For me, 1991 is the first truly great year in rap.  Before this, most of my lists have had some absolute gems, but the bottom few have had some filler or skippable tracks.  Here, I ran out of space trying keep the list down to a reasonable number.

And to that end, I’m going to note that some really good soundtracks came out this year.  None were great from beginning to end (very few soundtrack albums are), but at least half the songs were.  Those were:

• Juice.  The title track is my absolute favorite Eric B and Rakim song.
• Boyz N Tha Hood.  Cube’s, “How to Survive in South Central” is one of his best songs.  But we also got Tony! Toni! Tone!’s “Me and You” and a remix of Main Source’s, “Friendly Game of Baseball.”  Among other great cuts.
• New Jack City.  A great soundtrack for a great movie, with great songs like Ice-T’s “New Jack Hustler” and Color Me Badd’s “I Wanna Sex U Up.”
• Cool as Ice.  Just kidding, of course.

And now, for the best rap albums of the year 1991…A lucky 13!

13. We Can’t Be Stopped by Geto Boys.  Also, this year brought Scarface’s solo debut, Mr. Scarface is Back–which was also very good.  Just not great enough to be called a GOAT.

12. Straight Checkn ‘Em by Compton’s Most Wanted.  With their second album, MC Eiht and Tha Chill hit their groove in a major way.  “Growin’ Up in the Hood” is the duo’s greatest song, and the rest of the album cooks with a perfect early ’90s West Coast gangsta groove.

11.  Naughty by Nature by Naughty by Nature.  When top 10 lists go to 11, this gets on.

10. Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black by Public Enemy.  Key songs: I Don’t Wanna Be Called Yo Nigga, Shut ‘Em Dowbn, Can’t Truss It.

9. Step in the Arena by Gang Starr.  For their second album, Guru and DJ Premier went from really good to really great, releasing one of the most popular and enduring rap records of all time.  Key cuts, for me, are the title song, Execution of a Chump (No More Mr. Nice Guy Pt. 2), and Just to Get a Rep.

8. Derelicts of Dialect by 3d Bass. 3d Bass released exactly two records.  This is the second.  Key cuts: Ace in the Hole (featuring KMD, a duo that included Zev Love X, who would later rename himself MF DOOM), and Pop Goes the Weasel.

7. A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing by Black Sheep.  The Native Tongue movement spawned many amazing albums, and this is one of them.  What made Black Sheep different and special was that they blended hard street themes into a genre generally known as hippie rap.  Key songs: The monster hits “The Choice is Yours” and “Strobeline Honey” are fucking anthems.. But deeper cuts like U Mean I’m Not, Butt in the Meantime, and Pass the 40 are also fantastic.

6. I Wish My Brother George Was Here by Del the Funky Homosapien.  This album merges the new backpacker rap style with the same themes made popular by his famous cousin, Ice Cube and samples of Funkadelic that emphasize the groove more than the harder edges.  And he even had the guys the quote Liberace for his album title.  Best songs: What is a Booty?, Mistadobalina, Pissin’ On Your Steps, and Sleepin’ on my Couch.

5. Cypress Hill by Cypress Hill. Key songs: Of course the timeless classic, “How I Could Just Kill a Man.”  Also, Psycobetabuckdown, Hand on the Pump and The Phuncky Feel One get regular play from me.

4. De La Soul is Dead by De La Soul.  There are some who say this is their best album.  It’s certainly very different from their debut–it’s grittier and darker–but for me it’s not quite as good as 3 Feet High…It’s still a great record though, and belongs on this list.  Best songs: Too many to list.  But my favorite is Skating Jam Called Saturdays.

3. Death Certificate by Ice Cube.  Perhaps the artist’s greatest work.  Side A, the “death” side, represents his more familiar topic–with songs about life in the hood like Givin’ Up the Nappy Dugout, Look Who’s Burning (about free STD clinics), and Man’s Best Friend (about a gun, not a dog).  Side B, the “life” side, represents his serious side, including his conversion to Islam, with  songs like “I Wanna Kill Sam” and “Black Korea.”  He even attacks his old NWA bandmates in the (more than slightly homophobic) diss cut, No Vaseline.

2. O.G.: Original Gangster by Ice-T.  Ice-T’s greatest album, a magnum opus of old school West Coast hip hop.  Sadly, this was also Ice-T’s last good record.  This was a double album meant to be heard straight through.  A few of my favorites are: Ziplock, New Jack Hustler (which was the theme to New Jack City), Bitches 2, Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous…Fuck it. Every song is my favorite.  Well, except maybe Body Count.  Not really a fan of Ice-T’s hardcore experiment.  Although I do admire the effort.

1. The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest.  For two years in a row, ATCQ gets the #1 spot.

Anyone who says an album other than this one is their favorite TCQ album is … Probably right.  They are all great.  But this one is my personal favorite.  I can’t pick just a few songs as the best ones, but I will say that Buggin’ Out, Butter, and Check the Rhime have the most plays in my music app.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

1991 was amazing.  If you think any of these honorable mentions should have been considered GOATs in the main list, I can’t argue with you very much.

• Friendly Fascism by Consolidated.  A great and very different kind of album, but more industrial than hip hop so it doesn’t make my list.
• All Souled Out by Pete Rock and CL Smooth.  This was an EP not an album.
• 2Pacalypse Now by 2Pac.  Pac’s first album, and it sounds like a first album.  There are some true flashes of brilliance, some solid cuts, and then some filler.
• Horns of Jericho by Hijack.  Early UK hip hop is often derivative, but not this album.  Very good stuff.
• Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience by PM Dawn.
• Peaceful Journey by Heavy D and the Boys.
• Sons of the P by Digital Underground.

WORST RAP ALBUM OF 1991

I’m going to go with Efil4zaggin by NWA.  Not because it’s an unlistenable album (it is though) but because it’s just pretty vile overall.  Even though there are a few decent songs, overall it’s just full of hate and really, really gross and violent misogyny.  Proof that without Ice Cube, NWA is just not a band.

For me, 1991 is the first truly great year in rap.  Before this, most of my lists have had some absolute gems, but the bottom few have had some filler or skippable tracks.  Here, I ran out of space trying …