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90 Greatest Rap Albums of the '90s

rap.about.com — Pull up a chair, grab a cold drink, and buckle up, as we take a trip down memory lane to relive some of hip-hop's finest moments. From Ice Cube's blood-boiling 'Death Certificate' to Nas' brain-rattling 'Illmatic', I give you the 90 greatest rap albums of the 90s.

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  • BlueStarr, on 07/20/2008, -4/+39Did not expect about.com doing this kind of thing. Fantastic. Almost all my favorites groups are there.

    X-Clan, disposable heroes of hypocrisy, Poor righteous teachers.
    • HughesAP, on 07/21/2008, -33/+4Rap is helping to destroy intellectualism in our culture
      • saisumimen, on 07/21/2008, -1/+18Stop watching MTV.
      • ActiveDuty, on 07/21/2008, -0/+18I heard MTV had music once.
      • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -3/+14Wow, you obviously have never listened to any of the MC's on this list.
      • ngmcs8203, on 07/21/2008, -3/+14Go listen to a Common or Nas album and I dare you to say that again without lying through your teeth.
      • RSS14, on 07/21/2008, -3/+4I see whatever you listen to has destroyed yours.
    • DentThat, on 07/21/2008, -6/+11Digger's listening to rap?! WHAT???!
      • FatLoser, on 07/21/2008, -20/+8This list would have been better if it was called "Top 0 Rap Albums Ever"
    • thirdcoastborn, on 07/21/2008, -7/+4shut the ***** up
    • gl77, on 07/21/2008, -2/+2didnt Busta Rhymes start out as a member of Poor Righteous Teachers?
      • GlueSniffer, on 07/21/2008, -0/+10I thought it was Leaders of the New School?
      • gl77, on 07/21/2008, -1/+3yes, gluesniffer, you are correct, i get leaders of the new school and PRT mixed up.
      • Aitese, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2Yep, Leaders of the New School...then he got on steroids and forgot he used to be good and started churning out brainless party tracks.
    • sathias, on 07/21/2008, -3/+1I couldn't see Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy on the list? I agree it should be there though.
    • wickensworth, on 07/21/2008, -1/+3It's inexcusable that they left off Digable Planets, and not just because they have Dig in their name
      • Theycallmetak, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1For one song? Isn't this albums?
      • wickensworth, on 07/21/2008, -0/+4They had one hit, but the rest of Reachin' was amazing
    • rsg2003, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Aside from forgetting Mobb Deep's "Murda Muzik", I was impressed by the list (especially considering the source). I wonder how many old schoolers & hipsters who listen to rap cuz it's 'retro' put the list together.

      nonetheless, I was taken back to my days of riding drunk down the Cross Bronx Expressway... gotta love the 90's
  • cashless, on 07/20/2008, -2/+26Some of the albums shouldn't have been on the list, but overall a decent list with little regional bias.
    • ayeroxor, on 07/21/2008, -20/+3"Some of the albums shouldn't have been on the list,"

      Yeah. The rap ones.

      Can't spell crap without R A P.
      • andre321, on 07/21/2008, -1/+11Oh, haha. How original.
      • catkillcurious, on 07/21/2008, -2/+5Seeing that you've taken time to dispense your wisdom in a thread dedicated to an article about rap albums when you knowingly dislike the genre either makes you a fun-loving troll or a complete idiot. I'm willing to bet both justly describe your character. Or lack thereof.
      • ayeroxor, on 07/21/2008, -7/+2"I'm willing to bet both justly describe your character. Or lack thereof."

