My Favorite Hip-Hop Albums

I’ve been moved to do a few more music posts by some other posts I’ve seen recently. And also as a continuation of my 22 greatest MCs post. Many of those posts are on the excellent J-Notes blog, which mainly focuses on jazz and R&B (James took me back with his recent Flashback Friday on Phyllis Hyman). The other being Arbitrary’s Personal Top Ten Favorite Hip-Hop Albums. So this post will be my favorite hip-hop albums. Judging by my favorite albums, I may have to move De La Soul up into my top 20 list of MCs.

Dr. Dre – The Chronic
This is my all-time favorite for many reasons. First and foremost is Dr. Dre’s music/production. The sound of this CD is amazing – full, booming bass, elements of funk, jazz, classic soul, etc. Add vocals by Snoop, RBX, Rage, Nate Dogg, Kurupt, as well as Dre’s rhymes(which were most likely written by the D.O.C.) Favorite tracks: *&%$ With Dre Day, Let Me Ride (with the Mothership Connection sample), The Day the Niggaz Took Over (haunting track), Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang, Lil’ Ghetto Boy (Snoop at his best), A Nigga Witta Gun (an ill track, ridden to its fullest), Lyrical Gangbang (Rage raging, RBX at his finest over a classic Dre track), High Powered (the slow-flow, with RBX’s unforgettable line ‘I drop bombs like Hiroshima’), Stranded on Death Row (classic posses cut, over one of the illest tracks ever)

Brand Nubian – One for All
It doesn’t get much better than this! Grand Puba, Lord Jamar, and Saddat X (Derrick X), caught wreck on this CD. Check out All for One, Ragtime, To the Right, Drop the Bomb, Wake Up, Step to the Rear, Slow Down (still packs the dance floor in the club), Who Can Get Busy Like This Man?, Grand Puba, Positive and L.G. (add Positive K to the mix, over that Nobody Can Be You sample), Wake Up (w/that classic Everybody Loves the Sunshine sample)

A Tribe Called Quest – Low End Theory
The Tribe at their best. This is when Phife showed his lyrical skills. Innovative music, with all the jazzy samples. Packed with jams: Excursions, Buggin’ Out, Verses From the Abstract (One of the smoothest tracks ever! Ron Carter on the bass. Lines like ‘Girls love the Jim cuz it causes crazy friction/When it goes up in, it fluctuates their diction.’ And Vinia Mojica killing the chorus.), Show Business (breaking down the music industry, with Sadat X and Lord Jamar – ‘You’re a million dollar man that ain’t got no dough…’), Check the Rhime (if you don’t know… you don’t know hip-hop – ‘You on point Phife?’ – ‘OK if knowledge is the key, then just show me the lock/got the scrawny legs but I move just like Lou Brock…’ ‘Industry Rule #4080, record company people are shaaady ), and of course the Scenario with Leaders of the New School, on which Busta lost his damn mind! (rah, rah, like a dungeon dragon/change your little draws cuz your pants are saggin’)

Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Do I even need to say anything about this album? Chuck dropping knowledge, Flav providing the comic relief, Terminator X speaking with his hands, the Bomb Squad on the production. Classic is an understatement. You can’t tell me that Chuck is not a top 10 all-time MC. Check the lyrics. Bring The Noise (‘Bass! How low can you go?’ ‘Now they got me in a cell/cuz my records, they sell/cuz a brotha like me said, well…’ ), Don’t Believe The Hype, Terminator X To The Edge Of Panic (Bomb Squad at their finest with the noise on this track, that backwards siren from Rebel w/out a Pause), Night Of The Living Baseheads, Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos (That funky piano over that beat! ‘I got a letter from the government the other day…’), Rebel Without A Pause (I don’t even know what to say about this — it’s the perfect song, the beat, the noise, the lyrics)

N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton
Once again Dre’s production work sets this album apart. Combine Dre’s amazing beats with Cube & MC Ren’s lyrics and you can’t go wrong. Favorite tracks: Straight Outta Compton, F*&$ tha Police (Even without the lyrics, the track is simply amazing. Add the lyrics, and oh boy!), Gangsta Gangsta, If It Ain’t Ruff (the track! check the bass as it rips from left to right.), Dopeman.

Boogie Down Productions – Live Hardcore Worldwide
KRS-ONE live in concert, displaying why he’s #1. Jamalski sets it off on Lick A Shot. The Eye Opener over that classic reggae beat (Kris chatting ‘Jesus Christ, a mi say Jesus Christ-a, Jesus Christ was Black/read and study and know thyself because this too is a fact…’), The freestyle version of Still #1 (“It’s going, it’s going, it’s going, it’s gone/Your heart has left because Kris is strong/and mighty, undefeated, I mean it/Pick up the album, turn it over and read it/Written, produced, directed, and mixed/Get off the tip, or get off the many tips…/Pick a tip, any tip, get off of it/I got ridiculous rhymes about bussin’ it/You sit at home with a pen & a pad/Going dad… mad… glad… bad… sad/That style is from ’78/A little late/So make a tape of the great/Blastmaster poetic, your record sounds pathetic/oh, I mean demo tape/I’ll give you credit…”), the Reggae Medley w/9mm Goes Bang over a smooth-a$$ reggae beat, Bo Bo Bo over another famous reggae beat, Come to the Teacher over yet another ill reggae track.

Run-D.M.C. – Raising Hell
Not much needs to be said about this one. Some of Run-DMC’s best material – Peter Piper, It’s Tricky, My Adidas, Walk This Way, Hit It Run, Raising Hell, You Be Illin’.

