Monthly Archives: June 2026

50 Years of Hip Hop Album Review: E. 1999 Eternal, Liquid Swords

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2023 was the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and in honor of this anniversary, in 2024 the idea bloomed in my that I should review the top 50 albums of that 50 years. As I crunched together a list from various sources, 50 proved to be too restrictive- many of the classics were getting squeezed out. So, to make a little more room, I opted for 100 albums, two for each of hip hop’s 50 years. Due to some medical situations, I took a several months long hiatus from blogging that year, so I didn’t finish the series. It’s now 2026 and still proceeding fitfully, but I won’t stop if you don’t!

For its formative years, hip hop was a live entertainment form, with the first recorded singles not emerging until 1979, and the first albums in 1980. So my review covers 1980-2023, with 50 posts of two albums each. The only ground rule I made for myself (besides looking for 2×50, aka 100, albums that were widely well-regarded) was that I had to have at least one from each year. As you’ll see by and by, some years get multiple albums, but since we have 100 spots for 43 years, it tends to all work out.

And with that, let’s embark on our next installment!

Bone Thugs-n-Narmony, E. Eternal 1999 (1995)– Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony, formed in Cleveland in 1991, are maybe the first Midwestern hip hop entry on our list. I wasn’t familiar with them beyond “The Crossroads” (more on that below), but the name turns out to tell you a lot- they have a kind of perfect fusion of 90s gangster rap and 90s boy band harmonies, courtesy of the rapid flow “chopper” style of rapping. And although they’re Midwestern, their flavor of gangster rap is heavily redolent of West Coast hip hop, for good reason- they went on a months-long cross country quest to audition with Eazy-E (ironically finally catching up with him in Cleveland after months of searching L.A.) that resulted in their eventual signing with Ruthless Records, and work with Eazy-E and L.A. producer DJ U-Neek. This is their second album with Ruthless, and was their major breakthrough, eventually selling 4 million copies. Post-release they re-worked a song on the album, “The Crossroads” to serve as a tribute to Eazy-E, who had died shortly before the album came out, and their memorial to those who have passed was the first rap single to reach #2 nationwide. My impression after a good two listens is that, between the unique vocal style, the exquisite song production by DJ U-Neek, and the variety of ways they bring depth to the standard gangster rap themes, this album truly deserves its place in the list.

GZA, Liquid Swords (1995)- It’s a great thing to have a plan, and aiming high certainly gets you better results on average than not aiming anywhere. But the way some plans come together is a mystery of synergy, timing, and magic that’s beyond the everyday. Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA’s vision had always been that the group would serve as a launching pad for the individual members as well, with the group’s success expanding in all directions. Having already made an album for the ages with 1993’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), RZA headed back to his basement studio and wasted no time putting out successful albums for Method Man and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. He followed that up by simultaneously working on Raekwon’s album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… (which we’ll get to shortly in this series) and this album for co-founding member GZA/The Genius. GZA was considered Wu-Tang’s spiritual core and its most skilled lyricist, and that is in view here with his dense storytelling that looks for the reasons beneath (and above) the street scenes it represents. (For extra story-telling credit, GZA even directed the four videos for the album.) Match that with RZA’s darkly textured production and gritty beats, and the spell this album weaves is still powerful thirty years later.

If you’re curious about the sources I used to compile my list, you can check them out here:

And if you want to catch up on the previous installments, here they are…

  1. Sugarhill Gang- Sugarhill Gang (1980)/Kurtis Blow- Kurtis Blow (1980)
  2. Sugarhill Gang- 8th Wonder (1981)/Grandmaster Flash- The Message (1982)
  3. Wild Style Original Soundtrack (1983)/Fat Boys- Fat Boys (1984)
  4. Kurtis Blow- Ego Trip (1984)/Run-D.M.C.- Run-D.M.C. (1984)
  5. Whodini- Escape (1985)/The Treacherous Three- The Treacherous Three (1985)
  6. Run-D.M.C.- King of Rock (1985)/LL Cool J- Radio (1985)
  7. Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill (1986)/Run-D.M.C.- Raising Hell (1986)
  8. Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded (1987)/Eric B. & Rakim- Paid in Full (1987)
  9. LL Cool J- Bigger and Deffer (1987)/Big Daddy Kane- Long Live the Kane (1988)
  10. Boogie Down Productions- By All Means Necessary (1988)/EPMD- Strictly Business (1988)
  11. Eric B. & Rakim- Follow the Leader (1988)/Jungle Brothers- Straight Out the Jungle (1988)
  12. N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton (1988)/Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back (1988)
  13. Slick Rick- The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)/Ultramagnetic MCs- Critical Beatdown (1988)
  14. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique (1989)/Big Daddy Kane- It’s a Big Daddy Thing (1989)
  15. De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)/EPMD- Unfinished Business (1989)
  16. Geto Boys- Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)/Kool G Rap & DJ Polo- Road To The Riches (1989)
  17. The D.O.C.- No One Can Do It Better (1989)/Ice Cube- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
  18. A Tribe Called Quest- The Low End Theory (1991)/Ice Cube- Death Certificate (1991)
  19. Dr. Dre- The Chronic (1992)/Pete Rock and CL Smooth- Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)
  20. The Pharcyde- Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992)/A Tribe Called Quest- Midnight Marauders (1993)
  21. Snoop Doggy Dogg- Doggystyle (1993)/Wu-Tang Clan- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
  22. Nas- Illmatic (1994)/Scarface- The Diary (1994)
  23. The Notorious B.I.G.- Ready to Die (1994)/2Pac- Me Against the World (1995)

Finally, if you’d like a playlist for the entire list, you can find that here. Listen to it sequentially for the historical development of the genre, or play on shuffle for maximum historical scramble!