        wow. Some wigger's been watching Mr Belvedere.
  • skeepbop, on 07/20/2008, -3/+21Pretty good list.
  • explicitmemory, on 07/20/2008, -3/+27Great list. Thorough by year and there is 90 of them. My man put in work for this.
  • traphik, on 07/20/2008, -34/+4Burried for being inaccurate. List is missing Bone Thungs -n- Harmony.
  • gskill, on 07/20/2008, -2/+11I like these album collection covers.
  • netgeek06, on 07/20/2008, -5/+17Great list of Rap Albums.
  • wedeservedit, on 07/20/2008, -4/+14great list there... quite a lot of non commercial stuff like smiff n wessun, wish it had onyx in the 1993 section though, cause that was one of the best.
  • jaybol, on 07/20/2008, -4/+17really cool list...i wish i wasn't scared to death of downloading illegal music. puff daddy "no way out" reminds me of not being ashamed to be white and bump hiphop in my mom's mazda 626 and pull up to people at red lights.
    • BlueStarr, on 07/20/2008, -5/+12Dude...hiphop has never truly been about skin color or what area you grew-up in. If you loved the hiphop and new your ***** back and forth on the music you were down. I had friends from many different economic backgrounds and that never made a difference.

      So bump the music you love and keep it cool baby and you'll be good.
      • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -2/+3***** the world -Method Man
      • stonebone4, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2Don't ask me for *****
      • ayeroxor, on 07/21/2008, -8/+3"hiphop has never truly been about skin color "

        Yup. Black, White, Hispanic, whatever you are, as long as you have no class and live in a trailer or the projects, you can jam to this all day long and everyone will know all there is to know about you just by looking.
    • ggfobster, on 07/21/2008, -0/+6"scared to death"...... lol
  • conradsalvador, on 07/20/2008, -3/+16It's nice to see Fear of a Black Planet get the props that it deserves.
    • BlueStarr, on 07/20/2008, -1/+3Recognition it deserves? See I always thought all their albums got the recognition they deserved. I just never payed attention to whether the music business or hollywood understood what the world of hiphop already new.
    • elmphlemp, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1fear of a blac planet is in ost essential top 100s for any musical genre
  • Krayzie_Bone, on 07/20/2008, -14/+7LOL E.1999 Eternal by Bone thugs dident come out in 1999.
    • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -1/+15That is why it was under 1995?
    • Krayzie_Bone, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1Looks like they edited the mistake
    • ayeroxor, on 07/21/2008, -5/+4dident? Wow, you are seriously ***** stupid.
      • bbqsalad, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1Its called a typo, calm down dingbat.
      • ayeroxor, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Amazing. You don't even know what a typo is. Let me teach you: a typo is when you press a key by mistake. Please explain how he mistakenly pressed 'e' between 'n' and 't' and also forgot the apostrophe.

        In closing, STFU.
  • aballrap, on 07/21/2008, -6/+6respect to the dead rappers
    • atliberty2say, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0yawwwn.. someone is banging on about 'respect' for dead rappers. I just passed some wind out of remembrance for them. Back to sleep.
  • OneStepAhead, on 07/21/2008, -2/+23protect ya neck
    • NumbersAndNoise, on 07/21/2008, -1/+0Ugh. Enter The Wu-Tang is one of the most overrated albums ever pressed. The MCs are damn good, but RZA's production is predictable and dull.
  • rock774, on 07/21/2008, -55/+21Greatest rap ? WTF "Oxymoron"
    • wolfebyte, on 07/21/2008, -13/+6sorry dude, I had to digg you up...

      I concur with your statement, but I guess that's what our parents thought about Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and the trail blazers from our era ...


      proceed with the digg down youngsters..

      • thatsbologna, on 07/21/2008, -3/+24Actually, if you weren't a douche, you'd realize that you don't have to be young to listen to rap. YOU hear the word "rap" and think of T-Pain, 50 Cent, and G-Unit, which proves that you're ignorant.
      • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -4/+3Ugh, Deep Purple.....
      • KarateMedia, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1The problem isn't your age, it's that you're a ***** idiot. It's really not that difficult -- even *I* can somehow manage to appreciate artists like Black Sabbath, The Stooges, Nick Drake, *and* Public Enemy without my head exploding from the strain.
    • MetalFaceDumile, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1you're trying too hard.
    • shadowmoose, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Agreed.
  • Xoti, on 07/21/2008, -42/+17There such things as Greatest rap?
  • arunforce, on 07/21/2008, -6/+10Meh, no Lords of the Underground.
  • whyisntcakesin, on 07/21/2008, -27/+4There weren't 90 great albums that were released in the 90's, let alone just rap albums... sorry kids
  • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -2/+45ILLMATIC FOR EVER
    • bazooze28, on 07/21/2008, -0/+6In my mind, the greatest rap album ever made.
      • magnus3994, on 07/21/2008, -0/+3no, 'in my mind' is not at all the best rap album ever made wtf.
    • toddc612, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0Amen, brother. I wore this CD out.

