Hello, Hi and Welcome to Tourney Talk, brought to you by Coconut Crunchos Cereal.

It started with a concept, from a barber shop debate about the best rapper alive to who made that claim by dropping the best debut album. The herd was thinned with arcane rules I drafted to eliminate obvious points of contention and we were left with 16.

Albums were added towards the end, the general public’s demand cementing one and even with that, others were left off the list.

At The Speed of Life is the debut release from Xzibit in 1996, an interesting time in rap at the peak of the East/West beef that would end a year later with the murders of 2Pac and Biggie.

This was the hey-day of MTV’s Total Request Live and Rap City, so a video was made for ‘Paparazzi’, the lead single, and got a couple of spins.

Lyrically, Alvin Joiner could stand toe toe with the best of his era. But while there was some commercial success as the host of Pimp My Ride, it didn’t translate over to his albums.

Was it because he was more likely associated with Tha Alkaholiks than Dr. Dre? That his most known verses are found on other people’s tracks instead of his own? Or that there was never a place for intelligent gangster rap?

If X to the Z’s album had been remembered, at best it would have been battled Smif-N-Wesson for the final slot. Speaking of the initial seeding, there was talk about a straight tournament based on ranking. If that were, the seedings would have looked like this:

Seeding:
1. Illmatic
2. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
3. The Slim Shady LP
4. Reasonable Doubt
5. The College Dropout
6. Get Rich or Die Trying
7. Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star
8. Ready to Die
9. It’s Dark and Hell is Hot
10. Paid In Full
11. Run DMC
12. Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
13. Whut! The Album
14. Food & Liqour
15. Lisenced to Ill
16. A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
17. Capital Punishment
18. Dah Shinin

The similuation of the RDAT Seeding Version is brought to you by Arizona Ice Tea. The price is on the can though.

16 vs 17 – The Choice is Yours barely edges out Still Not A Player. Winner: Black Sheep

15 vs 18 – The overall relevance of the album eliminated the best of the Boot Camp Click. Winner: Beastie Boys

1 vs 16 – The first three tracks off Illmatic are enough to move on. Winner: Nas

8 vs 9 – Get At Me Dog is amazing, but it’s not Unbelievable. Winner: Biggie

4 vs 13 – Even in a concept contest, Supaman Lover loses a squeaker to 22 Two’s. Winner: Jay-Z

5 vs 12 – Chicago stands tall over Atlanta when one compares the number of singles produced from each album. Winner: Kanye

3 vs 14 – If Lupe could combine the best from his first two albums, he might be able to get past Slim Shady. Winner: Eminem

6 vs 11 – In a battle for Jamaica, Queens, if Walk this Way was in play…But it’s not so. Winner: 50 Cent

7 vs 10 – Eric B.’s contributions bring down the God MC and allow Mos and Talib to move on. Winner: Black Star

2 vs 15 – The same relevance argument that earned the opening round win comes back to bite the Beasties. Winner: Wu-Tang Clan

1 vs 8 – This is a championship matchup in the 2nd round. The brevity of Illmatic against skits and ‘Respect’ puts it over the top. Winner: Nas

4 vs 5 – Watch The Throne battle that’s decided by intangibles, and Friend or Foe vs. Little Jimmy isn’t a contest. Winner: Jay-Z

3 vs 6 – Taking place in Dre’s Aftermath studio, 50’s album isn’t made if not for the success of Shady. Winner: Eminem

2 vs 10 – While Black Star is a personal favorite, it’s hard to win when facing Shaolin shadow boxing and the Wu-Tang sword style. Winner: Wu-Tang Clan

So the simulated Final Four turns out to be chalk as the top four seeds reach the promised land. The results of the actual RDAT turned out similar.

 

Well, there is your Final Four, brought to you by Motel 6. With the proper rest from a quality hotel room, the final stretch of this tournament will now be fast paced and get to a conclusion with your help. Remember, your vote counts so be sure to share your opinion in the polls for each match up. We’d like to thank our Corporate Champions – Coconut Chrunchos and Arizona Ice Teas.

Artists and albums still in play are currently getting spins and will be ready for a final judgement. The question is, are you?

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, comment on Facebook and network with us on LinkedIn. Thanks for coming out and we hope to see you in the Championship!