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My Top 20 hip-hop albums of all time

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

I have been meaning to write this post for ages, the first half has even been stuck in my draft box for the past three weeks, so here it is, my top 20 hip-albums of all time.

Picking 20 has really forced me to nail down the top albums that have shaped my Hip-hop listening over the last 12 years. So without any further ado here you go, some will be obvious, you’d probably see them in every top 20 but maybe there are a few surprises in here

• Nas – IllmaticThe best hip-hop album ever? I don’t think you will get many to argue that. I still get the same shivers 13 years on that I had the first time I heard it. Couple some of the greatest producers (and the greatest – DJ Premier) in the game with some of the most amazing urban poetry you will ever here and you have an amazing album. A justified Source 5 mics.
• INI – Centre of AttentionA totally slept on master piece that had some of the best Pete Rock production I have ever heard apart form the Main Ingredient. I don’t think it was ever properly released? Such a chilled album. Great Q-Tip and Large Pro guest spots as well…
  
• A Tribe called Quest – Midnight MauraudersNot much to be said on this one, everyone is gonna argue which Tribe album was the best but this one wins by a mile for me. When I heard the first bars of ‘Award Tour’ I knew I was sold, and ‘Oh my God’ sits in my top tunes ever.
• Raekwon – Only built for Cuban LinksIts a toss up between this and Method Man’s album for the best Wu Solo album, this swings it for me because of the Nas verse on ‘Verbal Intercourse’ which is of the chain and just being completely solid throughout. Started the whole ‘Mafiaso’ phase and did it so well no one ever came close. Even the Source said they had made a mistake in not awarding it 5 mics. Brilliant.
• Dr Dre – The Chronic / Snoop Doggy Dogg – DoggstyleSo The Chronic or Doggystlye? I am gonna include them both on an equal billing, no other albums exemplified West coast gangsta hip-hop more than these two albums. I don’t think my Mum appreciated these albums much the amount I played them.
• Company Flow – Funcrusher PlusI was going through a stage of being fed up with hip-hop and the mainstream bollocks I kept hearing, then a bunch of bits kept coming out of this label called Rawkus which were making my ears perk up. Between Company Flow, Talib Kweli, Mos Def and the rest of the Rawkus click my marriage to underground hip-hop was complete. Have not looked back since.
• Pete Rock & CL Smooth – The Main IngredientHorn riffs, jazzy samples and solid beats, typical Pete Rock with a conscious hip-hop emcee in CL Smooth, one of the perfect marriages.
• Gang Starr – Moment of TruthWhere do I start, I could have picked any of the Gang Starr albums, actually all of them could have been in here. But this one just edges it because to me it sounded like Premier at the pinnacle of his game, the beats are just perfect Premier boom bap coupled with Gurus monotone flow. And you’ll probably never get Inspectah Deck to sound this good, ever… fact. No comes close to DJ Premier.
• Organised Konfusion – Stress: The Extenction AgendaPharoah Monch and Prince Poetry are two of the best lyricists to ever touch the mic, so slept on its not funny, and this album just confirms that point beyond all belief. If you a true hip-hop head you have to listen to this and appreciate how many MCs learnt their styles from these guys.
• Masta Ace – Sittin’ on ChromeAnother slept on classic, for me Masta Ace has never got the props he deserved, I rocked this for a whole year when I first got it, still dig it out constantly. “Its a ride y’all”… Everyone needs to get all Masta Ace’s albums, a lesson in true hip-hop.
• Notorious BIG – Ready to DieRAW…. ‘So you wanna be hardcore, with your hat to the back…’ Yeah I do, god damn this album is the true essence of raw NY hip-hop. ‘Unbelievable’ is in my top 10 tunes easily. Biggie over Premo… legendary. King of New York. RIP.
• Mobb Deep – The InfamousNo other hip-hop album comes this close to capturing the essence of raw New York gansta rap, you can’t help but rock your head back and forth to Havoc’s beats and Prodigy is one of the best MCs in the game. ‘Shook ones PT. II’. Boom…!!!
• Outkast – ATliensAnother amazingly consistent group, maybe the most in the history of hip-hop, everyone has there favourite Outkast album and for me this is it. From the pure brillance of ‘ATliens’ to the the insane scratching and production on ‘Wheelz of Steel’, the chillness of ‘Elevators’ and the smoothness of ‘Babylon’… soooooooo damn good.
• Common – ResurrectionAnother slept on classic (how many times will I say that). Common’s best lyrical album in my personal opinion. The production provides the perfect backdrop, not over bearing but just right for Common to flex it lyrical. Put this on, sit back and witness one of the best MCs to ever grace the mic.
• Wu Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang:36 ChambersRaw beats, martial art samples and nine emcees all with amazing individual styles, whats not to like. You can feel the aggression running through your veins on listening. Worth it just for ‘C.R.E.A.M’ and ‘Protect your neck’ alone. Writing about it has made me want to listen to it again and again. Amazing.
• The Roots – IllIdelph HalflifeTop three for me from the Roots where this, Do you want more??? and Things fall Apart, this (just) wins as its probably the one I have listened to the most. Black Thought is so slept on as an MC, the guest spots make this album as well. Who doesn’t love Bahamadia over such a bad ass beat, and ‘Concerto of the Desparado’ just rocks the spot everytime.
• J-Live – The Best PartA guess a lot of people will find this a strange one to be in the top 20 but J-Live is crazy slept on. From the first time I picked up ‘Braggin Writes’ on 12″ I have picked up everything he has done. And it includes and awesome DJ Premier beat just for good measure, plus not forgetting Prince Paul and Pete Rock. Check this out and his other albums if you have not heard them.
• Smif N Wessun – Da ShininI had to pick one album from the Boot Camp Click, it was gonna be either this or Black Moon but for me the production of this surpasses ‘Enta da Stage’ by a long way. The Beatminerz when to town on the beats.
• Jeru the Damaja – The Sun Rises in the EastA whole album of (together with Group Home) DJ Premiers best ever beats. Jeru is not exactly a bad MC as well. This is one of the best LPs to come out of the East coast around that time. Captures the essence of pure 96 hip-hop so well. Has any other producer taken the static of a record and made it into a track… yeah well Premo did!
• Pharcyde – Bizarre ride to the PharcydeAmazing feel good vibes to this album, perfect west coast hip-hop for that time. The Pharcyde’s members all had such great personalities and they really shone on this album, no one can forget the first time they heard ‘Passing me by’. I know its not on this album but I will never forget watching ‘Drop’ on Yo MTV raps and running out and grabbing every Pharcyde album I could.

I know I have missed some classics here but I had to draw a line somewhere, other honorable mentions include, Black Sheep – ‘A Wolf in Sheeps clothing’, De La Soul – ’3 Feet high and Rising’, Souls of Mischief – ’93′ till Infinity’, Method Man – ‘Tical’, Main Source – ‘Breaking Atoms’, Aesop Rock – ‘Labor Days’, Jay-Z – ‘Reasonable Doubt’, Eric B & Rakim – ‘Paid in Full’…. etc, you know the score. Underground for ever baby