Kreayshawn's 25 Favorite Albums

The "Gucci Gucci" rapper talks about her favorite albums from the Spice Girls, Mac Dre, and Lil Bow Wow.

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Image via Complex Original
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Intro

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Fiendin' 4 Tha Funk

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11/5, Fiendin’ 4 Tha Funk (1995)

Label: Dogday Records

Kreayshawn: “This is just one of my favorite albums because it was from my home area. At one point it was the only CD I listened to for like four months. It’s one of those hella grimey ass CDs. It’s pretty hardcore. It’s one of my favorite ones for sure. My partner T.C. produced it way back in the day. [Me and T.C.] met and we kicked it.

“I probably found it in ’99. It was just a random CD that I had found and got into. I think it was one of my friend’s CDs. Sometimes I would just take a random thing and listen to it. That’s how I still find music, just searching random things. I would always just find random stuff and be like, ‘I’m going to listen to this.’ It ended up becoming one of my Top 25.”

Tragic Kingdom

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No Doubt, Tragic Kingdom (1995)

Label: Trauma / Interscope

Kreayshawn: “I was always listening to that. No Doubt was my favorite at the time. I always wanted to go to her shows but I couldn’t because I was too young. Ugh, so lame. They definitely had a different sound. It was mid-’90s when it came out, so when I think about it they always bring me back to that time when everything was mixed together. No Doubt kind of has a ska-pop sound.”

Dr. Octagonecologyst

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Dr. Octagon, Dr. Octagonecologyst (1996)

Label: Dreamworks / Geffen / MCA Records

Kreayshawn: “Kool Keith is one of my favorite rappers, period. Kool Keith or Dr. Octagon or whatever you want to call him—he’s got all his aliases popping off—but I just love his album and how he gets into a whole different character. He’s a rapping gynecologist! How you gonna rap all those medical terms? He probably went to medical school in a past life.


 

I was in the 4th grade and I went into the CD store by myself and bough Kool Keith’s Sex Style album.

 

“Maybe I’m was a weird child or something but I got the Kool Keith album when I was hella young. I was in the 4th grade and I went into the CD store by myself and bought it. I remember them asking me, ‘Are you sure you want this?’ because I got his Sex Style album and the cover of it is just crazy. They were so shocked, but it’s San Francisco—they don’t give a fuck. They were like, ‘You sure you want this?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah.’

“[I discovered Kool Keith through] my mom. She always would be listening to the craziest stuff. Her friends would leave tapes at the house and I would listen to them. Back then, the radio, CDs, and tapes is what you did to listen to music. Now you have computers, so you’re doing a million other things while listening to music. But back in the day, all I would do is stare at a wall with my headphones on, listening.”

Spice

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Spice Girls, Spice (1996)

Label: Virgin

Kreayshawn: “That was the first CD I remember playing over and over again and jamming out to when I was young. It has a lot of my favorite songs that they did on there like ‘2 Become 1.’ The Spice Girls are my inspiration. I use a lot of girl power type of feel [on my songs]. Even though it’s like more modern rap version, I still like the Girl Power message.”

The Carnival

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Wyclef Jean, The Carnival (1997)

Label: Sony Music / Columbia

Kreayshawn:“That album definitely represents a moment in time for me. It was my mom’s CD and that’s how I would always find my music—lurking in my mom’s CDs. She had this CD and I would just play it over and over and all my friends would listen to it.

“The album was a whole story, like every song was a story. It was like a Slick Rick type of thing. It’s funny, because I really do love that album. It had a lot of hits on it, but it’s not common [for someone to put it on their 25 Favorites]. But my list is pretty random.”

400 Degreez

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Juvenile, 400 Degreez (1998)

Label: Cash Money Records / Universal

Kreayshawn: “I remember growing up I lived on a block where there were like 12 kids on one block and there was like a little alleyway. We would hang out there all day and would be in each other’s backyard with a stereo. This is one of the CD’s that we listened to faithfully. You can’t front on Juvenile. I’m a fan of all that old school Hot Boyz stuff. Cash Money was doing their thing when they were coming out. It’s crazy to see everyone still doing stuff.”

Aquemini

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Outkast, Aquemini (1998)

Label: LaFace Records / Artista

Kreayshawn: “My favorite songs to space out to. [This album] always made me feel like I was in another place, like I was getting high or some shit. I wasn’t getting high though. A lot of the songs on this album were my favorite songs for a while, so I was faithfully listening to this. This would be the best album to get high to, just like most Outkast albums.”

2001

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Dr. Dre, 2001 (1999)

Label: Aftermath / Interscope

Kreayshawn:“That could just be on the top because it is one of the top albums for sure. I know every single song on that and it’s from the West Side. Oh my God, my mom had a fake Impala. It was a Caprice. She had a ’64 Caprice and we would always ride around San Francisco [playing that album]. I was hella young and she was always listening to it.


