The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2021: Critics’ Picks. This year marked the return of some of hip-hop's biggest giants, but only one took home the crown on 2021's year's best hip-hop album list. By Young Thug. J. Cole. Little Simz. Tyler, the Creator. This year's best hip-hop — including Westside Gunn, Mach-Hommy and Moor Mother — comes from death and defiance, erotic power and Today, the German hip hop scene is a reflection of the many dimensions that Germany has come to represent in a unified image of Europe. Everything from "migrant hip hop," which is known as hip hop from the large Turkish immigrant population, to the more humour-based groups paint a portrait of a vibrant and diverse hip hop community in Germany. Paras Griffin / Getty Images. Big Daddy Kane is the original king of swagger. Charismatic and confident on the mic, Kane entertained the world with his peculiar flair and stylish wardrobe. Rappers such as Jay-Z, Biggie, and Snoop later adopted his player persona. Jay-Z upped his net worth from $810 million to $900 million over the past year, seizing hip-hop's cash crown for the first time since Forbes started counting back in 2011. The Brooklyn-born mogul From Snoop Dogg’s No Limit Top Dogg to Mobb Deep’s Murda Muzik and MF DOOM’s Operation: Doomsday , here are the top 25 best hip hop albums of 1999. 25. Silkk the Shocker – Made Man. Released: January 19, 1999. Label: Priority, No Limit. Singles: “Somebody Like Me”, “It Ain’t My Fault Pt. 2”. Features: Snoop Dogg, Mýa, Jay-Z The 100 most popular tracks from our Hip Hop channels. Lo-fi Beats. Chillhop, instrumental. Study, focus, or just lay back and chill. Mindspray. From Native Tongues to Kweli and Kanye, Hip Hop Keeps it Real while Keepin' it Right. Old School Hip Hop. '80s and early-'90s rap and hip hop. Original Gangsta Radio. 2024. The following is a list of albums, EPs, and mixtapes released in 2014. These albums are (1) original, i.e. excluding reissues, remasters, and compilations of previously released recordings, and (2) notable, defined as having received significant coverage from reliable sources independent of the subject. Romanian hip hop. Romanian hip hop first emerged in 1982, along with the break-dancing movement which became very popular in the 1980s. [1] However, Romanian hip hop was developed in the early 1990s, when American rappers hit the European charts. Most notable Romanian hip hop artists come from Bucharest, Romania's capital and largest city and Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture and one of the most famous hip hop GPvVsUw. Od września 2016 roku - co poniedziałek - Arkadio wypuszczał kolejny singiel. Co więcej - każdy utwór doczekał się klipu. Nie było pomysłu, aby to wydawać. Ta płyta, to głos ludzi, którzy zaczęli się tego domagać. Tym bardziej nas to cieszy! Co ludzie mówią o tych utworach$242: "Mega kawałek i wiem dokładnie dlaczego szybciej biło mi serce podczas gdy tego słuchałem. Dzięki Arkadio za inspirację,wierzę że w końcu dojdę do miejsca w którym będę czuł że żyję na serio, że wypełniam powołanie, że znam swój sweet spot:) Pax! +" "reeeeewelacja!!! Tekst idealny do dzisiejszych czasów, system chce rozwalić rodzinne ognisko, dlatego fajnie, że jest ktoś kto publicznie broni praw rodziny! Oby ten numer otwierał oczy matkom i ojcom :)" "To światło dało mi siły do życia. W pozytywny sposób napędza mnie do działania. Po wysłuchaniu jej mam chęć wykrzyczeć całemu światu że Bóg jest miłością, która znajduje się w każdym z nas." "Czad i energia! Nigdy więcej przeciętności :D" Gościnnie na płycie pojawili się: Bosski Roman, Frenchman, Anatom Tracklista: 1. #Sedno (prod. Paul Cabbin) 2. #Sweet spot (prod. Marcin Wosek) 3. #Rodzina (prod. Afu) 4. #Serwus nerwus (prod. Marcin Wosek) 5. #Dajemy światło (prod. Marcin Wosek) 6. #Nic na siłę (prod. Folku, scratch: Dj Aztek) 7. #Idź na trening (prod. Paul Cabbin, scratch: Dj Bulb) 8. #Jeśli wiesz, czego chcesz (prod. Marcin Wosek, scratch: Dj Aztek) 9. #Żyć jak święty + Bosski Roman (prod. Marcin Wosek) 10. #Paradygmat (prod. Miczu, scratch: Dj Bulb) 11. #To nie powód, by przestać (prod. Folku) 12. #Epidemia wypalenia (prod. Marcin Wosek) 13. #Może za jakiś czas... (prod. Marcin Wosek) 14. #Nie miał już sił... + Frenchman (prod. Afu) 15. #Raport o biedzie (prod. Marcin Wosek) 16. #Bywa, że się nie chce nic... (prod. Folku) 17. #Mojeee + Anatom (prod. Folku) 18. #Tańczący z problemami (prod. Marcin Wosek) 19. #byleJAKOŚĆ (prod. Marcin Wosek) 22 July 2022 - 28 July 2022 The UK's Top 40 biggest R&B albums of the week is compiled by the Official