Poor Righteous Teachers – Pure Poverty
Many people cite Holy Intellect (with Rock Ds Funky Joint) when speaking of PRT. But I this this album is better. Wise Intelligent can flow with the best of them. Check out Shakiyla, Easy Star (Wise lets loose over an incredible track), Self-Styled Wisdom (that beat!), Each One Teach One (Wise rides that beat), Just Servin’ Justice, Freedom or Death, Pure Poverty.

Mos Def – Black on Both Sides
One of the few CDs that’s stayed in my car’s CD player for over a year. It took a minute for this album to grow on me, but when it did… Mos is one of the best lyricists of all time, IMO. Check Hip Hop, Ms. Fat Booty, Speed Law, Do It Now (Mos & Busta go at it!), Got (Mos tells how fools get got on a daily. Check the lyrics. If you’re “wearing a month’s paycheck around your neck” you’re bound to get got!), Umi Says (Will I Am from the Black Eyed Peas killing the Fender Rhodes), New World Water, Rock N Roll, Know That, Brooklyn (done in 3 movements), Mr. Nigga (Check the lyrics! Q-Tip on the chorus) Here’s just a portion:

You can laugh and criticize Michael Jackson if you wanna / Woody Allen, molested and married his step-daughter / Same press kicking dirt on Michael’s name / Show Woody and Soon-Ye at the playoff game, holding hands / Sit back and just bug, think about that / Would he get that type of dap if his name was Woody Black? / OJ found innocent by a jury of his peers / They been f*cking with that Nigga for last five years / Is it fair, is it equal, is it just, is it right? / Do they do the same shit when the defendant’s face is white? / If white boys doing it, well, it’s success / When I start doing, well, it’s suspect / Don’t hate me, my folks is poor, I just got money / America’s five centuries deep in cotton money / You see a lot of brothers caked up, yo straight up / It’s new, Y’all living off of slave traders paper / But I’m a live though, yo I’m a live though / Putting up the big swing for my kids yo / Got my mom the fat water-front crib yo / I’m a get her them pretty bay windows / I’m a cop a nice home to provide in / A safe environment for seeds to reside in / A fresh whip for my whole family to ride in / And if I’m still Mr Nigga, I won’t find it surprising

Eric B. & Rakim – Paid in Full
Pure poetry from Rakim, and some timeless beats from Eric B. This album changed the face of hip-hop. Rakim may have been the first MC that you had to sit down and think about what was just said. Classic joints like: I Ain’t No Joke, My Melody, I Know You Got Soul (talk about someone riding a beat!), Move The Crowd, Paid In Full (nuff said), Eric B. Is President, Chinese Arithmetic

OK, that’s the top 10. But I couldn’t stop there, so here are the others (in alphabetical order, more or less) that I have to mention (notes to come later):


Big Pun – Capital Punishment

Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die

Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death

Black Star – Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star

Boogie Down Productions – Criminal Minded

Boogie Down Productions – Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop

Boogie Down Productions – Edutainment

Boogie Down Productions – Sex & Violence

KRS-ONE – Return of the Boom Bap

De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising

De La Soul – De La Soul Is Dead

De La Soul – Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump

D.O.C. – No One Can Do It Better

EPMD – Strictly Business

EPMD – Unfinished Business

EPMD – Business as Usual

DJ Honda – H II

Ice Cube – Predator

Ice Cube – Lethal Injection

Ice Cube – Kill at Will

Jay-Z – The Dynasty: Roc La Familia 2000

Jay-Z – The Blueprint

Jay-Z – MTV Unplugged

Guru – Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality
The best of the Jazzmatazz series – a smooth blend of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B. I was sold when I learned that one of my favorite acid jazz groups, The Solsonics, played on several tracks. But the rest of the line-up says it all: Chaka Khan, Ramsey Lewis, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jamiroquai, Patra, Ronny Jordan, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Ini Kamoze, Mica Paris, Sharon Nelson, Reuben Wilson, Courtney Pine, Kool Keith of Ultramagnetics, Kenny Garrett, Bahamadia …

Wyclef Jean – The Carnival

Big Daddy Kane – Long Live the Kane

Big Daddy Kane – It’s a Big Daddy Thing

L.L. Cool J – Radio
Classic L.L. The only thing missing is the original version of Rock the Bells. Remember that? The 7 minute long joint with the cowbells (Rumor has it that you’re tired of my scratchin & drums / and of course I wanna span(?) to the maximum…) I always liked that version beter, but it seems to be forgotten.

Malcolm Mclaren – Buffalo Gals Back to Skool
Classic material. I’d been trying to find all the old Malcolm Mclaren & The World Famous Supreme Team material for a long time. Then this great compilation dropped. Talk about someone having a big-ass smile on their face! Check the line-up: Buffalo Gals, Hey DJ, Do You Like Scratchin?, She’s Looking Like a Hobo (this is what most people think is the Buffalo Gals beat… This is one of the illest tracks of all time!), World Famous (that piano!)

Method Man & Redman – Blackout

Main Source – Breaking Atoms

Kardinal Offishall – Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1

N.W.A. – Niggaz4life

Nas – Illmatic

Naughty By Nature – Naughty By Nature

Public Enemy – Yo! Bum Rush the Show

The Roots – The Roots Come Alive

Roots Manuva – Run Come Save Me

Run-D.M.C. – Run-D.M.C.

Snoop Dogg – Doggystyle
I don’t think anyone has ridden Dre’s (incredible) tracks better than Snoop did on this album. Rage did her thing very well on this album too. (I wonder why we haven’t heard more from her.) And of course there’s Nate Dogg singing the hooks as only he can – witness Ain’t No Fun (If My Homies Can’t Have None) 🙂 . Again, this is one of those albums that I often forget just how good it is. Dre could have done many of these as just instruments and they’d still rock.

Various Artists – Soundbombing, Vol. 2

A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders

2Pac – Greatest Hits

Whodini – Back in Black

X-Clan – To the East, Blackwards