 

When I was young, I didn’t have people to talk to on the phone, so I just called the radio station.

 

“My mom went to the Up In Smoke Tour. When I was young, I didn’t have people to talk to on the phone, so I just called the radio station. I called the radio station and I won tickets to the show but I was like 10 so I couldn’t go. So my mom ended up going and I was hella mad. I won her tickets to Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s show too, but he went to jail and the show got cancelled [Laughs]. It was so funny.”

Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady

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Eve, Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady (1999)

Label: Ruff Ryders / Interscope

Kreayshawn: “This was one of the first female rappers that I was really into. This is on some other shit. I was pretty into Eve, she’s like my alter ego. It was crazy because she’s from Philly and my family’s from Philly. Every time I think about it, I’m like, ‘What if I was in Philly? I’d be like Eve.’

“I was super young when I was listening to it. There’s some inspirational [songs on there]. There’s that ‘Love Is Blind’ song, which is like an anthem for women. When listening to that as a kid, you’re like, ‘Oh God, love is blind! You can get beat up by your man and not even know it’s wrong!’”

100% Ginuwine

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Ginuwine, 100% Ginuwine (1999)

Label: 550 Music / Epic

Kreayshawn: “That was another album that I was just listening to all day and all night. I’ve pretty much memorized the whole CD. I think I was in the 4th grade at the time and I was finding out about love. Ginuwine was helping me understand what love was. It’s crazy because at that time, I had a love affair with my downstairs neighbor. It was pretty heated. We like...kissed on the lips one time—and it’s Ginuwine’s fault! [Laughs.] I’m lame."

Black On Both Sides

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Mos Def, Black On Both Sides (1999)

Label: Rawkus / Priority

Kreayshawn: “I remember this being one of the first hip-hop albums that I listened to. My uncle gave it to me on a tape. He gave me that tape and he gave me a Fugees tape with another tape that I forgot. All I remember is listening to the Mos Def tape.

“I was like, ‘Damn, this is so tight and different from what they play on the radio!’ I had never heard it before because at that time I just watched TV, listened to what was on the radio, or random stuff my mom would tell me. It was kind of the first thing I found on my own.”

Beware Of Dog

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Lil Bow Wow, Beware Of Dog (2000)

Label: So So Def / Columbia

Kreayshawn: “I was 10 when this came out, so it was the first time I realized that younger kids could rap too. I remember saying, ‘Oh my God, he’s my age and he can rap?’ It was just amazing to me and he was just doing his thing like a normal adult as a kid. It was like growing up with him. It’s funny because I have an old-ass rap that I did and I’m talking about him like, ‘Yeah, Shad Moss.’”

The Unseen

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Quasimoto, The Unseen (2000)

Label: Stones Throw Records

Kreayshawn: “This is an album I just found working in a record shop. I was super excited to find it because I pretty much listened to everything on that album. Some of the songs are really crazy. He raps in a high-pitched voice.”

“When I first started making songs I would turn the pitch up on my voice hella high. I don’t think it was to be like Quasimoto but everyone would say I sounded like the female Quasimoto. It was pretty funny. My partner just had to tell me one day, ‘You need to stop pitching up your voice.’ I did two versions of a song and I was like, ‘Should I keep the pitch up?’ and he was like, ‘Nah.’”

Tha Last Meal

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Snoop Dogg, Tha Last Meal (2000)

Label: No Limit / Priority / EMI

Kreayshawn: “Snoop Dogg’s done all kinds of stuff, but this album was an album that I bought and it introduced me to a lot of different artists that were on it, like Suga Free—who I secretly became obsessed with later on in my life. I love this album. One of the things that always stuck in my mind was the album art. It was a cartoon with Snoop Dogg in jail and shit. I remember always listening to it and looking at the artwork. It’s just one of my faves.”

Aaliyah

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Aaliyah, Aaliyah (2001)

Label: Blackground / Virgin / EMI

Kreayshawn: “This is one of my favorites because it came out around the time she passed away and I was so upset about it. I had a turntable, just one turntable, and this was the only record I had. I just listened to it over and over and just played with it.”

“I was really sad when she died. It was one of the only times I actually cried when an artist died. I was like bawling. I was like, ‘I can’t believe this.’ I just loved everything that she did. When an artist dies, and you really love everything they did, iIt’s like you’re really losing somebody. I was really upset.”

Miss E…So Addictive

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Missy Elliot, Miss E…So Addictive (2001)

Label: Goldmind / Elektra

Kreayshawn: “That came out when I thought I could dance really good. I mean, I guess I could dance. Me and my friends were always dancing to this CD. It was one of my favorite CDs that she did because of all the songs she did on it, three of them had crazy music videos.

