A couple of months back I found myself debating with a coworker the finer points of Hip Hop, all-time greatest albums and a bunch of other things that could never fully be settled for any reasonable period of time. Like the usual banter it ended up going on and on with no end in sight, so in order to end the debate, or more likely because a good part of me just wanted to argue on my own terms, I created my own list of the top 101 Hip-Hop albums of all time. Feel free to bring on the debate, criticisms, and missing items because I’m sure that I left out a few, but at the same time… mine is better than yours and I’d love to argue about it all day long! By the way… only the first 25 or so are in any particular order.

Top 101 Hip Hop Albums of All Time

1. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
2. Nas - Illmatic
3. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
4. Mobb Deep - The Infamous
5. Organized Konfusion - The Extinction Agenda
6. Gangstarr - Daily Operation
7. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & The Soul Brother
8. Showbiz & A.G. - Runaway Slave
9. Jay Z - Reasonable Doubt
10. Diamond D and the Psychotic Neurotics - Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop
11. Gza - Liquid Swords
12. Organized Konfusion - Organized Konfusion
13. De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
14. Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded
15. Group Home - Livin- Proof
16. Smif and Wesson - Da Shinin’
17. Gangstarr - Moment of Truth
18. Ghostface Killa - Ironman
19. Jeru The Damaja - Sun Rises In The East
20. Black Moon - Enta Da Stage
21. Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Links
22. Notorious BIG - Ready To Die
23. Ghostface Killa - Supreme Clientele
24. Brand Nubian - All For One
25. The Beatnuts - Street Level
26. Wu Tang Clan - Enter The 36 Chambers
27. Run DMC - Raising Hell
28. O.C. - Word Life
29. EPMD - Unfinished Business
30. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
31. Main Source - Breaking Atoms
32. De La Soul - Stakes Is High
33. NWA - Niggaz4life
34. Kool G Rap - 4,5,6
35. Prince Paul - Prince Among Thieves
36. Big L - The Big Picture
37. Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
38. Slick Rick - The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
39. BDP - Edutainment
40. Fat Joe - Jealous Ones Envy
41. Akinyele - Vagina Diner
42. Eric B. & Rakim - Follow The Leader
43. Alkaholics - 21 & Over
44. Biz Markie - Goin’ Off
45. KRS One - Return of the Boom Bap
46. The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride To The Pharcyde
47. Boogie Down Productions - Live Album
48. MOP - Warriorz
49. Das Efx - Dead Serious
50. Ultramagnetic MC’s - Critical Beatdown
51. Boogie Down Productions - The Blueprint of Hip Hop
52. Digable Planets - Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
53. Redman - Dare Is A Darkside
54. Onyx - Bacdafucup
55. Mos Def - Black On Both Sides
56. Notorious BIG - Life After Death
57. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
58. Makavelli - The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory
59. O.C. - Jewels
60. The Roots - Things Fall Apart
61. Souls of Mischief - 93 to Infinity
62. Out Kast - Southerplaylisticcadilacfunkinmusic
63. Rass Kass - Soul On Ice
64. De The Funky Homosapien - No Need For Alarm
65. Mobb Deep - Hell On Earth
66. Pharoah Monch - Internal Affairs
67. Grand Puba - Real To Real
68. Original Flavor - Beyond Flavor
69. Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night
70. Dr. Dre. - The Chronic
71. Onyx - All We Got Is Us
72. Smooth The Hustler - Once Upon A Time
73. Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
74. De La Soul - Buhloon Mindstate
75. EPMD - Business Never Personal
76. Gangstarr - Hard To Earn
77. M.C. Lyte - Eyes On This
78. Redman - Muddy Waters
79. Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full
80. Dr. Dre - Chronic 2001
81. Out Kast - Aquemini
82. M.O.P - Firing Squad
83. Common - Resurrection
84. M.O.P - Warriorz
85. Madvillain - Madvillainy
86. Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus
87. Masta Ace - Slaughta House
88. Blackstar- Blackstar
89. Showbiz & A.G - Good Fellas
90. Big L - Lifestyles of the Poor and Dangerous
91. Bahamadia - Kollage
92. 3^rd Base - The Cactus Album
93. The Lost Boyz - Legal Drug Money
94. Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
95. Pete Rock - Soul Survivor
96. Lord Finesse - The Awakening
97. Big Daddy Kane - Long Live The Kane
98. Common - Like Water For Chocolate
99. Leaders of The New School - Case of the PTA
100. Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes
101. The Roots - Illadelph Halflife

Related posts:

1. Bobbito Garcia Talks Serato + Rejected Organized Konfusion Demo Tape
2. Jay Z - The Motown Album Download
3. The Significance of DJ Premier
4. Black Milk - Red Bull Music Academy Session
5. Top 50 Greatest Producers In Hip Hop and Rap