Illmatic - Nas There will never be a rap album that can top Illmatic. Stupid Stans are going to put MMLP number 1 eventually, but they know nothing about hip hop and they never listened to this masterpiece. Stillmatic is underrated too. The big difference between illmatic and mmlp is this. Lyrical content that defines what real hip-hop is, was, and should be. Illmatic is Highly intelligent, creative, down to earth, and UPLIFTING to the struggles from where hip-hop culture originates from. Not knocking M, he's brilliant, but illmatic captivates us because the stories their represent black culture before the major corporate take over of hip hop (rap is dead). Mainstream rap is much different now...(money, killing, drugs, ) Most eminem fans didn't even listen to rap until he became famous, which is like the kids today who think Justin Bieber is the king of pop. A white fan base can carry you along way (bieber) with or without talent so I don't think it's the fact that people have a problem seeing Eminem as the best because he's white...its just the fact that his mainstream message...I've had a pretty hard life, I'm angry, so I should act out and think crazy, isn't really what hip hop/rap is about. Don't let Eminem pass this. Even though Eminem is a goat, this is definitely the one album you'd want everyone to be familiar with. If you listen to 1 hip hop album, make it this. It isn't necessarily the message sent in the album, even though they are deeply inspiring, it's the flows that Nas brings when he speaks in this album. Each cut seems to always bring a lyrical synchronism that no other album I've ever heard. It's been 20+ years and this album still has some of the lyrically colorful combination of bars in the history of rap, and the craziest part is that he did this in 1994 when nobody had ever heard of this kind of synchronizing of words and melody in the history of music. Not to mention, Nas was 19 years old when creating this piece along with intellectually stimulating lyrics that continuously throughout time make you keep wondering, who's world is this? The craziest rap album of all time because it's simple, not over the top, yet it grows on you and never, ever gets old because it's straight, 100%, real. And, at the end of the day, isn't that how the rap game is supposed to be exemplified? How real things can be? Naw, Nas killed it in 1994 and ...more

The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem This album has sold more copies than most artists have sold in their life. This album is pretty much the Thriller of rap albums. And Stan. Damn. Em totally takes the level of storytelling in that song to the next level to the point where it's basically more of a story than a song. I get chills every time I listen to that song. Even songs like the Way I am and Marshall Mathers show us an angry side of Shady where he gets real about the negatives of fame and his blunt, unfiltered point of view about things. This album is pure perfection, nothing gets better than this. A very good album. So good, that it sold 1.78M copies in its first week of release and debuted at #1 on Billboard 200. It stayed atop the charts for 8 weeks and sold 7.9M copies by the end of the year. MMLP has went on be certified 10x Platinum and has been cited as one of the greatest musical albums of all time. It is in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame at #28, and has won two Grammys for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance for The Real Slim Shady. This album even produced the masterpiece single Stan, and the comedic The Real Slim Shady, both hitting #1 in the UK and are some of Eminem's most successful singles. This album is a true masterpiece and for that, it is the best selling album of the 21st century, with 10M copies sold in America and 35M copies sold worldwide. This album is simply excellent. It shows the newly emerging struggles of Marshall Mathers, while taking a wild turn into the mind of one of the most infamous anti-heroes in music/pop-culture. Eminem shows off an arsenal of different flows and clever even though violent punchlines with a massive shock value. This piece of artwork is a 10/10 for me. Everyone can say what they want about Eminem, just because he is white. But this album is a masterpiece, each song is shockingly brilliant and is just incredible. Stan is one of the greatest stories I have ever heard in a song and songs like Criminal, Who Knew and The Way I Am are classic songs that told all his critics and haters to shut up and listen to what he had to say. He made this album with no fear and that is what makes this album so special.



Everyone on here doesn't like a white guy being at the top of rap but that's just the way it is.

