25 Essential Hip Hop Records

What's all this, then?

These are the records every complete record collection should have, even if you aren't necessarily a hip hop fan. These records define hip hop to some degree, but represent the core qualities of what hip hop has to offer to an even more significant one. These aren't my favorite records in hip hop - and really anyone who gave you this list as their top 25 is either lying to save face or works for Rolling Stone - but they are all five-star classics that will forever be cited as the fundamental works of the genre. And, of course, many if not most of them are my favorite hip hop albums, most notably duh Illmatic.

I may have taken a bit of artistic license with some of this set - some people may argue that it needs more 80s records and maybe my 00s records trend too closely to my own personal likes. But as much as I love them, I don't think Run DMC, Criminal Minded, or Radio is as significant as a work of art as many of the 90s choices I absolutely had to include, and I happen to think even if Madvillain and Hell Hath No Fury didn't sell millions of copies, they represent what has been best about hip hop over the past ten years in significantly different ways. (By the way, I placed the cut-off at January 1, 2010, so no Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy).

Anyway, we could argue this all day (and I'm happy to do so in the comments - that's what they're for) but at some point I need to lock this in, so let's get on with it. These are the 25 records in hip hop that deserve to be canonized, in chronological order.

Eric B. and Rakim

Paid in Full (1987)

There's a reason this record is the first essential hip hop album - this is where modern hip hop began. Although old school had technically already been dead and buried by the time of Eric B. and Rakim's debut, this is the true dividing line of hip hop in the 80s - that's just how significant Rakim is as an emcee. If this list was five albums instead of 25, Paid in Full is one of the few albums that would still be guaranteed a spot.

EPMD

Strictly Business (1988)

Even if Erick Sermon doesn't have the startling lyrical abilities of Rakim (and who does?), his delivery and rhyme construction are nearly as compelling and entertaining. Parrish Smith holds his own, as well, making Strictly Business one of the most fun in italics hip hop records not just of the 80s, but of all time (which unfortunately isn't saying much because hip hop got dreadfully serious in the 90s).

When compared to the two albums that bookend it on this list, Strictly Business seems slight. But what might actually be most impressive about this record is that the sound feels fresher today than that of either towering classic beside it.

Public Enemy

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)

As hip hop has gained wider acceptance and a higher profile with critics, Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back has lost its dominant grip on greatest all-time lists as the token hip hop album. That doesn't make the record any less impressive as a work of art, however. Hip hop had been political before Public Enemy, and it had used samples with impunity before, but no one had done it with such thrilling and intentional ferocity as Public Enemy did on this record. And sonically, this is as powerful a statement as hip hop has ever made. "Night of the Living Baseheads" still sounds daring and avant-garde 25 years later, and "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" is a stunning epic both lyrically and musically.

N.W.A.

Straight Outta Compton (1988)

Straight Outta Compton is the most influential record in the history of hip hop. The "gangsta rap" genre kept its strangle hold on commercial hip hop until the mid-2000s, approximately, and Dr. Dre's evolution as a producer that culminated with The Chronic (see below) became the base upon which modern hip hop production has been built.

De La Soul

3 Feet High and Rising (1989)

De La Soul began the war between the states that raged brightest at the turn of the century when the insurgents began to be identified by their backpacks and a racial component entered the equation. But before the underground/mainstream divide (and, now that the battle has basically been called a draw, after it) there was only a group focused first on party-ready light-hearted funk, delivered with stellar beats and laid-back vocals that bridged the gap between old-school couplets and a smoother 90s-ready flow.

Also note that this record brought us the dreaded skit trend which has thankfully mostly been retired in recent years.

Beastie Boys

Paul's Boutique (1989)

Paul's Boutique could never be made today, and that's the best case against sample-prohibiting lawsuits you could ever make. The Dust Brothers helped the Beastie Boys craft their masterpiece with countless samples, and what's left is one of the great works of art of the 80s.