Charts Company, based on sales of downloads, CDs, vinyl and other formats across a seven day period. change date: prev Singles Top 100 Top 40 Update End Of Year Audio Streams Sales Downloads Physical Vinyl Irish Albums Top 100 Compilations Update End Of Year Downloads Sales Streaming Physical Vinyl Soundtracks Scottish Irish Compilations Top 100 Soundtracks Classical Irish Dance Singles Albums Black Music Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Rock & Alternative Rock & Metal Albums Rock & Metal Singles Vinyl Albums Vinyl Singles Record Store Indie Albums Indie Albums Breakers Indie Singles Indie Singles Breakers Progressive Albums Country / Roots Americana Albums Country Artists Albums Country Compilations Folk Albums Chart Film DVD & Blu-ray Video Top 100 End Of Year DVD Blu-ray Film on Disc TV Children's Music Special Interest Sports & Fitness Irish Streaming Audio Streams Audio Streams (pre-July 2014) Vinyl Albums Singles USA Billboard 200 Billboard Hot 100 Irish Official Irish Singles Chart Official Irish Albums Chart Official Irish Compilations Chart Irish Homegrown Top 20 Official Irish Video Chart End Of Year Albums Singles Video More + Afrobeats Asian Christian & Gospel Albums Classical Artist Albums Classical Compilation Albums Classical Singles Jazz & Blues Albums Punjabi Scala Singles Chart Specialist Classical Albums Pos LW Title, Artist PeakPos WoC 1 Re WE'RE ALL ALONE IN THIS TOGETHER DAVE DAVE NEIGHBOURHOOD 1 41 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes deezer spotify 2 New JACK IN THE BOX J-HOPE BIGHIT ENTERTAINMENT 2 1 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 3 3 BACK TO BLACK AMY WINEHOUSE ISLAND 1 746 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify deezer 4 1 LOVE DAMINI BURNA BOY ATLANTIC 1 2 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 5 4 IGOR TYLER THE CREATOR COLUMBIA 1 147 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes deezer 6 6 CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST TYLER THE CREATOR COLUMBIA 2 27 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 7 12 AWAKEN MY LOVE CHILDISH GAMBINO GLASSNOTE 4 179 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 8 2 DAWN FM WEEKND REPUBLIC RECORDS/XO 1 28 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes deezer spotify 9 8 AFTER HOURS WEEKND REPUBLIC RECORDS/XO 1 122 Buy Listen Buy Listen itunes spotify deezer 10 5 MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS KENDRICK LAMAR POLYDOR 1 10 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes deezer spotify 11 7 CURTAIN CALL - THE HITS EMINEM INTERSCOPE 1 760 Buy Buy amazon itunes 12 9 SOMETIMES I MIGHT BE INTROVERT LITTLE SIMZ AGE 101 1 46 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes deezer spotify 13 18 GOOD KID MAAD CITY KENDRICK LAMAR AFTERMATH/INTERSCOPE 2 396 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify deezer 14 24 2001 DR DRE INTERSCOPE 1 882 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 15 21 STARBOY WEEKND REPUBLIC RECORDS/XO 1 175 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify deezer 16 16 TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY KENDRICK LAMAR AFTERMATH/INTERSCOPE 1 321 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 17 11 TWELVE CARAT TOOTHACHE POST MALONE ISLAND 2 7 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 18 25 CUZ I LOVE YOU LIZZO ATLANTIC 1 123 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes deezer 19 13 STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON NWA PRIORITY 2 398 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify deezer 20 14 OPERATION DOOMSDAY MF DOOM METAL FACE 2 47 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes deezer spotify 21 19 FLOWER BOY TYLER THE CREATOR COLUMBIA 3 212 Buy Buy itunes 22 10 STRAIGHT OUTTA OLD SKOOL VARIOUS ARTISTS UMTV 3 14 Buy Buy amazon 23 29 GREATEST HITS NOTORIOUS BIG BAD BOY 4 505 Buy Buy amazon 24 22 THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL COLUMBIA 1 385 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify deezer 25 30 DONDA KANYE WEST VIRGIN 1 13 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes deezer spotify 26 New THE COURSE OF THE INEVITABLE 2 LLOYD BANKS MONEY BY ANY MEANS 26 1 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 27 23 PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - LIVE PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION SONY MUSIC CG 1 7 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 28 20 THE HIGHLIGHTS WEEKND REPUBLIC RECORDS/XO 1 76 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 