      "Life's a bitch, then you die.. then we get high, 'cos you never know, when you're gonna go.."
  • madcopper, on 07/21/2008, -11/+5this list is BS! Liquid Swords is easily better then any of the other albums here...
    • randyzaia, on 07/21/2008, -0/+7Liquid Swords is on the '95 list, #3.
  • rukeypoo, on 07/21/2008, -6/+13De La Soul!??
    • libertao, on 07/21/2008, -1/+4'96, '93, '91....WTF are you talking about?
      • rukeypoo, on 07/21/2008, -1/+7My expression of joy might have been slightly ambiguous.
    • ianhobbies, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1listen to "stakes is high"
  • ActiveDuty, on 07/21/2008, -11/+30Whoa. Wait a minute. This list is missing Vanilla Ice's album "To the Extreme" released October 16, 1990. :(

    Ice, Ice, Baby.
    • Pusod, on 07/21/2008, -1/+6And MC HAMMER "Please Hammer Don't Hurt'em".
    • kineticarl, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2I see no P.M. Dawn in '91. 'sup?
  • AhrenBa, on 07/21/2008, -4/+80Ah yes, back when rap was good! The state of rap music is sad these days....especially with people like Soulja Boy f'ing it up.
    • HigherLogic, on 07/21/2008, -2/+10Please don't lump what you hear on the radio with what you've never heard. There's plenty of good rap music out there.
      • lead2thehead, on 07/21/2008, -7/+2Could you name a few albums? I haven't been able to find much.
      • schmalzbauer, on 07/21/2008, -0/+12Gladly

        GZA/Genius & DJ Muggs - Grandmasters
        Giant Panda - Electric Laser
        J-Live - Then What Happened?
        The Roots - Rising Down
        Dagha - The Divorce
        The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale EP

        and a lil bit older...
        People Under The Stairs - O.S.T.
        Aesop Rock - Bazooka Tooth
        Madvillain - Madvillainy


        And I realize the possibility that your comment may be laced with sarcasm, but, you know what? I'll just roll with it. I highly suggest the following two sites for good stuff to look for and/or honest, un-biased reviews.

        http://www.sandboxautomatic.com
      • kineticarl, on 07/21/2008, -1/+4There's not a lot of great rap. There is a lot of great hip-hop.

        As for the current state of the art, you should give Aesop Rock a listen.
      • magnus3994, on 07/21/2008, -4/+1THE COOL KIDS SUCK! WTF?!
      • KMartSheriff, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1Forgive my ignorance on the subject, but I really like B.E.N.E.F.I.T.

        I'm not going to pretend to know who all those artists are you mentioned (except for Madvillian), but I definitely respect them. Why can't rap go back to what it was in the 90's, instead of all the *****/youtube "hip hop" we have today?
      • lead2thehead, on 07/21/2008, -1/+0schmalzbauer

        No, that wasn't sarcasm. I was being serious. I'm going to check those out. Thanks.
    • GuinnessGoblin, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2Soulja Boy isn't Hip-Hop. It's Hip-Pop. +100 Internets if you know what that line is from.
      • schmalzbauer, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1You realize that until I remember where, it's going to bug me endlessly. I hate you :P
      • CaFFeiNe206, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1BINARY
    • lead2thehead, on 07/21/2008, -6/+3But he taught us how to superman a ho. That's worth something, right?
    • Ouze, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2I liked all of these albums back in the day. Now, I can't stand rap. I had always thought that as time went on and i got older (and side note, The Chronic was really 17 years ago!!) that my tastes just changed and matured.

