Logic's 25 Favorite Albums
Logic talks about his favorite albums from Kanye West, Warpaint, and Eminem.
Image via Complex Original
Today, Logic's debut album, Under Pressure, is finally in stores (you can stream it here). We recently got on the horn with the Maryland rapper while he was signing a thousand copies of his debut to discuss all of the albums that inspired him growing up. Logic talked about his love for Kanye West, how the movie Kill Bill introduced him to Wu-Tang, and how heartbreaking it was to find out that Big L had been dead for years. "I truly believe that without those albums this one wouldn’t exist," said Logic about how his favorite albums influenced his own debut. Check out Logic's 25 Favorite Albums, listed in chronological order.
As told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)
A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory (1991)
Label: Jive Records
Logic: “It’s funny because people give me shit because Midnight Marauders is my favorite. I think everybody has a favorite. I would just listen to Midnight Marauders all the time, and then I gave [The Low End Theory] a listen. I think I loved that because it’s the beginning of a thing, it’s the introduction to the Tribe. For me, listening to Midnight Marauders first was almost cheating because I didn’t get to appreciate it, once again, due to lack of age and the fact that I wasn’t there to experience it for the first time. I didn’t get to hear how it all started.”
Big Daddy Kane, Looks Like a Job For… (1991)
Label: Cold Chillin' Records
Logic: “That was actually one of the first hip-hop records I was ever introduced to. I was in high school—9th or 10th grade I think—and a friend of mine was like, ‘Yo! You gotta check this out.' The funny thing is I listened to it for years and years, but I never knew the title of the album. I don’t know why. It’s weird. But I always knew it was Big Daddy Kane. I literally just rediscovered it like a week ago. ‘Bout a week ago!’”
A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders (1993)
Label: Jive Records
Logic: “What I love about it is the analog sound because they recorded everything on tape. A lot of people recorded shit on tape, but there was something about Tribe. For example, I listened to Wu-Tang because it’s gritty and grimy and dirty, and it sounds like all your best homies making incredible music recorded at your crib. It doesn’t mean that it’s lacking in quality. I think that obviously when RZA was producing those albums he was going for that raw sound. There is something about Tribe. Their shit is so clean. The drum kick, the bass, and just everything about those albums is the epitome of quality. And obviously on the album the computer program that I have giving you fun facts and tidbits about my album is obviously an homage to Midnight Marauders and their computer program that they used.”
Wu-Tang Clan, Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers (1993)
Label: Loud Records
Logic: “When I first discovered Wu-Tang, I started off with some random album. It was like a Killa Bees compilation album because I didn’t know what to buy. Then a homie of mine gave me Wu-Tang Forever. After Wu-Tang Forever I discovered 36 Chambers. I kind of went backwards, but I love Wu-Tang.”
Nirvana, MTV Unplugged in New York (1993)
Label: Original Recordings Group
Logic: “That’s a big one. When I was creating this album we would listen to that album every single day on the way to the studio. It was my theme music to and from the studio for a year.”
Nas, Illmatic (1994)
Label: Columbia Records
Logic: “The funny thing is I wish I could have discovered Nas back when Illmatic first came out. When I first discovered Nas, it was through I Am…. I saw ‘New York State of Mind Pt. II’ and I was like, ‘What the hell is ‘New York State of Mind?’ I didn’t know. While searching for ‘New York State of Mind’ I found Illmatic. I loved it. That album definitely inspired the story aspect [on my album] as well.”
Big L, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous (1995)
Label: Columbia Records
Logic: “This is the ultimate classic. I was first introduced to Big L by my mentor Solomon Taylor back in Maryland. It’s crazy because I listened to Big L for almost two years before I found out he wasn’t alive anymore, and that was really difficult. I think that’s one thing that’s really hard when you’re a student of the game and you grew up appreciating hip-hop, but you find out later because you’re a part of a younger generation. That was pretty devastating to me, to find out that my favorite rapper at the time had died six years previously from discovering him. Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous to me is just Harlem. I think it’s the sound of Harlem world, and it’s incredible.”
