Land of the Emu(sic) Presents: Oradol's 10 Best Hip-Hop Albums

A few weeks ago I release a list of 5 albums that I suggested people look up who are new to hip-hop, and many people failed to realize that the list was not one of the "best", but one to introduce people to a genre that they either had little experience with, or received a bad first impression from.

This isn't a list like that, this is a list of the 10 best hip-hop albums I've heard. Some are classics, some aren't. They're based entirely on current listenability (I know that isn't a word), not on how important or how good they were 10 years ago.

10) Common - Resurrection

He never really reclaimed the standard he set with this album, except arguably with Be in 2005. Who cares, he didn't need to.

I met this girl, when I was ten years old
And what I loved most she had so much soul...

You know the rest.


9) Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

He proved that he wasn't a flash in the pan. He would go on to sell an estimated 70 million albums, second only to Tupac. His skill as an MC was often overshadowed by controversy surrounding his outright offensive lyrics, which themselves were a testament to his skills as a businessman. On tracks like Stan he proved himself as a skilled storyteller. This was an awesome album. His performance at the Grammys with Elton John really positioned him as a head above the rest.

I hope you go to sleep and you dream about it
And when you dream I hope you can't sleep
And you scream about it
I hope your conscience eats at you
And you can't breathe without me


Tupac - All Eyez On Me

Nothing else needs to be said. I wasn't the biggest Tupac fan, hence this place on the list.

How many brothers fell victim to the streets
Rest in peace young ***** there's a heaven for a 'G'
Be a lie, if I told you that I never thought of death
My ****** we the last ones left
But life goes on...


7) The Roots - Things Fall Apart

 The Roots were a tough one for me because they consistently release amongst the best albums I've heard, and I could probably justify placing several albums on this list. Because their work is so consistently great no single album stands out, but if I had to pick one it would be this.

Lyrically calculus in this arithmetic hip-hop metropolis


6) Mos Def - Black on Both Sides

Talib Kweli may be my favourite of the Blackstar duo (thanks to a much more consistent body of solo work), but none of his albums touched on the greatness of this one. There are too many great songs on this album, Know That being my favourite.

Moving along my odyssey like blood through the artery
Navigate the treacherous and make it seem effortless


5) The Fugees - Blunted On Reality

Hey Mona Lisa,
Could I get a date on Friday?
Or if you're busy
I wouldn't mind taking Saturday-ay-ay
Ay-ay-ay
Round up da posse
Fugees coming around the way

The most disappointing thing about the Fugees was that they only released two albums. Their raw talent would explain the later individual success of all three - Pras (to a lesser extent), Wyclef Jean, and Lauryn Hill.


4) Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Blackstar

Say what you want about their solo careers, I don't think either of them were stronger than they were on this album. Kweli is more verbacious and aggressive, Mos Def is more articulate and smooth, but each of them centered the other towards common tastes and away from the over-experimentation that has plagued Mos Def's most recent work.

Breathe in, inhale vapor from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline


3) Nas - Illmatic

Queens' finest. Sure everything he's made since has been subpar, but this album showed a hint of true greatness and became an instant classic. Nas raps with a gritting religiosity, and proved more than anyone that you can rap about life on the streets while remaining intelligent.

Sentence begins indented, with formality
My duration's infinite, money-wise or physiology
Poetry, that's a part of me, retardedly bop
I drop the ancient manifested hip-hop, straight off the block


2) The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die

You know very well who you are
Don't let them hold you down
Reach for the stars

Do I need to say any more?

Put your hands in the air, if youse a true player...


1) Dr Dre - The Chronic 2001

Yeah, that's right. This is a sick album. There are "phat beats" and "dope rhymes" a plenty. What's The Difference? Forgot About Dre? I might be a white kid wearing a Hugo Boss hoodie, but I still feel like a gangster when I drive down the road in my Volvo smoking a blunt while I blast Still D.R.E out my factory standard speakers. This was the first rap album I ever bought. Critically it probably wont stand up against the last two, but that's okay.

Still, I stay close to the heat
And even when I was close to defeat
I rose to my feet
My life is like a soundtrack I wrote to the beat

Did you like any of these albums? Add a +1!