29 34 THE EMINEM SHOW EMINEM INTERSCOPE 1 522 Buy Listen Buy Listen itunes spotify 30 27 COLLAPSED IN SUNBEAMS ARLO PARKS TRANSGRESSIVE 1 70 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes deezer spotify 31 37 DAMN. KENDRICK LAMAR INTERSCOPE 1 128 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify deezer 32 28 ILLMATIC NAS COLUMBIA 7 146 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 33 33 THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP EMINEM INTERSCOPE 1 729 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 34 38 ENTER THE WU-TANG (36 CHAMBERS) WU-TANG CLAN RCA 5 252 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 35 Re MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY KANYE WEST ROC-A-FELLA 3 58 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify 36 31 I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU - THE BEST OF WHITNEY HOUSTON ARISTA 2 51 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify deezer 37 36 BEERBONGS & BENTLEYS POST MALONE REPUBLIC RECORDS 1 124 Buy Buy itunes 38 Re SWIMMING MAC MILLER PARLOPHONE 3 54 Buy Buy itunes 39 Re GREATEST HITS 2PAC INTERSCOPE 2 280 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify deezer 40 New GEMINI RIGHTS STEVE LACY L-M/RCA 40 1 Buy Listen Buy Listen amazon itunes spotify Facebook Twitter Flipboard Reddit LinkedIn Email 22 July 2022 - 28 July 2022 change date: prev Singles Top 100 Top 40 Update End Of Year Audio Streams Sales Downloads Physical Vinyl Irish Albums Top 100 Compilations Update End Of Year Downloads Sales Streaming Physical Vinyl Soundtracks Scottish Irish Compilations Top 100 Soundtracks Classical Irish Dance Singles Albums Black Music Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Rock & Alternative Rock & Metal Albums Rock & Metal Singles Vinyl Albums Vinyl Singles Record Store Indie Albums Indie Albums Breakers Indie Singles Indie Singles Breakers Progressive Albums Country / Roots Americana Albums Country Artists Albums Country Compilations Folk Albums Chart Film DVD & Blu-ray Video Top 100 End Of Year DVD Blu-ray Film on Disc TV Children's Music Special Interest Sports & Fitness Irish Streaming Audio Streams Audio Streams (pre-July 2014) Vinyl Albums Singles USA Billboard 200 Billboard Hot 100 Irish Official Irish Singles Chart Official Irish Albums Chart Official Irish Compilations Chart Irish Homegrown Top 20 Official Irish Video Chart End Of Year Albums Singles Video More + Afrobeats Asian Christian & Gospel Albums Classical Artist Albums Classical Compilation Albums Classical Singles Jazz & Blues Albums Punjabi Scala Singles Chart Specialist Classical Albums New Top 40 charts announced in... Access The Archive The charts in your inbox Sign up for our newsletter View privacy policy Twitter feed @tomadamsavfc @oasis Nice! How well do you know @oasis’ iconic Be Here Now album? 🤔💿 Take our 25th anniversary quiz to find out, and don’t fo… Shout out to @NovaTwinsMusic for their deserved #MercuryPrize nom 🙌 See the shortlist: Follow us on twitter Follow us on Flipboard ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more The best rap albums of all time - including NWA, Nas, 2Pac and more. It's the perfect time to celebrate the best hip hop albums and the best rap albums of all time. Next year hip hop is set to hit the grand old age of 50. It began with a birthday party in the recreation room of an apartment building, 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, in the west Bronx, New York City, hosted by Clive Campbell, also known as DJ Kool Herc. Today it's home to some of the most vital, culturally relevant music in the world. UPDATE: DJ Premier has revealed a brand-new EP - one of his biggest projects since Gang Starr. Called Hip Hop 50: Vol 1, it's in partnership with Mass Appeal and has five tracks with guest rappers including Nas, Slick Rick, Joey Bada$$ and more. It's the first of a proposed 10 releases under the Hip Hop 50 banner, with other DJs collaborating for future EPs. The release is in celebration of what's thought to be hip-hop's 50th birthday, with the music genre beginning in the The Bronx in what better way to celebrate this most colourful, confrontational and controversial of musical art forms than by rounding up the definitive 35 greatest hip hop albums of all time. You can read our in-depth selections below. But, after much voting, Nas - Illmatic is your top pick, and Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly is second, with Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) currently third. Vote for your favourite. And