NO COPY RIGHT SOUNDS! 2015

Question 1: Rank the following based on which portion of the site you spend the most time on, 1 being the most and 4 being the least.Question 2: What do you propose should be the 5th channel added to RapGenius?#Death to channels #DEATHTOCHANNELS #deathtochannels , don't even like ranking them. A channel that separates R&B/Soul/Pop from Rock A lack of channels Amature or Unsigned artists Art Genius Art Genius Art Genius Art Genius Art Genius Art Genius Art Genius Art/Fashion genius Art/Fashion Genius Art? IDK Ask a Artist questinos Book Genius Category of each generation of popular music (e.g. 90s most popular genre) Dick Genius dont know Drug Genius, Porn Genius, Movie Genius Education Genius - I know there have been some attempts at this (I remember seeing a "Concepts of Algebra" page or something similar a while back), and I think that the format and presentation of our annotation system could be put to good use. For example, there could be a transcription of an outline of a chapter of a textbook, and annotations could be used to go more in depth and give specific information. Idk if schools would be willing to utilize a site called "rapgenius" but who knows; at least students such as myself could use it. EducationGenius Either FashionGenius gets it's own thing so it can get out of my face when I don't want to see it (even though I enjoy it), or maybe sometime tech related like Tech Genius or Game Genius. Something for the nerds. Everything Genius. fap genius Fap Genius (pornographic information/history) Fap Genius cuz of thirsty niggas and spammers. Tbh, an "artist discussion" and mixtape promotion Genius would be cool. Fashion Genius, I'm pretty sure it already exists but it wasn't on the above ranking. Film Genius. I like Fashion Genius, as well... if we teach people how to upload images onto the site. (Also... I REALLY like the one-word syllables for the site's main channels; PoetryGenius doesn't have as nice of a ring to the ear as RapGenius (which is the mother brand). Maybe something more broad like "LitGenius"; that way we can generate an audience for people who read books, or any literary items that aren't considered "news". Film/TV Genius Film/TV/Video Genius Food Genius Food genius Food Genius Game Genius Game Genius since I actually noted Mykro's putting in priority work for that or TV/Film Genius since I keep seeing OT threads involving TV/film on the Rap Genius forum & these people hate to be re-routed to the sub-forum & complain that no one uses it. GameGenius GraffitiGenius/ArtGenius Hip-Hop Genius History Genius. I don't think there should be a 5th one for now, focus on the ones you have But to answer this question I'm going to say Food Genius, a place where we break down recipes and make a "cook book" i honestly only use rap genius, big hip hop fan. i think a reggae genius would be cool. It'd move away from music, but I'd love to see a business or electronic genius. Also a sports genius would be great. JewGenius Just combine all of them into one super site. Just make Sports Genius it's own thing, not apart of News Genius. LifeGenius Add stuff for health, relationships, financial troubles, working out and cooking. Maybe even some sexual education stuff. And make the color red please :D lifestyle Lit Genius Literature Genius...? Maybe that wouldn't be the official name, but for book lovers like myself, that would be great. Lyricism Metal Genius Misc miscilanious forum Movie Genius Movie Genius Movie Genius Movie Genius Movie Genius Movie/TV Genius Movie/TV Genius or Reggae Genius or R&B Genius None at the moment but maybe Pop Genius or something? I don't know why but putting none rock people as rock is weird as putting non rap people as rap. None. Chill with that. Not sure nothing, get Rap Genius right before blindly adding more. Off-Topic/Philosophy Genius Oldies Philosophy Genius Politics Pop Pop Culture Genius Pop Genius Pop Genius Pop Genius (more specific for pop music.) pop genius, because all the pop songs are on rock genius and it is just aweful to see that Porn Genius Porn Genius. Yes it sounds perverted but it could be a hit. Just look at all the female appreciation threads made in the rg forums. I would like a porn genius. PornGenius PornGenius Probably Games Genius, although I wouldn't use it often I think it would be beneficial to forumers Producer Producer Genius Producer Genius Producer Genius Producer Genius producer genius would be rad Producer Genius. It already exists but a dedicated portion would be good. ProducerGenius ProducerGenius instead of it just being a forum Rap and B genius rapgenius should be rebranded into just "genius." don't add any new channels until the existing ones are organized and streamlined, because most of them are a mess and scattered throughout the site. Religion Genius Review Genius? ReviewGenius aka CriticGenius would be clever and appealing.Just hire anthony fontano and you are very fine.Radio genius would have been fine too.You shouldnt make many categories because the site might become a little complicated Sample Genius School Genius Science!!!!! Script Genius Some science stuff, biology, maths, I don't know. Education Genius? something dedicated to books maybe sport genius sport genius?