ESPN analyst Bomani Jones took some time to answer questions from fans during an episode of The Evening Jones. When asked what the most overrated Rap album is, he says that it’s an album he remembers buying the day it came out: March 25, 1997.
“I was in my work getup and I went up into Blockbuster Music so that I could go in there and I could buy this double album that had just come out and it was called Life After Death,” Jones says.
He explains that he likes the first disc of The Notorious B.I.G. album, but part two let him down, especially “Going Back to Cali,” produced by a New Yorker who worked with both Biggie and Tupac.
“Disc two, sorry, man, you asshole New Yorkers,” Jones says. “How you gonna make you a West Coast song and get Easy Mo Bee to do the beat? Huh? It’s got some cool songs on it man, but the idea that that’s better than Ready to Die or the idea that Life After Death is some kinda five-star album, that’s just ridiculous.”
When answering who the most overrated rapper is of all time, he says despite the fact he thinks the question was tricking him into saying Tupac, the most overrated rapper is Gang Starr member Guru.
“Like Tupac, the most overrated rapper is ever is dead,” he says. “And I feel kinda torn about this ’cause he’s the first rapper that I ever interviewed after I started covering the rap game. But the single most overrated rapper of all time is Guru. Guru, Guru, Guru.”
Jones says that without quality production from DJ Premier, Guru wouldn’t nearly be as popular as he is.
“Guru’s not bad, but you take Guru off them Premo beats and we ain’t having no discussion about Guru, man,” he says. “There’s people who swear by Guru, dog, swear by Guru to the it, Guru one of the most underrated rappers of all time. The fact that you know Guru’s name is rating enough.”
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Bomani’s trippin about Biggie. Life After Death had like 2-3 trash songs, everything else is certified classic.
Bomani makes some valid points.
everyone is entitled to an opinion…his opinion is interesting too…but that ready to die album was a part of a great experience for me…big influence on me. and what’s wrong with an east-coast producer making a west coast-esque song? hell, we have americans making reggae all the time.
I completely disagree with this guy…
If anything Guru was underrated. Dude broke away from Dj Premier producation with the Jazzmatazz series and still held his own. Bomani’s arguement is flawed with Guru.
Life After Death is a certified classic from one of the greatest emcess to EVER do it. Point Blank!
your sexy and i dig your opinion….lets get together and smoke a blunt with some pizza and then ill tickle your whispering brown eye if the mood is right
dude being extra for attention don’t even confuse it with an “opinion” because he sparking this for some type of super windfall (Guru’s dying anniversary is this weekend). a lame is what we call those type of people
“Life After Death” overrated?! WHAT?! *deep sigh* One of THE most influential Hip Hop albums of all time
Ready to Die was, not Life After Death. He makes a valid point for the second disc. I’ll listen again, but there was too much WC on the album.
boy shut your booty bitch ass up,fool u know i thought your porto rican ass better….boy there is only 1 WC song on the album u dimpshit so don’t speak when grown folks are talking’…..now take yo ass to the closet,the same one where u kept your sexualility
What do ya do when yo’ bitch is untrue
Do you cut that hooker off and find someone new
I need another biiiitch
Nah, this is classic dope. Tupac on the otherhand is very overrated.
2pac overrated? can’t say anything except sorry you can’t appreciate him enough to enjoy his music like all us do
2pac is failed poetry. Wale is a lot better in that regard.
your such a failed white boy that i should fisted your with the rose that grew from concrete
2pac isn’t failed poetry, he’s successful poetry. Wale sucks at poetry, so he ain’t better than Pac at all.
get that homo nigga Don.I know u know how to slap a bitch nigga…shit we slapped several at SOHH just 30mins ago,look at the way that bitch nigga dress you can tell he wanna blow a white boy thats a twink,its a good thing we’re asian.
The only thing that’s ridiculous about this article is that it was published and no one at HipHopDX caught the egregious “ESPN’a” typo. Bomani Jones’ opinion, on the other hand, is spot on.
I always liked disc 2 better. Great album, but I think it was a bit overrated because of the few weak cuts on each disc.
this dude needs to be fisted in a dry manner for his unchecked hubris
Premo has been helping mediocre rappers sound better for years. Group Home was so garbage lyrically but the production on that album was so dope.
