We’re up to the year 1996.
After a fairly disappointing 1995, 1996 is much better. Exciting new acts emerged like Jay-Z, Jugganauts, and Eminem, who debuted with his independent “Infinite” album. Yeah, it’s largely forgettable, but still worth noting. The Fugees had their rap/reggae/pop breakthrough, bringing many new listeners to hip hop. Meanwhile, lots of older acts fought losing battles for continued relevance like Ice-T, Whodini, The D.O.C., Digital Underground … Parrish Smith even released an album without Erick Sermon (calling himself “PMD”). It was a slog.
At the same time, some
Not a terrible year, but there was some terrible stuff in it.
20. Autobiography of Mistachuck by Chuck D. I dug this record. I know not everyone did, and I get it. It’s a bit much. It lacks the weight of Public Enemy records and doesn’t have the humor of Flav, so it can get a little righteous–but at the same time, if you’re going to sit through a cultural lecture, it might as well rhyme and be delivered by Chuck D, right?
19. Elementalz by The Brotherhood. First off, you can’t fault a band that samples Black Moon. Second, you probably haven’t heard of them, but The Brotherhood lived the spirit of hip hop. They started in 1984 in London at the same time hip hop was getting started in the United States. It’s safe to say there weren’t many others doing rap in UK in the mid-’80s. They were a broad collective of dancers, rappers, and taggers of all races and faiths–including both a Muslim (Sir Yes) and Jew (Mr. Shylok). It took them 10 years to get signed (by Virgin Records), and then they so resisted the label’s influence that after Elementalz they never made another album with them. They bounced around for a bit and then broke up in 1998. Today, they’re recognized as pioneers of the UK rap scene. You can still find Elementalz on Youtube and streaming services–it’s worth seeking out. Not just because it’s an important album, but because it’s also an excellent one.
18. Here to Save You All by Chino XL. Chino XL is a battle rapper. His songs are almost exclusively braggadachio and disses, rife with pop culture similes and one-liners. He’s very good at it–a master, in fact. However, the one-note nature of his style can get tiresome over the course of an entire album. I’m including him because, especially in the early-mid ’90s, this rapping style was pretty popular and he is so damn good at it. Eminem took these themes and evolved them into a much more complex form of rap–and he needed people like Chino to pave the way. This is Chino’s best album.
17. Soul on Ice by Ras Kass. Ras Kass has made several good albums, but for me this is his only true, start-to-finish masterpiece.
16. The LP by Large Professor. Large Pro is best remembered as a producer, but he had bars, too, and this album proves it.
15. Hard Core by Lil Kim. Kim’s debut. Before this, women in rap were mostly lifting up (Queen Latifah, Monie Love) or at most being mildly flirtatious (Salt-N-Pepa). I don’t a major release before Hard Core had a woman talking explicitly about oral sex–other than Kia Jeffries’ verses on Akinyele’s “Put It In Your Mouth.” The best cut on this album is “Dreams,” which basically is a sex version of the 50 Cent cut “How to Rob,” where Kim demands that R&B stars service her, including Prince who can “eat the booty” and New Edition who she’d like to give a golden shower.
14. Endtroducing….. by DJ Shadow. Credited as a foundational “plundercore” album, Entroducing … is an album of tracks composed almost entirely through sampling. Very few artists were producing anything like this, especially with tracks nearly 10 minutes in length. To now, there were random instrumental/scratch cuts on albums (notably by Public Enemy and Grandmaster Flash), but an entire album of them?? Without this album, it’s hard to imagine future instrumental successes by J Dilla or MF DOOM.
13. Clear Blue Skies by The Juggaknots. Originally titled just as “The Juggaknots,” this was the first album by the NYC trio of Buddy Slim, Queen Herawin and Breeze Brewin’. It’s widely recognized as one of the most important independent rap albums of the ’90s. They would release one more proper album but this is the one they’re known for. Rightly so. It’s got a raw, underground sound and powerful lyrics–a mid-90s classic.