/video game genius? Sports Sports Genius Sports Genius Sports genius Sports Genius Sports Genius Sports genius Sports Genius Sports Genius Not country genius. There is no genius in country music, just hicks. sports genius ! Sports Genius should be it's own thing. Sports or Health Sports or Producer Genius, for sure. SportsGenius SportsGenius SportsGenius. Stock genius Stocks Genius style genius swag genius Swag Genius Symbolism Genius Tech Genius Tech Genius / App Genius There shouldn't be a 5th channel. TV/Movie Genius Vid Genius Video Game/ TV Show/ Movies Genius Video games Yeezy GeniusQuestion 3: Do you have any hobbies you think would suit being added to RapGenius?401K Genius Advice on life anything Art atm Automotive Genius Basketball Being based bitches board/card games Books Business Call of Duty Chillin' Cinematography Classical Music Code College (not a hobby but still) ComicBookGenius? Computer Programming Cooking Dance Design/Art Drinking Drugs Eating eating food - Food Genius (s/o to mynamescody) Electronics Events in history Faith Fapping Farting on cops Fitness Following little girls FoodGenius (Same as GameGenius) For now nothing should be added Game Design Game Genius GameGenius (I think this is being created, but it needs to be promoted BIG TIME!) Games Gaming geography, spatial anaylsis. gis rap map. holllaa at me going on rapgenius (RapGenius Genius - like NewsGenius but for RG-related happenings... but more like TMZ gossip bullshite than real news) Graffiti Graphic Design Graphic Design Guides for completing video games Hip-Hop Dance Historical Research Instrument tutorials JobGenius (Think about a platform that combines job opportunities, like Idealist.org, or Indeed.com, and the websites of the organizations who post these jobs online! We can help people learn more about the jobs they're interested in) Kawaii metal LanguageGenius (We have many users who know more than one language... many who I'm sure can teach the language. They can be a resource and teach users who are interested in learning a language. Screw Rosetta Stone! They only teach modern language/grammar/logistics. They can literally teach lessons by narrating out of texts they create themselves (and upload YouTube videos so they can follow along)... AND, one thing that we can take into account is culture. We can have dialogues with users about what's normally said and why. Law Lifting Listening to music Making Beats Making love (srs) Making music - basically an expansion of Producer Genius Manga Masturbating Masturbating Masturbating... FapGenius Masturbation Math Maths Maybe athlete move breakdowns Meditating MMA More Cinema More official album reviews Movie Genius Movies/TV Murdering Music Software other genres of music Parkour Pet Genius Philanthropy/Donations/etc. Philosophy Photography Photography Play with puppy Playing Instruments Pool Genius Porn Genius - pipe dream Posting things on Facebook that only I find amusing Programming Programming Programming Rap Genius is my hobby to be honest rapgenius should be rebranded into just "genius." don't add any new channels until the existing ones are organized and streamlined, because most of them are a mess and scattered throughout the site. Reading Reading Manga REAL News, not just rapgenius news. really Reviews Reviews for applications and movies RGBB Sampling songs Science Science Science Science Science Science Screenwriting Selling Cd's and Vinyl records Skateboarding Sniffing panties Some form of radio would be gret Spending too much damn time on RapGenius Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports sports Sports Genius Stocks stop asking me questions pls swag Tech Technology Theater think think TV Shows Video Games Video Games Video Games Video Games Video Games. Watching Porn Weed Genius - different strains and shit idk Weightlifting Working at Subway? Working out Writing Writing Lyrics Writing movies Writing ScriptsQuestion 4: Do you have any suggestions for the future of Rapgenius?a search engine where you can find the threads Add a number of plays a song gets on the site? Otherwise nothing else really, the site is truly amazing Add more and more annotations add reviews Always be open to new ideas! An Official Rap Genius Magazine ANDROID APP ANDROID APP! assign