Index post (Start here!)
While this blog has grown to accomodate more than just that, it originally started as a strict hip-hop review project. In this page is a chonological list of the rap albums I’ll be reviewing, plus a few side review projects and such. Please keep in mind that my hip-hop reviews were originally in a chronological fashion, and remained like that until we reached late 1993, which is when I started randomizing the album order.
Here is a playlist I’m maintaining, with my favorite track off of each album I review: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/78O3gwsJJ22M7lmjs7vlaz?si=e97f87332baf4a33
Quick glossary for the uninitiated:
- SCD: Song Character Differentiability, how distinct each track is from each other, usually makes the record overall more memorable and less samey.
Other posts and series:
- Special Review #1 — Wett
- Gloob’s 1991 Hip-Hop Top 15
- Dio and Frog get scornfully walloped (old collaborative Scorn discography review thread with my pal Frog, summarized into one giant post)
- Dio Gets Pulverized (Ulver discography review series)
Dio Takes a Stroll Through the History of Hip-Hop:
For every ten albums reviewed in my hip-hop series, I do this little roundup in lieu of a serious ranking system. You can find them all in here.
1979:
- The Fatback Band — King Tim III (Personality Jock) + Sugarhill Gang — Rapper’s Delight ✓
1980:
- Kurtis Blow — Kurtis Blow ✓
1982:
- Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five — The Message ✓
1984:
- The Fat Boys — Fat Boys
- Whodini — Escape
1985:
- LL Cool J — Radio ✓
- Schoolly D — Schoolly D
1986:
- Run-D.M.C. — Raising Hell ✓
- 2 Live Crew — The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are
- Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force — Planet Rock: The Album
- Stetsasonic — On Fire ✓
1987:
- Boogie Down Productions — Criminal Minded ✓
- Eric B. & Rakim — Paid in Full ✓
- Kool Moe Dee — How Ya Like Me Now
- Spoonie Gee — The Godfather of Rap
1988:
- Too Short — Life Is… Too $hort ✓
- DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince — He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper
- MC Lyte — Lyte as a Rock ✓
- Big Daddy Kane — Long Live the Kane ✓
- Public Enemy — It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back ✓
- N.W.A. — Straight Outta Compton ✓
- Ultramagnetic MCs — Critical Beatdown ✓
- Slick Rick — The Great Adventures of Slick Rick ✓
1989:
- Tone Lōc — Lōc-ed After Dark
- Kool G Rap & DJ Polo — Road to Riches ✓
- De La Soul — 3 Feet High and Rising ✓
- EPMD — Unfinished Business ✓
- Beastie Boys — Paul’s Boutique ✓
- The D.O.C. — No One Can Do It Better ✓
- Jungle Brothers — Done by the Forces of Nature ✓
1990:
- Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth — Funky Technician ✓
- Above the Law — Livin’ Like Hustlers ✓
- Paris — The Devil Made Me Do It ✓
- Brand Nubian — One for All ✓
- Geto Boys — The Geto Boys ✓
1991:
- Gang Starr — Step in the Arena ✓
- Ice-T — O.G. Original Gangster ✓
- Main Source — Breaking Atoms ✓
- Cypress Hill — Cypress Hill ✓
- A Tribe Called Quest — The Low End Theory ✓
- Black Sheep — A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing ✓
- Ice Cube — Death Certificate ✓
- Organized Konfusion — Organized Konfusion ✓
1992:
- Divine Styler — Spiral Walls Containing Autumns of Light ✓
- Body Count — Body Count ✓
- Das EFX — Dead Serious ✓
- Pete Rock & CL Smooth — Mecca and the Soul Brother ✓
- Showbiz and A.G. — Runaway Slave ✓
- Diamond D — Stunts, Blunts and Hip-Hop ✓
- Rage Against The Machine — Rage Against The Machine ✓
- Dr. Dre — The Chronic ✓
1993:
- Digable Planets — Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) ✓
- Onyx — Bacdafucup ✓
- Freestyle Fellowship — Innercity Griots ✓
- Guru — Jazzmatazz, vol. 1
- Biz Markie — All Samples Cleared! ✓
- Eightball & MJG — Comin’ Out Hard ✓
