My Top 20 favorite Rap albums Ever

So I know that lists always generate discussion, and while I'm not about to put down a concrete definition behind this one, it is what I feel are 20 hot rap albums and I would love to see some top 5's or 10's from you the readers and we can talk about this, so without too much let's jump right in.

20. The War Report- Capone-n-Noreaga

The War Report is a hood grimey NY trenches classic banger and I loved every minute of it. From "T.O.N.Y." to "L.A., L.A." this album was so tough. Of course Capone was back up North locked up and Nore will never ever be known as one of the tightest rappers to grace the mic, but with the help of Tragedy Khadafi and the rest of Queens borough held down important roles to make this a true hip-hop classic.





19. Doggystyle - Snoop

Everyone should know by now I have a certain affinity for the early work or Calvin Broadus. He introduced us to the West Coast and his smooth flow still carries an influence today. As I always state, by the end of this album you feel like you could throw on some khakis and chucks and fit in, even if it's not true. One of a few albums I can pretty much let run through on its own. This album inspired plenty of future mc's.




18. It's Dark and Hell is Hot - DMX

This one is hard because I feel as though if it were put together with Flesh of my Flesh it would have been better in an overall sense, however how could I not love the energy of the Ruff Ryders Anthem and "Stop Being Greedy". The Dark Man killed the game with this album and marked the high point of Defjam dominance. "Damien" was also hot as X took us on a walk with the devil before redeeming himself at the end of the album with "The Prayer".



17. The Fix- Scarface

Thsi probably isn't a Southern rap fans favorite Scarface album but for an East Coaster like me, this album was the best blend of both sets of sounds with Face's truth and lyrical ability full on display. There were moral lessons, reality raps and the big business of the underworld style that Face was the master of. This was also during the big run Defjam had up until the release of Scarface signed Ludacris. The song with Nas is so mean and "My Block" straight up fire.


16. Stillmatic - Nas

I like this album and I think it shows the peak of Nas' lyrical and commercial career. First he crushed Jay-z with "Ether", then dropped joints like "One Mic", "You're da Man", and "Rewind" where he sp[it backwards in the style of the movie Memento. This album is hot from start to finish with few of the Nas "Letdown tracks" he is known to have. This was a true evolution of what Nasir had been doing up to this point.

15. It Was Written - Nas

This followup to Illmatic spawned the mega hit "If I Ruled the World" but overall was a cold calculating collection of straight up street banging material. This is one of those albums that sets the standard for what I look for in hip-hop. The dark brooding beats, the rhythm of Nas' voice all put the listener in some sort of mood as did most of the albums from this time period.


14. Reasonable Doubt- Jay-Z

This used to be my favorite Jay-Z album but as I grew older I realized I didn't really feel it as much anymore. Doesn't make it any less great, just feels different to me now. It will still hold a place in my heart for being what it was, and I still have the original issue cd with a picture of a gun in the street, not a download or reissued copy. "22 twos" is some real fire there. This was an introduction for me to the harder NY hip-hop sounds back when it dropped in 94.



13. College Dropout- Kanye West

Before Kanye turned asshole I was a huge fan. This album is still great and was such a departure from everything that was out in such a major way he really shook up the game. From silliness with a point "workout plan" to "All Falls Down" I was feeling everything yeezy was saying. However, he went nuts after this success and has never been as focused on an entire composition  as far as I'm concerned. What he did was make a lane for those who weren't going to talk about only the streets so he has to be thanked for that.



12. ATLiens - Outkast

"Me and you, your mother and your cousin too" was all you heard because this is one of about 5 albums I will still play start to finish. You have "Ova da Wudz" and of course the save a stripper anthem "Jazzy belle" that really secured the duo as being one of the hottest teams to ever drop albums on the planet. The production, feel and direction were all great and showed growth from their first album. They also expanded upon the Organized Noize notoriety and featured Goodie Mob again helping to push out the first wave of Atlanta artists to the national scene. then it came with a comic which I think I still have around here somewhere.




11. All Eyez On Me- Tupac

This is most people's favorite Pac album. It was double length, made fresh out of jail and had some rocking beats. "California Love" was crazy and he covered pretty much every topic from banging groupies, to changing homies and his own death. All of the anger Pac had held up he unleashed on this album and it is complete, but not my favorite Pac album. This is also one of the albums most people copped more than once because one of the discs ended up going missing on a regular basis. I had the tapes, my father had the cd's, thats how ill this was.