work to be done so projects that come out look decent enough for whit ehats to work on it. Become a search engine, blacklist google better search engine Bring Lemson back come to austin tx more often Continuing to get new artists annotating and writing blogs for this website. Reading blogs and posts from fans is awesome but it would be really cool to see some straight from the artist themselves. De-editor savvy's generation of editors. Do something about transcribing new songs that makes it less annoying for everyone involved Don't fall in with merging with big corps. Don't fuck it up Don't get banned by Google. Don't get banned from Google again Don't get boned by Google again. Don't grow too fast, seriously. Also, edit shit. I haven't seen an update in some time. It'd be better to tackle existing problems, wouldn't it? Don't overreach. The locus of the site is annotating rap lyrics- that's likely why the enormous majority of people come to the site. The main goal should be to be the #1 authority on hip hop in the other world- all else should be secondary to this. Don't try and scam google, keep killin' it Don't try to do everything at once, you have a solid rap base now try to make the Rock and Poetry one work before expanding too much You have a lot of potential if you dedicate more time and work to the other components of Rap Genius instead of trying to have a Genius for everything Emphasize ease-of-use Expand viral video content. Allow fans more access to artists who visit HQ. Fix the google problem For annotations, make it a thread, and the most thumbed up post is the head annotation Get more personal and expressive. I don't know any of the moderators on the site (although that may be because I'm lazy and I've never been active on the site). get some more mods, mod people that have been here for a while ha no I think that for future "year end" polls there should be a focus on RG's own rappers. I mean, the site is about supporting hip hop, yet its own users and the entire construction of the site seems against underground rappers. Maybe there should be an "Underground rapper of the week" blog post, and then at the end of the year the users can rate all 52 or so rappers listed throughout the year. It'd be a great way to give rappers exposure, it'd be a great way to introduce listeners to more music. Honestly I would absolutely LOVE to start seeing that. In the future, I hope people learn that there's a space in Rap Genius. Like, seriously, get it together. Incorporate more genres iPhone app iPhone app! =] Just keep doing what you are right now. Make money $$$$$$$ but dont get lost doing that. Just keep improving keep doing what you're doing. make sure you don't miss any oldies, that real hip hop know what i mean Keep getting that money Keep on keepin' on Keep the website alive and relevant. Keep up the good work homies! kkk. Less idiots in the forums Listen to your users in the editor forum Make an app for RG. Make it more Ralph, acquire the answers Make the forums a nicer place. More features and less porn spammers. It makes the website more professional. Maybe a streaming service, since plug.dj is popular among users Mentioning of the subsectors would be SWELL. I don't think many whitehats (or even editors) know about the subsectors... or at least the potential they have! I don't know where to put them, though: in the "About Us" page? Mobile app!!! more organization among the mods and power structure Priority tates. Products! Merchandises Professionalism is truly lacking where it causes editors to also act like little boys without their pacifiers. Users are unfriendly and inconsiderate and narrow minded. It really reflects on verified artists, who become discouraged to log on or take the site seriously. I have spoken with 5 popular verified artists who feel this way on Twitter about RG. Promote people based on QUALITY not QUANTITY Rap/News/Rock/Poetry Genius... seems like you should change your company/website name from RapGenius to just Genius or something. rapgenius should be rebranded into just "genius." don't add any new channels until the existing ones are organized and streamlined, because most of them are a mess and scattered throughout the site. remove producer genius. redundant af Science Seriously, delete the forums. Stay real, stay open with everyone like you've been, and keep pushing to make the site better Stop cheating your way to the top. Keep the trolls at bay Stop cheating. Switch to the layout of a traditional forum - sections for different types of threads(e.g. sport discussion, album discussion) The forum needs serious work: There needs to be a button inside a topic to automatically scroll down to the newest post. There needs to be a search function in the forum so the same