My Top 79 Hip-Hop Albums of All-Time

Edit: List has been updated! Albums new to the list are Guess Who's Back?, Listennn: The Album, Fishscale, H.N.I.C., Pt. 2, Dogg Food and Straight Outta Ca$hville.

Yesterday, someone asked me who my top 5 rappers were. To me, that's something incredibly hard to do. Because I like different rappers for different reason.
That's like asking what do you prefer, a steak or ice cream? You just can't compare!!!

There are other reasons too. I tend to only listen to 3 albums max per artist. That way it forces me to diversify my music and discover new shit. So there isn't 1 musician that I could say I'm a fan of.

To me, it would be much simpler to just name my favourite albums; and that's what I suggested to him. So he asked me what my favourite albums were and I started looking at my music collection. After a while I realized that I would have more than 20 albums in my list. So I decided to write down all my favourite albums and make a post about it.

So here it is, my top 79 favourite hip-hop albums of all-time!

2Pac - Me Against the World (1995)
2Pac - All Eyez on Me (1996)
50 Cent - Guess Who's Back? (2002)
8Ball & MJG - Comin' Out Hard (1993)
213 - The Hard Way (2004)
Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock: The Album (1986)
Big Punisher - Capital Punishment (1998)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Creepin on ah Come Up (1994)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - E 1999 Eternal (1995)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - The Art of War (1997)
Cam'ron - Purple Haze (2004)
Common - Like Water for Chocolate (2000)
The Diplomats - Diplomatic Immunity (2003)
DJ Drama - Gangsta Grillz: The Album (2007)
DJ Khaled - Listennn: The Album (2006)
DJ Khaled - We the Best (2007)
DJ Khaled - We Global (2008)
DMX - It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998)
The Dogg Pound - Dogg Food (1995)
Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992)
Dr. Dre - 2001 (1999)
Fabolous - Loso's Way (2009)
The Fugees - The Score (1996)
Ghostface Killah - Ironman (1996)
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele (2000)
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006)
Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990)
Ice Cube - Raw Footage (2008)
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (1998)
Jay-Z - The Black Album (2003)
Jay-Z - American Gangster (2007)
Kanye West - The College Dropout (2004)
Kanye West - Late Registration (2005)
Kanye West - Graduation (2007)
Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreaks (2008)
Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon: The End Of Day (2009)
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Road to the Riches (1989)
Krayzie Bone - Thug Mentality 1999 (1999)
Lloyd Banks - Hunger for More (2004)
Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor (2006)
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool (2007)
Method Man & Redman - Blackout! (1999)
Missy Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly (1997)
Mobb Deep - The Infamous (1995)
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides (1999)
Mos Def & Talib Kweli - Blackstar (1998)
N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton (1989)
Nas - Illmatic (1994)
Nas - Stillmatic (2001)
Nas - God's Son (2002)
Nelly - Country Grammar (2000)
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die (1994)
The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death (1997)
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers (1995)
OutKast - ATLiens (1996)
OutKast - Aquemini (1998)
Pharoahe Monch - Internal Affairs (1999)
Pimp C - Sweet James Jones Stories (2005)
Pimp C - Pimpalation (2006)
Prodigy - H.N.I.C., Pt. 2 (2008)
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)
Redman - Whut? Thee Album (1992)
Rick Ross - Deeper Than Rap (2009)
Rick Ross - Teflon Don (2010)
The Roots - Phrenology (2002)
Run-D.M.C. - Run-D.M.C. (1984)
Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell (1986)
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle (1993)
Snoop Dogg - Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006)
T.I. - King (2006)
Tha Dogg Pound - Dogg Food (1995)
Three 6 Mafia - When the Smoke Clears (2000)
Timbaland & Magoo - Welcome to Our World (1997)
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (1991)
UGK - Ridin' Dirty (1996)
UGK - UGK 4 Life (2009)
Warren G - Regulate...G Funk Era (1994)
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
Xzibit - 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz (1998)
Xzibit - Restless (2000)
Young Buck - Straight Outta Ca$hville (2004)
Young Jeezy - Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005)
Young Jeezy - The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102 (2006)

Yeah, I know, that's a lot of albums! But I really don't know which albums to take out to make the list shorter. If I did take 1 out, the list would feel incomplete and not a true reflection of my taste.

If reading this list provoked the hip-hop geek in you, please remember that these are the albums that I love from the beginning to end. There are a lot more albums that I like, but aren't perfect.

Also remember that I like dumbed down music just as much as I like a rapper who truly knows how to spit.

I wonder if any of you see a similarity in these albums. Like sometimes, when people do a list of their top rappers/albums, you can usually notice some sort of similarity between what was named. The sound, approach, vibe, message, etc.

Anyways, don't be afraid to comment. Tell me what you think!