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Bob Marley photographed in concert

Bob Marley

Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Bob Marley & The Wailers' 'Exodus' | For The Record

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Get jamming back into the timeless reggae masterpiece that sealed Bob Marley's standing as an international icon
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
May 31, 2018 - 4:40 pm

There is high praise and there is high praise. While Bob Marley & The Wailers' 1977 LP, Exodus, is universally heralded as a classic reggae opus, in 1999 Time magazine went so far as to label it the best album of the 20th century.

Bob Marley & The Wailers' 'Exodus': For The Record

Exodus certainly shines as one of legend Bob Marley's finest time capsules, a work that fused political and cultural ideas and drew Third World inspiration. But this musical triumph came with a cost as the result of Marley coming to grips with the dangerous side of international stardom.

In late 1976, during a period of political turmoil in Jamaica, local hero Marley headlined The Smile Jamaica concert in Kingston, with the thought that some music would help pacify the growing discord. After the announcement of the concert, then-Prime Minister Michael Manley called for elections to be held shortly thereafter, which resulted in the event being branded as having political motivations.

Subsequently, just two days prior to the concert, Marley was the victim of an assassination attempt in his home in Kingston. Though a bullet did penetrate his arm, and no doubt still phased from the hostilities, Marley decided to go through with his Smile Jamaica performance, performing with his arm in a bandage.

Afterward, Marley decided to lead the Wailers to London to set up shop. During their 14-month musical sojourn, the group recorded a variety of songs. The resulting Exodus proved to be an authentic reggae album, but one embellished with elements of British rock, blues, soul, and funk. Thematically, it was split into two halves: the first half centering around revolutionary calls to action and the second half focusing on peace and love — all in alignment with Marley's philosophy.

"After the shooting, me never want to just think about shooting," Marley told Sounds. "So me just ease up me mind and go in a different bag. What me stand for me always stand for."

"Guiltiness," one of the tracks on side one, comes off as a warning to the gunmen who infiltrated Marley's home as evidenced by the lyrics "guiltiness rest on their conscience." Meanwhile, side two classics such as "Jamming" and "Three Little Birds" are infused with feel-good sentiments, while the final track, "One Love/People Get Ready," arguably bottles the Rastafarian-infused spirituality and inspiration Marley incorporated into his daily life.

The album climbed as high as No. 20 on the Billboard 200 on its way to attaining gold certification by the RIAA. In recognition of the album's timeless standing, as well as its impact on raising Marley's profile as an international icon, Exodus was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2006.

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Nas

Nas

Photo: The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Nas' 'Illmatic' | For The Record

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Revisit the streets of New York City in 1994 when the rapper's debut album set the stage for the resurgence of East Coast hip-hop
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Oct 5, 2018 - 6:46 pm

The GRAMMY-nominated rapper Nas is nothing short of legendary, giving the world plenty of his smooth lyricism and iconic verses in his releases over the years. To date, he has released 11 studio albums, the most recent being the Kanye West-produced Nasir, which dropped this summer as part of West's Wyoming sessions releases. Since the start Nas has been turning heads and paving the way for other hip-hop artists. His debut LP, Illmatic, not only put him firmly on the map, but also provided a revitalization of the East Coast rap sound.

Nas' 'Illmatic': For The Record

A 20-year-old Nas released his first full-length album, Illmatic on April 19, 1994, to much critical acclaim. Source blessed it with a rare 5 Mic rating when it came out, an honor they had only given to 15 albums at the time of release. The LP was a work of love. It was produced by DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Large Professor, L.E.S. and Nas, in the rapper's hometown of New York City and shared a snapshot of life in the streets of NYC, set to melodic hip-hop beats. Nas shared his experience with the world in a raw yet refreshing way. As he raps on "N.Y. State of Mind," "Life is parallel to hell but I must maintain."