topic isn't made a million different times. Time out suggestions for non sensical comments on popular songs. Having the ability to keep big songs separate from the main site so that qualified few could get in and transcribe without having to refresh constantly. Try not fucking with google. Try to expand the brand to other countries We need to really get serious about this, need some more people as staff. Not a lot, maybe 2 - 5 extra people. Why aren't there separate domains for the different channels? rock.rapgenius doesn't make sense. There should be a new domain for separate channels, like stackoverflow did with stackexchange. Will SDVGS IP address be banned You could try to create a separate page/site for new musicians trying to get discovered. You should advertise it on youtube vevo video clips if this is affordable.add advertisements for guests in order to make money.this will propably give some hype.A webshow would give some more hype too.Plus hiring a critic will give even more hype and with all that hype you can get more money from advertisements.Think of a way to market your product like making a rapgenius store.Question 5: How did you hear about Rap Genius?a friend A friend A Google search... That did not take place recently :P Accidentally found it looking for meaningful lyrics when it first started up. It's come a long way and can't wait to see the future! Being the top hit for lyrics By searching song lyrics and clicking the link Came across it by accident Can't remember exactly but it was like a year or two ago and im pretty sure I was just searching for lyrics to a rap song and the website came up. Clicked on a link from Google Did research on articles with the site and decided to check it out for myself. If only I could devote less time to it though. discovered while searching for hip-hop lyrics via google dont remember, probably googling for lyrics for some shit u know like maybe some nas or old school em or whatever Facebook Found it Found it by myself Found it looking for lyrics Found it myself looking for lyrics Found it on Google while searching for lyrics to a Nas song. Found it randomly and discovered that lyrics are explained in detail, and the many other features, so I now use it daily. Found it searching lyrics found it searching lyrics probably Found it when I googled a song (R.I.P) Found it when looking up lyrics circa 2011 Found it while browsing Friend friend recommendation friends Friends. g00gle Google Google Google Google Google Google google Google Google ha Google or something Google search Google search Google search Google search for lyrics (RIP) google search kendrick lamar section.80 google searching lyrics Google, like 15178 years ago. Google, searching for lyrics googled Aesop Rock lyrics Googled lyrics Googled lyrics like err'body else. Googled lyrics. googled song lyrics googled song lyrics Googling frank ocean lyrics googling lyrics Googling lyrics Googling lyrics Googling rap lyrics Googling rap lyrics I am a huge fan of lyrics... and in early 2011 I Googled a song where Rap Genius appeared in the search results. I immediately went on the site, because most lyrics sites I went to (at the time) didn't explain rap lyrics all that well. It was love at first sight. I came across it looking up the meaning to the lyrics of Mr. Carter by Lil' Wayne and Jay-Z I can't really remember! I found it myself. I found it through Google back in 2011. I found it while I was searching the lyrics for a song. I googled the meaning of "that shit cray" and you guys were the first to show up. I heard from a friend who really enjoyed reading the lyric annotations. I searched "Top Songs of 2011" and found the blog post. i searched lyrics on google.com I searched up the XV lyric "They hit my brother with ten years". I wondered if it was true, then what did he go to jail for. I searched his brother's name and found nothing. I then searched the song's name like this: "smallville meaning" and then I found lyric sites. AZ Lyrics was bland as fuck and didn't explain anything, so I tried a couple links. I loved it, so I just hung around the forums for about two weeks. I finally got an account one night in March 2013 and racked up like 2,000 IQ that night so I didn't seem new :/ The rest just goes on. I stumbled upon it while searching lyrics I think Facebook way back when i think i googled about the lyrics of a song or just googled something like top 15 rappers to searched and popped right on the forums.Google i think mostly I think I looked up the lyrics to Yonkers (back when OF and Tyler just exploded) and I THINK that's how I ended up here. I wanted to know a reference on "Niggas in Paris" and a friend told me about a website that tells you the meaning of lyrics. He meant SongMeanings but