1998 Rewind: Sept. 29 – Remembering Aquemini, Black Star and Vol 2 … Hard Knock Life

I’ve been very vocal about my love for the year 1998 – I believe it’s one of the last great years in R&B and hip-hop history. Since 2023 marks 25 years since those magical 12 months, 1998 Rewind will look back at some of the best (and most underrated) albums of that time.

Sept. 29, 1998 was a special day in hip-hop. In one day we saw the release of Jay Z’s breakout album Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, Outkast’s game-changing masterpiece Aquemini AND Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s unforgettable Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star.

In my humble opinion, three albums that deserve five star ratings.

To talk about this historic day, I’m joined by the homie Ronald Grant. Let’s look back at a monumental day in rap.

Take us back to 1998. Talk about your first time hearing these albums.

Ron: Of these three albums, Aquemini was easily my most anticipated. Case in point: I remember going to Target and copping ATLiens in a virtual winter storm in Detroit and wearing that CD out over the next 3 months, so I felt it in my 16-year-old bones that the follow up was gonna be hella special. From first seeing the lava lamp-psychedelic images in the video for “Rosa Parks” on The Box to debating on a field trip to Wayne State University whether it deserved 5 mics in The Source, Aquemini was an entire moment.

I can’t say I was as into Hov at the time because I was lukewarm on In My Lifetime. But I remember hearing “Can I Get A …” from the Rush Hour soundtrack for the first time and knew that Jay was truly making a move to level up. And the fact that he followed it up with “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” was one helluva pop music chess move.

Strangely, Black Star wasn’t on my radar like that even though I was slowly becoming a Rawkus Stan. I absolutely LOVED Lyricists’ Lounge and Soundbombing 2, both of which I listened to first. And it took me a minute to realize who Mos and Kweli actually were. A fellow rap nerd at Cass Tech High School in Detroit put me on to Black Star when he peeped that I was already deep into Soundbombing. Needless to say, I didn’t return his album.

Edd: Of the three albums, Jay Z took precedence, and I remember being absolutely shocked by how quickly he took off. You have to remember that era: Jay’s 1996 debut may be highly celebrated today, but the buzz wasn’t nearly as loud back then. It was more along the lines of a great Griselda release today than a Drake blockbuster. His sophomore set the following year raised his stock slightly, but mixed reviews kept him from the top tier. Then we got the “Hard Knock Life” single, and THAT was the launching pad Jay needed. I remember pulling up to my college campus the Monday before release day and EVERYONE was blasting the Vol. 2 bootleg. I remember thinking “wait, since when are people on Jay Z like this????” Little did I know it was just the beginning of his ascension to the rap throne. I wouldn’t get the album until my birthday a month later but it instantly became an all-time fave.

I was a little late to the game on Aquemini, even though I LOVED the “Skew It on the Bar-B” single. Look, we still had to BUY music in that era, you couldn’t cop everything at once. I don’t remember exactly when I got the album – I’m guessing sometime in early 1999 – and while the strong Parliament influences threw me off at first, it didn’t take long before I was completely sucked in. There were so many layers to dig through and the exploration of each track made it such a personal experience.

And much like Ron said, Black Star wasn’t really on my radar. Hey, it was 1998, there was no shortage of incredible music being delivered to us on radio and TV – it wasn’t like 2023 when you HAD to dig deep for the real gems. I was familiar with the singles but I wouldn’t explore this album until Black on Both Sides made me a Mos Def fan a couple of years later. Call me a heathen but I think Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star blows that great project away, which shows just how truly special it is.

Name the best song on each of the three projects.

Ron:

Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life: “A Week Ago”

Aquemini: “Liberation”

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star: “Twice Inna Lifetime”

Edd:

Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life: If I Should Die

Aquemini: Da Art of Storytellin Pt 1

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star: Definition

Which song should have been a single on each project?

Ron:

Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life: “It’s Alright”

Aquemini: “Aquemini”

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star: “Brown Skin Lady”

Edd:

Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life: “Ride or Die”

Aquemini: “Aquemini”

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star: “K.O.S. (Determination)”

What’s the most underrated song on each project?

Ron:

Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life: “If I Should Die”

Aquemini: “Mamacita”

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star: “Astronomy (8th Light)”

Edd:

Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life: “If I Should Die”

Aquemini: “Mamacita”

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star: “Twice Inna Lifetime”

Let’s talk about Hard Knock Life. What’s the best feature on Vol 2?

