The top 10 mafioso/hustler albums
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rapmastermind
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After Gangster rap was formed in the mid to late 80's, a sub-genre was birthed from the raw street crime raps of Schooly D and N.W.A. All the sudden the italian culture penetrated Hip Hop's consiousness. The rapper that brought this to the forfront was none other than Kool G Rap. As the years would go on many rappers would take on names of Mafioso chacaters in motion pictures and real life. Which inclluding Frank White of King of New York, Pablo Escobar and many more. Here is now wikipedia defines the sub-genre:
Mafioso rap, or "Crime Rap" is a hip hop sub-genre which first started in the late 1980s and later flourished in the mid-1990s. It is the pseudo-Mafia extension of East Coast ? rap.
In contrast to "Conscious rappers", who tended to depict realistic urban life on the ghetto streets, Mafioso rappers tell stories about organized crime, and self-indulgence, referencing fine liquor, marijuana, drugs, designer clothes, and other luxuries of a Mafia leader, while making numerous references towards notorious crime organizations of the Italian underworld, including the Gambino crime family and Cosa Nostra. Fantasized and fictional narratives told by Mafioso rappers are often adapted versions of classic crime thrillers, most notably Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, King of New York, and Scarface. Another trademark feature of Mafioso rap is the idolizing of high profile organized crime figures. These crime kingpins range from legendary gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s such as Al Capone, Frank Costello, and Lucky Luciano, to John Gotti, to the drug lords of Latin America (including Pablo Escobar).
The Mafia has been a staple reference for hip-hop artists since the genre's earliest days. Kool G Rap is regarded as the first rapper to make the Mafioso lifestyle a major theme in his lyrics. With epic tales, chronicling the crime underworld of drug trafficking and the luxurious pleasures of the high-end illegal business, Kool G Rap inspired the related Mafioso rap phenomenon of the mid-1990s, which later achieved mainstream success and great critical acclaim with albums such as Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, AZ's Doe Or Die, and Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt. At the genre's zenith in the mainstream music industry, mafioso-inspired albums, including; Nas' It Was Written, The Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death, and P.Diddy's No Way Out, which all went on to become multi-platinum commercial successes. The act of taking the name of a famous mafioso character was popularised by the Wu-Tang Clan and Nas with their adoption of "Wu-Gambino" aliases on Raekwon's seminal debut, such as "Nas Escobar" and The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Frank White". In recent years, the Mafioso Rap Genre has re-emerged with albums such as; Ghostface Killah's Fishscale, Jay-Z's American Gangster, and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II.
Notable Mafiosa rap songs
Road to the Riches – Kool G Rap
On the Run - Kool G Rap
Ill Street Blues - Kool G Rap
Eye For An Eye - Mobb Deep (feat. Nas & Raekwon)
Criminology - Raekwon (feat. Ghostface Killah)
Glaciers of Ice - Raekwon (feat. Ghostface Killah & Masta Killa)
Heaven & Hell - Raekwon (feat. Ghostface Killah)
Mo Money, Mo Murder, Mo Homocide - AZ (feat. Nas)
Gold - GZA (feat. Method Man)
Fast Life - Kool G Rap (feat. Nas)
Dead Presidents - Jay-Z
Affirmative Action - Nas (feat. AZ, Cormega & Foxy Brown)
260 - Ghostface Killah (feat. Raekwon)
? Bleed - The Notorious B.I.G.
Notable Mafioso rappers
AZ - (Whose name he took from Harlem drug dealer Azie Faison. His name is pronounced "AZ". He also has an alias by the name of "Sosa", from the movie "Scarface".)
Big L- (Who often referred to himself as "Corleone" , after the Corleone family from The Godfather.)
Big Pun
Capone-N-Noreaga
Fat Joe - (Who often referred to himself as "Don Cartagena". The album cover to Don Cartagena depicts Fat Joe in an outfit reminiscent of Al Capone.)
The Firm
Ghostface Killah
Jay-Z
Junior M.A.F.I.A.
Kool G Rap- (Who is the founder of the genre, and has said that the G in his name stands for Giancana, which is the last name of Italian Chicago gangster Sam Giancana.)
Mobb Deep
Nas - (Who, during this period, took on the alias "Nas Escobar" after the Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.)
N.O.R.E- (He is also known as "Noreaga" which is derived from the former Military General of Panama, that was Known for drug running in the U.S. Manuel Noriega.)
The Notorious B.I.G. (Who took the alias "Frank White" after Christopher Walken's character in the 1990 film King of New York)
Raekwon - (Who is cited by numerous publications for reviving the mafioso genre, and turning it into a trend in the mid-nineties on his album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)
Scarface- (Taken after the character Tony Montana's nickname made famous in the 1980s cult classic gangster movie.)
