Public Enemy- It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988) Channeling the black anger and urban tension so in need of an outlet, Nation of Millions was one of the first truly socially conscious hip hop albums.Key Tracks: Dead Presidents, Brooklyn’s Finest, Can’t Knock the Hustle. Jaz-O had given Jay-Z his first break by recruiting him on the 1989 song “Hawaiian Sophie.” Two decades later, Jigga is a true hip hop tycoon. Sean Carter had been known as “Jazzy”, a nickname that developed into his stage name Jay-Z as an homage to his musical mentor Jaz-O and to the J-Z subway lines that stop by Marcy Avenue. Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt (1996) In 1996, Jay-Z blew audiences away with his debut effort and first release on label Roc-A-Fella records.Key Tracks: Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang, F*ck wit Dre Day, Let Me Ride. The Chronic would introduce Parliament-laced G-funk to the mainstream and made Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and Nate Dogg stars before they’d ever even released albums of their own. Dre- The Chronic (1992) Fresh off of his split with supergroup NWA, Dre took it solo and ended up creating perhaps the best produced rap album of all time. Calling the album Illmatic after his incarcerated friend Illmatic Ice, Nas originally wanted the cover to feature himself with Jesus in a headlock. Nas- Illmatic (1994) Five months prior to Ready to Die, this 20-year-old Queensbridge native paired with producers Large Professor, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Q-Tip and burst onto the scene with what would be his masterpiece.Key Tracks: Warning, Juicy, Ready to Die.

Sick beats, brilliant lyrics, crazy flows, and that intoxicating voice of Biggie Smalls. During the short flash that was his career, only one album was to be released, a top-to-bottom classic with the eerily prophetic title ‘Ready to Die’. Six years later, he was the biggest rapper in the world.

The Notorious BIG- Ready to Die (1994) Around the years ’87-’88, a young crack dealer named Christopher Wallace began entertaining local passersby by rapping into a beat-up amp on the street corners around Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Almost like he were a prophet, Mach-Hommy communicates with what’s hidden in the text. It serves as the LP’s guiding thesis, and the reason it will instantly be remembered as a classic.

The album’s interlude “Kreyol (skit)” is a recording of academic research on Haitian Creole. He’s a master of the kind of East Coast rap tropes that still lay as the bedrock of the genre writ large, but with an almost algorithmic level of computational agility, grafting tendrils of references together to cut through to something spiritual. With production from Griselda staples like Cee Gee and Denny Laflare, Mach-Hommy takes his distinct vocal precision to new realms. The album offers a codex of spirit and feeling. Gunn served as executive producer on Newark, New Jersey-based Mach-Hommy’s complete masterwork Pray for Haiti. The independent label founded by native rapper Westside Gunn tapped into the year’s hunger for depth like it was its job. It’s fitting that in 2021, Griselda Records, of Buffalo, New York, would come to dominate the rap subconscious. Here are our picks for the best rap albums from 2021. The concerns of the real world are as pressing as ever, and that’s ultimately where rap music shines brightest. Hip-hop in 2021 felt raw and urgent Drake and Kanye even settled petty grievances toward the end, perhaps realizing that there’s too much at stake here. Rappers spent 2021 in a mood of genuine introspection, which makes sense given that the year was filled with so many reminders of how precious life is. phenom Little Simz’ deeply personal I Might Be Introvert, where she flips gracefully from confronting her own trauma to flexing at a party with ease. Tyler, the Creator’s Call Me if You Get Lost found the rapper finally accepting his own greatness, making for what’s easily his best album. There was Lil Nas X, who put to rest whatever fealty to genre or form stubborn rap purists had, with Montero, a textured and confessional album that also finds the “Old Town Road” star really rapping - like, rapping, rapping - while managing to imbue his delivery with the playful pleasure of golden-age dance music. But rap is also a genre built on resilience, and 2021 saw its biggest artists, in addition to a slate of exciting newcomers, find new ways to balance joy and pain, the prevailing pendulum of emotion in the pandemic era. Before the clock even struck midnight on New Year’s Eve last year, news of the death of hip-hop’s poet laureate, MF Doom, rattled like a shock wave. Over the past 12 months, our sense of loss seemed to outpace our capacity for grief. In a lot of ways, 2021 represents one of the most tragic periods in rap history.

10 best hip hop albums of all time