Ron: Sheek on “Reservoir Dogs”

My vote goes to Sheek Louch on “Reservoir Dogs.” The way his verse kicks off that track is legendary. I feel like everyone heard Sheek’s verse and immediately went back to rewrite their rhymes!

Edd: DMX on “Money, Cash, Hoes”

While I really want to go with Da Ranjahz for “If I Should Die” (in 1998 I just KNEW those guys were the next Mobb Deep), it’s hard to go against Dark Man X. DMX was hotter than Crisco poppin’ on the sun’s surface in 98 and his brazen verse brought needed aggression to Swizz Beatz’s … oddly simplistic production. Seriously, that beat was like one step above the horrors of “Laffy Taffy.” But like everything in 1998, X made magic.

This is Jay’s most commercially successful album but it’s not often isn’t brought up in convos of his greatest LPs. Why is that? 

Ron: I think there are a number of reasons. One, we tend to have a nostalgic, monumental feeling about Reasonable Doubt similar to, say, Illmatic, Ready to Die and a few other albums. Two, I feel like many people peg Hard Knock Life (both the song and the album) as Hov’s breakout pop music moment, which causes them to dismiss it a little more. And three, though this is a good body of work, he simply has better albums, namely The Blueprint and The Black Album.

Edd: I’ve always been a bit confused by the mixed reactions to Vol. 2 and chalked it up to “you had to be there.” Like Ron said, it doesn’t carry the legendary mystique of Reasonable Doubt (although, as I said earlier, it’s not like that album was universally seen as a classic at the time of its release). Instead, many fans gravitate toward Blueprint 1 and Black Album as more seminal works, since they dropped at the peak of Jay’s stardom. Sure, it hasn’t aged as gracefully as some other albums – it’s certainly reflective of the sounds of the time – but make no mistake, Vol. 2 is the true start of Jay’s ascension. If there’s no Vol. 2, we likely wouldn’t be talking about Jay in the same reverence today. As I’ve said before, without that album, Jay Z would be AZ – talented, but overlooked. In modern terms, Vol. 2 is Jay’s Take Care – the album that proved he was here to stay. If nothing else, that cements its legacy.

Aquemini was a turning point for Outkast. It marked creative freedom, including different sounds with live instrumentation. Was it a risk that paid off?

Ron: ‘Kast played this thing beautifully. They knew that ATLiens was a big departure from the Southernplayalistic, so they knew they had to make another, stronger departure. From the Earth, Wind and Fire/Parliament-inspired album cover to lacing their sounds with metal, funk and bluegrass, it was a huge risk that paid off handsomely. When Dre said “the South got something to say”, I feel like Aquemini is exactly what he meant.

Edd: It was a risk, and one that paid off very well. Listen, I was a huge Outkast fan in the 90s, but I can’t deny that the sonic shift on this album was a bit jarring. We know Outkast as extreme innovators today, but in 98 they were still young in their careers and this felt like a strange departure. But ignore the initial shock and you’ll see just how transformative this album was – for their careers and the South in general. The merging of psychedelic soul and gospel allowed for greater storytelling elements, a whole new backdrop for Dre and Big Boi to play in. It proved that, unlike the murmurs of critics, you couldn’t fit the South in a box. It led the way for the innovation that eventually would take over hip-hop at large.

Where do you rank Aquemini in Outkast’s discography?

Ron: Without question, Aquemini gets the top spot. It was a culture shifter that opened the door up for more experimentation in Hip hop and rap. It gave us a different, more well-rounded interpretation of Southern Hip hop. It gave us one of the most underrated Wu-Tang features ever. And it completed a 3-album run on par with A Tribe Called Quests first 3 albums in terms of the quality, creative freedom, experimentation and expansion of Hip hop music into new frontiers.

Edd: Ron knows! I think the previous two Outkast albums make a strong case for the top spot (not so much Stankonia, but that’s an argument for another day…) but Aquemini’s sonic diversity pushes it over the top. Every Outkast album has great rapping and strong themes. But pair those with (inter)stellar experimentation and you have the recipe for a true classic.

There are a ton, but what’s the most memorable bar on Black Star?

Ron: That’s definitely a tough call! On “Definition” alone, there’s a million. I’d have to say:

“…livin’ my life

Expressin’ my liberty, it gotta be done properly

My name is in the middle of e-kweli-ty…” That one messed me up!

Edd: THIS IS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK.

