Friday, May 04, 2007
The Top 25 Hip Hop Albums of All Time?
PE: architects behind the greatest hip hop album of all time?
I sent this list of my Top 25 Hip Hop albums of all time to Joey a while ago by email, but everyone else posted theirs to their sites in response to his call to action so I had to follow suit. My list is kind of blend of my favorites and what I thought were the best/most important albums in the genre so I added an honorable mention section too 'cos 25 wasn't really enough (and I wanted to acknowledge more of my personal faves). Besides that, I also deliberately kept it to one album per artist 'cos if I didn't, it would have been all Dr. Dre, EPMD and De La Soul albums on the list:
1. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
2. Dr. Dre - The Chronic
3. N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton
4. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the 36 Chambers
5. Ice Cube - Amerikkka's Most Wanted [Literally N.W.A-meets-PE: still thrilling to listen to all these years later]
6. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders [Low End Theory used to be my fave Tribe album but this has held up better over time IMHO. Play 'em back to back and tell me I'm wrong]
7. Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded
8. Ultramagnetic MC's - Critical Beatdown
9. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising [not mad at anyone who argues De La Soul is Dead is better]
10. Nas - Illmatic
11. Main Source - Breakin' Atoms
12. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
13. Notorious BIG - Life after Death *
14. Fugees - The Score
15. Eric B & Rakim - Paid in Full
16. Kanye West - Late Registration
17. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
18. Gangstarr - Step in the Arena
19. Mobb Deep - The Infamous
20. Outkast - Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
21. Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Mecca & the Soul Brother
22. Jungle Brothers - Done by the Forces of Nature
23. Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele
24. 50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin' *
25. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
(* - not personal top 25 faves but you have to have these as you prolly should 2pac too cos they all changed the game in their own ways.)
Honorable mentions:
* 2Pac - All Eyez on Me
* Run DMC - King of Rock
* The Game - Doctor's Advocate
* Cypress Hill - s/t
* EPMD - Strictly Business
* Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx....
* Beanie Sigel - The B.coming
* Organized Konfusion - s/t
* Dead Prez - RBG
* LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out
* T.I. - Trap Muzik
* Brand Nubian - One for all
* Goodie Mob - Soul Food
* Big Daddy Kane - Long Live the Kane
* Slick Rick - The Great Adventures of...
* Biz Markie - Goin' Off
Respect to G. Rap who's one of my fave MCs of all time even though I don't think he ever made a truly great album top to bottom (but came close) and maybe I should have Whut? Thee Album on there too although I never play it any more and it sounded, as do most of Reggie's albums, kind of dated (in a bad way) last time I did.
Hmm... at some point I still gotta do a post on my fave albums of last year, LOL. At this point I really am racing to get that done before Memorial Day Weekend like I joked last year!
Labels: Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums
