Poisonous Dart's Greatest Hip-Hop LPs

Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
25 Greatest Hip Hop Albums Of All Time (At Least In My Personal Opinion)


Jeff Weiss of Passion Of The Weiss, in association with Joey from Straight Bangin' asked me for my opinion on the 25 greatest albums in Hip Hop history. Being that this is a tough question and several deserving albums are going to get unfairly fronted on (something that I'm painfully aware of).

It took me 2 hours of arguing with my brother and going through my tape, vinyl and CD collection (and several books...were talking about ME here, after all!) just to compile my list and 30 more minutes of me switching positions on said list. After much soul searching and agonizing deliberation, here are my picks for the 25 greatest Hip Hop albums of all times (at least in my opinion) with a disclaimer at the end:

1. It Takes A Nation Of Millions...-Public Enemy
2. Paid In Full- Eric B. & Rakim
3. Criminal Minded- Boogie Down Productions
4. Long Live The Kane- Big Daddy Kane
5. Mecca & The Soul Brother- Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth
6. Illmatic- Nas
7. The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick- Slick Rick
8. Raising Hell- Run DMC
9. Critical Beatdown- Ultramagnetic MC's
10. Bigger And Deffer ( B.A.D.)- LL Cool J
11. In Full Gear- Stetsasonic
12. Strictly Business- EPMD
13. 3 Feet High & Rising- De La Soul
14. Rhyme Pays- Ice T
15. Death Certificate- Ice Cube
16. Daily Operation- Gangstarr
17. The Low End Theory- A Tribe Called Quest
18. Liquid Swords- GZA
19. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...-Raekwon The Chef
20. Illadelph Halflife- The Roots
21. Capital Punishment- Big Punisher
22. Ready To Die- Notorious B.I.G.
23. Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)- Wu-Tang Clan
24. No One Can Do It Better- The D.O.C.
25. Reasonable Doubt- Jay-Z

While I feel that some of these groups made better albums than the ones I posted (i.e. EPMD 's Business As Usual, De La Soul's Stakes Is High, Wu-Tang Clan's Wu Tang Forever, Ice T's Original Gangsta, The Roots, Things Fall Apart, Eric B. & Rakim's Follow The Leader, etc.) it was the creation of the seminal classics that I included in this list that helped spark quantum leaps in the Hip Hop field once they were released, paving the way for future great albums (including their own catalogs).Here's a collection of all of the joints that just missed the above list for those of you that wanna choke me unconsious for not including some of your favorite joints (Honorable Mention/Certified Classics):

Brand Nubian- One For All
Ghostface Killah- Ironman
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo- Road To The Riches
N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton
Dr. Dre- The Chronic LP
Redman-Whut? Thee Album
X Clan- To The East, Blackwards
Geto Boys- We Can't Be Stopped
MC Lyte- Lyte As A Rock
Queen Latifah- Hail To The Queen
Whodini- Back In Black
Beastie Boys- Licensed To Ill
Fat Boys- Crushin'
Lauryn Hill- The Miseducation Of...
OutKast- Aquemini
Poor Righteous Teachers- Holy Intellect
Del- I Wish My Brother George Was Here
3rd Bass- The Cactus Album
Jungle Brothers- Straight Out The Jungle
Mobb Deep- The Infamous
Ol' Dirty Bastard- Return To The 36 Chambers (The Dirty Version)
Main Source- Breakin' Atoms
Beatnuts- The Beatnuts AKA Street Level
Company Flow- Funcrusher Plus
Cypress Hill-Cypress Hill
King T- Act A Fool
Fugees- The Score
Mos Def- Black On Both Sides
Pharcyde-Bizarre Ride II Tha Pharcyde
2Pac- Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.
Above The Law- Livin' Like Hustlers
Snoop Doggy Dogg-Doggystyle
Common (Sense)- Resurrection
DJ Quik- Quik Is The Name
Special Ed- Youngest In Charge
Scarface- Mr. Scarface Is Back
Showbiz & A.G.- Runaway Slaves
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud- Girls, I Got 'Em Locked
Biz Markie- Goin' Off
Heavy D- Big Time
Freestyle Fellowship- To Whom It May Concern...
Cannibal Ox- The Cold Vein
Das Efx- Dead Serious
O.C.-Word...Life
Digital Underground- Sex Packets

And the list goes on and on and on and on to the break of dawn. Feel free to critique mine or post your own. Good looks to Jeff Weiss, Joey and the heads at Straight Bangin'. One.
 

Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
Huh?

PD, that's a good list, obviously. But the most recent LP in your top 25 is (without checking rel dates) either Big Pun or The Roots, both almost 10 years old, while your 2nd list has only Cold Vein from this century.

Now you see why this thread is dying?

As far as the art of Hip Hop goes, it HARD AS HELL to make any albums that can be as grea as the ones made dring the Golden Eras (1986-1989), (1992-1996) or the indie Hip Hop/Underground boom (1997-2000). Here's a blog that I wrote that explains why:

Classic Material AKA The Question Remains by Dart Adams

The question is asked all the time in relation to hip hop releases time and time again, how do you determine what albums are undisputed classics? This is one of the toughest questions to answer in my personal opinion and I’ll try to flesh out why:

The first or early hip hop albums can always be easily put into the “classic” category with little or no resistance from hip hop heads and fans alike. The problems really arise when critiquing project made after the first Golden Age (1986-1989) . In order to determine what a classic album is you need a benchmark by which to judge them, the problem with this is that the albums of the 1st Golden Age were such masterpieces that what albums could compare to them...especially in the eyes of those that grew up during that time or heard these albums when they were released?

How in the hell can any album compare to Public Enemy ‘s“It Takes A Nation Of Millions..”, Stetsasonic’s “In Full Gear”, or Ultramagnetic MC’s “Critical Beatdown”? The answer is/was not many. The thing is that these albums couldn’t stay the blueprint for what one could call classic material forever. The industry changed, technology advanced, styles and content changed, hip hop became big business. New standards had to be made.

After the Golden Age died down, there was a short time of transition in which the rap industry had to find it’s way again between 1990 and 1991. Between these yeras, several albums had been released that would serve as the blueprint for the next Golden Era of hip hop music.

Some of these albums were Brand Nubian’s “One For All”, Ice Cube’s “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted”, Poor Righteous Teachers “Holy Intellect”, A Tribe Called Quest’s “Peoples Instictive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm”, X Clan’s “To The East, Blackwards”, Digital Underground’s “Sex Packets”, Main Source’s “Breaking Atoms”, Cypress Hill, Naughty By Nature and Organized Konfusion’s self titled debuts, Black Sheep’s “A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing”, Del’s “I Wish My Brother George Was Here”, Leaders Of The New School’s “A Future Without A Past” and DJ Quik’s “Quik Is The Name” had all come out and established some brand new markers that would springboard hip hop into it’s next phase.

From 1992-1996, classic album upon classic album was churned out as were some okay/decent albums. Once 1997 passed and hip hop was taken into the post Telecommunications Act Era, people began to go back and listen to some of these albums and proclaim them “classics” as well. The perception being that since the music they heard from these recordings made between 1992-1997 was perceived to be far superior to the rap music of the era that was “winning” that it had to be classic...that wasn’t necesarilly the case, though.

Perception is another hurdle in determining what’s considered a classic hip hop album, you have to be careful to not confuse what could be called a “personal favorite” album of yours, one you could consider “slept on” for a “classic” album. These are different distinctions altogether, for example:

Slept On Album (Sub Classic): Shadz Of Lingo- A View To A Kill 1994
Undispusted Classic Album: Nas-Illmatic 1994
Slept On Album (Sub Classic): Pete Nice & Daddy Rich-Dust To Dust 1994
Undisputed Classic Album: Redman-Dare Iz A Darkside 1994

See the difference? Perception and time changed how these albums are now viewed. Back when they were first released, a great deal of albums that people regard as classic material now were merely seen as good albums or quality releases (3-3.5 mics in The Source) at the time. When heads who listen to music from both Golden Eras tend to compare it to releases from 1997 on, they tend to prefer it to the overly commercial music of the next era, forgetting that you can’t will something to be greater than it actually was just because YOU liked it.

This is why “slept on” is a much better tag than “classic”, you can’t dispute what an individual believes to be a slept on album...a classic one, though? That can become an argument EASY.

Modern classic hip hop albums are harder to gauge by the public (not so much by critics, though) because classics now are pretty predicated on if the album sold well or not. By that thinking, Nelly’s “Country Grammar” was a classic hip hop album...I beg to diifer on that one. The more recent the release the tougher it is to deem it classic material because the albums don’t have the necessary distance for the listener to be able to objectively judge them.

Is The Clipse “Hell Hath No Fury” a classic album? Is Ghostface Killah’s “Fishscale”? How about Nas’ “Hip Hop Is Dead”? All of that is up for debate, but people will generally agree that an older album like Nas’ “Stillmatic” can be considered a classic. Another obstacle in whether or not you can call an album a classic is regional bias and/or an aesthetic bias. I suffer from both personally, I still can’t bring myself to fathom that T.I.’s “King” is a classic album...or that Young Jeezy “Thug Motivation 101” can ever be considered one...