Just take two for now:

Talib on “Thieves in the Night”: Survival tactics means bustin’ gats to prove you hard/Your firearms are too short to box with God

Mos on “Respiration”: Hard knuckles on the second hands of working-class watches/Skyscrapers is colossus, the cost of livin’ is preposterous

Black Star dropped in defiance of the shiny suit era as the industry was moving toward excess. Was it properly appreciated in its time or is it more fondly remembered now?

Ron: I definitely believe that people more fondly remember Black Star now versus then. Back in ’98, underground Hip hop was TRULY underground. There were no blurred lines and it’s not as if this album got a ton of attention dropping the same year as Hard Knock Life, Aquemini, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, Capital Punishment, Moment of Truth, N.O.R.E., The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and more, even if it was a standout album that deserved more attention during its initial release.

Edd: If you think hip-hop is divided today, you should have been with us in 98, when we were still divided by region, mainstream vs underground, male vs female MCs – it was a lot. Black Star for sure was embraced by my backpacker friends but many fans (me included) ignored it. We felt like it wasn’t for us. Besides, as Ron mentioned, there was no shortage of hits to grab our attention. But in an era where those levels of lyricism and insight are so rare, it’s become a more appreciated gem. As the old folks say, sometimes you have to live a little to appreciate what you have.

How would you rank all three albums, and why?

Ron:

1. Aquemini

2. Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star

3. Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life

Aquemini is tops for all the reasons I mentioned above, plus, it’s a classic that followed up two albums that are also, in my humble opinion, bona fide classics. Black Star comes in at No. 2 because it was the little underground hip-hop album that could: in a sea of monumental hip-hop albums from ’98, it held its own and now is just about as revered as others from its time. Which means Hov brings up the rear. While Hard Knock Life was an improvement over In My Lifetime, Jigga still wasn’t quite in his bag yet, even though it was on the way.

Edd:

1. Aquemini

2. Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star

3. Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life

Aquemini isn’t just the best album here, it’s a top 10 album of the 1990s, and trust me, that’s STIFF competition. Black Star pulls just ahead of Vol. 2 due to having a more consistent tracklist and production that ages a bit better. That’s no shot to Vol. 2, which still stands above most rap LPs of its era. In fact, all three albums beat 95% of all albums I’ve heard since 2020. See why I miss 1998?

Are these classic rap albums?

Ron: The only one I’d be hesitant to give the classic label to is Hard Knock Life. It’s certainly Hov’s coming out party and his entry into mainstream success with the Rolling Stone, Billboard and MTV crowds, but it doesn’t hold up as well as later, more stellar Hova work. But Aquemini and Black Star can both get the classic tag from me. Aquemini because it went against the grain of everything else at the time, was a creative shot in the dark AND shot in the arm, and still managed to be a mainstream success. Black Star because it was both the antithesis of the shiny suit era and the foundational album of what Rawkus and what underground and alternative hip-hop would become in the 2000s.

Edd: I’m notoriously stingy with the classic label but this is a time that I think all three are deserving, for vastly different reasons.

Ron laid out the case for Aquemini, and no one with good sense would disagree. Black Star and Vol. 2 are a bit trickier, but worthy of the same praise. If you’re one of those dummies who judges 25-year-old albums by Billboard stats on Wikipedia, you probably won’t get Black Star’s impact. In an era where hip-hop was rapidly racing toward the commercialism it embraces today, Mos and Talib delivered a resounding testament to rap’s roots. The LP proved that the underground still had a voice, launched two successful solo careers, and is still embraced as a blueprint for Black empowerment and lyrical acumen today. ISSA CLASSIC.

And yes, Vol. 2’s SEXTUPLE platinum success affirms that it was a commercial success, but does that mean classic? Certainly, it may not match the other two albums in terms of pristine quality – he could have left “Paper Chase” and Foxy’s Minnie Mouse impression in the vault, for instance. But, along with the Notorious BIG’s Life After Death, Vol. 2 set the, ahem, blueprint for rappers looking to balance mainstream hits and hardcore street appeal. Vol. 2 is the sweet spot between street cred and charting success, a template we’d see used (for better or worse) for decades to come.  

If you use the Edward T. Bowser Formula For Determining A Classic Album – great music + impact on an artist’s career+ impact on the industry = classic – that means we have three legit winners here.

Three classic albums in one day. What a time.

Who got it right, Ron or Edd? Tell us your thoughts on these three incredible albums below.