I cosign you 100 on that but you gotta admit Guru was on a far higher plateau then nutkracker and them
Stillmatic is the most overrated album. 75% of is trash, if this album had a title that didn’t play off of his debut no one would have called it a classic. Nas has at least 7 better albums.
get nas scotum off your mind,The Dynasty and Carter 3 is more overrated.
your mother should of used me in the past….her coat hanger is overrated ~(_8 (})
Stillmatic is straight Fire ur fuckin tripping!! Never hard no one say that
GET THAT NIGGA SON!!!!!! (*slaps ass to celebrate)
GET THE NIGGA TO TELL THAT NIGGA TO GET THAT NIGGA SON!!!!
(*celebrates by dropping seman on a newly bought leather wallet that may be bullet proof but NOT body fluid proof)
nigga we never even conceived you,you were thrown out like the idea for a wallet with a flippable umbrella
I though stillmatic was self explannatory and was an actual musical comeback for Nas
I agree. Stillmatic one of nas worst albums along with Nastradamus and Street Disciples
You’re embarrassing yourself
I’m constapaited,are u bro?
Overrated Album: Wu Tang Forever, should have been 1 disc
Outkast “Speakerboxx/Love Below”
Guru has never been highly talked about for his lyric prowess so he is not overrated.
A few weak tracks on a double album makes it overrated now? Is LaD considered the best album of all time or something, cuz that’s the only way it’s overrated. I love when one person says an album’s overrated yet 90% of the Hiphop community would disagree. At least LaD stands up to the classics. Not for nothing but LaD never comes up when talking about the GOAT rap albums…how can it be overrated. I guess he has no problem with the producer of Big Poppa, he wasn’t a west coast guy either and it’s known BIG wanted a west coast flavor for that song. If you’re gonna call a classic overrated you need a better excuse than that the west coast song wasn’t produced by a west coast guy
(Sigh)… This gentleman’s opinion on Guru is jackass stupid.
Well, personally, I agree with him that Guru is mad overrated. The most overrated of all time? Maybe not. But he’s definitely really overrated. He said a lot of shit that was just not very good/skillful, and was very repetitive. And let’s not get it twisted; I would consider myself a big GangStarr fan. “Moment of Truth” was one of the most played albums for me during high school, and to this day is one of my favorite albums. Guru ain’t bad, but he’s not close to being one of the GOATs, and unlike many other people, him dying didn’t suddenly change that. It’s just my opinion, though, and like Bomani Jones, I’m entitled to it.
All that being said, I do disagree with him about “Life After Death”. I don’t know about giving it 5 Stars, but I definitely like it more than “Ready To DIe”, and consider it an excellent album overall.
Most overrated album is Illmatic. Most overrated rapper is Nas. End of discussion!
We’re all entitled to our opinions, but in my opinion, this comment is nuts. I do think that Nas is not nearly as sharp as he once was (although he has his moments still), but Nas in his prime was a beast. And I think there’s a reason you’d be hard-pressed to find a critic that feels like Illmatic isn’t one of the all-time greatest rap albums. All that being said, it’s your opinion. I just disagree. I do feel like Jay-Z is the better lyricist when compared to Nas (and could discuss this for hours), but that’s just me.
Chris L do not go ez on that hermaphrodite,he is a wanna be tranny who’s mad at the world because his anus can’t get wet so he manifest his anger and choses to project it on Nas.
2Pac overrated? nigga kill yourself
i tell people all the time the 2 most overrated rappers ever are jayz and biggy..sure they had some good shit but they are not iconic like most think..if biggy wasnt cut down early he would of went full pop.
top 5 in order
Pac, Nas, Big, Jay,( 5) Jada, 50, T.I. Scarface, Krupt, earlier Ice Cube
No Eminem? trippin…
This guy doesnt know jackshit about hiphop
His opinion speaks for itself
Life after death classic
Guru and premier classic combination
Havent heard anyone better to fit premiers style
Life after death overrated because he doesn’t like the track going back to cali ?