Ready to Die - The Notorious B.I.G. This is what hip hop rap is all about. All the songs are just over the top. This album changed the game. This album changed east west beef. Long kiss goodnight. Pushed it to level in hip hop that will never be reached again. Puff outro took it to BEYOND beef. All the tracks came out on the radio. The only album that has done that to this level. Illmatic from nas is original greatest album. This isn't a album the is the gospel of hip hop. The murder no the killing of pac and big changed the game no changed the world. This album is forever the best album ever made. His storytelling his delivery his heart was on display. His life was in this and his death is in this. It's not a album it the man in words. It's a thin line between love and hate. Love It or hate it this debate is over. As the words of rick flair to be the you have beat the man. The man is dead and took the title with him. Although I haven't listened to EVERY rap masterpiece yet, I have listened to all the ones mentioned above. But honestly I love every song on this album! My favorite! Don't get me wrong, I ain't 'bout the West Coast-East Coast thang. I love 'Pac but I like this more than "All Eyez on Me". I'm still yet to listen to other 'Pac albums like "Makaveli - Killuminati: The 7Day Theory" and "Me Against the World" but I listen to TONS of music and this is my favorite album! Don't download songs. You need the whole thang. Really a shame he only released two albums before his death. His flow is really easy, great songs like "Things Done Changed", "Juicy", and "Gimme the Loot" talking about the struggles of growing up, his rise to fame and luxury, and his life of crime.



As someone who's more of a rock fan, this album convinced me that hip hop can be excellent when done by a master like biggie. There is not one song on this track that doesn't blow my mind. Biggie, the king of flow. No one did it the way he did. He had the ability to effortlessly rhyme words the common man would think of. Props. This album objectifies his flow in poetic ingenious, and intelligience in choosing potent, but not overpowering beats and samples.

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan I go back and forth between this, Illmatic and Ready To Die for that top hip hop album. After at least 25 listens of EACH, I'm convinced this is it. Illmatic might've had the bigger impact but this was the blueprint for unique production technique and posses that would later form. Plus, just about every MC here went on to have big solo success, so yeah... This album is exhilarating beginning to end. I've heard Ready To Die and Illmatic multiple times, and the same can't be said for them. Amazing group of rappers, all did an amazing job on this album, making it one of the greatest rap albums of all time! RZA's raw production and perfect combination of rap styles makes it the best rap album ever made

To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar Powerful album, not an easy listen at all, this is art. He is able to capture the struggle's of a black youth in the streets and use the metaphor of a caterpillar transforming into something as beautiful as a butterfly as a perfect analogy. Depicts struggles of depression, self medication, racism and police brutality. It has a lot of influences but the sound is uniquely Kendrick's. 10/10 To Pimp a Butterfly hits you in a completely different way when you analyze and break it down piece by piece. This is a masterpiece, and easily the greatest rap album of all time. When you can relate to the topics very heavily, you start to take notice how much care, passion, and emotion were put into this record to give us some amazing commentary on society, storytelling, and symbolism through intelligent lyricism and wordplay. You can tell a story and the summary of the album just by the titles of each track, as well. Nothing is on the level of depth, meaning and complexity as To Pimp A Butterfly. The several concepts and philosophies in the lyrics along with an intricate reason behind every single beat and rhythm withing the allbum, historic. This is not just a rap album, it is a sublime piece artwork, a masterful story and a movement all in one. Kendrick Lamar goes throught the depths of his own life, society, Lucifer and of the people around him. The several genres of sound used all with a meaningful reason. The number of concepts and messages he explores is unfathomable. Honestly, no album could come close to this legendary work. There is just far too much to talk about in this album, one can only go listen and learn for themselves. This the Greatest Album of All Time. No Question. There is really nothing like this album. In 20 years, once nostalgia sets in, this is going to be revered in the top 3 rap albums of all time.