      But, no. Not really. If you look at it, it's pretty much ***** now. No one ever came to claim the thrones left behind by Tupac or Biggie.
  • sockpuppets, on 07/21/2008, -9/+105Digga please.
    • darny, on 07/21/2008, -18/+4Best.
      Comment.
      EVER.
    • HumanCattle, on 07/21/2008, -7/+5hahaha

      my diggas if you with me where you at?
      • AdmiralAwsome, on 07/21/2008, -2/+5in da front and tha back killah bees on attack!
        ...sorry about that.
    • gn0stik, on 07/21/2008, -12/+3There aren't 90 good rap albums, much less, great. This should have been maybe a top 5 list.
    • stonebone4, on 07/21/2008, -1/+10Only built 4 Debian Linux....Diggaz
  • AddiX, on 07/21/2008, -11/+4no mobb deep? no Wu tang albums? no respect for this list.
    • libertao, on 07/21/2008, -1/+10Wu-Tang=1997 and 1993---what's with these retarded comments?
  • LinkGCN4, on 07/21/2008, -2/+12You headed West, talk ***** about Dre?
    You better get a vest, then invest in something
    To protect your head and neck
  • jordankasteler, on 07/21/2008, -10/+3That list is pretty weak actually except for Public Enemy.
  • jarjarwang, on 07/21/2008, -2/+20Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
    and
    GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords
    make a great 1995
  • gllopc, on 07/21/2008, -16/+10Also known as the last 90 nails in rock and roll's coffin.
    • SkinnyPuppy, on 07/21/2008, -2/+7Now don't be a hater and start spewing ***** that ain't true.

      The90's was huge for rock music. Nirvana, REM, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, ...I could go on and on....Nine Inch Nails, Beastie Boy's (rock/rap).

      Don't get me wrong, rap was great in the 90's and still is, but in no way did it put any nails in "rock and roll's coffin".

    • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -1/+6The 90's: A great decade for music.
  • newl, on 07/21/2008, -13/+5There was great rap in the 90s? The 80s is where all the great rap was like Newcleus Jam on it for example.
  • eclosis, on 07/21/2008, -2/+8Hrmmm.. Don't know if you can consider Lauryn Hill's 1998 debut more than 50% Rap.. hrmmm... #1 1998 album should be OutKast's Aquemini... since it doesn't reflect my personal opinion, the entire list is null and void.. lol
    • machocheese34, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2The songs where she did rap where amazing, she also has a great voice.
    • CACuzcatlan, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1One of the best albums from 1998 wasn't on the list. The Coup's "Steal This Album" featuring one of the greatest hp hop songs ever made: "Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night".

      If you think all rap is about pimping hoes and drinking 40s, listen to that song. In the song, the pimps son hates the pimp for exploiting his mother and realizes the social and emotional damage done to him by his upbringing. He watches the pimp beat his mother to death for not paying him on time and he eventually gets his revenge and kills the pimp after waiting 15 years for him to get out of prison. And Diggers will like it cause it even has a line that talks ***** about Microsoft.

      BTW, Black Star should have been #1 for 1998
    • CACuzcatlan, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Third Eye Vision was also left of the 1998 list
  • waxcrash, on 07/21/2008, -3/+63That list makes me realize how bad rap is today.
    • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -2/+32So true we go from this

      "Visualizin the realism of life and actuality
      ***** who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary
      And my mentality is, money orientated
      I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it
      cause yeah, we were beginners in the hood as five percenters
      But somethin must of got in us cause all of us turned to sinners
      Now some, restin in peace and some are sittin in San Quentin
      Others such as myself are tryin to carry on tradition
      Keepin the schwepervesence street ghetto essence inside us
      Cause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us
      Even though, we know somehow we all gotta go
      but as long as we leavin thievin we'll be leavin with some kind of dough
      so, and to that day we expire and turn to vapors
      me and my capers-ll be somewhere stackin plenty papers
      Keepin it real, packin steel, gettin high
      Cause life's a bitch and then you die"

