OK let's break this down.
1987 Eric B. & Rakim releases Paid In Full
1988 Eric B. & Rakim releases Follow the Leader
1988 Public Enemy releases It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
1988 Boogie Down Productions releases By All Means Necessary
1989 Beastie Boys releases Paul's Boutique
1989 De La Soul releases 3 Feet High and Rising
1989 Boogie Down Productions releases Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop
1989 N.W.A. releases Straight Outta Compton
1990 Public Enemy releases Fear of a Black Planet
Paul's Boutique definitely deserves to be mixed in with these other albums. The level of sampling taking place on this album is incredible, and like nothing else I've heard. It's the mixing of samples that makes it so impressive. Of course how much of this is the Beasties and how much is their producer Dust Brothers no one really knows, but they had to have the genius to know this pairing would work and give Dust Brothers the opportunity to take sampling to a level that it would never be at again. I think 1989 is interesting because you have the Beasties mixing sampling, punk, rap, and rock in a noisy experimental sort of way. N.W.A. brought gangsta rap to a new level. BDP was heading away from sampling trying to reconstruct a cleaner sound focusing back on simple beats and lyrics. While De La Soul was opening up rap and sampling to the pop world in a way that would change everything after it. The genius of Fear of a Black Planet was how it brought all four of these approaches together on one album.
Taking all of this into consideration this album definitely deserves to be in a countdown like this, but it is still on a level of experimental that doesn't necessarily make it a fun listen. Unless you really want to hear some experimental sampling then I would suggest staying away from this one.
