I ummed and ahhed over so many albums that mean a lot to me, but decided most of them were either too ubiquitous (Original Pirate Material, Illmatic), too likely to get me abused (East 17's Up All Night) or both (either of the Spice Girls albums). So I've gone with another album that has been a mainstay of my listening for the best part of 20 years now.
Capital Punishment is the debut release by rapper Big Punisher aka Big Pun, and the only album released before he died - although his sophomore CD Yeeeah Baby (yes it is genuinely called that) was completed prior to his death, it wasn't released until after. My first exposure to it was the catchy-as-shit R&B crossover track Still Not A Player, which used to get occasional play on MTV Base and still pops up on oldschool hip-hop albums today, but it's far removed from what most of this album is about, which is classic boom-bap rap over beats ranging from the laid-back soulful vibes of Punish Me (with lyrics which are frankly disgusting at points - "If you're good I'll put away the wood and give you the moustache") to the RZA-produced filth of Tres Leches.
The album isn't perfect - there are a few obvious filler tracks and, as seemingly required by law at the time, a ton of terrible interludes and skits (although Pakinamak does at least give you a bizarre laugh the first time you hear it) - but the sheer number of fantastic tracks puts it just one rung below the all-time classic hip-hop albums like Illmatic, Ready To Die and Reasonable Doubt.
Pun had an incredible way of turning old soul samples into something more aggressive and threatening - You Ain't A Killer in particular has a brooding fierceness about it that belies the chilled out melody. Elsewhere the violence is more overt - opening track Beware makes Pun's intent clear, "I gave you fair warning - beware", while The Dream Shatterer's grotesque imagery of Pun threatening to "carve BP on your forehead" has always stayed with me.
Unlike most albums of this kind, there isn't a track included to show you Pun's softer side the way 2pac (Dear Mama) often did - the best you get is Pun putting the guns away and going on about how much sex he gets and how impressive his life is - I'm Not A Player is a classic of the braggadocio style, while You Came Up's bouncy horn samples and Noreaga hook will dig into your brain.
I listened to a lot of hip-hop around the turn of the century that I knew was 'cool' and critically acclaimed, but that I didn't really get - including Illmatic, which is generally considered one of the best rap albums of all time, but it took me years to understand why. Capital Punishment was one of the few that really hit me straight away, I didn't have to put any effort in - just an incredibly skilled technical rapper and lyricist with a fantastic ear for a beat; not many albums boast a production line as good as this one. I'm sure I'll be contradicted on this, but I think this is a rare album that should have something even for people who don't have any interest in hip-hop without trying too hard to gain a pop following. It's just really bloody good.
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I'll give this a go shortly.
Originally Posted by wardy
Tony Sunshine one of the great underrated hook merchants