I found RG and continued to use it more and more, eventually signing up for an account I was literally searching lyrics for RAP GOD on Google and came across the site. I was looking up a song and the site was the first to come up. I was searching meaning of specific Rap lines. I was searching up some lyrics to a song I'm deaf you idiot Internet Internet internet JimmyKudo3000 Just found it searching for song lyrics. Just googling song lyrics a couple years ago. Just looking up lyrics. looked up lyrics Looked up lyrics about Slick Rick and it popped up first in Google. Looked up the song "kick push" by Lupe Fiasco. Looking for lyrics Looking for lyrics was 1st option, fell in love looking up lupe lyrics Looking up lyrics to an Action Bronson song Looking up lyrics years ago. lyric searches Lyric searches on Google, irony SPECTACULAR Maboo fucked my dad My best friend told me My dude Jacob showed me the site in 12th grade (2010-2011) when we were listening to Bastard and Goblin while hanging out in the Computer Lab during English class. Nas FB page needed to ask a q about rap playa Occasionally on twitter On twitter. Online Open-Ended Response Probably looking up Lupe Fiasco lyrics in 2009 idk R/hhh (subreddit centered on hip hop) Rap Genius is common knowledge. Searched rap genius Searching for lyrics searching for lyrics on google Searching for lyrics online. searching lyrics on google which i cant do anymore. Searching on Google (lol not nowadays doe) Searching rap lyrics on Google Searching rap lyrics... searching up a song....on google (ironically) Shitty YouTube comments. Should've never taken their suggestion :/ So there I was, sitting in my room listening to banger after banger on finally famous by chief keef while drinking some orange juice (Concentrate), when I hear a phrase that I can't understand. I have no idea what this man is saying. Is he choking on something? Should I be worried? Should I call someone and let them know what is happening? So I called my friend to ask him and he got really angry at me for waking him up because it was like 3am and he told me to go look on this site called "RapGenius" and so I checked it out. It turned out he was saying "O-Block". Its some gang term, weird I know. But apparently its a popular term with Chicago youth, who woulda guessed. Isn't it weird how these terms get started. Like one dude was like "SWAG" and then the whole nation started using the word and jacked his steez. Well, its been really good talking to you dude, but I gotta go, my bowels are just not being complacent and I have to take a shit. So talk to you later dude, thanks for calling and feel free to call again anytime you have something on your mind. Peace The grapevine the interwebz This is funny, I was looking up "Real G's move in silence like lasagna" like 3 years ago and found the site. Signed up, history made. Through googling through the grapevine. Twitter Used to use it to look up lyrics, made an account but never used until some guys went to KTT trolling and claimed they were from RG. youtube Youtube commentsQuestion 6: What makes an album a "classic"?1. Is still being listened to and still has bumpable tracks after 10 years 2. Changes or makes a big impact on the game 3. Every track is unskippable 1. Quality. 2. Relevancy of the lyrics. Does it touch on topics that matter? 3. Must be considered an awesome album decades and decades from when it was released. 5. Influential and inspiring 6. Originality and creativity must be imbedded in every song! 7. Awesome beats 8. Lyrical skills and delivery 9. Addicting. It must make everyone replay the songs over and over and over again. 10. Revealing of the artist. Lyrics can't be generic and you should be able to see the artist in each song 3-4 instantly memorable and re-playable tracks. Few to none superfluous/bad songs. Does not become dated by the passage of time. Can be listened to successfully in multiple contexts. Bridges traditional divides among genre-fanboys. General community acclaim. 85% good reviews with at least 100000 listeners 90% of songs above-average quality, at least 3 standout tracks, do something new (transcend) A classic album is an album that achieves critical acclaim and/or hugely changes the rap game, and has a massive influence A classic is a set of elements.you can't say an album is a classic if you refer to one criterion. But the most important of them is the impact and the influence and the impact on the history A high degree or combination of, quality, influence, and impact. A level of technical perfection but not at all generic or uncreative. Also garners an emotional response from me. A solid go-to while DJing a party, a piece that represents an era, takes you back when you put it on. A well-liked piece for