you can submit unmissables we may have missed below. The best True Wireless earphones around right now. Voted Your No1 Nas - IllmaticNasir Jones made this debut album at the age of 20, already armed with the calm perceptiveness and been-there-done-that attitude of a much older ghetto vet, though sometimes his inner callow youth shows now on AmazonThe best rock albums of all timeThe coolest albums of all timeBest hip hop albumsYear: 1994Despite being home to groups like Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest, New York appeared distinctly second best to the sounds emanating from California in 1994. All that changed with the release of Nasir Jones’s debut album, the iconic Illmatic. With production duties served by DJ Premier and Large Professor, Nas’s rhymes reflected upon ghetto life in the Big Apple. Raw, powerful and unforgettable, Illmatic opened the doors for a new generation of MCs to burst through. Speaking of which…Key track: NY State of MindKendrick Lamar is up there with the greatest rappers of all time. The speed he can spout his lyrics is unparalleled, as is the clarity with which you hear them. There’s a rhythm in his rhyming that has been missing in hip hop’s latter years. Here, his third album, he perfects perfection. The likes of King Kunta are crowd pleasers, a raging funk masterclass named after the main character in Roots. He’s angry and he has every right to be. Then there’s the poetic For Free? that sounds like nothing else. There’s chaos throughout, punctuated by moments of beauty and Thundercat’s ever-present bass. But you never know what you are going to get with each track which is fine by us. Year: 1994It’s a shame that today The Notorious is known as much for his role in the unfortunate East Coast/West Coast rap wars of the mid-Nineties. He was one of the greatest rappers of all time. A vital release in New York’s move towards hardcore gangsta rap, Biggie’s storytelling skills are to the fore on tracks like Juicy, Gimme The Loot and Things Done Changed. The mind boggles as to what Biggie could have achieved if he wasn’t senselessly lost in 1997. Key track: JuicyYear: 2000 The notion of a credible white rapper was a joke for eons – not helped by Vanilla Ice. All that changed with Eminem. A confrontational, provocative and sardonic wordsmith – and another protégé of Dr. Dre – he released three classic albums on the spin in the late-Nineties and early-Noughties. It was the middle release – The Marshal Mathers LP – that captured the witty, irreverent and rebellious spirit best. Key track: The Real Slim Shady Year: 1996Hip hop double albums aren’t generally worth the entrance fee. All Eyez On Me changed all that. After a spell inside, 2Pac was focused and angry ahead of his magnum opus. This attitude was channelled into 27 tracks of sparkling virtuosity. The thug life with which he had previously flirted with is wholeheartedly embraced and the result is an epic record of G-funk and gangsta rap that managed to take on the mainstream. And track: California Love (Remix)Year: 2004 Underground hip hop was in rude health at the turn of the millennium. The likes of Cannibal Ox, Quasimoto, Aesop Rock and co were producing inventive music that was raw, wry and futuristic. The collaboration between MF Doom (RIP) and Madlib was certainly in the same vein. A hypnotic take on hip hop it melded the duo’s distinctive talents – Doom’s cerebral raps and Madlib’s unconventional beat – into something both charming and mystical. Key track: America’s Most Blunted Year: 1992Not to be outdone by his former protégé Ice Cube, Dr. Dre didn’t take long to release another landmark album by an alumni. Not only was The Chronic acclaimed immediately, it ushered in a new sound within hip hop – G-funk. Instantly recognisable due to the use of synthesisers and an all-encompassing bass, it made a solo star of Dre, and introduced his latest rap ward to the world: Snoop Doggy track: Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ ThangYear: 1993Released on the same day as Midnight Marauders, the Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album was arguably the most important hip hop album of the Nineties. It not only introduced the world to a collection of colourful characters, but redefined the sonic language of hip hop. RZA’s production was sparse, pieced together with esoteric samples and dialogue from kung fu movies, while the raps from Method Man, Ol Dirty Bastard, GZA, Chef Raekwon, Ghostface Killah et al were track: Protect Ya Neck Year: 2004 Today Kanye West is known for his bizarre celebrity lifestyle