Rolling Stone names its 200 “Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time”

Sean Furtado

Rolling Stone published their list of the 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time. While the magazine completely remade their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list two years ago, the highest ranking hip hop albums that made don't line up with this list. For example: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill places at the same rank on both the 500 Greatest Albums and 200 Greatest Hip Hop Albums lists. Also, sorry MC Solaar and others, only English-language albums made the cut. Here's a bit on their process:

When confronted with a choice between the third (or fourth or fifth) record by a classic artist (Outkast, for instance, or A Tribe Called Quest) and an album from an artist who would make the list more interesting (The Jacka or Saba or Camp Lo), we tended to go with the latter option. The result was a list that touches on every important moment in the genre’s evolution — from compilations that honor the music’s paleo old-school days, to its artistic flourishing in the late Eighties and early Nineties with Public Enemy, De La Soul, Eric B. and Rakim and others, through the gangsta era, the rise of the South, the ascendance of larger-than-life aughts superstars like Jay-Z and Kanye West and Nicki Minaj, and on and on into more recent moments like blog-rap, emo-rap, and drill, from New York to L.A. to Houston to Chicago, and beyond.

The Top 50 is heavy on Golden Age albums but it is certainly not made up entirely of records from the late-'80s to the mid-'90s. Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Missy Elliott, Dr Dre and Jay-Z all have two albums each as solo artists in the Top 50, while Wu-Tang Clan and variously related solo albums are well represented, and Dre has even more when figuring in N.W.A. and productions. Drake and Cardi B both crack the top 20, coming in ahead of influential landmarks like Illmatic, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and The Chronic, to name just a few.

Check out the entire list, along with commentary on all 200 albums, over at Rolling Stone. Here's the Top 50:

50. EPMD - 'Strictly Business' (1988)
49. N.W.A - 'Straight Outta Compton' (1988)
48. J Dilla - 'Donuts' (2006)
47. Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott - 'Supa Dupa Fly'
46. Tyler, the Creator - 'Call Me If You Get Lost' (2021)
45. LL Cool J - 'Mama Said Knock You Out' (1990)
44. Genius/GZA - 'Liquid Swords' (1995)
43. Run-D.M.C. - 'Run-D.M.C.' (1984)
42. Big Daddy Kane - 'Long Live the Kane' (1988)
41. Kanye West - 'Late Registration' (2005)
40. Dr. Dre - 'The Chronic' (1992)
39. Lil Wayne - 'The Carter III' (2008)
38. Kendrick Lamar - 'good kid - m.A.A.d city' (2012)
37. Raekwon - 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...' (1995)
36. Chance the Rapper - 'Acid Rap' (2013)
35. Snoop Doggy Dogg - 'Doggystyle' (1993)
34. Various Artists - 'The Sugar Hill Records Story' (1997)
33. De La Soul - '3 Feet High and Rising' (1989)
32. Chief Keef - 'Finally Rich' (2012)
31. Nicki Minaj - 'Pink Friday' (2010)
30. Beastie Boys - 'Paul’s Boutique' (1989)
29. 2Pac - 'All Eyez on Me' (1996)
28. Mobb Deep - 'The Infamous' (1995)
27. Outkast - 'Aquemini' (1998)
26. Jay-Z - 'Reasonable Doubt' (1996)
25. Eminem - 'The Marshall Mathers LP' (2000)
24. Nas - 'Illmatic' (1994)
23. UGK - 'Ridin' Dirty' (1996)
22. DMX - 'It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot' (1998)
21. Lil Wayne - 'Da Drought 3' (2007)
20. Future - 'DS2' (2015)
19. Lil Kim - 'Hard Core' (1996)
18. Madvillain - 'Madvillainy' (2004)
17. Kanye West - 'Yeezus' (2013)
16. Cardi B - 'Invasion of Privacy' (2018)
15. Eric B. and Rakim - 'Paid in Full' (1987)
14. Ghostface Killah - 'Supreme Clientele' (2000)
13. Dr. Dre - '2001' (1999)
12. Clipse - 'Lord Willin' ' (2002)
11. Drake - 'Take Care' (2011)
10. Lauryn Hill - 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' (1998)
9. A Tribe Called Quest - 'The Low End Theory' (1991)
8. Wu-Tang Clan - 'Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)' (1993)
7. Missy Elliott - 'Miss E... So Addictive' (2001)
6. Kanye West - 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' (2010)
5. Kendrick Lamar - 'To Pimp a Butterfly' (2015)
4. Public Enemy - 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' (1988)
3. Jay-Z - 'The Blueprint' (2001)
2. Outkast - 'Stankonia' (2000)
1. The Notorious B.I.G. - 'Ready to Die' (1994)