Choice Is Yours Vol. 14
Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Vs.
N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton (1988)
The Game is simple… if only one could exist which would it be? What’s more important… personal relevance, cultural significance, or simply being the better album all other things aside? Choice is yours…
- My Pal the Crook
February 17th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Paul’s is a better overall album. Compton is more revolutionary.
I’m taking Paul’s Boutique on this one.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Holy mother fuck. Give me both albums or give me death.
Nah, give me Straight Outta Compton.
I got this album from my “young” uncle on the low and the minute I played it I instantly knew if my parents heard this, it would be my ass. Ice Cube comes out and kicks you in the teeth with the very first verse off the album. I thought “Straight Outta Compton” was hardest song I would ever hear, but what followed!? “Fuck tha Police”, that’s what! Bomb after bomb…
Growing up in LA; shitty, dripping with racial tension, late 80′s-early 90′s LA, this album, to me, shined a bright light on LA’s soiled underbelly.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
This is a tough one when considering what each did for subsequent musical releases and hip-hop, in general. I still have to go with Paul’s Boutique on this one as it takes sampling to new heights, is overall solid, and still holds up. I can pop in Paul’s Boutique and enjoy it any time whereas NWA in only in small doses. I might be a bit biased considering I’ve owned about 4 copies of Paul’s Boutique, including one time of having to replace it because I forgot it in my pocket when paddling out to surf, transferring it to my teeth to try and keep it drier, then losing it. And other times when the tape broke and re-spooling it so it was housed in an old Neil Diamond case. Nostalgia aside…still say that Paul’s Boutique is better overall…sonically, at least.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Paul’s just because it’s so intrinsically New York city.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Both fall in the DO NOT WANT category for me.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Chenyip: what the hell DO you listen to then?
February 17th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
^^^ cosign on that question.
Easy choice though. Paul’s Boutique. It’s so dense and creative (lyrically, sonically & thematically) that I seriously don’t ever see myself growing tired of listening to it.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Pauls Boutique was good and SOC was good. But they were never – and still aren’t – life shattering albums to me like they were for so many other people. I just never really cared that much about the Beastie Boys or NWA. I was too busy idolizing Public Enemy and EriK B and Rakim at that time. It Takes A Nation Of Millions… and Paid In Full – sure. But Paul’s Boutique and Straight Outta Compton? Meh. I’ll have a coffee please.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Paul’s boutique ! but i must say that i’ve never listened to NWA (i know i should …)
February 17th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
shake. your. rumpahhhh.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I think Paul’s had a bigger influence on me musically, but man did S.O.C. ever blow my mind culturally.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
This is two different kind of hip hop classic albums.NWA is compton based gansta rap group that raped about 90′s Killa Cali life. Beastie Boys which are NYC based group are more likely like Run DMC they had fun on tracks its like Funky New York hip hop nothing similar what NWA did so really you cant tell which is better because each one of them is better in their own way. It also depends on your mood you know sometimes you feel like listening to some hardcore hip hop sometimes just want to lay back and listen to some chill song. Nuff said peace yo
One Love.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
This is a great showdown. Personally though the choice is easy. Ill Communication is by far my favorite Beasties record and SOC was cataclysmic for the music landscape. Shit I will know the words to some songs on SOC. It’s just so much more indispensable.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
N-N, dubdub dubdub W, A-A A-A
February 17th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Paul’s Boutique hands down. I’ve never thought Straight Outta Compton was as good as people claim it is.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Both are great albums no doubt, but Straight Outta Compton is undeniably far more influential than Paul’s Boutique. Thing is, the genre of gangsta rap that they popularized is really largely responsible for hip hop becoming the fuckin piece of shit it is today. But still, whenever Fuck tha Police hits, that shit takes me back.
I gotta go with NWA
February 17th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
I beg to differ with pointing blame at Gangsta Rap as having anything to do with Hip Hop being in the toilet the way it is. That finger should squarely be pointed at the Bad Boy Jiggy movement.
February 17th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
True true, and perhaps I shouldn’t have referred gangsta rap as a whole like that, but what NWA did do was that they over oversimplified hip hop. They were all about money, drugs, and hos along with the attitude that no one was going to stop them. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that but, the simplified values caught on. After that, it was only a matter of time that rapping just became another hustle. Cats started rapping just for the money, regardless if they were musically inclined or had any love for hip hop at all. That is why I like to think that Straight Outta Compton was the beginning of the end.
February 17th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Man I loved straight outta compton. I just turned 21, but remember having All Eyez On Me by Pac on Double Cassette when I was in the 4th grade. I grew up on gangsta rap and never listened to Paul’s Boutique growing up. I listened to it for the first time about 5 years ago, and it’s amazing, and I prefer it now. but for how impactful SOC was for me, it’s my choice.
February 17th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Bad Boy rules! the jiggy movement made rap mainstream and you had hard artists ride the hip hop popularity that diddy help create. DMX sold a shit ton of records during that era and he had some pretty fucked lyrics sometimes. The jiggy shit died down naturally but Bad Boy’s contribution was the overall popularity of hip hop IMO.
