I’m ranking my personal 10 favorite rap albums for each year. I stress: These are my favorites, i.e., the ones I most like to listen to–not the most important rap albums of each year (although there is definitely crossover) and not your favorite rap albums. It’s also not the albums I liked back in 1998–it’s the ones I look back on and would still rate as GOATs. If I’ve missed any, fee free to drop me a comment and lmk.
1998 was a pretty good year. Unlike last year, we at least got 10 albums for the list–and all of them are classics. And yes, this is a 10-album list…Even though it starts with #9. Read on and see why.
9. Masquerades & Silhouettes (The Ancients Series One) by Lewis Parker. Easily the best release by this UK rapper/producer. If you’ve never heard his stuff, this is where to start. The flow might sound a little dated at first, but give it a couple songs and it will capture you. M&S is meant to be heard as a full album, not singles.
8. Steal This Album by The Coup. Honestly, this is here on the strength of “Me and Jesus the Pimp in a ’79 Granada Last Night”–one of my favorite rap songs of the decade. The rest of the album is dope too, though–especially “The Repo Man Sings for You” (featuring Del tha Funkee Homosapien). Boots Riley is the rare example of a politically active rapper who can speak on revolutionary themes with a biting sense of humor. He’s like if someone mixed Chuck D with George Carlin.
7. Hello Nasty by The Beastie Boys. Remember when artists took their time between albums? When the vicious and relentless pace of life didn’t also rule creativity? It had been four years since the last Beastie Boys album when the DJ Mixmaster Mike joined the group for this record.
Like the others after it on this list, every single song is a winner. A few of the best are: Three MCs and One DJ; Body Movin’; Intergalactic; and Negotiation Limerick File (in which every verse is a limerick).
6. Moment of Truth by Gang Starr. Making these lists is so much fun. I keep rediscovering why I’ve been a hip hop fan since I first heard Newcleus back in High School. One rediscovery: How much I love Gang Starr. Guru and Preem had parted ways a few years before they reunited to make this album and this would be their last together for many years. It’s got some of their biggest hits (You Know My Steez, The Militia) and some of their greatest deep cuts–like the title track and my favorite cut, “My Advice to You.” Guru was always about empowerment and wisdom, but on Advice he tackles all of it: Stopping drinking and doing drugs, treating women with respect, avoiding needless conflicts, getting out of the drug-dealing game…It’s so unlike other albums on this list. DMX, for example, shares about how hard it is to live a life of crime, but he’s still reveling in it. Jay-Z is posing by a Bentley and talking about rich he got from selling drugs. Big Pun makes it all seem glamorous. Guru speaks out against all of that, but never sounds preachy.
5. Vol. 2 … Hard Knock Life by Jay-Z. With Hard Knock Life, Jay-Z became one of the fastest-selling artists in hip hop. The theme song, which sampled the soundtrack to the Broadway musical “Annie,” was the first Jay-Z song I ever heard. I was in a store–I think it was a Sam Goody–and it came on and of course I was hooked. There had never been anything like it before. (Or since, really.)
The album is full of features, and has some of the best producers of the time (DJ Premiere, Swizz Beatz, Kid Capri, etc. Some of the great cuts: Money, Cash, Hoes with DMX; A Week Ago featuring Too $hort; and It’s Alright with Memphis Bleek.
4. Capital Punishment by Big Pun. I’m breaking my rule here here with this one: Not every song on Capital Punishment is evergreen, and the skits are tiresome, so it is not a perfect record. On the other hand, I’m willing to sit through them because when this album hits, it’s pure fire. Pun’s skills burned bright for a very short time. Best songs: Super Lyrical with Black Thought, Still Not a Player, Twinz with Fat Joe.
3. Aquemini by Outkast. Outkast’s third album is probably their best. It’s still got that “Southern Cosmic Rap” sound that they invented, but now they’ve got live musicians and the production (by Outkast and Organized Noize) presents the album almost a single piece of music: A symphony. It’s impossible to just pick a few key tracks–every single one serves a purpose, each is unique in its own way. My personal favorite songs (but again, every single one is great) including Rosa Parks, Hold On Be Strong, and Da Art of Storytellin’. Oh, and Mamacita. And Chonkyfire. (As I said, it’s impossible to pick just a few.)
2. It’s Dark and Hell is Hot/Flesh of My Flesh by DMX. Yeah. I like this more than the revered Aquemini album. (Keep in mind, though, that making this list means I basically think your album is flawless.)
Snarling and barking, Earl Simmons bursts on the scene with a two-fisted debut of a sound unlike any others on the charts. Many big hits off this album: Ruff Ryders Anthem, Get At Me Dog, X is Comin’, Let Me Fly, Stop Being Greedy…I think I know the words to every track on this record. So, I’ve rated it higher than some other recognized “classics” because I still listen to it regularly–remember, this is my list, my personal preferences, and I have to consider the album to be timeless. Several of the ones ranked below it are just as good (including Aquemini)–I’m just putting DMX second because this is how I feel today. On another day, it could be different.
DMX also released his second album, Flesh of My Flesh, in 1998. It’s not just as good as this one…but it’s damn close. I made this a two-album entry, but if I were rating Flesh, it would have ranked lower. But it still would have made my list.
1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill. Part of the fun of making these lists is discovering, as I go. This is the third year in a row that a woman has been in the #1 or #2 spot. When I started this concept, I wouldn’t have predicted that outcome. Nothing against female rappers, it’s just that the genre isn’t known for producing too many of them. Perhaps it’s because of that: In order to make it as a woman in this genre, you have to be absolutely fantastic. Having said that: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is one of the greatest albums of all time. I’d probably put it in my top 10 for any genre.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- He Got Game Soundtrack by Public Enemy. People forget this album when they talk about PE, but it was a really good one.
- Jurassic 5 (self titled)
- The Love Movement by A Tribe Called Quest
- Ghetto Superstar by Pras. The “third Fugee’s” solo album is highly underrated and worth your time.
- Lyricist’s Lounge by Rawkus Records–a seminal underground mixtape of this period
- Mixtape Vol 3 by Funkmaster Flex–a seminal “overground” mixtape of the era, this was the first one where freestyles dominated the mix.
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. I know it’s sacrilege not to revere these two rappers but … I don’t. I’ve never found their albums all that great. Have to give props to this one, though. It’s a really great record.
AND THE WORST HIP HOP ALBUM OF 1998 WAS…
- Devil With a Cause by Kid Rock. I admit that Batwidaba caught my ear more than once, but the rest of this album is shit and it sold phenomenally well. Next year, Slim Shady would arrive and Kid Rock’s rap career would immediately end (because hip hop only had room for one white guy at a time, I guess).
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