j3's TOP 20 HIP HOP ALBUMS OF ALL TIME

#19
EDAN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAT
2005



While it just came out last year in 2005, Edan's Beauty and the Beat is truly a masterwork. Edan's cut-paste-decoupage production style lures listeners with its messy, Romper-Room sound construction. It's a swaggering yet charming, boastful yet playful record. It's those complexities that make this record such a compelling piece of hip hop. It's as much an ol' dusty psychedelic record as it is a hip hop record. In fact, to better enjoy this record, just say it came out back in 1990. If that doesn't do it for you, tell yourself it's a Prince Paul project.

But while most throwback projects act as a lesson in biting styles, Beauty acts with more reverence and honor. It's almost a coffee table book on pre-1990 hip hop all in itself. All this from some kid from Boston.

Oh wait, I failed to mention that Edan mans the mic as well. And while, he's not going to make any heads spin, the kid has an incredible sense of context and his style stunts like Rakim, G Rap and Masta Ace.

Beauty demolishes any walls that hip hop has built around itself. It finally escapes the rut of convention that hip hop has been caught in for years now. It redefines and recreates true hip hop in an era where it's seemingly absent. And while Edan might not ever fully achieve any success on a popular level, this album alone cements his place in the history of hip hop.

Highlights:
"I See Colours"
"Torture Chamber"
"Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme"
"Rock and Roll"