      to this

      "Weezy... F... yea, ok
      They say I'm rappin like Big, Jay, and Tupac
      Andre 3 Thousand where is erykah badu at
      Who dat
      Who dat said they gon' beat Lil Wayne
      My name ain't bic, but I keep that flame boi
      Who dat one
      Dat do dat boy
      Ya'll knew dat
      True dat swallow
      And I be the shhhh
      Now you got loose bottoms"
      • ayeroxor, on 07/21/2008, -15/+1yeah. Too bad it went from rapping about stupid meaningless ***** lives to, um, stupid meaningless ***** lives.
      • CyrusG, on 07/21/2008, -1/+10Warning...Warning... ^^^^ troll found with nothing better to do than comment on Digg articles.
      • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1He must be the arbiter of cool.
      • ike368, on 07/21/2008, -6/+1you have to admit, lil wayne has GREAT delivery, even if his lines are stupid.
        plus, acting stupid and getting the world to pay you for it is all part of the art, baby
      • howufinna, on 07/21/2008, -5/+1uh uh. he did not just diss 3stacks. weezy a *****. that ***** couldn't even kill himself when he shot himself in the chest, how's he going to act hard? He sings about lollipops for ***** sake. Every single one of his rap songs is about how pretty he is like he some insecure bitch. Trump should give him a ***** tiara so he can finally shut the ***** up.
    • thatsbologna, on 07/21/2008, -0/+4that AZ verse is my favorite verse EVER.

      outshined nas on that track. he kept it up all the way til the chorus started. AZ is slept on...Do or Die is one of my favorite albums, and all of his other stuff you can tell he put all effort into it
    • NumbersAndNoise, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0It isn't, though, you just have to do some looking, you won't find it on the radio. De La Soul is still making damn good albums. Company Flow (No. 9, 1999) disbanded, but El-P is making amazing records, as is almost everyone on his Definitive Jux record label. Public Enemy is still good, though not as good as they used to be. The Roots are still incredible, too, Rising Down is their best album since Phrenology. And that's just to name a few. These aren't even particularly obscure, just turn off your radio and do your own looking.
  • santixar, on 07/21/2008, -7/+11990's called...
    • MadEnvoy, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1...it wants it's gat back.
      • ayeroxor, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Why don't you just give them your spare apostrophes instead.
      • MadEnvoy, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I'd love to, but I ran out!
  • gogog0, on 07/21/2008, -10/+3late 90's rap was AWFUL
    • SitPoMk, on 07/21/2008, -1/+3Go listen to Reasonable Doubt and Capital Punishment
      Throw in some DMX
    • LinkGCN4, on 07/21/2008, -4/+5Slim Shady LP anyone?
      • SitPoMk, on 07/21/2008, -1/+3Interesting how I forgot that one
        Considering it's one of my favorite rap albums ever lol
    • schmalzbauer, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0I won't say that late 90's rap was awful, but it was definitely not the better half of the decade, quality-wise...
  • lead2thehead, on 07/21/2008, -2/+22Maybe I'm getting old, but rap music was WAY better back then. Now it's like they don't even try. I can't think of ONE album from the past 10 years that even comes close to The Chronic.
    • thirdcoastborn, on 07/21/2008, -2/+4The Chronic changes everything.
    • cyrix, on 07/21/2008, -2/+10I do have to say that Kanye, Jay Z, Nas, Ludicrous, Jurassic 5, Mos Def, Camp Lo, and quite a few others have put out good stuff that strays away from the whole "cash money millionaires" syndrome. It was like after they came out all these wannabes came out of the woodwork and thought that rapping about nothing but money, cars, diamonds, drinking, drugs and whores was what rap was about.

      And yes, kanye is an arrogant dick wad, but his stuff is fairly refreshing when compared to Soulja Boy and all those other retard happy ***** *****.

