The countdown moves into the 30s with genre runners-up in the album slots, a Memphis single, and the best band of the ’90s greeting a new decade with aplomb.
40.
Album: Black Dialogue — The Perceptionists (Def Jux, 2005)
My second favorite indie-rap album of the aughts. From my ’05 year-end piece:
This two-MCs-and-one-DJ Boston group is not your typical indie-rap outfit. Lyrically, they’re neither obscure nor overtly confessional; musically, they’re a return to hip-hop’s head-bobbing basics. They’re more a cross between late-’80s political rap (Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions) and smoother early-’90s boho hip-hop (Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest). Black Dialogue has a little less musical juice than the former but a worldview that’s more grounded and more expansive. Funniest song of the year: “Career Finders,” which offers job counseling for gangsta rappers.
Song Sample: “Black Dialogue”
