Dizzee Rascal/DJ Shadow

For anybody who tries to tell you that electronic music can't be beautiful and profound, I've been listening to two records that will prove them wrong. DJ Shadow's Entroducing... (1996) and Dizzee Rascal's Boy In Da Corner (2003) are two of the most original albums I've ever heard and both make my feel better about the often-made claim that hip-hop is the future of pop music.

DJ Shadow's Entroducing... doesn't even need singing or lyrics to tell stories: its compositions move from mood to mood using rhythm changes and extended tones, like he was trying to use turntables and hip-hop beats to update classical orchestral movements. Nowhere is this more evident than "Stem/Long Stem/Transmission 2" (yes, most of the song titles are this confusing), where an occasional soul samples breaks the silence of the soft ambient tones before a beating club rhythm comes marching in. The next track, "Mutual Slump", starts with pounding drums and bass, but is later augmented by something you don't often find in electronic music: melody. Another highlight is "Midnight In A Perfect World", a building track where steady drums are unpinned by piano, dubbed voices, and keyboards: it's the perfected form of what Moby has been trying to do for years.

(Note about this album: I don't recommend the double disc with the scattershot remixes/outtakes on disc two; if you can find it, just buy the single album or buy it on iTunes)

Dizzee Rascal's Boy In Da Corner is one of those moment in hip-hop where the production found the right rapper: just about anybody else would have failed with these beats. "Sittin' Here" is the perfect opener: the beat creeps in and builds while he reflects "I'm just sittin' here, I ain't saying much I just think". This is one angry young man. The first track has a tension like he's about to snap, on the second track ("Stop Dat") he does, yelling off a list of things he's pissed at. He calms down and gets optimistic over bright ringing beats on "Brand New Day", but he has enough rage to make this album 16 tracks long. "Fix Up Look Sharp" and "Jus' A Rascal" are other highlights due to their stomping drums and metal guitar riffs, but this album never lets up. This is a hip-hop classic.

Both of these albums are genre-defining moments that you can't hear enough times to fully understand. If these albums represent the future, there's a lot to look forward to.