Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury

This felt like a Chuck D solo record, which it is not. But super political early 90s hip hop checks a lot of my boxes.

"cathode ray nipple" is insane

One of the most punk rock hip hop artists. Televiison the Drug of the Nation is iconic. Has some cool funky heaviness to it and a strong not subtle set of messages. Gets a little personal here and there, overall really good consccious hip hop without much positivity.

Ihr kennt meine Meinung zu 90s HipHop

Взагалі не шарив цей проект. Флоу нагадало Чака Ді (але гірше звісно) і чесно кажучи десь на половині альбоми здалось що це нудно і дуже preachy, але якось я втягнувся і в цілому скажу що Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury мені сподобався. 3.5

This is #day692 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… industrial/conscious hip-hop from the early '90s, you're saying, aka when hip-hop was golden. Well, bring it on! This is a strong 3 out of 5. Looking forward to #day693.

I was left speechless by this. It was probably the album that most exceeded the expectations that I had coming up to it. While being unapologetically socially charged, it does also have catchy lyrics that are made more powerful by the rap delivery, and also organically sampled beats, containing jazz and funk influences that do stand on its own beyond the rest of the album.

9/10 [KEEP]

The Good: We get taught a life’s lesson.
The Bad: I am not paying attention…
The Ugly: Fucking politics.

Back in the ‘90s, there was a lot of screaming about how bad the government/society was treating those who live in the inner-cities, or proyects, or ‘hoods’…
We got bombarded by nothing but bitching and complaining, affirmative action, and down with the slave-masters.
The ‘90s… it had a gulf war. I had friends who were deployed there, and none of them were black or brown… they were just trying to honor their GI bills, which was the way most tried to pay for their college education.

So, excuse me if I don’t stand in line and chant along. I saw reversed discrimination via affirmative action, I saw how little effort was being made for people to adapt to others… If you behave like you come from the hood, good luck getting into a frat party. If you listen to hip-hop because the color of your skin, and hate rock for the same reasons… well, good for you.

Morgan Freeman said it best “want to end racism, stop talking about it”
Also, oddly enough, I did not hear this music back in the ‘90s, and I was at a very fucking liberal university…

1* for wasting my time. Please keep walking, nothing to see here...

public enemy... light? that's not quite fair, but it doesn't hit as hard. enjoyable but doesn't stand out enough.

Hated it. Is it rap? Is it spoken word? Is it West Coast psychadelia? So confused. The standout moment though, was the lyric "TV is the place where the pursuit of happiness has become the pursuit of trivia, where toothpaste and cars have become sex objects, where imagination is sucked out of children by a cathode ray nipple - TV is the only wet nurse that would create a cripple". 2 stars.

I only own one hip-hop album: Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. When it was released in 1992, the single 'Television, the Drug of the Nation' was played frequently on MTV. Michael Franti’s razor-sharp lyrics were a breath of fresh air in nineties pop music. Added to this were Rono Tse’s remarkably powerful beats and groovy bass lines. Finally, danceable pop music with political lyrics had returned. Above all, the whole album thrives on Franti’s intelligent, unsparing and alarmingly topical lyrics, which break away from the hip-hop mould.

Sadly, the band only released two albums, the second of which, Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales, set texts by William S. Burroughs to music. However, it was clear from the outset that the narrow musical framework of hip-hop was too restrictive for Michael Franti. Tracks like 'Music and Politics' break completely away from the hip-hop sound, drawing closer to the jazz and soul of Isaac Hayes — not least thanks to the fantastic guitar work of jazz musician Charlie Hunter, who was making his debut at the time. In a sense, this album anticipates the music of spoken-word performers like Kate Tempest.

Peak "we've got Public Enemy at home" energy.

Please dispose of ♻️responsibly♻️

My goodness me...a hip hop album I've liked. He has a lot to say, and it's interesting, political, clever and amusing and I can hear it clearly.

And it's got a kickin beat.

Still hate inter-track skits though.

"Television the drug of the nation" is a song that is still very real in its ideas and lyrics today. I appreciated that. The lyrics were cool, i think I should listen to it again if i want to appreciate it more

Jazz rap's response to Public Enemy. Is this the worst great band name of all time, or the best terrible band name of all time? The lyrics are good, and beats alright, but I don't feel like Michael Franti really gets himself out of the hole that his repetitive, dated, monotone flow puts him in

I've never heard of this. Weirdly, it is the only album these "Disposable Heroes" ever made. Four of the tracks were not available on Spotify in the United States, so I had to find them on Youtube. Sadly, the album is not very good. The raps are very politically conscious, but they are too literal. It feels artless, almost, with weak flows and basic beats behind them. This is a completely disposable album from the 90s era of politically conscious hip hop. The lyrics have all the subtlety of the album cover, and this is a damning flaw in a genre that relies almost exclusively on lyrical content. I don't think this is even remotely close to list-worthy. It is also the worst rap album I've had(at least Ready to Die had good flows!)

Great message, but entirely too long and not that interesting musically.

2.0/5.0: Disappointing

way too long but i did like the lyrics

It's not so much that I loved the music as that this record seemed amazing prophetic. I kept checking to make sure it was from 34 years ago and not this year.

This blew me away from the very first track. It’s this kind of hip-hop, rap, or whatever you want to call it, that grabs me right from the first listen. Music with a message you just can’t ignore.

After listening to it, I went to read some reviews - I have to agree with the 5-star ratings.

So, I’m giving it a 5 ;-)