All Eyez on Me - 2Pac This thing has hit after hit, the charisma and energy are insane, doesn't feel like there's a low point, at least not in the first half. People call this trash because pac didn't have some huge ass political statement on it but you know what? Those concepts, of political and conscious hip hop are not what makes 2pac one of the greatest. He made an album that could vary in terms of mood track to track, but kept the same concept, had great production, and 2pac demonstrates his RAPPING skills. Not his skill at choosing a genre. Now don't get me wrong, dear mama, changes, etc. I have nothing WRONG with those, it's just not what makes him the best, just the simple concept of having conscious songs, but people act like those are automatically his best. 2pacalypse wasn't an amazing album, sure it had good lyricism at times and certainly bright spots, but if he spent his career with lots of songs of that album that were highlighted in his albums, never changed production quality, never improved technically, in terms of rapping, and never honed his lyrical skills any more, he wouldn't have so much respect. This is why this ...more This was the White Album of rap. Seminal. Angry. Just a pure faucet for Pac to spill all of his thoughts after being locked up for months. Some of the other of his albums may have been more like Bob Dylan. Poetic and succinct in its social commentary. But no other albums captures a Shakespearean moment more than this album. Yes California Love may be too overplayed but it is played for a reason. All the influences from Snoop to George Clinton on this make it the top rap album of all time. And it's not even close in my humble opinion. Honestly I liked this album one thousand times better than 2pacalypse. Yes, I know 2pacalypse had some great messages but pac had not fully developed his great flow, his very descriptive lyricism, and it had weak production. Pac just wasn't fully pac. But on this one, boy, pac goes hard on so many tracks, it just goes to show how much he improved from his first album to his last (when he was alive). by the way can't c me never gets its due

The Chronic - Dr. Dre I can't stand the so called experts that make these lists! Everyone of them puts a bunch of east coast artists on top. Truth is I've never heard one song off of Illmatic the so-called greatest album. I guarantee all you east coast judgmental, arrogant holy than though asses, know about all of dre's albums! Kiss my WEST COAST ASS The Chronic changed everything in the rap game from a musical and production stand point. Most rappers today were probably not born at the time this album dropped. It's a true classic album that should be number 1 It is literally the smoothest, yet hardest album I've ever heard. It's just funk mixed with classic hard core hip hop. Nobody does it like Dre. This should be #1. This one in my opinion should be top 3. From track 1 to the last it's all good. Everybody I know likes this album, don't know why it's so low

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West Eminem's albums are alright bc he's a technically proficient rapper. But Kanye looks at the overall picture.



Everything about this album is art. It's a modern day concept album. The beats are grand and opulent and showcase the best in hip hop at their collaborative best. Kanye brings his A game lyrically to match his guests.



And if you have to take an album to represent the hip hop genre (think Thriller for pop or Abbey Road for the rock), then this is the representative. One of the best Albums ever. Kanye West at his magnificent best. The production is perfect, All the songs are amazing there is not one bad song on this album, Kanye steps up his lyrical game, his flow is great and the features all shine whether it be Nicki's verse on Monster or Rick Ross's verse on devil in a new dress. Kanye uses My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as a platform to show that after the Taylor Swift incident he is not just one of the most creative rappers of all time but one of the best artists of all time. The best album of the decade so far and truly a masterpiece from start to end. Thank you Kanye Omari West for blessing us with a truly timeless album which just like Illmatic, Ready to Die and other classic albums we will be telling our grandchildren 50 years from now. Its not only a great rap album, but its music in its purest form. Elements of pop, rock, rnb, and vast experimentation and elegant orchestral moments to form this beautiful opus. Lyircally, the project is quotable from beginnign to end and houses both Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross's finest verses to date. Without a dull moment on this album, it was this perfect moment that brought us into the new decade, showing how far the genre has gone. What was once deemed unmusical, hip-hop has gone from a genre developed in cults using creative ways of managing a low budget to becomming as big as it is on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Its bold, its elegant, its creative, but above all, it is Kanye's beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy that showed how far not only hip-hop, but music can go. Classic, one of greatest albums ever made. Just close your eyes and let Kanye perform on the stage that he sets with this album

Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A. It has been years since I first heard it and I still come back to it regularly, it never gets old, or loses it's edge. Has there ever been an opening track like Straight Outta Compton? Did there even need to be another track on the album after that? Probably not... But there is, and start to finish it's just one absolute classic after another, for me it's the highest point of RAP ever, and I honestly don't see anything else coming close to the genuine edginess or relevance this has in abundance. The honesty and humour that embelish it's excellent social commentary is something even the most talented of wordsmiths cannot replicate and the fact that the listener never once gets a sniff of pretension speaks volumes for what the album has to offer, there are great artists, great producers, great lyricists, great innovators, great pioneers, and great events that change the course of things to come, but has there ever been a RAP album that oozed all of this greatness combined from every ...more This Is An Album That Changed history. One of the only albums that had a parental advisory sticker at the time. And the first group to ever say the Police. Many people can agree that this is one of the greatest rap albums of all time. With songs like Straight Outta Compton, the Police, Gangsta Gangsta, Express yourself, And 8-Ball are great, These are some of the best rappers of all time. Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Eazy-E are a great example. First time I heard this album it blew my mind! Almost 30 years later it continues to destroy any competiotion! How this is not number one will always amaze me, even today you can hear the influence this album had on modern music. I remember when I was little I was just getting into rap, and I listened to this, because my dad had the album, and I saw the Parental Advisory thing and just knew right off the bat I would enjoy it!

The Eminem Show - Eminem Not only is this Eminem's best, but this is the greatest rap album ever. The five singles from this album are the following: Without Me, Cleanin' Out My Closet, Superman, Sing for the Moment, and Business. All are among his best songs and have countless outstanding lines, especially Without Me and Superman, filled with poetic genius. The album also features notable songs not released as singles, including Square Dance, Say Goodbye Hollywood, and Hailie's Song. Another song not released as a single on this album is 'Till I Collapse, which I believe is the greatest song of all-time to never have been released as a single. Eminem was at his best on this album. Yes I am white and yes my favourite rapper is Eminem, but there is no need to moan at me because of it. I listen to other artists such as Nas, Pac, Dre and Biggie but I prefer Eminem and that is how it is and you won't change my mind. This is my fave Em album just behind The Marshall Mathers LP but Illmatic would go in between these 2 then 2001 would go next. This album doesn't have a bad song and it was Em at his prime. Trash Album from the most over rated mediocre rapper of all time. The Great White Hype. Eminem's weak point is his album catalog. It's all trash but the first album. Typical biased ass white trash culture vultures hyping white because it's white with no clue what hip hop is. The Slim Shady LP is his best work and you wiggas have two of his trash albums on a top 10 list when they aren't even top 75 albums. lmao get TF outta here. Just because u hear it in the gym or on easy listening channels doesn't mean it's dope. please die off From Slim Shady (LP) to Marshall Mathers (LP) to Eminem (Show). He named it The Eminem Show because he realized this is what he wants to say as an artist, not as a persona. And Eminem makes it feel like a show, this album is bigger than his previous work and Em let's no one get away unharmed. This record feels honest and raw and the tracklist nowadays reads pretty much like a list of classic songs.

The Contenders

good kid, m.A.A.d. city - Kendrick Lamar The storytelling on this is insane, great production, great lyrics.

Even though a lot of these songs work well alone, it definitely is an entirely different experience as an album and should be heard start to finish. So consistent. This is the only album where every song is a hit. The lyrics flow so well and the story they tell us is a masterpiece mix of memories, struggles, and goals. This album has a bonus track that also includes all amazing songs. From Backseat Freestyle, to Poetic Justice, to Real, this is hands down the best album of the 2000's and one of the greatest albums of all-time. There is not one song on this album that I do not enjoy. The production was amazing, and the way the songs were put together was fantastic. Kendrick Lamar displays his lyricism and flow, as well as his story telling. Out of the bonus songs, Black Boy Fly is by far the best. If you haven't heard this album, then you're about to be obsessed with this for the next month. Along with great beats, this album really tells a clear story unlike most other albums. The skits really help the listener understand Kendrick's story and show high emotion - especially at the end of Swimming pools where shots are fired and his friend Dave is killed. Overall this is my favorite album ATM and I can't wait for Kendrick's next one.