“I was hella young when she did the ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ stuff, but when I was actually old enough to go and buy the CD I was like, ‘I’m gonna dance to ‘Get Ur Freak On’ all night!’ I was so jealous of [that little white girl that danced in the ‘Work It’ video’]. I was like, ‘I want to be her! I want to be the cool white girl!’"

Chicken-n-Beer

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Ludacris, Chicken-n-Beer (2003)

Label: DTP / Def Jam

Kreayshawn: “Ludacris had done stuff before that, but this album always stood out to me because when he did this I was like, ‘Man, he’s really about to be one of the biggest rappers.’ I still believe he’s one of the biggest rappers. I definitely love this album. There’s a lot of fun songs on there like, ‘Who let these hoes in my room!’”

Crime Mob

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Crime Mob, Crime Mob (2004)

Label: G’$ Up / Crunk / BME / Reprise

Kreayshawn: “I remember this one because it was a group with two girls. I thought that was hella tight. So all their songs would be like a guy’s song, but then it would have a girls version of the same feeling. So Crime Mob was one of my favorite rap groups for a minute. I bumped all the songs on the CD.

“I was going to school listening to it like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to school. Crime Mob.’ I don’t think it had anything to do with me and my school. It was just what I was listening to at the time. I wish Crime Mob was still together. I want to make a song with Diamond. I think she’d be down. I’m pretty sure. We’d gas that shit.”

The Genie of The Lamp

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Mac Dre, The Genie of The Lamp (2004)

Label: Thizz Entertainment

Kreayshawn: “Everyone in the Bay Area knew this whole album. I had T-shirts of it and it was like my favorite shit ever. I wanted to be Mac Dre. The hyphy movement was a big part of my life, and this album was definitely a big part of the hyphy movement.

“I was like 15 seeing all the sideshows and shit, partaking in the thizzlamic wave. That was just stuff people would do back then. It was just normal, but now I realize it was really crazy. It was fun times being hyphy.”

Kamikaze

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Twista, Kamikaze (2004)

Label: Atlantic

Kreayshawn: “Twista is just an exciting artist to listen to. I’m a big fan of all his stuff, but I just remember this album because I listened to it all the time. The other stuff would just be random stuff that I clipped off the Internet but I actually got this CD. This was a popping CD for sure.

“I remember days of drinking alcohol for the first time and listening to this CD—I was like in the 8th grade. I never responded well with drinking. That why there’s some bad memories. [Like when I threw up]. You’re not supposed to be drinking when you’re [a kid] getting in trouble. I was always getting in trouble.”

The Jack Artist

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The Jacka, The Jack Artist (2005)

Label: The Artist Records

Kreayshawn: “He was one of the top rappers in the Bay Area. I was going through dropping out of high school [when I was] listening to this. I always felt every song. It was my favorite. It helped me grow when I was in high school. It was that for a lot of people in the Bay Area.”

Donuts

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J Dilla, Donuts (2006)

Label: Stones Throw Records

Kreayshawn: “J Dilla was an artist that I found just lurking around. I would always rap over his beats secretly [a long time ago] but never put them out. He always did my favorite beats and it was really sad when he died. I’ve been making music for hella long but I would just keep it to myself. I wasn’t posting it on the Internet. It was just stuff that I did for fun. Me and my friends would rap for fun. [If I got on a J Dilla beat today] that would be hot.”

Animal Planet Mixtape

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The Jacka and Husalah, Animal Planet Mixtape (2006)

Label: N/A

Kreayshawn: “It was a mixtape that was super long but it has so many great songs on it. It’s a great mix because it all flows together. It’s mixed with animal noises and gunshots. It’s just a Bay Area classic and it has a lot of Bay Area classic rappers on it. My boyfriend at the time was listening to it and it just became the soundtrack to everything we were doing.

“We got into a crazy-ass car accident when we were listening to that mixtape. It was crazy. My partner just didn’t know how to drive and we hit two cars and we ran into a house. Nothing super bad happened—no one got hurt. But the song was playing real loud and I just remember being like, ‘What the fuck?’”

Sunday School

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Suga Free, Sunday School (2007)

Label: Siccness.net

Kreayshawn:Sunday School is one of my favorite albums. How can you hate Suga Free? No one hates him. He’s always rhyming about the craziest things like it’s normal shit. He’d be yelling at a bitch like, ‘You smoke my Newports, bitch?’ He’d go into a little acting skits in the middle of his raps. He’s a pimp, for real.”

Thursday

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The Weeknd, Thursday (Chopped & Screwed) (2011)

Label: N/A

Kreayshawn: “I’ve been listening to the chopped and screwed version. It was chopped, not slopped. It’s what I’ve recently been listening to over and over again, on crazy repeat. I’m definitely feeling his music. It sounds way better chopped and screwed. There’s a whole bunch of songs that bring out emotions or talk about things that I’ve gone through. You can see why. Maybe I’m just really high when I listen to it.”

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