Hip Hop was birthed in the summer of 1973 which makes this genre, we all love so much, 48 years old!
As you can imagine, with Hip Hop having been around for nearly a half a century the task of picking the 5 best years out of all of those years seems inconceivable but for the love of the culture I thought I'd give it a go.
With this edition I want to look at what I consider to be the 'best' 5 years in Hip Hop, accompanied by 10 albums from each year that, depending on who you talk to, could be contenders for the best releases of that year. Not saying they are the 10 best albums of that year but 10 albums that are definately favoured among the Hip Hop community.
Each year could have so much more than 10 albums listed so be warned, your favourite might not have made my cut, and for the sake of time I have intentionally not listed any honourable mentions (which made choosing only 10 even harder Lol!).
Just to clarify, when I say 'Best' albums or 'Best' years I am not referring to record sales or commercial recognition but rather impact on the culture, how many albums from that specific year are considered classics and of course the quality of the albums themselves.
Grab a drink, put your feet up and prepare to come with me on a journey down memory lane while we look at my top 5 years in Hip Hop!
05:
As I've mentioned on previous blogs, it was through the passion and love my big sister had for Hip Hop as far back as I can remember and hearing the amazing music she would spin on a daily basis that peaked my interest in this beautiful genre.
Prior to this, it was only the typical pop like rap music that I heard, artists like MC Hammer and Kriss Kross for example, as this is what I would hear on the radio etc.
I was around 11 years old when I fell deeply in love with Hip Hop for myself (which was around 1992), so 1993 was still a very formative period for me. I was still learning and discovering the sounds, artists and albums I truly liked, this was still very much the Honeymoon period of my relationship with Hip Hop and everything felt so enjoyable, informative and fresh.
Like every other year listed, 1993 gave us some dope singles and albums that became the soundtrack to my early years in secondary school.
1993 was the year that gave us some outstanding debut albums, some that were highly anticipated and some that seem to come out of no where and knocked us all out.
Here are arguably 10 of the best Hip Hop albums from 1993 in no particular order:
Snoop Dogg: Doggystyle
Queen Lafifah: Black Reign
Wu Tang Clan: Enter The Wu Tang
Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Maurauders
Black Moon: Enta Da Stage
Naughty By Nature: 19 Naughty III
Onyx: Bacdafucup
Bo$$: Born Gangstaz
Tha Alkoholiks: 21 & Over
Souls Of Mischief: 93 'til Infinity
04:
1994 is jam packed with goodies, and also includes Nas' debut which is seen by many as one of the best Hip Hop albums ever made.
We also got alot of other dope debut drops this year, from the likes of Keith Murray, Warren G, Da Brat, Method Man, Craig Mack, Artifacts, MOP, OutKast, BIG and Saafir amongst others.
I'd say this was the year that I firmly began to develop a personal taste and a real sense for what I really liked within Hip-Hop.
It was this year that my appetite for music really began to increase which meant, as greatful as I was, big sis' passed down purchases alone were no longer enough for me, it was this year that I began going to record shops after school and on weekends and actually spending my own money on music and building my own collection.
Method Man's Tical, BIG's Ready To Die, Shaq's Shaq Fu: Da Return and Da Brat's Funkdafied were amongst my first ever purchases.
Here are arguably 10 of the best Hip Hop albums from 1994 in no particular order:
Gang Starr: Hard to Earn
Nas: Illmatic
OutKast: Southernplayalisticadillacmuzic
Redman: Dare Iz A Darkside
Jeru The Damaja: Sun Rises in the East
MC Eiht: We Come Strapped
Notorious B.I.G: Ready To Die
Scarface: The Diary
Pete Rock & CL Smooth: Main Ingredient
Orgnaized Konfusion: Stress: The Extinction Agenda.
03:
1988 was a year in Hip Hop I didn't really experience first hand but, once again, thanks to big sis I heard alot of the gems from this year through her.
When I got to the point of really loving Hip Hop for myself I made it my duty to go back and listen to some of the classics I missed or simply never paid attention to.
My sister's favourite group/artist of all time was Public Enemy so before I was even a true fan of Hip Hop I knew most of the words to their first 4 albums lol and already knew how brilliant 1988's It Takes A Nation.. was and still is.
Even though I went back and listened to alot of the other classics from this year I have always felt just listening to something will never have the same impact as living through something, but I genuinely believe if I was listening to and investing in Hip Hop in 1988 they way I was from 1992 onwards, 1988 would be top of my list today as my favourite year.
In 1988, all I cared about was Michael Jackson, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and WWF wrestling but little did I know, the amount of incredible Hip Hop that was being made that would impact the culture so greatly and for so long and would also become one of the loves of my life.
1988 is packed with seminal releases and undeniable classics that sound as good today as they sounded over 3 decades ago.
