A rapper never waits until track 3 or 4 to pull you in; hip-hop has no patience for that. They only get one chance to make a first impression, and the album’s opening song is their moment to shine. In order to rank the 20 greatest album-openers of the past 20 years, we’ll measure their importance by focusing on four things.
- Did it serve as a cultural explosion? (NWA’s “Straight Outta Compton”) — The track single-handedly created a new hip-hop subgenre (Gangsta Rap), as a group of South Central-bred rappers blew the doors off of the music industry.
- Did it kickstart a rapper’s career? (Nas’ “NY State of Mind”) — The song is the ultimate portrayal of mid-’90s New York, seen through the eyes of a then-20 year-old growing up in the gang-infested environment of the Queensbridge projects. The track introduced us to Nas, an MC who embodied Slick Rick’s masterful story-telling and Rakim’s lyricism.
- Does it encapsulate and set the stage for the rapper’s style? (Dr. Dre’s “Fuck Wit Dre Day”) — The epic opener off Dre’s debut, The Chronic, introduced the world to G-Funk; a sound that would serve as the blueprint for every West Coast rapper, while its influence reached as far as the East Coast.
- Does it exist as a time-capsule for where the rapper was at that point of their career? (2Pac’s…