as much as his music (and that still rocks by the way), but a decade ago, West was a serious underground hip hop icon. Having breathed new fire into Jay-Z with his production work on The Blueprint, West’s true calling was rapping himself. If there were doubts he could match his Roc-a-Fella employer there were quickly dispelled with the release of The College Dropout. A vivacious album dripping in hooks and cheeky raps, it set in motion the merry-go-round that West still expertly deals in to this day. Key track: Through The Wire Year: 1988If Public Enemy was hip hop’s militant conscience, NWA (or Niggaz With Attitudes to give them their correct uncompromising moniker) were the hoodlum wing. Their debut album was a brazen example of six individuals who didn’t give a f**k. From the brutal opening triptych of songs (Straight Outta Compton, F**k Tha Police and Gangsta) to the groovy Express Yourself this was indeed a riotous display of street track: Straight Outta Compton Year: 1993Of all the acts beloved of the rap fraternity that coalesce around the head-nodding sound of ‘backpack hip hop’, A Tribe Called Quest are the most cherished. In truth, we could have chosen two other ATCQ albums in this spot – 1991’s The Low End Theory is another stone cold classic – but Midnight Marauders elevated Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and co to legendary status. Their jazz-rap fusions were nothing new, but this was them working at the top of their track: Award TourThe Infamous is hip-hop by candlelight. It’s packed with stripped-bare beats, stark piano, the screeches of the city in the background. Samples are used but muffled as if the album had to be made in hiding. It’s gangster rap but run through Queensbridge slang, the closest an album has got to the feeling The Wire gave us when we first watched it. Havoc and Prodigy are two of the greatest rappers, with the likes of Q-Tip and Raekwon coming along for the ride. We dare you to hear first the snare, then the bass of Shook Ones, without getting shivers. Stunning stuff. Year: 1998After Fugees disbanded in 1997, few could have predicted what was to follow. Granted, it was obvious in Lauryn Hill the trio had a sparkling talent, but even the most ardent admirers must have been shocked by her first solo album. Mixing classic soul with a reinvigorated R’n’B and leaning on her hip hop roots, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was another crossover track: Doo Wop (That Thing) Year: 1993There must have been something in the air in November 1993. Two weeks after ATCQ and the Killer Bees released their era-defining sets, a cocky tyro mentored by Dr. Dre released his debut set. Then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, Doggystyle was another landmark record. Coated in G-funk finery, Doggystyle opened up a portal into a horizontal West Coast world of weed, sunshine and unforgettable track: Gin And Juice Year: 1996 Today, Jay-Z is the biggest active hip hop star. In 1996 he was just another aspiring rapper who, to use his parlance, had led a hard knock life on the streets of New York. This hustle was the backbone of his awesome debut set. Featuring the likes of Can’t Knock The Hustle, Brooklyn’s Finest and Dead Presidents II, it was a stunning combination of frontline reportage and frankly ice cool rhymes. A star had been track: Dead Presidents II Year: 1987The first golden age of hip hop was kick-started by the art form’s standout DJ/MC pairing, Eric B and Rakim. A master class in breaks, beats and rhymes, Paid In Full laid down the gauntlet to thousands of wannabe crate digging producers and rappers. Standout tracks include the title track (soon to be remixed into sonic nirvana by Coldcut), Eric B Is President and I Know You Got track: Paid In Full Year: 2003 Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ arrived in a blaze of glory in early 2003. Thankfully, amid the hype there was a classic album to back up all the verbals. In Da Club was the worldwide smash that’s still infectious today, but this was just one high (literally) among a cavalcade of hip hop anthems. What Up Gangsta sets the scene – placing Fiddy in the lineage of Biggie/Nas/Jigga – while Many Men (Wish Death) and High All The Time ensure the taut pace is never broken. Key track: In Da Club 18. