2023 was the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and in honor of this anniversary, the idea bloomed in my mind last year 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 three+ month hiatus from blogging last year, so I didn’t finish the series. But I’m back at it, and I don’t mind extending into 2025 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!

Nas, Illmatic (1994)– I have to admit I really knew next to nothing about either Nas or this album besides that it was considered a 90s classic, and the artist had an 00s beef with Jay-Z. Turns out there is a lot to know! The son of a jazz musician, Nas came up in the Long Island hip-hop scene after his family moved from Queens, and along the way got the attention of Rakim, Kool G Rap, and 3rd Bass. Serch of 3rd Bass became his manager and got him the record deal that led to this debut album. And he puts it all into this debut- songs he had been writing since he was 16, vivid recollections of his youth in the Queensbridge housing project, a reverence for and references to hip hop’s entire musical history to this point, and a really engaging lyrical delivery. I can’t say I picked up on all of this while listening, but I am subsequently informed that his lyrical style here included layered rhythms, multisyllabic rhymes, internal half rhymes, assonance, and enjambment. Take that, poets! All in all, it felt catchy, musical, and weighty and real while still being a fun listen. The album was apparently released to a lot of hype that its sales didn’t quite live up to, but great critical acclaim. Sales caught up long term, and the critical reputation and influence on the genre has remained. Upon finally hearing it, I’m down with that!

Scarface, The Diary (1994)- As I started listening, before catching up on reading on it, I thought for sure this was a West Coast album. It has the synthy squlech, funk samples, mix of humorous and horrific situations, and laid back pacing that reminded me of the West Coast scene, and the vocal flow carried a kind of heaviness that put me in mind of Tupac. I still stand by those impressions, but it turns out Scarface is a Houston rapper, and one of the members of the Geto Boys on Grip It! On That Other Level. Which makes more sense to me, given how much that album reminded me in parts of N.W.A.. On Scarface’s part, the album is an explicit statement of being one of the founders of gangsta rap, disputing SoCal’s claim on the throne. Well, regardless of where it comes from, it’s grooving, slightly sinister, tells an actual story, and is delivered with earned authority.

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

• Beats, Rhymes & Lists- The 50 Best Hip Hop Albums of the 1980s
• Beats, Rhymes & Lists- 250 Best Rap Albums of All Time
• Complex- The Best Rap Albums of the 80s
• GQ UK- The 28 best hip-hop albums that you should listen to immediately 
• Hip Hop Golden Age- Top 100 Hip Hop Albums of the 1980s
• Music Grotto- 51 Best Hip Hop Albums of All Time
• ONE37pm- The 62 Best Hip Hop Albums of All Time
• Pitchfork- Highest Rated Hip Hop Albums of All Time
• Rolling Stone- The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time
• The Source- Hip Hop Albums Rated 5 Mics Out of 5 (as of January 2011)
  

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)

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!