In conclusion, depending on what era you’re from and what you’re background in regards to hip hop is, you’ll have a diiferent foundation and therefore a different blueprint of what “classic material” in regards to hip hop music sounds like. While there are across the board clear cut classics that we can hold up as classic material, the current way albums are made and manner in which the industry is run makes it hard for albums to compete with those great albums of the past. Here are some rules of thumb for heads who want to accurately judge albums:

You can’t compare current albums to albums made in an era where sampling laws weren’t yet fully enforced ( i.e comparing modern albums to Beastie Boys “Paul’s Boutique”, Ultramagnetic MC’s “Critical Beatdown” or De La Soul’s “3 Feet High And Rising”).

You can’t compare groups or albums from one hip hop sub genre with another...it’s like comparing apples to oranges (i.e. comparing Brand Nubian’s “Everything Is Everything” to N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton”)

Try to compare current albums with the best and most similar recent albums that can be considered classic material (i.e. comparing the new Sean Price LP with the last one to determine if can be called a “classic” or not...by that standard it would just fall short, but it’ll still be better than 90% of what gets released in 2007).

Throw everything I said above out and call albums whatever the hell you want. If you’re nice enough with the words and argue your position well enough you’ll be able to convince people you’re right regardless (Damn, now that I think about about Tame One’s “O.G. Bobby Johnson” WAS a classic!).

One.
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
i dont know how anyone would hate 3 feet high. hating it just cos rock fans and artists like ugh the lightning seeds hate it seems silly. ive never been a huge run dmc fan really, theyre sort of like hip hops beatles - youre just MEANT to love them. but i respect them more than i enjoy their albums. great singles though. which is pretty much how i evaluate the last ten or so years of hip hop- great singles, not so good albums. but making polls of the greatest singles of 97-07 is a bit harder than just doing albums isnt it? off the top of my head i think my *personal* top 25 hip hop albums would be something like this (im prob missing a lot out, but this is just what i can think of right now)

saafir - boxcar sessions, de la soul - is dead, common -resurrection, nas - illmatic, masta ace - take a look around, method man - tical, nwa - straight outta compton, public enemy - yo bum rush the show, epmd - strictly business, outkast - southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik, geto boys - we cant be stopped, kool g rap - road to the riches, akineye - vagina diner, slick rick - great adventures, ll cool j - mama said knock you out, 2pac - me against the world, mobb deep - the infamous, snoop doggy dogg - doggystyle, dr dre - the chronic, too short - greatest hits - player years (not an album album but hey, its great), ice cube - death certificate, mos def - black on both sides, the alkaholiks - coast to coast, del the funky homosapien - no need for alarm, digital underground - sex packets
 
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petergunn

plywood violin
i find it much more interesting to learn you rate wu tang forever more (i do as well)

i remember when that album came out, i copped the vinyl... it's 4 discs and was only like 14 dollars at Tower... i went home, put in on, and was so fucking disappointed... where was all the energy from "36 chambers"? where were the bangers? where was the rawness?

in retrospect, i think it is a great fucking record, but at the time, me and everyone i knew was pretty disapointed...

tho i smoked a lot of weed to "for heaven's sake"...
 

Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
Really?

i remember when that album came out, i copped the vinyl... it's 4 discs and was only like 14 dollars at Tower... i went home, put in on, and was so fucking disappointed... where was all the energy from "36 chambers"? where were the bangers? where was the rawness?

in retrospect, i think it is a great fucking record, but at the time, me and everyone i knew was pretty disapointed...

tho i smoked a lot of weed to "for heaven's sake"...

I felt the opposite way...I knew that "Enter The 36 Chambers was a thrown together project with old ass demos thrown in (the dopest collection of demos in hip hop history mind you!). "Tearz", "Method Man", "Protect Ya Neck" etc. were all from 1991. Masta Killa had never written a verse before, Deck came right out of jail and was thrust into the studio. Ghostface Killah and Reakwon hadn't even scratched the surface of their potential on that album...They ALL got to shine properly on "Wu Tang Forever" as RZA gave them all fresh tailormade tracks. The dictator-like manner in which he told people who would be on each song after he crafted it pissed off many of the members, especially Raekwon, Method Man and U God (Raekwon and Method Man both sought out different producers for their next projects to their detriment).

That album is sensory overload to me...Too many bangers. ""Reunited","Cash Still Rules/Scary Hours)", "Visionz", "Severe Punishment", "Older Gods", "Maria", "It's Yourz", "Triumph", "Impossible", "Deadly Melody", "The City", "The Projects", "Bells of War", "The M.G.M.", "Dog Shit", "Duck Seazon", "Hellz Wind Staff" and "Heaterz" had me like "come on...not ANOTHER one!". The same feeling I had listening to a Roots album or a Pete Rock & CL Smooth album or a Beatnuts album...packed from beginning to end with heat. One.
 

