First off, thanks for following our list of the greatest rap albums of all time. Of course, as with all lists, this is not meant to be definitive. It captures the thoughts of the folks that roll in our little neck of the woods. That said, I’m incredibly proud of the way the list came out. If you’d like to backtrack, here’s the entire list!
Pete Rock & CL Smooth The Main Ingredient
Tone Loc Loc-ed After Dark
Ice Cube The Predator
Organized Konfusion Stress: The Extinction Agenda
OutKast ATLiens
The Roots How I Got Over
Common Like Water For Chocolate
Run-DMC Tougher Than Leather
Gang Starr Step In The Arena
Queen Latifah All Hail The Queen
90-81
LL Cool J Bigger And Deffer
Das EFX Dead Serious
Lauryn Hill The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
Camp Lo Uptown Saturday Night
Jeru The Damaja The Sun Rises In The East
The DOC No One Can Do It Better
Big L Lifestylez Of Da Poor & Dangerous
Cypress Hill Black Sunday
Ice-T O.G. Original Gangster
Nas Hip-Hop Is Dead
Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo Wanted: Dead Or Alive
Special Ed Youngest In Charge
DMX It’s Dark & Hell Is Hot
Ghostface Killah Supreme Clientele
Talib Kweli Quality
Biz Markie Goin’ Off
Big Daddy Kane It’s A Big Daddy Thing
Kanye West My Beautiful, Dark Twisted Fantasy
Beastie Boys Check Your Head
De La Soul Buhloone Mind State
Beastie Boys Ill Communication
Common Resurrection
EPMD Unfinished Business
Mos Def Black On Both Sides
OutKast Southernplayalisticcadillacmusik
Public Enemy Yo! Bum Rush The Show!
Cypress Hill Cypress Hill
Eminem The Slim Shady LP
3rd Bass The Cactus Album
The Roots Do You Want More?!?!?
Brand Nubian One For All
Black Sheep A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing
Gang Starr Hard To Earn
2Pac All Eyez On Me
Outkast Aquemini
Nas It Was Written
Eric B. & Rakim Follow The Leader
Digital Underground Sex Packets
Pete Rock & CL Smooth Mecca & The Soul Brother
Redman Whut? Thee Album
Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo Road To The Riches
The Roots Things Fall Apart
Kanye West Late Registration
Run-DMC Run-DMC
Public Enemy Apocalypse ’91-The Enemy Strikes Black
The Roots Phrenology
Ice Cube AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
OutKast Stankonia
Boogie Down Productions By All Means Necessary
Black Moon Enta Da Stage
Dr. Dre 2001
Black Star Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star
Kanye West The College Dropout
Common Be
Jay-Z The Black Album
Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP
Mobb Deep The Infamous
A Tribe Called Quest People’s Instinctive Travels & The Paths of Rhythm
LL Cool J Radio
EPMD Strictly Business
The Pharcyde Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
Jay-Z The Blueprint
Beastie Boys Licensed To Ill
NWA Straight Outta Compton
The Notorious BIG Life After Death
2Pac Me Against the World
Jay-Z Reasonable Doubt
Slick Rick The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Big Daddy Kane Long Live The Kane
Main Source Breaking Atoms
Raekwon The Chef Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
Ice Cube Death Certificate
Boogie Down Productions Criminal Minded
GZA/Genius Liquid Swords
Eric B. & Rakim Paid In Full
LL Cool J Mama Said Knock You Out
Public Enemy Fear Of A Black Planet
A Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders
Fugees The Score
Public Enemy It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
Snoop Doggy Dogg Doggystyle
Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique
Wu-Tang Clan Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Run-DMC Raising Hell
Dr. Dre The Chronic
De La Soul De La Soul Is Dead
De La Soul 3 Feet High And Rising
Nas Illmatic
A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory
The Notorious B.I.G. Ready To Die
Geographic Breakdown: New York: 64*, California: 14**, Chicago: 6, Atlanta: 4, Philadelphia: 4, New Jersey: 3, Detroit: 2, GangStarr; 2***, Dallas: 1****
*So, is Slick Rick an English rapper? Or is he a New York rapper?
**Includes Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and 2Pac (who was born and raised in New York City and did not move to Oakland until he was 17.)
***Guru was born in Boston, DJ Premier is from Texas
****The D.O.C. is commonly referred to as an L.A. rapper, when, in fact, he’s from Texas
Artists with the most entries in the Top 100:
NWA: 6 (3 Ice Cube, 2 Dr. Dre, 1 NWA)
Beastie Boys: 4
The Roots: 4
Wu-Tang: 4 (1 each for Ghostface, GZA and Raekwon, one for the whole Wu, and ODB’s Return To The 36 Chambers finished at #101)
Oldest Album: Run-DMC’s debut (1984)
Newest Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (released in late 2010)
The most albums on this list were released in: 10 albums each came from 1988 and 1991. 9 came from 1989 and 1994.
What do you think our next list should be? Leave your answer in the comment section. Anyone whose list gets chosen will win a Popblerd tee shirt!
2 comments
Adrian says:
Nov 29, 2012
I believe that this should be updated and should include the upcoming rapper Hopsin. His album Raw reminds me of Eminem at his start. He talks about how a lot of modern rappers aren’t rapping about real things. In the song “Sag My Pants”, he makes fun of rappers like, Lil’ Wayne, Waka Flocka, Lupe Fiasco, and Soulja Boy. This is only a suggestion.
Adrian says:
Nov 29, 2012
I also suggest a top 100 Rock/Metal songs of all time.