RATING SYSTEM
5.0 super classic - potential GOAT candidate
4.5 classic
4.0 excellent
3.5 very good
3.0 good

2.5 decent
2.0 mediocre
1.5 wack
1.0 horrible
0.5 WOAT (worst of all time) candidate

RATING SYSTEM NOTES

USEFUL DEFINITIONS
3.0 min: typically a 3.0 ("good") rating is the minimum an album must rate for inclusion in my collection. Conversely 2.5 and below ratings typically are not included in my collection. A major reason for me joining RYM is to better manage (deletes and adds) my collection.

beats: everything except the vocals, the "music itself"

vocals: technical quality of the singing (e.g. Mariah Carey is much better than Jennifer Lopez). For rapping, this means flow/lyricism/etc (e.g. Black Thought is much better than Kanye West)

subject matter: the topics and concepts addressed in the lyrics.

subject matter violation (SMV): very rarely an album's lyrics are offensive enough to me personally that I can't see myself listening to the album again, and thus will be rated 2.5 at best (see "3.0 min" definition)

death in prime effect: tendency for some to overrate albums from an artist who died in a tragic accident &/or young in the prime of their career

FACTORS WHICH DO INFLUENCE THE RATINGS
1. preference for energetic (high BPM) beats over mellow/slow (low BPM) beats

2. preference for certain types of beats. For instance I strongly prefer "jazzy & soulful rap beats" (such as A Tribe Called Quest or 9th Wonder) over "crunk rap beats" (such as Lil' Jon), even though both types are energetic. I don't have an intellectual reason why this is, I just "know it what I like when I hear it"

3. preference for beats over vocals & subject matter. Beats are the major factor in determining the rating. Typically even the best (worst) vocals &/or subject matter can increase (decrease) a rating by at most 0.5 stars. The exception this rule is the SMV

4. preference for "interesting" subject matter. I feel in all genres most artists' lyrics are very similar to what I've heard previously from other artists. I prefer to hear something innovative, that is not like what I've already heard many times before from other artists.

5. small preference for "positive" subject matter. Given the same great beats (say DJ Premier) I'd rather hear positive lyrics (Blackalicious) to negative lyrics (Snoop Dogg)

6. subconscious factors such as the time I listened to an album and memories from that time, etc

FACTORS WHICH DO NOT INFLUENCE THE RATINGS
7. conventional wisdom (CW) of prominent music critics, such as allmusicguide, magazine reviews, etc)

8. influence of an album on other artists. For instance I know that Boogie Down Productions (BDP) had a tremendous influence on later rap artists. However I feel the beats & vocals of the Roots are much better than those of BDP. I don't adjust BDP's rating higher due to its influence.

9. era or year recorded

10. music sophistication level required to create the beats. I just care about if I "like" the beats. For instance The Roots' Questlove says "Game Theory" was much harder to make than "Illadelph Halflife", but to me the latter is a much better album.

11. language of the vocals. I have a few albums are highly rated, despite the fact that I can't comprehend the vocals since they're not in english or spanish (such as Les Nubians).

12. personal life of the artist. "good deeds" (for instance Ozomatli or U2) or beauty (Aaliyah, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani) don't influence me to increase a rating. OTOH reported criminal activity (Michael Jackson, Jay-Z) don't influence me to decrease a rating.

13. death in prime effect