Here are arguably 10 of the best Hip Hop albums from 1988 in no particular order:
BDP: By All Means Necessary
RUN DMC: Tougher Than Leather
Ice T: Power
Big Daddy Kane: Long Live The Kane
Erick B & Rakim: Follow The Leader
EPMD: Strictly Business
NWA: Straight Outta Compton
Slick Rick: Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Ultramagnetic MCs: Critical Beatdown
Public Enemy: It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
02:
For as far back as I can remember, I have always credited 1995 as my favourite year in Hip hop, It was only recently when I really began looking into and going over the releases of other years that I dropped 1995 back to second place.... Which in a genre that has been around for nearly 50 years is still an amazing feat.
For me personally, 1995 was generally a great year and I have no doubt that the amount of excellent Hip Hop that was released added to the greatness of that year and the experiences I had.
A few key things happened in Hip Hop in 1995, which were not all good. We saw the unexpected death of Eazy-E due to Aids, 2pac was sentenced to serve up to four years in prison for sexual abuse charges, he also implicates BIG as the one responsible for him being shot and robbed a few months earlier. BIG drops "Who Shot Ya" which unintentially fuels 2Pacs rage even more, Ice Cube drops the classic hood movie "Friday" and it was this year we saw the iconic second edition of the Source Awards which gave us moments we all still refer to, like Suge Knight subliminally taking shots at Bad Boy Records and Andre 3000 telling us 'The South has something to say'.
Amongst other things, 1995 gave us a huge amount of dope music, classic albums and singles, it was very difficult to pick just 10 albums but that's one of the reasons I have ranked 1995 so high.
Not only did 1995 give us a stellar list of excellent albums but depending on who you ask, you could hear a completely different list of 10 albums from 1995 that deserves to be mentioned on any given day of the week. Even if you only take the Wu camp into consideration, we are already talking about 3 classic albums.
Here are arguably 10 of the best Hip Hop albums from 1995 in no particular order:
Smif-N-Wessun: Da Shinin'
2pac: Me Against The World
Mobb Deep: Infamous
Bone Thugs N harmony: E.1999 Eternal
Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Das Efx: Hold It Down
Kool G Rap: 4, 5, 6
AZ: Doe or Die
Tha Dogg Pound: Dogg Food
GZA: Liquid Swords
01:
1996 saw the release of 2pac from prison and also his murder which was just a few short months later. This undoubtedly shocked and shook the Hip Hop world and if I'm being honest, it's probably the hip hop death that impacted me the most.
Though 1996 was a very interesting year in Hip Hop releases and one that came with both impressive commercial and underground classics, it was clear to see that in 1996, Hip Hop was having an identity crisis.
1996 was one of the years that helped strengthen the "Bling Era" which was a time that alot of hip hop fans look back upon with distain. Don't get me wrong, from its conception and from the very first MCs, Hip Hop has involved bragging and arrogant bars but the ability to have lyrics that could move the crowd were always at the forefront. The bling era was all about possessions and material things which wasn't a great time for the culture.
Without sounding contradictory, all the above is what added to making 1996 such a great year because in the midst of Hip Hop clearly being pulled in different directions, it produced some of the most varied, confrontational, creative and interesting releases we've seen.
Wether you wanted Hard-core, Political, Gangster, Conscious, Commercial, Underground, Material, Mafioso, Lyrical or just Hip Hop to dance to, 1996 had it all. Even some of the overly commercial drops were extremely enjoyable.
Apart from my favourite rapper dropping his best album, another highlight of 1996 for me was that it seemed like all the coasts were doing well and producing great music, just a year after the infamous 1995 Source Awards it seemed the coasts and other regions were accepting the heat that other areas had to offer.
An impressive FOUR of my top 10 favourite Hip Hop albums of all time are from 1996 which proves how impactful this year was for me.
Here are arguably 10 of the best Hip Hop albums from 1996 in no particular order:
2pac: All Eyez On Me
The Fugees: The Score
Redman: Muddy Waters
Jay Z: Reasonable Doubt
De La Soul: Stakes Is High
Nas: It Was Written
UGK: Ridin' Dirty
Mobb Deep : Hell On Earth
Ghostface Killah: Ironman
MOP: Firing Squad
I know I said I'm not adding Honourable Mentions but as I have named 1996 as the best year in Hip Hop, its only right I name at least 4, so here they are:
2pac: 7 Day Theory
The Roots: Illadelph Halflife
Heltah Skeltah: Nocturnal
OutKast: ATLiens
As I mentioned in the opening of this blog, Hip Hop is now at the grand age of 48 so there are obviously so many excellent years we could pick from. The five I have listed as the 'Best' are obviously only in my opinion.
Before I sign out, let me give an Honourable Mention to the years 1997 & 1998.
1997 gave us albums like these:
1998 gave us albums like these:
As always... Thank you for taking the time to read this and please feel free to drop your top 5 years in Hip hop !!
In The Spotlight... Peace!