12. Nocturnal by Heltah Skeltah. Ruck (Sean Price) and Rock’s first album is one of the (many) reasons Price is remembered as one of the GOATs. This album had a single, Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka, that actually charted and made a little money for Duck Down Records, which was now officially affiliated with Priority Records. Rock isn’t as well-remembered as Ruck, but he has a great showing on this album. If you like Wu Tang Clan, give any of these mid-’90s Boot Camp Clik projects a try. They’re an equally large collective, but much grittier and more independent.
11. Stakes is High by De La Soul. This group continues to surprise and defy expectations. It came out on the same day as Nas’ second album and took a strong “pro peace” stance right at the time Tupac was murdered and violence-in-rap was at an all-time high. Obviously, I dig it because I’m calling it a GOAT but it didn’t find as much of an audience as their earlier albums–and it’s definitely not one I still listen to very often. Many like it more than I do, and I have no counter arguments. It’s De La Soul, after all, who pretty much can do no wrong. Stakes is High did not have Prince Paul on the boards. He didn’t break from the band or anything, they just wanted to have a darker album. It worked–it’s a pretty serious affair. It’s even got a skit from the most depressing documentary ever about the most depressing cartoonist ever, Crumb.
10. It Was Written by Nas. Nas put Illmatic out in ’94 and so he waited almost two years to put out a sequel, giving us all a lot of time to breathe with the brilliance of his debut. Even still, Illmatic continued to be talked about when It Was Written came out (even if it didn’t sell as well as the megahits coming out of the West Coast scene). It’s impossible not to disappoint when your second album is a follow up after what is considered by many (including me) to be the greatest rap record of all time and no, Written is not as good as Illmatic. Not even close. But it is still a GOAT. For Written, Nas explored the cleaner production values of G-Funk and created obvious singles like “Street Dreams” and “If I Ruled the World” featuring Lauryn Hill. In a lot of ways, Written is more representative of Nas’ career, which always tries to balance his desire to sell well and be a recognized success (like Jay-Z) against his passion for the art of rap and his commitments to street-level honesty. Both are present on Written, but it skews to the popularity-seeking side more often than not. Nothing wrong with that of course, I love a good hit song. Just noting the stylistic shift.
9. Illadelph Halflife by The Roots. Pretty much everyone will tell you this is The Roots’ best album. Maybe.
8. Dr. Octagonecologyst by Dr. Octagon. Kool Keith is not for everyone. Throughout his career, he’s taken on at least a half-dozen personae and many of his projects are either so crass as to offend many casual listeners or excessively artistic to the point of inaccessibility. Or both, sometimes, as in this case: His first album, under the guise of an alien gynecologist-surgeon who is horrible at his job and really seems more interested in the kind of medical procedures you’d find in the operating room of the Human Centipede doctor. But if you’re willing to hang with it and listen carefully, you’ll hear some of the best, most intricate beats of the decade. The lyrical content doesn’t do it for me (I’m just not a fan of horrorcore), but the overall music and mood is so wild and different … And although what he raps about isn’t something that moves me, the way he does it is great. He has a sharp command of language, terrific flow, and incredible timing. If it’s been a while since you listened to Dr. Otoagonecologyst, give it another spin. There’s so many layers to it. It’s always rewarding on relisten.
7. Ridin’ Dirty by UGK. With this record, The Underground Kings (Bun B and Pimp C) pour the unbreakable foundation for their reputations as two of the most important men in Southern rap history. Maybe even the two most important men. (Well, no, because … Scarface.). Trap wouldn’t be what it is today without this album. My only criticsm is that it gets pretty redundant by the end–but on the way there you get one of the greatest laid back, drawl-raps on “Diamonds & Wood,” a song that definitely inspired dozens of copies over the next ten years. And there’s “Fuck My Car,” which is about as funny a song as I’ve ever heard about the darker side of bling and wealth. “Pinky Ring” is also great, and so is the closing title cut. Yeah, this is a classic for sure–even if it is a little too long.
6. Ironman by Ghostface Killah. GFK’s best album of the ’90s and the second-best of his entire career (behind Fishscale, of course). Key cuts: The classic All That I Got Is You with Mary J Blige; Assassination Day with Wu Tang members Rae, Inspectah Deck, and RZA; Poisonous Darts; Winter Warz featuring Cappadonna, Masta Killa, Raekwon, and U-God; and of course Daytona 500.