The Roots, Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995)
Label: DGC Records
Logic: “That’s the first album I ever bought. I bought it at Best Buy, and I loved it. It was incredible. I didn’t know what I was getting into, or what I was going to listen to, but it still remains my favorite—well, How I Got Over was a really big one too. If I want to feel the times, and take a trip back to the ’90s it’s Do You Want More?!!!??! If I want something I can relate to as a young man in today’s world I listen to How I Got Over."
OutKast, ATLiens (1996)
Label: La Face Records
Logic: “ATLiens for me is a huge, huge part of this album, because of the voice manipulation that I do. Listening to ATLiens now, they kind of have these different panning to the left and the right in the vocals. In the left side it might sound like a chipmunk, and on the right side it might be trilled out like some Houston shit. Then in the middle it’s just the regular vocal, which gives it the sonics of having an angel and devil on each shoulder. Just the weird flows and the weird raps, and just going about things in an odd way. It made me want to do that.”
Nas, It Was Written (1996)
Label: Columbia Records
Logic: "It Was Written is just my shit. I love that album. I love ‘I Gave You Power.’ It’s one of the dopest conceptual records I have heard in hip-hop. Rapping from a perspective of a gun, that allowed me to rap from the perspective of my brother and my sister. You know what I’m saying? Those two Nas albums definitely inspired a lot, Illmatic for sure, but I love It Was Written."
Jay Z, Reasonable Doubt (1996)
Label: Roc-A-Fella Records, Priority Records
Logic: “That is the epitome of fun, braggadocious hip-hop. I mean he’s also obviously telling a story and doing his thing, but I just love it. There’s just so many records on there that made me want to rap better than you and tell you why I am better than you. Which I guess is funny, because that’s more so of Logic from the mixtapes. I shy away from a lot of that on the album, but I put that on there because there is a little bit of the braggadocious on the album. That’s definitely heavily inspired from Reasonable Doubt for sure.”
Eminem, Infinite (1996)
Label: Web Entertainment
Logic: “I didn’t find that until 2009. I was 19 years old, and I was just doing my homework, and I came across it, and I loved it. I loved it because it sounds like something I was doing at the time. Just trying to find myself and create records. I did as much homework as I could do, and I found out that Eminem at that time was extremely inspired by Nas, and I could hear it.
“I mean obviously it was him, but it was really fun and lighthearted. It wasn’t ‘Kim’ or ‘Stan,’ it was just him, and it was an Eminem that was just finding himself. The reason I love that album so much, and the reason I can relate to it, is because Infinite, even though it was an album, was kind of like a mixtape of that era. For me, I saw a lot of myself. Where in my mixtapes I was still finding myself. Even up until Welcome to Forever I was still finding myself and who I was.”
Wu-Tang Clan, Wu-Tang Forever (1997)
Label: Loud Records
Logic: “Wu-Tang was an enormous inspiration for the skits on my album. I just love the outsideness…like when they're on the corner and the female cop comes and goes, ‘Put your fucking hands on the wall.’ The ambiance of New York City, I love that. So I kind of wanted to encompass that. Definitely from beats to rhyme schemes, but I think a big reason I put that on the list is because they helped me paint a picture of my album with the skits and make it a movie.”
Radiohead, OK Computer (1997)
Label: Parlophone Records, Capitol Records
Logic: “My homie put me on to Radiohead. That was the first album I’d ever listened to. I’d heard other stuff before that like ‘Everything In It’s Right Place’ and all different stuff. For me it was a trip home from College Park, Maryland, to where he lives. I remember he had a sunroof, and while we were driving I just kind of laid back and looked up. I could see the moon and all that shit. Just super spacey. It was an awesome album and a really awesome time in my life.”
Dr. Dre, 2001 (1999)
Label: Interscope Records
Logic: “‘Forgot About Dre’ was the first time I had heard Eminem in my life. It was so cool to hear this dude and see Dre. I mean everybody had heard of Dre, but this was the first album where I went, ‘I’m fucking with this.’ That was the soundtrack to my summer that year. For me, that’s summer vacation.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication (1999)
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Logic: “Californication is my childhood. My mom used to always listen to the Chili Peppers. It reminds me of the outside. It reminds me of the woods. It reminds me of fishing, and all the random shit I never really did, but when we did do it that was on the stereo of the cassette player. That to me is just all in all incredible music and amazing writing.”