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back View at AmazonYear: 1988If, as Chuck D has repeatedly stated, rap is the black CNN, Public Enemy’s second album was their revolutionary state of the nation address. The stark, eerie music bordered on the nihilist, while its doubtful anyone has used hip hop to shine an unwelcoming light on America’s manifold ills in the manner of Chuck D before or since. Don’t believe the hype? One listen to these rebels without a pause will cause you to track: Bring The Noise Year: 1999 Thanks to his work with De La Soul and his Black Star collaborative album with Talib Kweli, anticipation on the underground hip hop scene was high ahead of Mos Def’s debut solo set. After the release of Black on Both Sides, however, it wasn’t just the underground that appreciated the charismatic character born Dante Smith (and who now goes by the name of Yasiin Boy). A politically aware album, but one that piles on the infectious beats and effervescent rhymes, Black on Both Sides was confirmation that Mos Def was one of the most talented stars pushing hip hop forward ahead of the new track: Ms Fat Booty Year: 1996 Fugees were inescapable in 1996. The trio – Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel and Lauryn Hill – had made some waves on the underground with their first album, Blunted On Reality, but with The Score everything changed. Hip hop gone pop, without conceding to the mainstream, The Score catapulted Fugees and their conscious songs to stardom. Some complained there were too many covers (Killing Me Softly and No Woman, No Cry among them), but when they sounded this fresh and vital, that was just purist posturing. Key track: Ready Or Not Year: 1991Given the strong personalities at play in it wasn’t surprising Ice Cube’s departure from the group was acrimonious. He poured his vitriol into his solo releases. This reached an apogee on his second album, Death Certificate. An unapologetic treatise at the state of things at the start of the fin de siècle, it was both coruscating and visionary, and not without controversy. The furore surrounding its release might have lessened in the intervening years. Its power most certainly hasn’ track: No VaselineA concept album that takes Wu-tang alumni Raekwon and Ghostface Killah into Mafiosa territory. Only Built For Cuban Linx is a stunning, cinematic album that is up there with Wu-tang's best work. Although it’s strictly Raekwon’s debut, Ghostface is everywhere on this and all the better for it - just listen to Criminology to hear the lyrical swordplay at 1989Despite what the likes of Public Enemy, and 2 Live Crew might have suggested otherwise, not everyone involved in hip hop in the late Eighties was angry. De La Soul, alongside the likes of The Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest (along with others known as the Native Tongues Posse), were the polar opposite – they were Afrocentric urban hippies pushing a sunshine-soaked vision of hip hop named the Daisy Age. Their debut album was a joyous mixture of soft rock samples, hilarious skits and psychedelic rhymes. It’s positive attitude chimed perfectly with the loved-up acid house era in which it was track: Me Myself and IYear: 2003 OutKast’s Speakerboxx/The Love Below is one of the most audacious moments in hip hop’s rich history. A double album – in essence two solo albums by Andre 3000 and Big Boi – it takes in everything from G-funk to pop, Southern soul to blues, electronica to rock. In this sense it’s everything the artform of hip hop started out as – a cultural sponge imbibing the best that music has to offer. An in Hey Ya! They had the kind of worldwide hit that every musician would die track: Hey Ya! Year: 1989Licensed To Ill might have introduced the world to the Beastie Boys, but following its release the trio were routinely dismissed as brattish frat rappers. Paul’s Boutique, released nearly three years, showed otherwise, demonstrating that Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA really did have the skills to pay the bills. Criminally ignored upon release – probably because it wasn’t Licensed To Ill Part 2 - it is now recognised for what it is: a multi-layered hip hop track: Shake Your RumpYear: 1984Yes, The Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five had taken hip hop into the mainstream, but Jam Master Jay, and Rev Run were the first group to properly legitimise it with the release of bona fide classic albums. Their self-titled longplayer was a confrontational fusillade of minimal electro, crunching beats and mesmeric rhymes, as exemplified by It’s Like That, Sucker Rock Box and Hard track: Hard TimesAfter proving to the world that he was one of the best lyricists and rappers around, thanks to his marvelous verses on 36 Chambers, Only Built For Cuban Lynx and his debut Iron Man, Ghostface Killah’s sophomore effort