Tupac overrated, guy had the whole world in his grasp with his music
Look at state of hip hop ain’t no quality albums being released the way those guys did it
Guru the most Authentic mc to ever bless a mic should be proud to even mention his name
Guru the most Authentic mc to bless a should be proud to even mention his name
Guru the most Authentic mc to ever bless a mic should be proud to even mention his name
Trolling for attention and y’all bit the bait. Google the track list for the second disc. “Notorious Thugs”, “Ten Crack Commandments”, “Sky’s The Limit”, “My Downfall” and “You’re Nobody…” are wack? Ok. That nigga knows he’s lying.
That’s what the fuck I’m talkin about bro. People like to say shit for attention. Nothing about Biggie is overrated.
Guru the most Authentic mc to bless a should be proud to even mention his name
I’ve been saying this for 18 years. I remember my brother and me being hyped up for that album forever, then Big got killed right before it came out, and then being disappointed as I don’t know what when it came out after it had took 3 years to make. I was expecting something super dope. It was a lot like how 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me was a step back too from Me Against the World. After all those dope remixes and how good Ready to Die was, I guess I was just expecting rap perfection. I’m glad somebody else finally said it though. Bomani a fool.
I agree completely.
i gave Life After Death away, same day i bought it.
Me too my nig! Hahahahaaa!! I had to give it away. It was that trash. Especially disc 2. I dunno what Puffy was thinking with them horrific beats!
Stop it, stop it, this nigga is real disrespectful he can’t get over that biggie only release 2 albums that, One went platinum and the other went diamond. He would probably have broken records if he was alive while promoting the Life after death. Guru also had his run and is a EAST COAST legend. Theres only a few like biggies that comes along every once in awhile.
I definitely agree with this dude. I think we would have similar opinions when it comes to hip-hop. Even though I like Guru, especially that “Hard To Earn” album, I completely recognize that Guru wouldn’t have been as popular if it wasn’t for Premo on the beats. Biggie’s double disc was certainly no classic and same goes for Wu-Tang’s double disc album. I also feel like 2Pac and Eminem are a couple of the most overrated rappers of all time. Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt” ranks high in my most overrated albums. No doubt Jay-Z was quite skilled lyrically, but I just don’t like any of the beats on his debut.
I actually think Life After Death is one of the BEST hip-hop albums of all-time, but that’s just me.
Some of the greatest rappers imo are… Rakim, Kool G Rap, Nas, Buckshot, Prodigy, Ghostface Killah, GZA, Q-Tip, Masta Ace, Outloud (of Blahzay Blahzay) etc..
I definitely like Kurupt as well and think he is one of the greatest lyricists.
Dude must be on crack with such a comment! Listed to the tracks my man…listen to the tracks
shhhhhhhhh
fuck bomani jones…guru made albums without primo that were classic.. the whole JAZZMATAZZ catalogue is genius and rappers weren’t even making jazz albums like that.. gurus content and delivery were his own..then he disrespects biggie and Easy Mo Bee who crafted a classic west coast beat and demonstrated rare versatility for an east coast producer. looks like he chases white women for a living
That’s cuz bomani likes southern rap the most, guru was always about getting his message out and being very concise about it, although he never had crazy wordplay or anything he’s definitely one of the best at summing up some complex shit in a few sentences and making you think. Bomani says in his own words he doesn’t listen to music for the lyrics, mostly the beats, so to say he doesn’t like guru agrees with his point, but he’s wrong.
https://m.facebook.com/Biggie-Smalls-Legacy-989482221130501/?mds=%2Fedit%2Fpost%2Fdialog%2F%3Fcid%3DS%253A_I989482221130501%253A989495094462547%26ct%3D2%26nodeID%3Du_1u_0%26redir%3D%252Fstory_chevron_menu%252F%253Fis_menu_registered%253Dtrue%26loc%3Dpages_timeline&mdf=1
Typical Legacy – Attention problem. Dad not around. Mom overworked or absent. He spat shit out off of a script. Nothing significant.
Who follows, who idolizes him?
Who lacks character?
Who has a Daddy issue?
Who has an Approval problem?