Big L, The Big Picture (2000)
Label: Rawkus Records
Logic: “The Big Picture just totally outshined his storytelling. His storytelling on that from ‘The Heist’ to ‘Casualties of a Dice Game,’ and even the freestyles. Everything that encompasses Big L for me, personally, and why he’s one of my favorites, is definitely on The Big Picture.”
OutKast, Stankonia (2000)
Label: La Face Records
Logic: “I remember being on a school bus and listening to ‘Ms. Jackson’ and all that stuff. That to me encompassed a lot of my home life as well.”
Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Label: Interscope Records, Shady Records
Logic: “I remember everything about Eminem’s rise. For me, that was such a big time in my life, and that was before hip-hop was my life. I was just a 9-year-old kid when the album came out, and there was no way you couldn’t know of or listen to Eminem’s music, because he was literally like the Drake. I know those are totally two different artists, but what I mean by that is, he was just so popular that he was everywhere you look, everywhere you go, and every station, you know, Eminem was playing. Even today he is still Eminem, I mean just far as being relevant. I’m still listening to that album currently. It was truly incredible.”
Kill Bill Vol. 1 Original Soundtrack (2003)
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Logic: “I think that may be the most important one on the list, because without Kill Bill I would never have been doing what I am doing today. It was because of that film that I went and discovered who the RZA was, through the soundtrack, which I bought. Through finding the RZA I found Wu-Tang Clan, and through the Wu-Tang Clan I found Nas, Tribe, Big L, and everybody on that list.”
Kanye West, Late Registration (2005)
Label: Roc-A-Fella Records
Logic: “Late Registration is arguably my favorite Kanye album. At one time it was Graduation, but for whatever reason there’s something about Late Registration, especially recently. It’s something about the honesty in his voice. Him getting on the record and singing, and it’s a little out of tune, but we love Kanye because he not only depicts his vision and his way of thinking, but the emotion in his voice makes you feel like you’re on the record.”
Kanye West, Graduation (2007)
Label: Roc-A-Fella Records
Logic: “I think that was what we call arena rap, you know the whole stadium rocking with him. I just love the sound. I think the features and the samples are out of this world. But it’s still hip-hop, the drums fill them out. Graduation was a humongous influence for this album, and still continues to be an inspiration every day to do my best music for the future. There’s just something about it that makes me want to step my shit up.”
Warpaint, The Fool (2010)
Label: Rough Trade Records
Logic: “Warpaint is an all-girl group from Los Angeles. They love Wu-Tang Clan and shit. They’re big hip-hop heads too, which is crazy.
“They are like an indie rock group, but their sonics are just so amazing. How they create records is that they’ll just be in a room and jam out. Almost like in the garage, just jamming for hours or days until they find a groove, and the lyrics just come to them.
“I can really relate to that because there would be a lot of times where I would just sit at home with my SM7 microphone and my engineer tape, and I would just sit there for hours just mumbling. Not even creating words. Kind of just finding different flows and rhyme schemes and patterns. So that’s why they’re on there.”
The Roots, How I Got Over (2010)
Label: Def Jam Records
Logic: “It’s personally my favorite overall musical album I’ve heard in hip-hop. I love it. There’s just something about it. Patty Crash is on ‘The Day.’ I remember being a huge fan of her. I didn’t even know she’s like from Iceland. All that soul in her voice, man, I was convinced she had to be black or something. I met her on Twitter, and if it wasn’t for that album, she wouldn’t have been a big help as far as helping me painting the picture on this album.”
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
Label: Roc-A-Fella Records
Logic: “I don’t even know what I can say about Dark Twisted Fantasy that hasn’t already been said. From the dense verses to the production, it’s just all around an incredible hip-hop album. That’s all I have to say about that.”