Source's Shortie captured the anticipation and excitement around the album in her 1994 review. "After peeping his soul on 'Live at the BBQ,' 'Back to the Grill,' and the official bomb, 'Halftime,' street dwellers and industry folks alike were predicting Nas' first album to be monumental," she shared. "I must maintain that this is one of the best hip-hop albums I have ever heard. Musically, when Nas hooked up with four of hip-hop's purest producers, it seems like all of the parties involved took their game to a higher level of expression," she furthered. Those would be echoed by countless fans and critics at the time and retrospectively.

As the rapper said himself when explaining the meaning of the title, the album most definitely is "supreme ill" or "as ill as it gets." The album debuted and peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard 200, and although its singles surprisingly did not chart, the songs, including "The World Is Yours" and "One Love," featuring co-producer Q-Tip, have had a long-lasting impact and staying power through speakers and in the hip-hop arsenal of records. These tracks, and the album as a whole, are often credited as creating the blueprint for the new East Coast hip-hop sound that thrived following its release.

Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana

Photo: Kevin Winter/WireImage

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Santana, 'Abraxas': For The Record

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Revisit the album that proved rock music's emerging ability to experiment could integrate diverse traditions and intoxicate young audiences
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Sep 28, 2018 - 5:42 pm

After their success at the summer rock festival Woodstock in Aug. 1969 and the contemporary release of their debut self-titled album, guitarist Carlos Santana and his band Santana put out their follow-up, Abraxas, in Sept. 1970. His lead guitar and the album's eclectic combination of rock, Latin rhythms and experimental creativity captured the spirit of the times, filled with a sense of potential new experiences.

For The Record: Santana's 'Abraxas'

By Oct. 1970, Abraxas reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. On the Hot 100 in early 1971, its single "Black Magic Woman" peaked at No. 4, and "Oye Como Va" reached No. 13 a few months later — reinterpreting the Tito Puente cha-cha as rock and helping to prove the flourishing genre's ability to bring new relevance to compositions from other musical traditions.

A San Francisco Bay local, Carlos Santana got his break from Fillmore promoter Bill Graham. An origin myth Santana doesn't remember the same way has Graham discovering the youngster after he snuck into the venue's office. "I was a kid right out of high school and nobody else was putting on shows like Bill did then," he remembered, explaining why he was always around.

As locals, they could fill in for missing bands on the schedule in a flash. Graham wrote in his autobiography, "To this day, Santana is still the only band ever to headline the Fillmore without having made a record."

Thanks to their excellence and reflecting the cultural moment, happenstance became legend. The band's second album was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2016. Shortly before the close of the millennium, Abraxas was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, in 1999 — the year Carlos Santana's album Supernatural was released, taking him to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the third time, from a career-total of four times so far. At the 42nd GRAMMY Awards, he won in eight categories, including Album Of The Year and Best Rock Album.

Marvin Gaye 'Let's Get It On' | For The Record

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Dr. Dre

Photo: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' | For The Record

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Roll back to 1992 and revisit the legendary debut solo album that has served as a blueprint for West Coast rap
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Sep 14, 2018 - 5:56 pm

In 1991 Dr. Dre helped form Death Row Records, shortly after the disbanding of N.W.A., the rap group that launched him into music stardom. A year later he released his debut solo album, The Chronic. With the influential album came an innovative mix of the Funkadelic sound, G-funk and rap, the introduction of Snoop Dogg, and an era-defining blueprint for West Coast rap.

Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic': For The Record

The GRAMMY-winning rapper/producer extraordinaire, then just 27, released The Chronic on December 15, 1992 via his newly-formed record label, with distribution through Interscope Records. While Dre has had an incredibly impactful career in music and business, and both directly and indirectly influenced many other successful hip-hop artists, he has only released three studio albums of his own.Following The Chronic, his much-anticipated follow-up wasn't released until 1999 – 2001 (sometimes referred to as The Chronic 2001), now another classic. In the documentary The Defiant Ones, he cites his perfectionism as a major factor in holding up 2001, and in putting out more solo releases.

The Chronic brought us several classic hip-hop tracks and won Dre his first GRAMMY. The album's third single "Let Me Ride" won Best Rap Solo Performance, and the first single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" was nominated for Best Rap Performance By A Duo or Group at the 36th GRAMMY Awards. A then-unknown 20 year-old Snoop Doggy Dogg rapped on many of the tracks, receiving his first GRAMMY nomination for his feature on "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," and launching his solo career shortly after.