I would blame the demise of hip hop on the south. We were easily tricked by the casio beats and it degenerated into stupid songs that teach dumb dance moves.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:36 am
drunken monk: I’m still disagreeing with you. NWA were not about Money, Drugs and Hoes… they were social commentary on growing up poor and black in L.A. done as bluntly as possible. You’re making them out to be 2 Live Crew or something.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Crook…what’s wrong with 2 Live Crew? Miami what?!
Post Craig Mack/B.I.G. bad boy did fuck things up a bit, but I would credit Murder Inc. the most in derailing rap off its course with all the Ashante et al. duets. Holla Holla!
If anything, NWA was the best thing to ever happen to rap!
February 18th, 2009 at 3:08 am
I’m sick of all of the Beastie Boys records except for Some Old Bullshit which I still listen to. I can’t take that squeaky rap voice anymore.
NWA all the way.
I agree with Crooky, I hate my rap when it’s all bad boy jiggily.
February 18th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Beasties all the way man! SOC is a fantastic album, BUT the negative impact it caused amongst impressionable youth has really spoiled the overall effect for me. Pauls Boutique on the other hand is still incredible and dense and a milestone in The Dust Brothers production history (IMO their best work besides The Fight Club soundtrack!)
“I would blame the demise of hip hop on the south. We were easily tricked by the casio beats and it degenerated into stupid songs that teach dumb dance moves.”
????????? Casio beats are fuckin great, its like being in an arcade game, and what could be cooler than that, plus don’t forget that Hip-Hop and dancing have a tightly-knit history. As for the “demise” of Hip-Hop? Well lets just say that M O N E Y is probably the #1 cause of the decline of Hip-Hop in the mainstream, look to the underground where headz have no or very little money and shit is still poppin’
Tip: Check out CX Kidtronik (actually if you don’t like Casio beats you probably won’t like him, but anyone else, go forth!!!!)
February 18th, 2009 at 9:31 am
It’s funny how this thread has turned into finger pointing on the demise of hip hop. The only one I can blame is the consumer. If no one bought shitty hip hop then we wouldn’t be where we are today.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
blah blah blah hip-hop sucks blah blah blah…
you people are boring. hip-hop doesn’t suck, y’all are just stuck in a rut or too stubborn to accept the fact that there are plenty of hip-hop artists producing good music still to this day.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
true Mike. It’s just what’s on the forefront of hip hop these days is shit compared to what’s down deep.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Mike Jones: You meant producing good ringtones, not music right?
February 18th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
^^^
And you consider the NASA album to be a good hip-hop album. HAHA.
Considering that you have several song related ringtones, that’s like the pot calling the kettle black. If a producer can produce a hook that works well as a ringtone, why not make more money off of it. I doubt anyone is making beats with the sole intention of using it as a ringtone. Besides, if there had been a substantial market for ringtones in 1995, I’m sure songs like Shimmy Shimmy Ya, Got You All in Check & Big Poppa would’ve been just as played out as ringtones as whatever is the number one ringtone from last week.
Oh wait, whaddayaknow… #1 Ringtone on Billboard. 2Pac – Changes.
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Singles&f=Hot+Ringtones
February 18th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Lmao mike Jones Just shitted on ya :0
February 18th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I consider NASA to be enjoyable Hip Hop and that’s basically where the ceiling for what my expectations regarding Hip Hop have gone, there’s a difference. If I can sit through a whole or most of an album and not want to gouge myself, that’s an enjoyable album. Opposed to the 2 enjoyable singles, 7 skits and 14 filler tracks that usually make up most Hip Hop albums and made me stop caring. The Carter isn’t enjoyable to me, it’s 3-4 forgettable novelty tracks
By the way you forgot that I also really enjoyed 808s and Heartbreaks.
Anyway you’re missing my point. I could care less if songs get made into ringtones and artists get paid from it. My point is that Hip Hop is pandering to it, rather than having it be a natural byproduct.
February 18th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Oh wait, whaddayaknow… #1 Ringtone on Billboard. 2Pac – Changes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“And that’s just the way it goes…. things will never be the same… ahhh yeaaaa”
PS – I blame Suge Knight (actually all pushers that try and be record execs and vice versa)
February 18th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I have to get in on the Decline of Hip-Hop Civilization…
I agree that the whole Bad Boy swing in hip-hop gets the blame for ruining the genre. Puffy and his minions made no bones about money being the sole goal, and once the public said, “fuck dope emcees and DJs, I just want to dance to rapped over disco tunes,” these clowns, and all that followed, over-ran the genre. I understand everyone wants to get paid (son), but if long suffering underground lyricist like the Black Eyed Peas have whored themselves out, then the genre is dead.
The days of albums like these two being popular are oh-vah-oh-vah-oh-vah-aye-aye-aye.
February 18th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
NASA and Beastie Boys is rap for well-to-do white kids.
No wonder Crook likes it.
WIGGER RAP ALL THE WAY SON!
February 18th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Chuck D of Public Enemy was quoted as saying that the “dirty secret” among the black hip-hop community at the time of release was that “Paul’s Boutique had the best beats.”
-Vibe Magazine