About this series: A list of the rap albums that, in retrospect, represent the best of each year since the launch of the genre.  To get in this series it must:

• Be a good album from start to finish, with a minimum of filler/skipped tracks–it’s more than a bunch of hits with filler around it; and
• Still be a good listen many years later–the whole album has aged well

Today, the best albums of 1986.  This was the year where the New School artists took over the genre.  Sure, Cool J and Run-DMC put out albums in ’84/’85, but this is where the best of rap was focused on the newer sound and old school artists began to fade away.

Like last post, I couldn’t find ten albums that were great end-to-end, or even close to end-to-end.  Rap was still shifting at this time, struggling to shed off the novelty aspects of early rap and beginning to move forward into becoming a true form of artistic expression, and pushing boundaries to force record companies to allow performers to bring their street game to wax.

10-7.  None.  If you think I’ve missed a true classic album, drop me a comment–but I could only find these six.  And if I were brutally honest, #s 6-4 on this list have their moments but are not truly great albums.

6. Oh, My God! by Doug E. Fresh.  This was Doug E.’s debut, and it had reggae influences–which wasn’t common at this time.  Of course, nothing was common at this time–rap singles were spotty and albums were a rarity.  Doug E. Fresh went down in history as the first “human beatbox,” predating the Fat Boys in history but not in recording.  They got a record deal first because, I assume, novelty rap was the dominate currency at this time.

5. Hot, Cool, and Vicious by Salt N Pepa.  An early example that rap can be just as good when it’s got two X chromosomes—and first platinum album by a woman (or women) in this genre.  Not a great album, but a solid one.  Key songs: Push It, I’ll Take Your Man.

4. Back to the Old School by Just-Ice.  Produced by Manotronix, as this album was released, Just-Ice was arrested and charged with an execution-style murder.  He was later cleared and released.  I wonder if that helped sales back in the 1980s?

3. Planet Rock: The Album by Afrika Bambaataa.  Okay, the title track came out a few years earlier—but the album added more long-form hip hop songs like “Renegades of Funk,” which later was the name-checked inspiration for a Rage Against the Machine song.  This album sounds like if you gave a 10-year old access to buttons that would make all kinds of wild noises and two turntables and asked him to chant and go nuts.  And the kid turned out to be Mozart.  There is so much going on in each of the songs on this album that it’s still a rich and rewarding listen, even a quarter century later.  You can hear how hip hop brings together jazz, blues, rock, spoken word, community, and the need to move your body.  Not just a great album, an incredibly important one as well.

2. Licensed to Ill by The Beastie Boys.  Dismissed as frat rap, it’s important to remember that this album had true chops (No Sleep Til Brooklyn, Paul Revere), the definitive party anthem of the day (Fight For Your Right), drinking and sex (She’s Crafty, Brass Monkey), and “real” hip hop songs that even today feel fresh and powerful (Rhymin’ and Stealin’, Slow and Low).  Just skip “Girls.”  It’s awful.

1. Raising Hell by Run-DMC.   This album is basically a greatest hits album.  I’m not singling any specific songs out because Goddamn, every song is amazing.  It’s also got the first rock/rap collaboration, with Aerosmith.  I never thought, 40 years later, that more people would remember Run-DMC than Steve and Joe…

About this series: A list of the rap albums that, in retrospect, represent the best of each year since the launch of the genre.  To get in this series it must: Be a good album from start to finish, with …