Hip-Hop has been my love for over the past twenty five plus years. I still love it as much as I did when I first heard Run-DMC spitting rhymes back and forth on "Raising Hell". Sure, it's not the same, but there is still some great music out there. I spit my non mainstream and old school ideological views on http://bloggerhouse.net I also co-host of "The Wreck" (underground hip hop) on 89.9 FM, Boise, Idaho. Also streaming on radioboise.org or check it out on Mixcloud http://www.mixcloud.com/djjasond/

Album Ratings System

5.0 = Classic - It's highly unlikely that I hand out a classic rating during the same year anything is released. To me a classic has to stand the test of time. I haven't handed out a classic rating to anything in the same year in any of the past 8 years I've been doing yearly lists.

4.5 = Near Classic - The album is absolutely amazing and stands a good chance at being named a classic in the upcoming years. Nearly every song is a banger and it has no fast forward moments.

4.25 = Extremely Great - Yes, uncreative description, but it's that album that has enough to be more than great, but I'm not sure if it has the potential to be a classic in the near future, if that makes any sense. This album will be in constant replay for a good portion of the year and every song is listenable.

4.0 = Great - The album is something I'm going to listen to more than a few times and will probably stay in my rotation for the next few months. Most of the songs are stuff I want to listen to with only one or two minor missteps in the project.

3.75 = Really Good - The album has a lot going for it. More than likely I'm going to be listening to it for the next month or so and the majority of the tracks are things that I love.

3.5 = Good - The album is an enjoyable listen and has a chance of sticking into my consistent rotation. It's has some missteps, but more solid jams than not.

3.25 = Pretty Good - It's better than average, not quite good, hence the name pretty good. It has some great songs, but most of the songs were average or good, probably not going to get more than a week or two of listens.

3.0 = Average - More "ho-hum" material than good tracks. It's not a bad album, but nothing that is going to keep my attention for more than a week or two at the most, and sometimes it's the obligated 2-3 listens then it gets stuck on a shelf/folder for eternity.

2.75 = Below Average - Seriously lacking any replay value. Most of the songs were made me want to hit the fast forward button.

2.5 = Bad - This album was pretty much a waste of my time and has very little to no replay value whatsoever.

2.0 = Really Bad - Not often do I even waste my time getting through a whole album that would have such a low rating, but if you see one of these, this album sucks major cohones.

Below a 2.0 = I can usually find some sort of redeeming quality in even the worst albums, but if it's below a 2, it's probably some kind of off shoot of hip hop that I dislike in the first place and rarely will I ever waste my time to listen to those type of albums. If I have a rating this low listed, I'm probably busy demanding the time back I lost from the artist that made such a pile of crap.