is an absolute wonder. Ghostface weaves grit and candour, stupidity and absurdity into his tracks with ease - offering up gold-gilded hip-hop album that still resonates today. Just listed to Malcolm to hear this. Year: 1991Alongside De La Soul and Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill were one of the first hip hop acts to crossover to a predominantly white rock crowd. Given their music was designed to reflect (and even enhance) the slacker habit of smoking weed this perhaps wasn’t surprising. But Cypress Hill’s debut album is no curious novelty – the music is withdrawn, almost as if it’s not there, while B Real’s imaginative rhymes were at once unclear and sardonic. It was a combination that would sell more on 1993’s Black Sunday, but this was the apex of Cypress Hill’s multi-racial track: How I Could Just Kill A ManYear: 2005 Throughout the nineties and early noughties Common ploughed a very unique and idiosyncratic furrow – that of the thoughtful and conscientious rapper. He hit commercial paydirt on his sixth album, Be. Utilising the production work of Kanye West and underground icon J Dilla, Common created a completely unified piece of work on Be. This was the sound of hip hop reflecting upon itself – hence the jazzy backbone and soulful tenor of Common’s voice. The result was magnificent. Key track: GO! Year: 1995Thankfully, it wasn’t all braggadocio in hip hop in the mid-Nineties. Los Angeles four-piece The Pharcyde followed their mesmeric debut, Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, with another lesson in irreverent sonic adventure. The jazzy, soporific vibes of Runnin’ recalled kindred spirits A Tribe Called Quest, while the inventive Drop (with an equally original video from Spike Jonze) displayed a steely experimental edge. The group would fall apart after this release with Fatlip leaving, but this was some parting track: Runnin’Year: 2002 Not many musicians release their defining work seven albums in. Even less so in the frenetic world of hip hop where youthful bravado generally trumps maturity every time. But then Scarface is different. An astute businessman as well as recording artist, he knows his audience inside out, being able to give them what they want. And The Fix is the arch example of that. A lurid trip into the rags’n’riches lifestyle of hip hop hustlers, it’s a high octane ride from start to finish. Key track: In Cold Blood There are few who can beat Jeru The Damaja when it comes to rhyming style. He’s clear, concise, his lyrics are bent to a beat and enunciated to perfection, sometimes pausing mid sentence to make sure you are listening. That’s because he really wants you to understand what he has to say. If ever there was a lyric that still resonates, it’s this one from D. Original: “Dirty, because of the skin I’m in, the fact I have melanin, automatically, makes me a felon”. And the album is packed with these; social commentary mixed with science and philosophy, tackling race and even misogyny which is a rare thing in hip hop. Then, again, Jeru is a rare thing as well. Year: 1998 Those bored by the gangsta rap heyday of the mid-Nineties found much succor in the backpack underground sounds that began to emerge in the later part of that decade. Company Flow represented New York’s wild experimental edge, while on the other side of America, Jurassic 5, with their emphasis on turntablism, were all about recalling the likes of De La Soul. On Jayou, Concrete Schoolyard and Lesson 6: The Lecture, the six-piece pleasingly put a smile back on the face of hip track: Concrete Schoolyard Year: 2000Upon release, Let’s Get Free was rightly acclaimed as a clarion call for righteous and political hip hop – not for nothing were the duo of and M-1 lauded as the most revolutionary rap outfit since Public Enemy. And while Let’s Get Free is a bombastic and unrepentant call to arms, there are lighter touches too, displaying that sometimes subtlety is just as powerful as an iron track: Hip hopYear: 2006Hip hop isn’t short of the odd cocksure character or seven, and in Lupe Fiasco the most brazen of musical genres gained another confident young man upon the release of Food & Liquor. Fiasco’s debut album it displayed the nous of a man wise beyond his 24 years. Reminiscent of Kanye West’s The College Dropout, there was a pop sheen to these urbane stories of sex and aspirational stardom. Two things Fiasco wouldn’t be short of from here on track: Kick, Push SOMETHING MISSING FROM OUR SHORTLIST? Tell us about it, and if enough people agree we'll add it in. Latest Related Reviews and Shortlists