Life After Death - The Notorious B.I.G. Why is this so low. This is considered one of the greatest rap albums of all time. It is 1/7 albums of rap to be Certifed Diamond selling over 10 million albums and it can't even make the top 10. The Notorious B.I.G.'s 2nd and last studio album to be finished before his death. With singles like Hypnotize, Mo Money Mo Problems, and Sky's The Limit are top ten hits. Other songs on this album are great like Ten Crack Commandments, Kick In The Door, Going Back To Cali, and You're nobody till somebody kills you. Beating Puff Daddy's " No Way Out " album to nominated a Grammy. How can this not make the Top Ten. I have never heard a rapper spitting the same level of consistency on a double disc album like Biggie

Unfortunately somebody gotta die and that somebody was Biggie How is the carter 3 bigger than this! Damn mo money mo problems and notorious thugs are the bomb! B.I. G should be there next to

1. Ready To Die-Notorious B.I. G

2. Illmatic-Nas

3. Life After Death-Notorious B.I. G It is a very long album, but definitely worth the listen, fantastic story telling, subliminal messaging, and imagery. Iconic...

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back - Public Enemy This was back before political rap went off track. Personally I thinks its gotten out of hand. Chuck-D was brillant at gettin his message across without tryin to be contriversal. This might be thought of as a critism but its praise for not trying to stir up the media into givin them free promotion because the quality of this album speaks for itself The use of samples and sound effects to create musical tracks with Chuck D's booming vocals and Flava Flav's adlibs on top makes this a brilliant masterpiece. This is it, people. I know there's a separation between fans of old rap and modern rap, but give this a listen. It's good to know where your music came from. This is my favourite album ever! You should know this should be on first place, Rolling Stone ranked it higher than any hip-hop album on the list

Reasonable Doubt - Jay-Z The best rap album period. From the production of the instrumentals, the connection between the songs and their fluidity together to make up one whole "movie", the sincerity and emotion in the lyrics, intelligence of the rapper and featured artists, elegance of the delivery on every song on the album, the truthful element it contains about Jay's life and a drug dealer or hustler's life, and the fact that unlike most albums, its not just a collection of singles pieced together with no form of connection at all or flow from one song to the next. This album will make you feel like you are from Brooklyn no matter where you are from. It speaks for evryone struggling and trying hard to make a living. What rap is all about, added to the guilt conscience that jay has because of his dealings in drugs.

D' Evils, Politics as Usual, Can I Live, Regrets, Dead Presidents definitely the top tracks This album and illmatic are the best two rap albums ever made and it will always be that way. So many genius songs on this album its unbelievable. To name a few, can't knock the hustle, politics as usual, devils, cashmere thoughts and friend or foe Jay-Z?! What?! That dude has no talent, he just steals lines. Don't belive me? Go check on YouTube-Greatest Bitter Jay-Z. Nas said enough on Ether and you can clearly hear that Eminem murdered him on Renegade. The only reasonable doubt that this is the best album ever comes from the fact that Illmatic made it possible.

Me Against the World - Tupac Come on all eyes on me over this? Please. No disrespect to all eyes on me because it is a great album but has more filler than my Mothers stomach. Me against the world is pax at his best. He is also in one of the worst places in his life but that gave way to amazing music. The only track that I would consider even slightly mediocre is outlaws All Eyez On Me over Me Against The World? that's a lie. I beg to differ because Me Against The World is lyrically consistent unlike All Eyez On Me. This album shows Tupac at his prime and wasn't rushed like All Eyez On Me. In one of the most controversial years of his life he still dropped one of greatest albums hip hop has to offer and that's saying something. This is better then all eyez on me in my opinion. Really good album, great lyrics in all of his songs, intricate storytelling, plenty of assonance, alliteration, good rhymes, etc. This album is truly a masterpiece



Most lyrical tracks on this album



-If I Die Tonight

-Me Against The World

-It ain't Easy I know Tupac fans go on about how great all eyes on me is but I personally think me against the world is just abit better and deserve just amount as credit don't get me wrong all eyes on me is great I just feel with me against the world he put more soul and passion into it and you can just really feel him.

The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest Probably my most listened to rap album so far.

