I’ve decided to do this: A list of the rap albums that FOR ME AND ONLY ME represent the best of each year since the launch of the genre. When I say “for me and only me” I mean this is based solely on my personal taste, and not on how influential the album might have been or how “important” the heads say it is. There are lots of critically acclaimed artists and albums that will be left out–even ones I appreciate–but 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
- I still like listening to, many years later–it aged well
I’m starting with the best of the “Old School.” This period is usually defined as ending around 1985, when the New School artists began to emerge. That’s a reasonable demarcation–especially when looking at full rap albums–because before 1983, rap was largely driven by singles with albums being an afterthought. It’s hard to listen the entirety of, for example, the Sugar Hill Gang’s debut album or any Grandmaster Flash record from beginning to end. But as singles, there is no denying the power of “Rapper’s Delight.” Similarly, “Jamonit” and “The Message” are timeless cuts–but the albums they appear on? Mostly filler.
So, I don’t have an list for each year before 1985. Next time, for 1986, that changes.
THE TOP 10 OLD SCHOOL RAP ALBUMS
10. None. I don’t have ten truly great albums from this period.
9. Kurtis Blow by Kurtis Blow (1984). 8 Million Stories (featuring Run DMC). AJ Scratch. Basketball. Ego. This album was Kurtis Blow’s fight to remain relevant. Great album, but his last great one.
8. Fat Boys by Fat Boys (1984). Part gimmick and not politically correct of course, but some undeniably great verses and unbridled joy. And maybe instead of focusing on the “fat jokes” we can call it the first body positive record? Best cuts: Jailhouse Rap, Stick ‘Em, Can You Feel It? I mean, those three songs were some of the most fun I’d had listening to music that whole year.
7. King of Rock by Run-DMC (1985). These guys dominate this list. Best cuts: King of Rock, You Talk Too Much, Can You Rock Like This?
6. Kurtis Blow by Kurtis Blow (1980). Widely considered the first “mainstream” rap album, this one is full of some of his biggest hits. Kurtis Blow was a powerhouse in early rap. Not just a great album, an important one as well.
5. Wild Style Original Soundtrack (1983). A fantastic representation of the definitive sounds of this era, with new songs from many of the lesser-known legends: Grandmaster Caz, Cold Crush Brothers, Grand Wizard Theodore and more.
4. Escape by Whodini (1984). I admit that this album has a bit of filler but it’s also got four of the best rap songs of this era: Friends (later sampled extensively by MF DOOM), The Freaks Come Out At Night, Escape, and my personal favorite: 5 Minutes of Funk. So I’m including it, in interests of “separat[ing] the good stuff from the junk!” And don’t miss the seven-plus minute closing cut, “We Are Whodini,” a shining example of early ’80s rap, with cosmic swirls, heavy synth, a boom bap backbeat…It’s glorious. See also: Their eponymous debut, which had the hit, “Magic Wand.”
3. 
Schoolly-D by Schoolly-D (1985). If Ice-T was the father of Gangsta Rap, then Schoolly-D is the grandddaddy. On Ice-T’s (very, very good) 2026 comeback album Criminal Migraine, he provides a bonus track that remakes his own hit 6 In the Morning with a PSK backbeat. Schoolly-D is a mere 6 tracks, but each is long form (5-7+ minutes), with sparse beats and the rawest lyrical content put in wax so far. It wasn’t full of profanity–it was full of guns and sneakers, simmering threats and menace. There had never been anything like it. In the years that followed this seminal album, artists on both coasts and around the country (Ice-T, Hank Shocklee, DJ Quik, 2 Live Crew, Geto Boys, etc., etc.) would be influenced by the sound of this album. Not the beats. Not the vocals. Both. Unlike any rap album before it, Schoolly-D had mad artistry, following the beat across each track until the beat caught up to his vocals and found itself being led, and then back again, weaving across the entire album.
If you haven’t heard this and check it out, start with his most important cut: “PSK (What Does It Mean)?” You’ll find it primitive at first, but if you stop doing anything other than listen you’ll be immersed. That is, if you like hip hop. And if you don’t, why are you still here?
2. Radio by LL Cool J (1985). Rap’s second (chronologically) truly great album (the first is #1 on this list). From the first hard hits of “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” this album grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. This wasn’t just LL Cool J’s first album, it was the first album for Rick Rubin’s Def Jam label, and Rubin produced the whole record. Def Jam signaled hip hop’s first major shift–away from the over-articulated and relatively tame content of the early ’80s and towards harding hitting b-boy styles. Cool J’s huge mainstream success, his charisma as a performer, and the beats behind him changed rap forever.
1. Run-DMC by Run-DMC (1984). “The good news is that there is a crew/Not 5, not 4, not 3, just 2/2 MC’s who are claiming the fame/And all other things won’t be the same…” Ironically, those words are from the third cut on this album, Jam Master Jay. Who was #3 of Run-DMC, and didn’t get to be on the album cover. Still, the words are true (even if the number was one short). This is the first truly great rap album, end to end, track by track. Every cut was fantastic. It was also the first rap album to move towards a harder edge sound—and began the genre’s evolution away from just being an extension of disco/dance music. It did for rap what Led Zeppelin did for rock and roll. This album launched the New School and also cemented that rap was not a novelty: It was here to stay.
Honorable Mentions: Albums that were notable, but not great…
- Jam On Revenge by Newcleus. Newcleus were a strong electro/rap group who had one huge hit: “Jam on it. ” This album threw a bunch of songs around that hit, which by my own criteria means it can’t rank as a great album. However, “Jam on it” is my personal favorite rap song of all time. It’s corny and all, so say what you want, but I used to perform it live back in the day so it’s got sentimental value.
- Mantronix by Mantronix (1986). I can’t listen to it all the way through, but it’s a great early electronic rap album)
- The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The title track, “Scorpio,” and “Wheels of Steel” hold up, but overall this is just an album built around “The Message.”
Cooky Puss by The Beastie Boys (1983). As far as I know, this is the only song in history about an ice cream cake. I know that someone let Donna Summer’s cake out in the rain, but I’m pretty sure it was a standard flour-and-icing job. I won’t be including very many singles on these lists (this might be the only one I include) or EPs because my site is about albums, but I just had to mention this one. It’s just so awesome, and it shows from the jump that the Beasties would become one of rap’s most experimental groups.- Music from the Original Motion Picture Krush Groove. A mix of new and previously released rap songs. Originals include an edit of LL Cool J’s, “I Can’t Live Without My Radio), a Beastie Boys deep cut that samples Cheap Trick and the final posse cut, Krushgroovin’, with Run-DMC, Sheila E., Kurtis Blow and The Fat Boys. It’s also got a Debbie Harry original, helping cement her important early role in getting rap recognized.
UTFO by UTFO. Like Flash’s album directly above this, UTFO had an incredibly important hit. Theirs was “Roxanne Roxanne.” It led to songs by Roxanne herself, Roxanne’s Parents, and more UTFO songs about Roxanne. Huge, lasting hit–but the related tracks are all novelty items. It’s still worth mentioning because their hit was so important to early rap. In later lists, an album with a just one good song (or two or three) won’t be getting honorable mentions, but this post feels foundational and historical, so here we are.
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