Ice Cube

AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990)

After leaving NWA, Cube hooked up with the Bomb Squad to prove that he was just as capable of turning out a classic, controversial, and innovative record without Dre and Eazy. His solo debut is a wicked portrait of America on the cusp of the 90s, but it works just as well as a sonic assault as it does as a social document. Its follow-up and thematic sibling, Death Certificate, was nearly as good.

A Tribe Called Quest

The Low End Theory (1991)

Most jazzy hip hop in the last fifteen years is enjoyable but ultimately forgettable, but ATCQ is no ordinary jazzy hip hop group, and The Low End Theory is the pinnacle of not just their career but arguably the entire subgenre. Although 3 Feet High and Rising may have gotten there first, Tribe's record veers so sharply into jazz territory with deep organic bass and smooth, smoky rhythms that it becomes a singular experience in all of hip hop. This record birthed a movement.

Dr Dre

The Chronic (1992)

There is perhaps no other record in the last twenty five years in any genre that had as significant an impact on the culture at large as The Chronic. If I need to explain to you why it's on this list you live on a different planet than me.

Snoop Doggy Dogg

Doggystyle (1993)

There are blasphemers out there who say Doggystyle is better than The Chronic, but it's easy to forgive them because this record is so much fun. It's gangsta rap at its most thrillingly free and party-oriented. Snoop became a superstar off of The Chronic, but this was the record that assured he would never go away - even if no one could predict his widespread acceptance as a mainstream personality.

Digable Planets

Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) (1993)

This record gets as much play as any other record in my house, mainly because there is not a time of day when Reachin' is not perfect. It works just as well as a lazy afternoon record as it does as a late-night chill out. You can sit and listen to the message of the lyrics and the intricacies of the beats or simply put it on in the background and feel a general sense of happiness. It's a rare record that feels like a weighty artistic statement but is immediately accessible and inobtrusive. Their follow-up, Blowout Comb, is just as incredible, making Digable Planets one of the most underrated hip hop groups ever.

Wu-Tang Clan

Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers (1993)

Enter the Wu is possibly the strangest piece of art to ever achieve mainstream success on a broad scale. Deeply paranoid, incredibly dark and raw, yet coyly funny and infused with a love of pop culture, this debut album from the greatest hip hop group in history even thrives in the skits ("Torture, motherfucker, torture!"). But every song here is a classic - including the masterpiece that ranks with the greatest hip hop songs eve, "C.R.E.A.M." Can it be that it was all so simple then? Maybe not, but RZA and co. sure made it look easy.

Nas

Illmatic (1994)

I wrote a whole book about this record, the greatest hip hop album of all time. Need I say more?

The Notorious B.I.G.

Ready to Die (1994)

What Nas made art, Biggie made commerce, and Ready to Die pointed the way forward for hip hop more than any record other than Paid in Full and The Chronic. But that's not to say Biggie's pop-minded beats and choruses aren't complemented by his impressive lyrical abilities and social commentary. It might be a little too long where Illmatic was a little too short, but Ready to Die still manages to provoke and impress nearly twenty years later.

Raekwon

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is street hip hop at its finest: rugged beats lifted from long gone childhoods spliced into darkness with unrelenting verses spit over them. Raekwon, RZA, and Ghost delivered a record without any consolations to the mainstream - and by doing so pulled the mainstream into their dark corner of the hip hop universe. Often referred to as the purple tape since it was released on cassette in purple, Raekwon's solo debut is what every mixtape wants to sound like but has never achieved.

GZA/Genius

Liquid Swords (1995)

This is a borderline inclusion because its influence cannot measure up to that of the first Wu record (or even Raekwon's record above it on the list). But Liquid Swords is here because it is the first hip hop record I fell in love with and still one of the most incredibly focused displays of an MC's lyrical abilities and musical philosophy. Liquid Swords manages to succeed not only as a unified musical whole but as a cultural document that perfectly merges the kung fu cinema, drug dealing, and industry life that Wu in general and GZA in particular longed to combine. It's what all hip hop albums should aspire to.

