I’m often asked (and I mean OFTEN) what my favourite Hip-Hop albums are and what artists I get my motivation from. Here is a list, in order of chronology, of the albums that have had the biggest impact on my career and writing styles over the years. You will notice that the vast majority of the albums are pre-2000. There is a reason for that. That is when Hip-Hop was at its greatest without a doubt in my mind. Top 100 listed below:
1987
Eric B & Rakim – Paid in Full
1988
N.W.A Straight Outta Compton
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock – It Takes Two
1990
LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out
1991
N.W.A – EFIL4ZAGGIN
Naughty By Nature
2Pac – 2Pacalypse Now
1992
Dr. Dre – The Chronic
Compton’s Most Wanted – Music To Driveby
1993
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers
Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle
2Pac – Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…
MC Ren – Shock of The Hour
Naughty By Nature – 19 Naughty III
Spice 1 – 187 He Wrote
Eazy-E – It’s On (187um) Killa
Cypress Hill – Black Sunday
Ice Cube – Lethal Injection
1994
Thug Life – Volume 1
MC Eiht featuring CMW – We Come Strapped
Gang Starr – Hard To Earn
Warren G – Regulate… G-Funk Era
Spice 1 – AmeriKKKa’z Nightmare
Ant Banks – The Big Bad Ass
Bone Thugs -n- Harmony – Creepin on ah Come Up
Nas – Illmatic
1995
Tha Dogg Pound – Dogg Food
Bone Thugs -n- Harmony – E. 1999 Eternal
Mobb Deep – The Infamous…
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
2Pac – Me Against The World
Too $hort – Cocktails
Brotha Lynch Hung – Season of da Siccness
AZ – Doe or Die
LL Cool J – Mr. Smith
C-Bo – Tales from the Crypt
1996
2Pac – All Eyez On Me
2Pac/Makaveli – The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory
Mobb Deep – Hell on Earth
Snoop Doggy Dogg – Tha Doggfather
Nas – …It Was Written
Westside Connection – Bow Down
MC Ren – Da Villain in Black
Too $hort – Gettin’ It (Album Number Ten)
Foxy Brown – Ill Na Na
Fugees – The Score
Lost Boyz – Legal Drug Money
1997
Mack 10 – Based on a True Story
DJ Muggs presents… the Soul Assassins: Chapter 1
Rappin’ 4-Tay – 4 Tha Hard Way
Gridlock’d – The Soundtrack
Bone Thugs -n- Harmony – The Art of War
The Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death
The Firm – The Album
Wu-Tang Clan – Wu-Tang Forever
Rascalz – Ca$h Crop
Lost Boyz – Love, Peace & Nappiness
Puff Daddy & The Family – No Way Out
Capone -N- Noreaga – The War Report
1998
MC Ren – Ruthless For Life
Xzibit – 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz
Daz Dillinger – Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back
Method Man – Tical 2000: Judgement Day
Cypress Hill – IV
Ras Kass – Rasassination
Jay-Z – Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life
C-Bo – Til My Casket Drops
RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo
1999
MC Eiht – Section 8
Naughty By Nature – 19 Naughty Nine: Nature’s Fury
Dr. Dre – 2001
Ant Banks presents T.W.D.Y. – Derty Work
Rascalz – Global Warning
Saukrates – The Underground Tapes
Inspectah Deck – Uncontrolled Substance
2000
Snoop Dogg presents… Tha Eastsidaz
Cypress Hill – Skull & Bones
2001
Cypress Hill – Stoned Raiders
Nas – Stillmatic
Brotha Lynch Hung & C-Bo – Blocc Movement
Mr. Cheeks – John P. Kelly
Kurupt – Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey
2002
Tech N9ne – Absolute Power
Spice 1 – Spiceberg Slim
Rascalz – Reloaded
2003
Rappin’ 4-Tay – Gangsta Gumbo
50 Cent – Get Rich or Die tryin’
2004
Mobb Deep – Amerikaz Nightmare
Snoop Dogg – R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece
Spice 1 & MC Eiht – Pioneers
213 – The Hard Way
Kanye West – College Dropout
2005
DJ Muggs vs. GZA/Genius – Grandmasters
Warren G – In The Midnite Hour
The Game – The Documentary
2006
MC Eiht & Brotha Lynch Hung – The New Season
Snoop Dogg – Tha Blue Carpet Treatment
2007
WC -Guilty By Affiliation
2008
DJ Muggs & Planet Asia – Pain Language
Prodigy of Mobb Deep – H.N.I.C. 2
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