- KMD — Bl_ck B_st_rds (suggested by Rafael) ✓
- Various Artists — Judgment Night OST (suggested by Frog) ✓
- Souls of Mischief — 93 ’til Infinity ✓
- KRS-One — Return of the Boom Bap ✓
- Salt-N-Pepa — Very Necessary ✓
- Black Moon — Enta da Stage ✓
- A Tribe Called Quest — Midnight Marauders
- Wu-Tang Clan — Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
- Queen Latifah — Black Reign
- Snoop Doggy Dogg — Doggystyle
- Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf — Big Shots (suggested by Rafael)
1994:
- Nas — Illmatic
- Aaliyah — Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number
- Jeru the Damaja — The Sun Rises in the East
- The Notorious B.I.G. — Ready to Die
- O.C. — Word… Life
- Tommy Wright III — Ashes 2 Ashes, Dust 2 Dust
- Juicy J — Vol. 9mm “It’s On”
- Al Kapone — Pure Ghetto Anger
1995:
- Gangsta Pat — Deadly Verses
- Young Gangstas — Pre-Meditated Gangstarism
- 2Pac — Me Against the World
- E-40 — In a Major Way
- Big L — Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous
- Ol’ Dirty Bastard — Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version
- Mobb Deep — The Infamous…
- Three 6 Mafia — Mystic Stylez
- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony — E. 1999 Eternal
- Raekwon — Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
- DJ Screw — Bigtyme Recordz, Vol. II: All Screwed Up ✓
- GZA — Liquid Swords ✓
- Goodie Mob — Soul Food
- Coolio — Gangsta’s Paradise
- The Pharcyde — Labcabincalifornia
- InI — Center of Attention
- Lil Gin — Shake Junt
- Shawty Pimp — Still Coming Real
- Playa Fly — Just Gettin It On
1996:
- The Fugees — The Score
- Kingpin Skinny Pimp — King of da Playaz Ball
- Busta Rhymes — The Coming
- Kool Keith (as Dr. Octagon) — Dr. Octagonecologyst
- Various Artists — America Is Dying Slowly
- Insane Clown Posse — The Great Milenko (suggested by Bang)
- De La Soul — Stakes Is High
- UGK — Ridin’ Dirty
- OutKast — ATLiens
- DJ Shadow — Endtroducing…
- The Roots — Illadelph Halflife
- Ras Kass — Soul on Ice
- 2Pac (as Makaveli) — The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (posthumous)
- Tela — Piece of Mind
- Lil’ Kim — Hard Core
- Redman — Muddy Waters
1997:
- Camp Lo — Uptown Saturday Night
- Erykah Badu — Baduizm
- Company Flow — Funcrusher Plus
1998:
- People Under the Stairs — The Next Step
- Big Pun — Capital Punishment
- Various Artists — Lyricist Lounge, Vol. 1
- DMX — It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot
- Z-Ro — Look What You Did To Me (suggested by Rafael)
- Lauryn Hill — The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
- Black Star — Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star
- Gangsta Boo — Enquiring Minds
- Kurupt — Kuruption!
- dälek — Negro Necro Nekro (suggested by Rafael)
1999:
- The Roots — Things Fall Apart
- Limp Bizkit — Significant Other (suggested by Frog)
- Deep Puddle Dynamics — The Taste of Rain… Why Kneel
- Project Pat — Ghetty Green
- Mos Def — Black on Both Sides
- MF DOOM — Operation: Doomsday
- Pharoahe Monch — Internal Affairs
- Koopsta Knicca — Da Devil’s Playground: Underground Solo
- DJ Squeeky — In da Beginning: The Underground Volume One
2000:
- D’Angelo — Voodoo
- Ghostface Killah — Supreme Clientele
- dead prez — Let’s Get Free
- Deltron 3030 — Deltron 3030
- Eminem — The Marshall Mathers LP
- Jurassic 5 — Quality Control
- Slum Village — Fantastic, Vol. 2
- Quasimoto — The Unseen
- Linkin Park — Hybrid Theory (suggested by Frog)
- Reflection Eternal — Train of Thought
- Binary Star — Masters of the Universe
2001:
- J-Live — The Best Part
- cLOUDDEAD — cLOUDDEAD
- Cannibal Ox — The Cold Vein
- Missy Elliot — Miss E… So Addictive
- Jay-Z — The Blueprint
- Aesop Rock — Labor Days
- Masta Ace — Disposable Arts
- La Chat — Murder She Spoke
- DJ Zirk — Underworld
2002:
- The Streets — Original Pirate Material