2Pac

All Eyez on Me (1996)

Although it's very debatable which 2Pac record is the best, All Eyez On Me is unquestionably his most famous, and I would argue it's the record that aged the best in his catalog. It also has a broad sonic palette, making it the strongest introduction to the rapper, who isn't the best rapper ever but might just be the most significant in terms of his cultural impact, both before and after death.

Outkast

ATLiens (1996)

The first four Outkast records are all classics in their own right. Each could be included on this list for different reasons, but ATLiens is the purest presentation of their musical philosophy and the best overall collection of songs. It's also the strongest representation of Southern hip hop ibecause most of the great movements in the South never produced a truly essential full-length record. (I realize this is HIGHLY arguable, with examples from Scarface and UGK to Lil Wayne and Devin popping into my mind immediately, but none of these artists ever reached the saturation level Outkast did even at this early stage in their run.) ATLiens might not be the only Southern hip hop out there, but it's the perfect place to start.

DJ Shadow

Entroducing... (1996)

There's a great story about DJ Shadow going to every music store he visits and moving his debut LP from the electronic section to the hip hop section where it belongs, and even if it might not be true it's a fitting representation of this record's struggle to gain its rightful place in the hip hop pantheon. Endtroducing... is a hip hop record through and through, even its sprawling scope and emotional complexity often feel like a true representation of all music that's been, maybe all music that's to come. Endtroducing... is a hip hop folk record, an invaluable cultural document.

Lauryn Hill

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the only record from a woman on this list, but that's not why it's here. It's here because Hill produced a follow-up to her group's blockbuster album The Score that is every bit that album's superior. Though it straddles the line between hip hop and R&B, Hill remains a rapper at heart, and many of the best songs feature this side of her talents. This record was so good Hill went crazy and hasn't returned to the studio since - a sure sign a classic was produced that could never be topped.

Eminem

The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

Though it hasn't aged as well as some of the other records on this list, Eminem's blockbuster star-making turn is impossible to ignore. It also features songs that still challenge and engage, most notably Eminem's best song by a mile, the chilling "Stan."

Ghostface Killah

Supreme Clientele (2000)

I realize this is the fourth Wu Tang record on this list, but that's just how significant the group was in hip hop's evolution. Supreme Clientele is the unexpected towering record in their catalog, and it might be the most influential album they made. Ghost's delivery on this record inspired a generation of emcees, helped open the genre (and its mainstream in particular) up to the broader music nerd audience. It's also packed with straight bangers and some truly bizarre production.

Jay-Z

The Blueprint (2001)

Though I might prefer Reasonable Doubt when it comes to Jay records, The Blueprint is undoubtedly more important both in the world of hip hop (where it brought rugged, focused LPs with hardcore production) and in the mythology of Jay-Z (where it established his grip on both the mainstream and the hip hop head community). Although he was growing in stature before The Blueprint, this is where Jay became immortal, even if Eminem really did murder him on his own shit.

Madvillain

Madvillainy (2004)

Madvillain is underground hip hop's greatest moment and last gasp. In 2004, with only the Neptunes delivering any legitimacy to radio and both MF Doom and Madlib releasing what seemed like a masterpiece every few months, the moment when the underground would take over - or at least share the spotlight - seemed almost within reach. Alas, it wasn't meant to be, but what we are left with on Madvillainy is surreal, jazzy, abstract, and beautiful.

Clipse

Hell Hath No Fury (2006)

Hell Hath No Fury is the greatest crime novel of hip hop, the pinnacle of drug dealing mythology, and a masterpiece of stark, gritty production by the Neptunes, who dominated the 00s. As the years have passed, it's only become more impressive. It might be the greatest hip hop record of the 00s, and it's the last essential record of the genre.