The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 1996
A countdown of the greatest rap LPs released two decades ago
“I’m too wild, trying to take it on back to ‘9–6/Illadelph Halflife, All Eyez have been nixed/Beats, Rhymes and Life and Stakes Is High shit/It Was Written in the scriptures, A-T-Liens exist/By Ironman and Dr. Octagonecologist.”
— Asher Roth, “Muddy Swim Trunks”
If there were a tournament to crown the greatest year in hip-hop history, 1996 would be a lock to make the Final Four.
It was at, or very near, the peak of hip-hop’s second golden age and boasted a dazzling mixture of established artists, emergent stars taking the next step, and supremely talented newcomers asserting their place in the culture. It was also a massively important year, though often for the wrong reasons.
Just as I did last year, I decided to count down the top 20 hip-hop albums from 20 years ago.
To extend the NCAA Tournament analogy further, there were some strong bubble albums that didn’t make the cut, including Endtroducing…, Wrath of the Math, Kollage, The Coming, At the Speed of Life, Ill Na Na, The Final Tic…