Snoop, introduced to Dre through his stepbrother Warren G, brought the laid-back 420-vibes that infused the album. Their collaboration, along with the others who worked on the album, including Warren G and Nate Dogg, created a classic sound that would define West Coast rap for the years to come. Dre's message was still from the California "gangsta" perspective, but with a slower flow and somewhat more laid-back vibe, producing a ground-breaking sound and a growing fan base. 

"I think the beauty of The Chronic was that each song carried a message that all together made up the culture of the West Coast," said rapper Sauce Money.

Many hip-hop artists – Kanye West included – and fans point to the album as one of the most influential hip-hop albums of all time.

"It's the benchmark you measure your album against if you're serious," West wrote in 2010 for Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists list, which covered all genres and ranked Dre at No. 56.

Recognizing its immense influence, The Chronic was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2018, an honor limited to "recording[s] of lasting qualitative or historical significance."

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Prince

Photo: John Leyba/The Denver Post/Getty Images

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Prince's Masterpiece 'Purple Rain' | For The Record

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Revisit the magic of the legendary artist's classic album
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Sep 6, 2018 - 6:09 pm

With Prince's Purple Rain came some of his most memorable hits, his first GRAMMY wins and (of course) the classic movie.

Prince's Masterpiece 'Purple Rain': For The Record

The iconic GRAMMY-winning artist released Purple Rain, his sixth studio album, and the first one to feature his band The Revolution, on June 25, 1984. While the Prince created an astonishing amount of music in his lifetime, Purple Rain is often regarded as one of biggest classics.

Prince's fifth studio album, 1999, released in 1982, was his first Top 10 charting album, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard 200, shooting the star into the public eye and earning him his first GRAMMY nods. Yet Purple Rain claimed his superstar status, gaining him his first No. 1 album and No. 1 songs, as well as his first three GRAMMY wins. The film, Purple Rain, released in 1984 along with the album, was Prince's acting debut and showcased him as a multi-talented star in the semi-autobiographical role.

Prince took home his first three wins at the 27th GRAMMY Awards, receiving Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal and Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special for Purple Rain. His third win that year came for his songwriting credits for Best R&B Song, for Chaka Khan's cover of  his "I Feel You." Purple Rain also received an Oscar for Music (Best Original Song Score) in 1984 and is the third best-selling movie soundtrack of all time.

Out of its nine songs, the album had five singles, all of which charted: "When Doves Cry," "Let's Go Crazy," "Purple Rain," "I Would Die 4 U" and "Take Me With U." "When Doves Cry" was the first single released from the album, gaining Prince his first No. 1 song status, followed by the second single and No. 1 hit, "Let's Go Crazy."  The latter song, the first track on the album, sets the tone with his memorable opening words.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. An electric word, 'life.' It means forever…and that's a mighty long time. But I’m here to tell you there’s something else: the afterworld. A world of never-ending happiness, you can always see the sun, day or night," he famously says.

While "I Would Die 4 U," "Take Me With U" and "Purple Rain"  didn't quite reach No. 1 status, they all spent time on the charts, with each making waves and offering the world a dynamic taste of that special Prince sound in new packages. All of the singles from the album would follow Prince throughout his life, and are often the go-to songs fans think of as their favorites.

With "Purple Rain" we saw the more melancholy side of Prince, as he sings, "I never meant to cause you any sorrow/I never meant to cause you any pain/I only wanted to one time to see you laughing/I only wanted to see you/Laughing in the purple rain."

Even after his heartbreaking passing, Prince will live on forever in our hearts, through his music, and even on the charts. Purple Rain was inducted into GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2011, celebrating it as a "recording of lasting qualitative or historical significance." The album also made a comeback on the charts, both after the artist's death and when the album was rereleased in 2017, when it reentered the Billboard 200 at No. 4. It is safe to say there will never be another star quite like Prince.