dHarry

Well-known member
public enemy - yo bum rush the show,

Do you really think this is a better album than Nation Of Millions or Fear Of A Black Planet? I can see how it's important, and is interestingly stripped back compared to the subsequent albums, but I really don't think it's PE's best.
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
some other personal faves -
beatnuts - street level
kurious - constipated monkey
prince paul - psychoanalysis
jungle bros - 2nd album
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
can't believe By All Means Necessary never gets included on these lists, because everyone always sticks up Criminal Minded instead. BAMN - see, even the acronym rules - is the superior album and along with Schooly's debut and PE's first two cemented hip hop's place in the centre of my heart.
 

mms

sometimes
can't believe By All Means Necessary never gets included on these lists, because everyone always sticks up Criminal Minded instead. BAMN - see, even the acronym rules - is the superior album and along with Schooly's debut and PE's first two cemented hip hop's place in the centre of my heart.

i would agree strongly there.
along with nation and paid in full, straight out the jungle, straight outta compton and digital underground sex packets for me.
 
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gumdrops

Well-known member
agree that by all means should get rated much more. i always thought follow the leader was better than paid in full.
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
seems that while the debut album is often called the classic one(paid in full, criminal minded, yo bum rush the show, 36 chambers, 3 feet high), people actually rate the second album more (follow the leader, by all means necassary, nation of millions, de la soul is dead, wu tang forever)

You can add No Need For Alarm to that list too. Brother George has all the ace singles, but doesn't sound nearly as good played end-to-end.
 

dHarry

Well-known member
thats why i included both "nation of millions" and "yo bum rush the show". i didnt want to include more than two albums by one artist, ohterwise i would have included fear of a black planet and apocalypse 91 as well, hell, maybe even greatest misses (much underrated i think) I do like yo bum rush the show more than fear, probably because i knew it first. It's a subjective list
Oops, I meant to ask Gumdrops that, not you; I take your point.
 

Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
Yep...

seems that while the debut album is often called the classic one(paid in full, criminal minded, yo bum rush the show, 36 chambers, 3 feet high), people actually rate the second album more (follow the leader, by all means necassary, nation of millions, de la soul is dead, wu tang forever)

I explained why that is in my post where I gave my list. I think that BDP's "By Any Means Necessary", "Edutainment" and "Sex And Violence" LP's were all "better" than "Criminal Minded"...However, there was a polar shift that occured in the music/Hip Hop world when these seminal releases were made ("Paid In Full", "Criminal Minded", "It Takes A Nation Of Millions", etc.) that set the bar higher for every crew and laid the groundwork and form the new aesthetic for classic Hip Hop albums.

One.
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
I explained why that is in my post where I gave my list. I think that BDP's "By Any Means Necessary", "Edutainment" and "Sex And Violence" LP's were all "better" than "Criminal Minded"...However, there was a polar shift that occured in the music/Hip Hop world when these seminal releases were made ("Paid In Full", "Criminal Minded", "It Takes A Nation Of Millions", etc.) that set the bar higher for every crew and laid the groundwork and form the new aesthetic for classic Hip Hop albums.

One.

True enough, but if everyone confines themselves to that you just wind up with an accepted canon of classics and a bit of minor squabbling about historical trends. Music is meant to be fun, and most of all it's subjective. i'd much rather read a list of someone's favourite 25 albums than those they consider the most important.
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
and the more were meant to 'respect' and 'honor' these albums and regard them as being so 'important', it tends to suck all the enjoyment out of actually listening to them anymore.
 

Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
I agree, disagree

and the more were meant to 'respect' and 'honor' these albums and regard them as being so 'important', it tends to suck all the enjoyment out of actually listening to them anymore.

I know how important movies like Mean Streets, Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now, The Wild Bunch, Bonnie & Clyde, etc. are but that doesn't suck the enjoyment out of watching them because I know how great the films are...because they are well written, well constructed pieces of art...same thing with music. Knowing that Cream's Disreali Gears, Janis Joplin's Pearl, or Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland are incredible pieces of art cant DETRACT from the experience of listening to it for the same reason. I think that things UNFAIRLY put on a pedestal detract from the experience of listening to/watching it but not GREAT ART regardless of it's genre/format. One.
 

viktorvaughn

Well-known member
My 10 faves for what it’s woth (not much)

36 Chambers - Wu-Tang
Operation Doomsday - MF Doom
Ressurection - Common (Sense)
Funcrusher Plus - Company Flow
ATLians - Outkast
Black on Both Sides - Mos Def
Stakes is High - De La Soul
Solesides - greatest Bumps


Really can't decide about the other two, but probably from the following:

Vaudeville Villain - Viktor Vaughn
Critical Beatdown - Ultramagnetic MCs
BDP - by all means necessary
cannibal ox - cold vien
the roots - phrenology
o.c - word life
blak moon - enta da stage
anti pop consortium -arrhythmia
ATCQ - Low end theory
Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep
brand new 2nd hand - roots manuva
Lewis Parker - Masquerades n Silhouettes (just to get some UK action in there!)

Fairly boring and canonical really.
 
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