- Blackalicious — Blazing Arrow
- El-P — Fantastic Damage
- Atmosphere — God Loves Ugly ✓
- Scarface — The Fix
- N*E*R*D — In Search Of…
- Mr. Lif — I Phantom
- Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz — Kings of Crunk
2003:
- 50 Cent — Get Rich or Die Tryin’ ✓
- Lil Wyte — Doubt Me Now
- Brother Ali — Shadows on the Sun
- Dizzee Rascal — Boy In Da Corner
- T.I. — Trap Muzik
- OutKast — Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
- Immortal Technique — Revolutionary Vol. 1
2004:
- Kanye West — The College Dropout
- Madvillain — Madvillainy
- Rammellzee — Bi-Conicals of The Rammellzee
- Evil Pimp — Da Exorcist Returns
- Saul Williams — Saul Williams
- Cam’ron — Purple Haze
2005:
- M.I.A. — Arular
- Common — Be
- Proof — Searching for Jerry Garcia (suggested by Rafael)
- Ohmega Watts — The Find
- Little Brother — The Minstrel Show
- Cage — Hell’s Winter
2006:
- CunninLynguists — A Piece of Strange
- J Dilla — Donuts ✓
- Jedi Mind Tricks — Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
- Lupe Fiasco — Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor
2007:
- Blu & Exile — Below the Heavens
- Percee P — Perseverance
- Clipse — Hell Hath No Fury
2008:
- Lil Wayne — Tha Carter III
- eLZhi — The Preface
- Black Milk — Tronic (suggested by Rafael)
- Q-Tip — The Renaissance
2009:
- K’naan — Troubadour
- Nicki Minaj — Beam Me Up Scotty
- Kid Cudi — Man on the Moon: The End of Day
- Gucci Mane — The State vs. Radric Davis
- Lil B — 6 Kiss
2010:
- Curren$y — Pilot Talk (suggested by Rafael)
- SpaceGhostPurrp — NASA The Mixtape Undergroundrare
- Das Racist — Sit Down, Man
- Waka Flocka Flame — Flockaveli
- Kanye West — My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2011:
- Murs & Ski Beats — Love & Rockets Vol. 1: The Transformation
- A$AP Rocky — Live.Love.A$AP (suggested by Rafael)
- Drake — Take Care
2012:
- Lil Ugly Mane — Mista Thug Isolation
- Odd Future — The OF Tape Vol. 2
- Capital STEEZ — AmeriKKKan Korruption
- Death Grips — The Money Store
- Big K.R.I.T. — Live From the Underground (suggested by Rafael)
- Joey Bada$$ — 1999
- Frank Ocean — Channel Orange
- Kendrick Lamar — good kid, m.A.A.d city
- Cities Aviv — Black Pleasure
- Chief Keef — Finally Rich
2013:
- Tyler, the Creator — Wolf
- Chance the Rapper — Acid Rap (suggested by Rafael)
- R.A. the Rugged Man — Legends Never Die ✓
- Bones — Scumbag
- Flatbush Zombies — Better Off Dead
- Fredo Santana — Trappin’ Ain’t Dead
- Raider Klan — Tales From The Underground
- Pusha T — My Name Is My Name
2014:
- L’A Capone — Separate Myself
- ScHoolboy Q — Oxymoron
- Freddie Gibbs & Madlib — Piñata
- Mac Miller — Faces
- clipping. — CLPPNG
- Shabazz Palaces — Lese Majesty (suggested by Rafael) ✓
- Yung Lean — Unknown Memory
- Run the Jewels — Run the Jewels 2
- Azealia Banks — Broke with Expensive Taste
- J. Cole — 2014 Forest Hills Drive
2015:
- Kendrick Lamar — To Pimp A Butterfly ✓
- Earl Sweatshirt — I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
- Young Fathers — White Men Are Black Men Too
- Lil Durk — Remember My Name
- Future — DS2
- Travis Scott — Rodeo
2016:
- Anderson .Paak — Malibu (suggested by Rafael)
- Denzel Curry — Imperial
- Lil Peep — Crybaby
- 21 Savage & Metro Boomin — Savage Mode
- Noname — Telefone
- Young Thug — Jeffery ✓
- $uicideboy$ — Eternal Grey
- Danny Brown — Atrocity Exhibition
- A$AP Mob — Cozy Tapes Vol. 1: Friends
- Injury Reserve — Floss
2017:
- Migos — Culture
- Pouya & Fat Nick — Drop Out of School
- XXXTentacion — Revenge
- BROCKHAMPTON — SATURATION
- 2 Chainz — Pretty Girls Like Trap Music
- Vince Staples — Big Fish Theory
- Tyler, the Creator — Flower Boy
- Lil Uzi Vert — Luv Is Rage 2
- Lil Pump — Lil Pump
2018:
- JPEGMAFIA — Veteran (suggested by Rafael)
- Playboi Carti — Die Lit
2019:
- Griselda — WWCD
2020:
- Moor Mother & billy woods — Brass