Wu-Tang Clan - (Who popularized the Wu-Gambino aliases, and had mafioso themes, and lyrics in several early songs and music videos)
In my view here are the Top 10 Mafioso/Hustler Albums
#1. "Life After Death"
#2. "Only Built For Cuban Linx"
#3. "Reasonable Doubt"
#4. "Road To Riches"
#5. "Infamous"
#6. "It Was Written"
#7. "Capitol Punishment"
#8. "Supreme Clientle"
#9. "Doe or Die"
#10. "N.O.R.E."
Mafioso rap, or "Crime Rap" is a hip hop sub-genre which first started in the late 1980s and later flourished in the mid-1990s. It is the pseudo-Mafia extension of East Coast ? rap.
In contrast to "Conscious rappers", who tended to depict realistic urban life on the ghetto streets, Mafioso rappers tell stories about organized crime, and self-indulgence, referencing fine liquor, marijuana, drugs, designer clothes, and other luxuries of a Mafia leader, while making numerous references towards notorious crime organizations of the Italian underworld, including the Gambino crime family and Cosa Nostra. Fantasized and fictional narratives told by Mafioso rappers are often adapted versions of classic crime thrillers, most notably Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, King of New York, and Scarface. Another trademark feature of Mafioso rap is the idolizing of high profile organized crime figures. These crime kingpins range from legendary gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s such as Al Capone, Frank Costello, and Lucky Luciano, to John Gotti, to the drug lords of Latin America (including Pablo Escobar).
The Mafia has been a staple reference for hip-hop artists since the genre's earliest days. Kool G Rap is regarded as the first rapper to make the Mafioso lifestyle a major theme in his lyrics. With epic tales, chronicling the crime underworld of drug trafficking and the luxurious pleasures of the high-end illegal business, Kool G Rap inspired the related Mafioso rap phenomenon of the mid-1990s, which later achieved mainstream success and great critical acclaim with albums such as Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, AZ's Doe Or Die, and Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt. At the genre's zenith in the mainstream music industry, mafioso-inspired albums, including; Nas' It Was Written, The Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death, and P.Diddy's No Way Out, which all went on to become multi-platinum commercial successes. The act of taking the name of a famous mafioso character was popularised by the Wu-Tang Clan and Nas with their adoption of "Wu-Gambino" aliases on Raekwon's seminal debut, such as "Nas Escobar" and The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Frank White". In recent years, the Mafioso Rap Genre has re-emerged with albums such as; Ghostface Killah's Fishscale, Jay-Z's American Gangster, and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II.
Notable Mafiosa rap songs
Road to the Riches – Kool G Rap
On the Run - Kool G Rap
Ill Street Blues - Kool G Rap
Eye For An Eye - Mobb Deep (feat. Nas & Raekwon)
Criminology - Raekwon (feat. Ghostface Killah)
Glaciers of Ice - Raekwon (feat. Ghostface Killah & Masta Killa)
Heaven & Hell - Raekwon (feat. Ghostface Killah)
Mo Money, Mo Murder, Mo Homocide - AZ (feat. Nas)
Gold - GZA (feat. Method Man)
Fast Life - Kool G Rap (feat. Nas)
Dead Presidents - Jay-Z
Affirmative Action - Nas (feat. AZ, Cormega & Foxy Brown)
260 - Ghostface Killah (feat. Raekwon)
? Bleed - The Notorious B.I.G.
Notable Mafioso rappers
AZ - (Whose name he took from Harlem drug dealer Azie Faison. His name is pronounced "AZ". He also has an alias by the name of "Sosa", from the movie "Scarface".)
Big L- (Who often referred to himself as "Corleone" , after the Corleone family from The Godfather.)
Big Pun
Capone-N-Noreaga
Fat Joe - (Who often referred to himself as "Don Cartagena". The album cover to Don Cartagena depicts Fat Joe in an outfit reminiscent of Al Capone.)
The Firm
Ghostface Killah
Jay-Z
Junior M.A.F.I.A.
Kool G Rap- (Who is the founder of the genre, and has said that the G in his name stands for Giancana, which is the last name of Italian Chicago gangster Sam Giancana.)
Mobb Deep
Nas - (Who, during this period, took on the alias "Nas Escobar" after the Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.)
N.O.R.E- (He is also known as "Noreaga" which is derived from the former Military General of Panama, that was Known for drug running in the U.S. Manuel Noriega.)
The Notorious B.I.G. (Who took the alias "Frank White" after Christopher Walken's character in the 1990 film King of New York)
Raekwon - (Who is cited by numerous publications for reviving the mafioso genre, and turning it into a trend in the mid-nineties on his album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)
Scarface- (Taken after the character Tony Montana's nickname made famous in the 1980s cult classic gangster movie.)
