and records we love by artists we respect might, every once in a while, fade a little in our affections and lose their place at hip hop's high table. When and how we make these changes will be revealed over time: keep watching this space.
We know the list will be controversial: some of your favourite emcees won't be on it, one or two of your most-played albums or singles will have been overlooked in favour of other work from the same artist, and there'll be tracks or LPs on there you feel aren't fit to share house room with your most cherished hip hop touchstones. But hopefully, too, we'll remind you of records you've not played in a while, and send you back to the stacks to dust off some lost classics; and maybe we'll even introduce you to an artist or record you'd overlooked. We know you'll have something to say, so become a site member and leave a comment below. We look forward to hearing from you.
Check out the full Foundation Selection Top 200 Hip Hop Classics list HERE.
The HIPHOP.COM Foundations Team
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