The beats/jazz are great, the lyrics are great (see Show Business and The Infamous Date ****). Really makes you pay attention to what Phife and Tip are saying. Combine that with head boppers like The Jazz and Buggin' Out and you've gt a quintessential jazz rap album. This definitely should be high up on this list. Tribe were the pioneers of making positive and socially conscious rap and so many countless rappers were influenced by this album. Not to mention this album introduced the world to the legendary Busta Rhymes! I wont say any particular album is the greatest of all time, but you're telling me any Biggie or Tupac record is greater than The Low End Theory! Are you crazy? Amazing album front to back, amazing flow from tip and phife, priceless beats by A.S Muhammad. Top 5 of all time in my book! No doubt the most influential rap album of all time. Q-Tip is an amazing emcee and everything about this album is near perfect

Madvillainy - Madvillain There is no hip hop album that has ever been released quite like this one. MF Doom has a totally unique flow and is easily one of the greatest wordsmiths not only in hip hop history, but in music history. You could read any verse of his at all, and it will blow your mind. Then there's Madlib, who, thanks to his incredibly vast knowledge of music, makes some of the most beautifully abstract instrumentals ever. I could go into great detail about every individual track because they're all fantastic, but I can't. You just have to experience it for yourself. MF Doom is the most underrated rapper of all time hands down. His flow is butter smooth, I mean he says it himself. Madlib’s beats are insane and sampled to perfection. Could be #1 if it they were mainstream artists. Best underground album of all time! This is the best experimental hip-hop album ever recorded. It puts me in an almost dreamlike state every time I listen to it. The composition by Madlib is haunting and fluid, and M.F. Doom is an absolute wordsmith. It's a pure masterpiece. If you haven't heard this album, I implore you to check it out. MF Doom is amazing really. He can string together a song and make it better than the entire career of Hopsin (then again, spilling fresh coffee on yourself is better than the entire career of Hopsin so)

Paid in Full - Eric B. & Rakim Without this album, we would have never had most of the albums listed above. Eric B is one of the best DJs of all time combined with one of the best rappers of all time. Every song on the album is incredible. Start to finish. Some people might not like the beats anymore because they are used to the way music is produced now. The imagery Rakim uses in every song on this album is unparalleled to anything I've ever heard. "Dance with the speaker till You hear it blow, then plug in the headphones because here it goes" lots of double entendres "whoever's outta hand imma give them handles, light em up blow em out like candles, or should I just let them melt? " Literal meanings to aspects you wouldn't normally think of like using the "rhyme can't be kept inside" breaking the word inside into different bars. Rhyming paragraphs with paragraphs conveying a logical message. Playing with syllables. Using math. He proves he ain't no joke to start off the album. "As the rhyme goe on" gets rougher ...more "I hold the microphone like a grudge, B'll hold the record so the neddle don't budge"



These two set the bar high. Very high. Crazy rhymes, clear flow, and top-notch beats.



Everything that came after owes this album something. Man y'all got little doped up 18-24 yr olds voting! That's the ONLY reasoning for this masterpiece not being in the top 3! I bet even the other rappers in the top 10 will attest to it! Yes I do love most of the albums above this, Tupac and biggie were legends as is Eminem. the wu-tang clan is raw and rugged bringing their own style and Nas is my favourite rapper and illmatic is my favourite album. but this is the best album not our favourites. paid in full is a pure blood classic that every rapper that came after these two (all of the above) owes a large chunk of their success to. this album inspired so much talent in the rap scene its almost a crime this isn't at least in the top 5

Liquid Swords - GZA Lyrically, this is one of the greatest albums ever made. I'd go so far as to say it's as good (if not better) than Illmatic (lyrically, of course). However the Wu-Tang style is not for everyone, and it definitely took me a while to begin appreciating Liquid Swords. This is what turns people off about this album, it's not like anything you usually here out of a rap song (unless you've listened to Wu-Tang). That being said, if you give this album say, three or four complete listens, then you will realize why this needs to be at the top. Is it the greatest album of all time? No, it's too stylistic for people's taste and very different from any genre of rap/hip-hop. However, I'd take this over big albums like The Chronic or Me Against the World. This is the best album of all time, yet it’s extremely underrated. You put together the best lyricist and best producer and you get a masterpiece. There’s a reason GZA’s nick name is Genius. Every song has an insane beat, every song has flow and rhythm, every song has lyrics that blows your mind. #1. This is probably the most lyrical album I have. GZA The Genius obliterates everything, stomps on everything, cuts everyone's head off, and he dropped megaton bombs more faster than you blink. A darker atmosphere created by RZA's infamous producing combined with THE GENIUS makes this album so legendary. Never forget guest appearances including Ghostface Killah dropping it on "4th Chamber". Probably my favorite hip hop album OAT. Every song is near-perfect, all the Wu members kill their verses, the production is innovative and amazing, GZA's lyricism is very intricate, and Duel of the Iron Mic is one of my favorite songs of all time.



