Top 10 Hip-Hop albums...

[ZombieHavoc]

My list:

10. GZA- Liquid Swords
9. MC Shan- Down By Law
8. Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill
7. Ultramagnetic MCs- Critical Beatdown
6. Dana Dane- Dana Dane With Fame
5. Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded
4. N.W.A- Efil4zaggin
3. Public Enemy- Yo! Bum Rush the Show
2. LL Cool J- Radio
1. LL Cool J- Bigger And Deffer

[jesse_custer]

So you have Public Enemy in there, but It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Fear of a Black Planet are left off?

Huh?

[ZombieHavoc]

So you have Public Enemy in there, but It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Fear of a Black Planet are left off?

Huh?

Nation would mak top 15. Apocalypse 91 would probably be in the top 15 or 20.

Fear, however, I've never been quite as big on. There are some great tracks on there, and the whole album is very dark and ominous...but I just don't get into it as much.

[jessecuster3]

There is no way Licensed To Ill is better than Paul's Boutique.

[The Black Guardian]

Right this minute, it's probably something like this...

1. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
2. Run-DMC - Raising Hell
3. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
4. Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full
5. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
6. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
7. NWA - Straight Outta Compton
8. Dr. Dre - Chronic
9. Queen Latifah - All Hail the Queen
10. Run-DMC - King of Rock

[Peacefrog67]

The #1 album of all time is Illmatic by Nas. Every single track is a classic.

[Savant]

Nas for the win. Illmatic is the best rap album ever hands down.

[DrewTheXenocide]

I don't listen to much hip-hop, so my all time favorite hip-hop record is tied between:

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (I still haven't heard Low End Theory yet, though.)

Fugees - The Score

[Ogami]

My top ten would be something like this:

1. Nas - Illmatic
2. Organized Konfusion - Organized Konfusion
3. Eric B and Rakim - Paid in Full / Follow the Leader
4. Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers
5. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Wanted: Dead or Alive / Live and Let Die
6. Big Daddy Kane - Long Live the Kane
7. Madvillain - Madvilliany
8. Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow
9. UGK - Ridin' Dirty
10. Ghostface - Ironman / Supreme Clientele

This is by no means a definite list. On other days I'd stick in O.C., Masta Ace, GZA, Public Enemy, Jeru the Damaja etc. depending on mood.

[glue]

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (I still haven't heard Low End Theory yet, though.)


That's not a terrible choice. Tribe is my favorite group that I never listen to.

You need to listen to Low End Theory, though, and People's Instinctive Travels if you haven't. There is no way you can like one of the first three and not like the other two. Travels is probably my favorite Tribe album.

[twilight]

My top 5:

-Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
-De La Soul's 3 ft High and Rising
-Nas' Illmatic
-A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory
-Eric B. & Rakim's Paid In Full

-Twi

[The Black Guardian]

Agreed, Josh. I'm partial to Low End Theory though. It might even make it into my Top 50 albums ever.

[glue]

Agreed, Josh. I'm partial to Low End Theory though. It might even make it into my Top 50 albums ever.

I'd be surprised if at least two (or even all three) didn't make it into mine. The problem with such a list (or even a top ten for that matter) is I refuse to spend enough time on them to make a list that I'll be happy with. Plus I tend to overrate stuff I'm listening to at the moment.

Anyway, I'll do my ten.

Sage Francis - Personal Journals
Buck 65 - Secret House Against the World
Tash - Rap Life
UGK - Ridin Dirty
Method Man - Tical
Outsidaz - Night Life EP
Nas - Illmatic
Sean Price Monkey Barz
Cage - Hell's Winter
RA the Rugged Man - Die, Rugged Man, Die

[glue]

I knew I'd have a problem with my list almost instantly.

Company Flow's Funcrusher Plus would definitely be on there instead of something. Maybe the Rugged Man.

[Ideal.]

1. DJ Shadow - Entroducing...
2. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
3. Fugees - The Score
4. Prince Paul - A Prince Among Thieves
5. Nas - Illmatic
6. Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda
7. Eric B & Rakim - Followed the Leader
8. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu (36 Chambers)
9. The Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
10. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

Honorable Mention: Ultramagnetic MC's - Critical Beatdown, Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagonacologyst, OutKast - Aquemia, Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep, Pete Rock & CL Smooth - The Main Ingredient, Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt

[jesse_custer]

Right now I would go with:

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy
Fear of a Black Planet, Public Enemy
Me Against the World, Tupac
Black on Both Sides, Mos Def
The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest
Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A.
Death Certificate, Ice Cube
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Outkast
The Chronic, Dr. Dre
Raising Hell, Run DMC

[Slappy san]

Not one "Ready to Die" mention? For shame.

[ZombieHavoc]

Not one "Ready to Die" mention? For shame.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I feel that album is way overrated. I didn't really care for much of it at all.

[Slappy san]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I feel that album is way overrated. I didn't really care for much of it at all.

Well it's obviously underrated considering some of the garbage being mentioned in this thread.

[Aubergine~!]

The order's pretty rough, but these are my top 10 at the moment. This'll probably change if you asked me again tomorrow, because I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something.

Nas - Illmatic - Best rap album ever, IMO.
Eric B & Rakim - Paid in Full - Get rid of the DJ tracks and you have the best MC ever doing his best work. I'm willing to forgive the Eric B showcases because they were innovative at the time, and because Rakim is so damn good.
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions... - Massively influential, f*cking incendiary, and, in the end, just really really really good.
Dr. Dre - The Chronic - Invented the whole g-funk thing, which got pretty annoying after a while, but was brilliant here.
NWA - Straight Outta Compton - You can't leave this off the list. Probably started the whole gangsta rap explosion, which means a lot of really really crap music is their fault, but most of the songs on this album still hold up.
Run DMC - Raising Hell - I'll admit I'm putting this on here more for the influence than the actual music, and because I'm primarily a rock fan and this has Walk This Way on it.
Mos Def & Talib Kweli - Black Star - This is probably too high, but I love the album and it's my list. Represents the native tongues movement on the list, and quite possibly has the best lyrics of anything on this list (Coppertone owe you copyright infringement is brilliant, and one of my favourite lines in music).
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet - I just don't see how you could leave either this or It Takes a Nation of Millions... off a top 10 rap list, unless you were limiting yourself to one album per artist, which I'm not doing.
Outkast - Stankonia - To be honest, I just wanted 1 southern rap album on this list, and I prefer Stankonia to Aquemini. Incidentally, this is probably the best pop album on this list. It has the greatest appeal, certainly.
2Pac - All Eyez on Me - Not really a big 2Pac fan, but this is a great album. There's some filler - understandable in a double album - but you can skip that, and what's left is gold. To be honest, this should probably be a Tribe album, and it may be if I did this list again tomorrow, but California Love is stuck in my head at the moment.

I just can't classify the Beasties as hip hop, for some reason. If I did, they'd probably have something on there. There should probably also be a representative of older rap, something by Grandmaster Flash maybe, but I can't be arsed to think what it is. Honorable mentions to a Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jay-Z (who I'm surprised hasn't yet been mentioned too much), Boogie Down Productions, Ice Cube, and the Streets (who would be on the list if it was for favourite albums).

Oh, and does wanting to include something by Gil Scott-Heron on this list make me a pretentious jackass?

[SoulOnIce]

1. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
2. Ice Cube - Amerikkka's Most Wanted
3. Nas - Illmatic
4. Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
5. Big Daddy Kane - It's A Big Dadddy Thing
6. Ice Cube - Death Certificate
7. Ras Kass - Soul On Ice
9. BDP - By Any Means Necessary
10.Dr.Dre - The Chronic