      Oh and this is coming from someone who considers Can't Get Enough of Your Love by Barry White to be one of the greatest songs ever. Just saying.
      • Suneet67, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1the superpowers of the hip hop industry have polluted the genre and we must return to the Third World to find the salient political message that rap was built upon.
    • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2What is Lupe Fiasco and/or Atmosphere
  • konartis, on 07/21/2008, -7/+4Where's Makaveli? I suppose it's more of a 2001 album... I think it was Daz who said that people didn't really 'get' that album until about 2001; Tupac was so far ahead of his time.
  • Glitchwerks, on 07/21/2008, -1/+11I usually hate these damn lists, but I actually agree with this one, almost 100%. And he got both Company Flow and Freestyle Fellowship, which shows he was actually digging in the crates.
    • Inaktivist, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2Yeah... I still listen to Funcrusher Plus. The list gained a lot of cred with me when I saw that was on there.
  • SitPoMk, on 07/21/2008, -1/+5What a good list. I might actually bookmark this. The author really knows what he is talking about
  • axis, on 07/21/2008, -1/+9Nice to see A Tribe Called Quest on there 3 times. Q-Tip is such a great rapper, he does it better than most. Then rap turned sour in 95 and hasn't looked back since.

    Now when I hear most of the (c)rap today, I get that "Oh no, bitter beer face" face...
  • ronaldmonster, on 07/21/2008, -2/+5If you like rap music you can't go without Del tha Funky Homosapien's albums. Especially Deltron 3030 & Both Sides of the Brain, he's gone under the radar for years.

    But overall this is an amazing list, I know there is gonna be one digger crazy enough to buy all of them :P
    • schmalzbauer, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0...Or own all of them...*cough* haha. Slightly embarassed about owning some of them, but whatever.
    • CACuzcatlan, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Not sure about BSOTB, but Deltron 3030 was released in 2000
  • ModernChem, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1some of the lower ranked ones on those lists weren't what i would describe as "great", but good list.
  • 33PercentGod, on 07/21/2008, -9/+9Buried for lack of Beastie Boys and Bone Thugs N Harmony.
    • SitPoMk, on 07/21/2008, -3/+4Really?
      Beastie Boys had such an impact because of their music before the 90's
      In best albums of the 80's they would be chart toppers
      Not here
      • RobotKeaton, on 07/21/2008, -0/+3Their probably my favorite band, but I completely disregard Licensed to Ill. Sadly, it was their biggest album. Their other 80's album, Paul's Boutique, didn't make much of an impact, even though it was arguably their best album, and probably the finest example of sampling in rap.

        Their 90's ***** is solid gold though, and definitely deserved to be on this list.
      • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1Wow you're right the Beasties didn't make an impact at all in the 80s. They didn't help Def Jam records appeal to a wider audience or anything.....
      • RobotKeaton, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1That's not what I said. At all. I said their album that did make an impact in the 80's wasn't very good.

        Read a little more clearly.
    • danthek54, on 07/21/2008, -0/+10...not really, beasties released 3 awesome albums in the 90s 'check yo head', 'ill communication', and 'hello nasty' all of those albums were great with my personal fav being ill communication. Beasties should've been included
      • artfiend77, on 07/21/2008, -0/+4at LEAST "Ill Communication" should've been there.
    • djHBRD, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2I agree on the Beasties, disappointing that there's nothing of theirs up there. There was a Bone Thugs album though.
    • CACuzcatlan, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1Read the list more carefully, E 1999 Eternal from Bone Thugs is one there.
  • darny, on 07/21/2008, -2/+2I was sentient enough in 1990 to recognize PE existed but I was a little too young to enjoy it. I've given FOABP a pretty good shot these days via the wonders of the Internet. PE and FOABP are pretty much unlistenable. The tracks are WAY overproduced, the flavor flav cuts have the crudest and most ridiculous rhymes. The beats are utterly irrelevant today and those damn spoken word portions of the songs drag everything down. FOABP is just so dated. Noisy. It's become a caricature of itself.