Highlights on this album (other than Duel of the Iron Mic) are 4th Chamber, Shadowboxin' and B.I.B.L.E.

2001 - Dr. Dre This should be WAY higher. Maybe the most well produced albums of all time Along with the chronic, with each song from top to bottom having amazing features, rapping, and production. This is is especially impressive being that the song has over 20 songs and still manages to make every song enjoyable. A classic indeed. Still Dre, Forgot about Dre, The Watcher man this album is just amazing, it has the best beats of all time and some of the best lyrics of all time, well produced, pace and instrumentals differ with each song but don't lose their edge, just download it... Kush, still dre, forgot about dre... songs feature nate dogg, dr dre, Eminem, snoop, kurupt... such great beat and raps flow so hard... how can yo argue with this? By the way where is raw footage and laugh now cry later by the cube? This is probably the best hip hop album of all time. The producing is amazing and dre absolutely kills it on these tracks. My favorite hip hop album of all time And honestly the best

The Slim Shady LP - Eminem Of all of Eminem's mainstream albums, why is this last, why is Recovery, Encore and Relapse above this. This was Em at his most shocking and very funny. This is easily his most underrated album. Also that guy who voted for the Carter I and said this "The Cater 3 should be #1 easily. Because Eminem never got a good album like this. This album goes hard just like the rest of Lil Wayne's. Eminem only has like 1 0r 2 good albums where as Lil Wayne has like 10. Lil Wayne= Best rapper alive. Lil Wayne owns the show so everyone just sit down. Are people crazy? This album is #1 of all time! How can you possibly think Encore is better than this? People gotta have more respect for Slim Shady, best lyricist ever, great flow, The Slim Shady LP, has so much good songs, this album is even better than albums like "All Eyez On Me" "Marshall Mathers LP" Illmatic" "Ready to Die", those albums are awesome, but this one is even better! I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned, this is Em's 3rd best album. It ain't as good as MMLP and The Eminem Show but it is better than Recovery and Infinite and much better than Encore and Relapse. Rock Bottom is one of his best songs and just shows you how hard and how far it took him to get to the top and no one will have it harder and deserves to be named the G.O.A.T Common 19 is to low for this album should be way higher, I get that it's not top 5 but common should easily be top 10 every track was fire.

Graduation - Kanye West Kanye is just perfect on this album almost reaching his prime.

The stories are both about overcoming hunger, success, going for your dreams

It's an actual graduation.

Best albums of all time for me, after My Dark Twisted Fantasy. Not one Kanye album sounds similar to the other and I think that's beautiful! This plunged Kanye into mainstream with its killer production and authentic sound! Good choice! I give him a lot of respect on his cd because he got away from the regular. Originality is key 2 success and kanye proves that Best rap album of all time next to ready to die in my opinion. Everything I am was so sweet

Raising Hell - Run DMC This disc was far too influential to be left out of the top 25. It took early hip-hop to people who wouldn't have heard the genre otherwise. walk this way, its tricky, my adidas

The College Dropout - Kanye West Not only was this a good album, but it was funny! The skits and some of the lyrics had me laughing out loud, something I didn't know I can expect from a rap album.

Not only is this one of Kanye's best works, but its definitely a memorable album period. Superb album from start to finish, there's no dip in quality. The songs and skits are brilliant. The best part is probably the last 3 songs and last Call is a great ending.



This is probably the best list overall on this site even if there's too much love for Eminem as always. This could easily be top 5 all time. It is, by far, Kanye's best work. it is usually underrated only because of the lack of listeners. You can not call yourself a Kanye fan if you have not listened to this entire masterpiece of an album. I definitely agree when it comes to how much school sucks, and it seemed like kanye was happier.