5. The Score by The Fugees. Wyclef’s Brooklyn Basement trio never gets better than this. Well, at least Wyclef and Pras don’t. It’s got it all: Street songs like The Beast, party cuts like Ready or Not, and all rounded out with covers of Bob Marley and Roberta Flack. For many people, Wyclef represents “easy listening” rap, which I get, but he’s on fire here. And of course there’s Lauryn Hill, without whom this album would probably be forgotten by now.
4. All Eyez On Me by 2Pac. Most double albums are overstuffed, but not this one. It kicks in with, “Ambitionz Az A Ridah,” followed by songs with Doggs (Snoop, Nate and Pound, consecutively), followed by Dr. Dre, Rappin’ 4-Tay, and E-40. It’s also got my personal favorite 2Pac song: Picture Me Rollin’. It’s wild that this album came out in the same year as his 7 Day Theory album (see below), where he attacks some of the very people he’s getting rich with on All Eyez.
3. ATLiens by Outkast. For their second album, Outkast insert a kind of psychedelic/cosmic feel to their trunk-funk brand of trap, that included their own Southern version of Grandmaster Flash’s, “Wheels of Steel,” by their own Mr. DJ. That recognition of the ’80s groundbreakers carries across the whole album. There are several long-players (songs that are longer than 7 minutes), which was common in the ’80s when rap albums were made for clubs and DJs and not the radio. ATLiens didn’t seem to care about radio play. It was about laying back in the groove.
2. The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory by Makaveli. I may be the only one who feels this way, but I think this is my favorite 2Pac album. The rage and power are palpable on songs like Hail Mary, and none of the cuts suffer from being overplayed. Plus, it’s basically one long diss album against everyone who ‘Pac ever worked with: Nas, Dr. Dre, Puff Daddy, Mobb Deep, Kool G Rap, all the Bad Boy executives, etc. Violence and vengeance permeate this album, which can make it difficult to digest for some. Don’t come here looking for “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” Killuminati was released posthumously, but Tupac had basically finished it before he died. It was intended as a mixtape to promote his 1996 double-album All Eyez On Me but of course the financial incentive was stronger once Tupac was killed.
1. Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z.
Hova debuts with one of the best albums of his career–if not the absolute best. (Yeah, this is his best.) Every track on this album is a monster–there is absolutely no wasted space. My personal top 3 are Can’t Knock the Hustle featuring Mary J Blige, 22 Twos, and Dead Presidents II. You can hear Hova’s hunger on this record–it’s all street, all rap, lacking the obvious singles that pepper through all of his later works. Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against Jay-Z’s hits. I’m a huge fan of his and admire his driven rise to success. I’m just saying that this album is different, being his first.
When the album turned thirty, Jay-Z performed it live at Carnegie Hall and updated 22 Twos to 44 Fours. It used to be on Youtube but I’m having trouble finding it now. If you can find it, check it out. It’s genius.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Sublime by Sublime. More reggae than rap, but definitely hip hop adjacent-enough for an honorable mention. Regardless of genre, this is one of the greatest albums of the ’90s. Plus, it has a song called KRS-ONE.- Beats, Rhymes and Life by Tribe Called Quest. The group’s least-excellent album and their first non-Classic. There’s nothing bad about Beats, but if you listen to their other records you don’t need to listen to this one. Definitely good enough to warrant an honorable mention, not a GOAT. It got Grammy noms tho’.
- Man by Neneh Cherry. Definitely R&B and not rap but … It’s just so great. And there’s a little hip hop flavor to it.
- Dettwork Southeast by Black Twang
WORST OF THE YEAR…
You Can’t Stop the Reign by Shaquille O’Neal. Believe it or not, several songs charted and this was his THIRD album. Ice-T’s sixth album is also a candidate for this “award.” How quickly he turned from GOAT to unlistenable and boring. And Tha Doggfather is worth mentioning because Snoop’s debut is one of the best rap albums of the ’90s and this, his second album, is just plain tedious.
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