the era with melody that resonates and/or contains high-class story-telling. It connects with people and allows them to attach meaning to it, which allows it to become timeless, although era-defined at the same time. All song on the album should have Good Production, Meaningful Lyrics, Sentimental Artwork, and Clear & emotional vocal delivery. It has to sound new no matter old it gets. all the shit just has to come together u know. like you have to be able to listen to it day one and be like yeah ima be listening to that whatever 10 years 20 years 30 years later. paid in full, illmatic regulate...g funk era, the master u know real shit. theres that new shit by lil 1/2 dead. dead serious. thats an ill album i can see myself bumpin that shit waaay in the future. and the new vinnie paz album, carry on tradition you know lethal shit. theres a new methodman album in the making apparently too cant wait i got nothing but love for the wu. All track 9/10 or higher or big impact on the rap world Amazing production, amazing flow, amazing lyrics, relate-able content, subject matter. An album is "classic" simply if it is widely received as a fantastic album, and has stood the test of time. An album is a classic if you form an emotional attachment to it, especially if you share this attachment with others. The way you feel about a classic album is unique to that particular album. An album should be deemed a classic if the album has: A) influenced a large group of rappers in either their lyricism, flow, delivery, etc. B) Withstood the passage of time and will be looked at as a "classic" over a lengthy period. C) High quality lyricism, flow, delivery, etc. D) Is deemed by the hip-hop community as such and continues to over time An album you can listen to millions of times and never getting tired of it. Also, not skipping any one song on it. An overall sound. anything can At least 3 Classic songs. Every track should be good. Cohesive songs that relate to each other. A certain vibe that carries through the album and NO FILLER. Banger after banger after banger Beats and lyricism being gud combination great songs, tremendous influence, and infinite replay value. Combination of sound, innovation, uniqueness, circumstances and maybe reception Cultural impact, originality, right balance of catchy, fun songs and deep/meaningful songs, replay value, no bad songs, at least one classic song (a song with cultural impact and credit in it's own right) and an album that stands the test of time Doing shit in a way that hasn't been done before. Every song on the album is a masterpiece that can connect with you and the people you know every time you listen to it. Every track has to be perfect in it's own way and every track has to work with the rest of the album. EVERY track is good. Little to no filler tracks unless they're good as fuck. Excellent production and lyrics backed by a certain level of critical acclaim. Overall, a groundbreaking and different album in comparison to what was being released at the time. Excellent reception with these three groups: 1, the audience, 2, the critics, and 3, the scholars. Excelling in 2 or more variables. Like production and lyricism, or lyricism and story telling Good production, good features, and not a single bad song. Great content, lyrics, production, most of the tracks on the album are great. Great hits. Great production. Great feaured artists. Great lyrics, great general flow, variety of styles and high quality production. If I can repeatedly listen to an album for years then I consider it a classic. Great production, great lyrics. A good/meaningful message and it being relatable. Great production, innovative soundscapes, great story-telling/ heartfelt lyrics Has to be absolutely incredible Not "very good" Has to still be relevant and in the conversation for best ever 10 years after it drops hearing it later on, ie. months or years later while still evoking the same emotion it did like when it was first heard High quality, innovation, influence High replay value, meaningful tracks. High replay value, Unique content both sonically and lyrically, Consistently impressive throughout with very few to no duds, Ability to evoke any emotion Honestly, I Love the beats in the album, but if an artist is known for being very lyrical, then i listen to that more. If the album feel well done, then imo i feel it's a classic. How it flows, eg the eminem show has skits appropriately and RTD goes in order from BIGs life to death. The content, the passion, the creativeness that went behind it. No matter how good it is, if you didn't go all out, it's bullshit, not a classic How it's structured, its originality, and its production How much I like it, and how much it means to me. How timeless it is. I can listen