Wu-Tang Clan - (Who popularized the Wu-Gambino aliases, and had mafioso themes, and lyrics in several early songs and music videos)
In my view here are the Top 10 Mafioso/Hustler Albums
#1. "Life After Death"
#2. "Only Built For Cuban Linx"
#3. "Reasonable Doubt"
#4. "Road To Riches"
#5. "Infamous"
#6. "It Was Written"
#7. "Capitol Punishment"
#8. "Supreme Clientle"
#9. "Doe or Die"
#10. "N.O.R.E."
Comments
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Rick Ross is making a movie based on the premise..rofl..this ? never comes out of character...
After the song you can see the clip of the movie...rofl
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Reasonable Doubt is the greatest album of this is genre!
Can someone post some songs or quotables from OBFCL I just can't seem to get into it like Reasonable Doubt. -
rapmastermind wrote: »
In my view here are the Top 10 Mafioso/Hustler Albums
#1. "Life After Death"
#2. "Only Built For Cuban Linx"
#3. "Reasonable Doubt"
#4. "Road To Riches"
#5. "Infamous"
#6. "It Was Written"
#7. "Capitol Punishment"
#8. "Supreme Clientle"
#9. "Doe or Die"
#10. "N.O.R.E."
all of the ones i made bigger are nowhere near mafioso albums!! the nore one probably isnt either but i dont listen to dudes music. -
Lol A very slick way to talk about Biggie again
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Kool G. Rap ftw.
4,5,6 was my ? for awhile. -
1) Raekwon- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
2) Biggie- Life After Death
3) Nas- It Was Written
4) Jay Z- Reasonable Doubt
5) Mobb Deep- Murda Muzik
6) Puff Daddy & The Family- No Way Out
7) AZ- Doe or Die
8) Foxy Brown- Ill Na Na
9) Master P- MP Da Last Don
10) The Firm -
AntonLATroy wrote: »Lol A very slick way to talk about Biggie again
You beat me to it.
rapmastermind has an obsession. Period. I seriously think he needs some psychiatric help. -
It Was Written , then all the others. Street Dreams is classic ?
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Road to The Riches- Kool G Rap
4,5,6- Kool G Rap
Life After Death-
Only Built for Cuban Linx pt. 1- Raekwon
Only Built for Cuban Linx pt. 2- Raekwon
The Lex Diamond Story- Raekwon
Immorbility- Raekwon
Reasonable Doubt- Jay-Z
American Gangster- Jay-Z
It Was Written-Nas
No Way Out- Puff Daddy and The Bad Boy Family
Do or Die- AZ
Supreme Clientel- Ghostface
Fishscale-Ghostface
More Fish- Ghostface
? - Lil Kim
Conspiracy- Junior Mafia
The Album- The Firm
Money Power Repspect- The LOX
Deeper Than Rap- Rick Ross
Don Cartegena- Fat Joe
etc.
also releases by Mobb Deep, Master P, Smooth Tha Hustler, Scarface, etc. had "mafia" influences. -
smfh. You ? dont know ? bruh
Ghetto D >>>>>>>>>>>>> Life After Death
Its sad that ready to die wasnt even mentioned -
Mobb Deep were not Mafioso rappers. Stop with your lies.
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Carlos Bruise-Her wrote: »smfh. You ? dont know ? bruh
Ghetto D >>>>>>>>>>>>> Life After Death
Its sad that ready to die wasnt even mentioned
Ready to Die isn't a mafioso album. It's just more of a street album -
Most of those don't come off as Mafioso whatsoever
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In my view here are the Top 10 Mafioso/Hustler Albums
#1. "Life After Death"
#2. "Only Built For Cuban Linx"
#3. "Reasonable Doubt"
#4. "Road To Riches"
#5. "Infamous"
#6. "It Was Written"
#7. "Capitol Punishment"
#8. "Supreme Clientle"
#9. "Doe or Die"
#10. "N.O.R.E."
The bolded are really the only actual mafioso albums. -
1. Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
2. AZ - Doe or die
3. Raekwon - OB4CL
4. Mobb Deep - Hell on Earth
5. Nas - It Was Written
6. Notorious BIG - Life After Death
7. Kool G Rap - Road To Riches
8. Foxy Brown - Ill Na Na
9. Raekwon - OB4CL2
10. Big Pun - Capital Punishment
It's hard as hell to rank these labums, so don't take it seriously. -
Kool G Rap - 4, 5, 6
Easily the dopest mafioso album lyrically -
It Was Written hands down imo
-
ayo in some ways...
maybe rawse should be considered this genre....
yall always sayin he was lyin right...
these ? was tellin fantasies too.. -
E-40 In A Major Way should be up there. Most definitely a "HUSTLER" album if you understand the slang and game he was spitting on that one.
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all of the ones i made bigger are nowhere near mafioso albums!! the nore one probably isnt either but i dont listen to dudes music.
How is Life Aftr Death and Supreme Clientele NOT mafioso rap albums?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G8ujyzyMRw