    Tribe's People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm had a flow then and still has such a flow now. It's got just the right amount of production, the songs are very well written and I can listen to it from start to finish at any hour of the day. Should've been no 1 and PE shouldn't appear anywhere near this list.
  • addrake, on 07/21/2008, -0/+6This is one phenomenal list.

    Seriously, I checked every year and never missed and album I thought should be there. Very well done.
  • randyzaia, on 07/21/2008, -5/+4'93-'94 was clearly the high water mark for hip hop. '97 is when things really went off the rails. Sweet Jesus, that was a horrible year: Puff Daddy - No Way Out, Wyclef - The Carnival, Capone-N-Noreaga? Missy Elliott? Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes??? I love Wu-Tang more than your average bear but Wu-Tang Forever was not exactly a classic either.
    • elmphlemp, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0cnn is pretty decent album. not a great one for the wu
    • magnus3994, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1I agree, i have one or more from every year except 97
    • StraightG, on 08/03/2008, -0/+0wooow, Wu-Tang Forever not a classic? Besides "Black Shampoo" there were no flaws on that album.
  • JNudda, on 07/21/2008, -2/+4LOL. About.com shopping ad on right side of the page? Lil Wayne, Tha Carter II.

    Great list overall. Definitely some albums missing, but a nice reminder of a great era in hip hop and how stale hip hop has become.
    • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -1/+4I disagree there is more to hip-hop than mainstream acts.
      • JNudda, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1I never said there wasn't. I was just commenting on the state of the mainstream.
  • heliox, on 07/21/2008, -25/+5Oxymoron: "Great Rap Album"
  • vancanucksfan, on 07/21/2008, -3/+10where the ***** is the don killuminati the 7 day theory? thats when 2pac transformed into makaveli and released the hardest album ever.
  • vishusdelishus, on 07/21/2008, -0/+8Man...solid list. I have almost all of these albums and then some. There are some glaring omissions, but everyone is going to say that. I wish output these days was as consistently excellent.

    Hip hop still lives people! There's a lot of ***** out there, but there are also a lot of amazing hidden gems being released all the time. It'll get back to where it came from eventually - tru hedz just gotta step their games up and introduce the youth.

    ....and despite seemingly popular opinion here PE is still bringing some good fire. Don't hate!
  • skemez1, on 07/21/2008, -8/+3inaccurate the title should be "biggest SELLING hip-hop (rap +R&B) albums of the 90's.
    there are allot of fantastic albums that weren't included, probably because they they didnt have as high sales. Example (where are jay-z's albums?)
    • mathchemist, on 07/21/2008, -1/+4Jay-z has an album in the 1996 list (Reasonable Doubt)
    • vancanucksfan, on 07/21/2008, -7/+2jay-z? ***** jay-z gay-z.
    • Lalaphive, on 07/21/2008, -0/+4If you had actually read through the entire article you would see that Jay-Z is in there twice. Once in the 1999 list for Vol.3 and the 1996 list for Reasonable Doubt. It's not a perfect list by any means but there were some superb choices. Now if the title WAS " Biggest SELLING Hip-Hop Albums of the 90s" Then all four of Jay-Z's albums released in that decade would have made the list. But instead the author of the article was more diverse in an attempt to actually have decent content, rather than be on one MC's nuts. Know what you're talking about before you post!
      Example (Each of Jay-Z's album releases from 1996-1999 have sold more than most of the albums listed in those separate years)
    • alkajazz, on 07/21/2008, -2/+3Cockafella Records
  • vanguardanon, on 07/21/2008, -2/+5Where is 2LiveCrew?

    :-)
    • BlueStarr, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1For real. Uncle Luke!
    • schmalzbauer, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2The only really big album by 2Live Crew was As Nasty As They Wanna Be, and that came out in '89. Guaranteed they'd be on the 1980's list though. There is no *****' way anybody in their right mind could deny them a spot in that list.

      "SHE AINT NOTHIN' BUT A HOOCHIE MAMA!"
      • BlueStarr, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1I grew up in Miami in those years and I hated 2Live Crew and Miami bass music. I love'em now tho.
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