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The 62 Best Hip Hop Albums of All Time

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Ruffhouse Records / Columbia Records

As a musical genre, hip-hop has morphed into a mainstream force that impacts everything from the way we dress to the way we speak. From the rough & tumble streets of the Bronx in the 70s right up until the current day, masterful wordsmiths have taken to the mic to put their lyrical art on full display. Rap/hip-hop aficionados all over the globe have been treated to some of the finest pieces of work in all of music from mega-popular acts and underground legends. While there are hundreds of recommendable albums worth mentioning here, we decided to come up with a definitive list of the 62 best rap albums of all time.

RELATED: The 25 Best Albums of the 90s, Ranked

The LPs scattered throughout this list should implore you to dig into the digital crates and unearth the lyrical gems each GOAT-tier MC provides.

1. ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ - Lauryn Hill

2. ‘Criminal Minded’ - Boogie Down Productions

3. ‘Only Built for Cuban Linx...’ - Raekwon

4. ‘Liquid Swords’ - GZA

5. ‘Raising Hell’ - Run DMC

6. ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ - 50 Cent

7. ‘The Infamous’ - Mobb Deep

8. ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ - De La Soul

9. ‘The Marshal Mathers LP’ - Eminem

10. ‘Reasonable Doubt’ - Jay-Z

11. ‘Hard Core’ - Lil’ Kim

12. ‘The Blueprint’ - Jay-Z

13. ‘Paid in Full’ - Eric B & Rakim

14. ‘It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot’ - DMX

15. ‘It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back’ - Public Enemy

16. ‘Ready to Die’ - The Notorious B.I.G.

17. ‘Illmatic’ - Nas

18. ‘Doggystyle’ - Snoop Doggy Dogg

19. ‘Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)’ - Wu-Tang Clan

20. ‘The Score’ - The Fugees

21. ‘Midnight Marauders’ - A Tribe Called Quest’

22. ‘Aquemini’ - Outkast

23. ‘All Eyez on Me’ - 2Pac

24. ‘Mecca and the Soul Brother’ - Pete Rock & CL Smooth

25. ‘The Chronic’ - Dr. Dre

26. ‘Black on Both Sides’ - Mos Def

27. ‘The Low End Theory’ - A Tribe Called Quest

28. ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ - Kendrick Lamar

29. ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ - Kanye West

30. ‘Madvillainy’ - Madvillain

31. ‘Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101’ - Young Jeezy

32. ‘Fantastic, Vol. 2’ - Slum Village

Honorable Mentions

33. ‘Efil4zaggin’ - N.W.A.

34. ‘Tha Carter II’ - Lil Wayne

35. ‘The Minstrel Show’ - Little Brother

36. ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City’ - Kendrick Lamar

37. ‘Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde’ - The Pharcyde

38. ‘The College Dropout’ - Kanye West

39. ‘Paul’s Boutique’ - Beastie Boys

40. ‘Supa Dupa Fly’ - Missy Elliot

41. ‘Critical Beatdown’ - Ultramagnetic MCs

42. ‘2001’ - Dr. Dre

43. ‘Trap Muzik’ - T.I.

44. ‘Supreme Clientele’ - Ghostface Killah

45. ‘Death Certificate’ - Ice Cube

46. ‘The Renaissance’ - Q-Tip

47. ‘The Black Album’ - Jay-Z

48. ‘ELE (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Event’ - Busta Rhymes

49. ‘EVE’ - Rapsody

50. ‘AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted’ - Ice Cube

51. 'Watch The Throne' - Jay-Z & Kanye West

52. 'Take Care' - Drake

53. 'Teflon Don' - Rick Ross

54. 'Nothing Was the Same' - Drake

55. 'Culture' - Migos

56. 'DS2' - Future

57. 'In My Lifetime, Vol. 1' - Jay-Z

58. 'Stankonia' - Outkast

59. 'Strictly Business' - EPMD

60. 'Lyte as a Rock' - MC Lyte

61. ‘Tha Carter III’ - Lil Wayne

62. 'Faces' - Mac Miller

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