to and enjoy a "classic" album at any point in my life. By the time I get Social Security, I should be able to enjoy Acid Rap (as weird and distasteful as that might sound). I don't know. I feel a personal classic is based on enjoyment but an all round classic has to have a relative level of impact and uniqueness. I refuse to designate any album as a 'classic'. It's a meaningless term, often used by fans that are desperate for recognition of their personal favorites. I regard as a classic an album which is not only lyrically and musically amazing, but which has also inpired people and is still being listened decades after it's release Iconic sound that reverberates indefinitely. If you can hear an album and know that nothing has been, or ever will be like that album, it's a classic. It has nothing to do with age. If every song is 10/10 or it changed Hip Hop in a major way. If I can connect with it. If it is a favorite of many people and it has influenced other artists. If it stands the test of time, after decades people are still listening to it's songs. If it withstands the test of time If its a solid release If pitchfork says its good... obviously. If RTJII says so If you can enjoy anywhere from 70% and up of an album. Impact in a certain musical genre/genres musically, lyrically or topically. Classics for me could also be albums that have immense replayability value and that I can relate with at a certain emotional level. I also appreciate albums that can tell interesting stories or introduce and show me to a different reality in an engaging way. In addition, uniqueness in the music makes the experience of listening to an album much more precious. Classics for me don't have to be a combination of all of these factors, but have to excel in at least one of the categories. In order to be a classic an album needs to be amazing in several parts: - It needs to portray that era for future listens, Illmatic represents the early 90's for example - It needs to be good sound wise, if it doesn't sound good it can't be a classic - It needs to have sparked something, it can't be an unknown album and be a classic, there needs to be people talking about it constantly - It helps if it is different from the usual sounds we get, if it is something fresh Influence Influence and Quality intense, memorable versus that have lengthy replay value It has to be very very good and memorable. It has to have a lot of replay value and needs to be timeless. It needs to also influence some other rappers. It also does not need to be a 10/10, but there should only be at most two or three bad songs on it. It has to influence new music. It is critically acclaimed and praised heavily by fans of the artist and also has an influence to the rest of the Rap Community. It should be (nearly) perfect and/or it should be known by many people (for example everybody knows the song "U Can't Touch It". It's a classic even if it isn't that good ). its 10/10 its all opinionated its gotta be good It's impact, it's sound. It doesn't have to be revolutionary, but it does have to be amazing. It's influence on the community, and its remembrance, and notoriety. Its lyricism, the flow of songs, amazing production, and appealing cover art It's replay value over different times.The album construction and the concept as long as the melodies matter too.I think that Danny Brown's XxX can be a classic for my ears.i have been listening to it just like its my first time listening to it since it came out.There is an awesome album construction(from party to serious(kind of))and the flows and vibes are insane.If its listenable in idk 1-2 years from now i will consider it as a classic It's sound. How good the production is, how good the rapper is, etc. Its staying power and ability to resonate after a period of extreme musical progression (with said progression providing the hindsight necessary to go back and evaluate). Kanye West Keeps up the listening rate throughout the first five years of its release. Long standing appeal and critical acclaim that stands the test of time Longevity of popularity Long-term listenability Lots of factors Lyrics, production, flow and the feeling you get when you listen too it. More than 60% of the songs are amazing. The songs have meaning and/or are hits. must be a success in terms of sales, must be consistent in terms of people who like the album, must have one bad track at the most. Near universal critical acclaim. (A very high Metacritic score?) Never gets old -No "filler" songs -Strong message -Good sound -New material -Different from anything ever made -Good lyrically Not becoming ''old'' Not having to skip a song on the album original and meaningful lyrics that could possibly spark controversy, heartfelt Originality, content, lyricism, timeless, no filler, good features Over-Zealous & Enjoyable Lyrics + Good Production + Replay Value = Classic Personal. Connections. Listenable over and over. No throw-away songs. pitchfork saying so Pretty subjective, You have to love the entire album and everything about it. proven longevity, technical proficiency, and at least some widespread popularity (if only in hip hop circles) Quality, influence, innovation. re-listen appeal, originality, ground-breaking-ness Replay value Replay value Doesn't get boring to listen Consistently good New view on rap Replay value, mastery of craft, whether the album cover is fucking boring or not Replay value. Influence. Every song being at LEAST "solid". This is kind of hard, because albums can be classics for different reasons. Replayability, progressing the genre, collaboration, creative genius, kanye west Sales, notoriety among genre fans, production quality, delivery, and of course lyrical complexity. sekd Short answer: Stands the test of time, and the enjoyment is the same no matter when you listen to it. Significant in the history of the genre Something you listen to over and over again without it being boring staying power, impact, message, influence that word is overrated and subjective to the listener. The album has to be universely accepted by most listeners as one of the best projects they've ever heard. It has to have high replay ability as well as near perfect lyrics, flow, and production. There are many qualities that contribute towards the making of a classic record. For one, it has to be an authentic record/album. It has to pop out for there are thousands upon thousands of albums that are made EVERY YEAR. So an album that merely sticks to the status quo is unacceptable to be considered classic. If you list all the classic albums (Nas Illmatic and Eminem's Slim Shady LP) they are all different and are unlike ONE ANOTHER. So authenticity is key. Next is creativity. An album must be creative to be considered classic preferably in production instrumentation and lyrics. A creative effort can clearly be distinguished (I. E. Childish Gambino's Because The Internet and Chance The Rapper's Acid Rap were creative efforts in 2013). So creativity is another aspect. And finally impact is an important aspect. Albums like Kendrick Lamar good kid m. A. A. d city had a major impact and although this aspect isn't a vital aspect it's a great one nonetheless. So authenticity creativity and impact. Think of DJ Shadow - Endtroducing. It's considered a classic without even more than 1% of original content from DJ Shadow. The production is consistent, diverse, and the feel of the album can stretch from abrasive & fast-paced to mellow & zen-like. It's all about the execution and finesse that can appease the average listener & connoisseur's the most. Now classic can go ahead & execute a concept we've already explored from an entirely different angle i.e. the Good Kid, Maad City method of a critically introspective view of K.Dot's life on the streets, or branch off into a world we've never visited i.e. Deltron 3030 method of exploring a dystopian, technology-riddled future. Either way, the production is able to fit with the artists' flow, lyricism, each song is able to fit well into the theme of the album, etc. I mean you get the point by now. Time and influence timeless Timeless Timeless, doesn't get old, has a connection with me, great lyrics and production Timeless. Important. Technically good. No filler. Timelessness. Has to be important To me, "classic" is synonymous with "timeless". So a classic album is one that can be played that doesn't depreciate OR appreciate in value. Top notch lyricism from rapper and great production Top notch Quality and impact on the genre Universal or near-universal critical and peer acclaim. very strong impact, well recieved amongst fans and critics, Well known, catchy but lyrically deep Well-received creativity and subsequent influence. For hip-hop the album should be lyrical and an extent of technicality. The album having a concept also helps When it can be appreciatted by the underground and some of the mainstream withou the artist having to compromise their art When you listen to it over and over for like a month, forget about it, then it's like the new shit again when you pick it up 6 months later. Wide spread praise and approval of the album, able to listen repeatedly for years. You can listen to it through and and never get bored. It appeals to the human nature too. You define a classic. It's an opinion. No one shares an opinion everywhere, that's why it's an opinion.Question 7: How long do you feel an album should age before it can become a "classic"?Question 8: Name 5 albums that YOU consider to be classics.(adding soon)