100 lagu hip-hop teratas 2022 2022

From Public Enemy to Dr Dre, Jay-Z to Kendrick Lamar, these are the albums to school you in hip-hop history 

All it takes is a quick glance at the charts and it becomes clear that hip-hop permeates almost every aspect of modern music. Once a genre that was denied airtime on mainstream radio stations, these days, you’d be hard-pressed to find an artist in the top 40 whose music hasn’t been influenced by hip-hop’s greats, whether it’s a subtle nod in the production or a straight-up homage. But its influence hasn’t only been felt creatively; as the sound of black youth in the US and UK, it’s also served as a political tool, soundtracking the highs and lows of the black experience while simultaneously carving out more space for people of colour in mainstream media. 

With so many subgenres that bend to regional sounds, picking out the best hip-hop albums of all time isn’t an easy task, but if you’re looking for an introduction to the genre or want to refresh your knowledge, these 25 albums aren’t a bad place to start. From the early styles from Public Enemy to modern innovation from the likes of Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar, these are records that shaped the genre and influenced those that came after them. Turn your speakers up, because these albums deserve to be blasted out. 

Take Care by Drake (2011)

Drake has never been more in his bag-o'-feelings than on Take Care. His sophomore record, released in 2011, was an immediate classic – the kind of album that changes the game as soon as it lands, propelling Drake into the upper echelon of pop stardom, where he has remained ever since. Taking inspiration from Kanye West's heart-on-sleeve crooner vibe on 808s & Heartbreak, Take Care finds the Toronto rapper in full self-reflection mode, mulling over failed romances and the hollowness of fame over moody, dance-inflicted beats (that foreshadow his full pivot to Dance on 2022's Honestly, Nevermind). Its feature list is unparalleled, with contributions from the likes of Rihanna, pre-fame The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne and Andre 3000.

Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper (2016)

Chance the Rapper released this mixtape in May 2016, hot on the heels of dropping one of the best guest verses of all time on Kanye West's “Ultralight Beam”. On it, he finds the sweet spot between the gospel rap borrowed from West and the chilled-out, old-school beats he made his own in acclaimed early releases 10 Day and Acid Rap. Created in the aftermath of a period of drug abuse and stagnation, Coloring Book sees Chano lean into his faith and explore his newfound lust for life on joyful bangers like “No problem” and “Blessings”. The album is undergirded by rich instrumentation from collaborators Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment and memorable features from Justin Bieber, West and 2 Chainz. 

The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem (2000)

Cringe-inducing misogyny aside (his discography is riddled with it), Eminem's third LP is an undeniable masterpiece. Lead singles “Stan”, “The Way I Am” and “The Real Slim Shady” – and their visuals, which were played on repeat on MTV – are imprinted upon the brains of every single early noughties teen. Produced in collaboration with his mentor Dr Dre, it builds upon the grungey, horrorcore-inflected sound he had developed on his previous few outings, with some notable excursions from his usual shtick. Pulling in ambient songwriter Dido into the fold for “Stan” seemed like a deeply weird gamble at the time, but turned out to be a stroke of pure genius. 

The College Dropout by Kanye West (2004)

An album that's even more remarkable in the context of how it was created. As revealed in the Netflix documentary Jeen-Yuhs, Kanye West was carting the bones of one of the greatest rap albums of all time around New York City in a Louis Vuitton backpack for going on four years. He'd intermittently drop to the Roc-A-Fella offices and spit bars for executives in a bid to get signed – a process that was remarkably difficult given his obvious talents. The College Dropout is wall-to-wall bangers, featuring some of Ye's finest ever lyrics and beats. Like Jeen-Yuhs, it also stands as a time capsule to pre-fame Kanye, a glimpse of unencumbered genius.

It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy (1988)

Full of political rage and searing social commentary, Public Enemy’s second album, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, is as influential to hip-hop as The Velvet Underground & Nico is to rock music. Layering samples for an innovative and arresting sound, the fact that the album was recorded within six weeks is a feat within itself, but it’s made all the more impressive when you take a moment to appreciate the lyrical prowess the group’s lead rapper, Chuck D, displays on its tracks. Bringing a punk sensibility to themes of black empowerment and social injustice, It Takes A Nation is still as much of a galvanising listen today as it was when it was first released, affirming Public Enemy’s status as radical pioneers in the industry.

Gangster Chronicle by London Posse (1990)

The first and only record released by UK hip-hop group London Posse, Gangster Chronicle is a landmark album that signals the first time non-American artists contributed to the genre using their own native accents. As such, Gangster Chronicle laid down the blueprint for British hip-hop, merging elements of dancehall and ragga that have since become entrenched in our country’s rap output. From the reggae beats of the group’s biggest single, “Money Mad”, to the menacing production on “Gangster Chronicle”, you can instantly hear how UK hip-hop evolved from this one album in every track, delivering a distinctly British sound that paved the way for artists today.

Straight Outta Compton by NWA (1988)

There's no overstating the impact this album had upon the culture at large. Launching the careers of Eazy-E, Ice Cube and Dr Dre (who would go on to become one the most influential producers of all-time), it also stands as the pre-eminent classic of gangster rap, with “Fuck Tha Police” – which took aim at police brutality in Los Angeles –  resounding to this day as one of the greatest protest songs ever written. Listen to this and skip the hokey, NWA-endorsed 2015 biopic. 

The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest (1991)

The album that inspired Dr Dre to produce his first solo output, The Chronic, A Tribe Called Quest’s second album, The Low End Theory, took hip-hop to new heights, elevating their laid-back sound with jazz samples engineered by Q-Tip. The result was a timeless album that stands out not only for its innovation, but also for its commentary on social issues, not least their approach to dealing with misogyny on tracks such as “Infamous Date Rape”, a pre-Me Too (albeit crude) ode to consent. Just as the group’s most famous song, “Can I Kick It?” (from People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm), exudes a witty, relaxed vibe, The Low End Theory takes it even further, with an added layer of sophistication that showcases the group’s growth as artists.

The Chronic by Dr Dre (1992)

Beats to make you bounce are Dr Dre’s speciality and, on his first album after he split from NWA, he does not disappoint. Showering his tracks with swirling synths and groovy bass, the G-funk sound that Dre crafted on The Chronic is instantly recognisable and still as irresistible as it was in the 1990s, setting a new benchmark for hip-hop production that is arguably yet to be matched. Featuring the then up-and-coming Snoop Dogg on many of the songs, the duo’s smooth approach to rap heralded in a new, mellow era for the genre, with tracks such as “Nuthin’ But A G Thang” and “Lil’ Ghetto Boy” boasting laid-back, funk-infused beats that were a departure from the prevailing sound at the time. Listen to this album and you’ll instantly see why Dr Dre is now one of the most respected figures in the music industry.

Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan (1993)

When RZA and Ghostface Killah set out to form Wu-Tang Clan they had a distinct vision and knew they had to find the best rappers in the game to make it a reality. Bringing names such as Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Raekwon to the forefront, the group took a democratic approach to creating their debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), with RZA pitting rappers against each other in battles to decide who appeared on each song. The result is a distinctly underground sound, with RZA collaging samples from martial arts films such as Shaolin And Wu Tang while his troupe of rappers pass the mic, to create a fusion that helped usher in East Coast rap’s renaissance in the 1990s.

Doggystyle by Snoop Doggy Dogg (1993)

Released a year after he first caught the attention of critics on Dr Dre’s The Chronic, Snoop Dogg’s debut album, Doggystyle, shot straight to No1 and became the fastest-selling hip-hop album ever. A continuation of the G-funk sound that the pair established on The Chronic, Dre’s paw prints can be found all over the album, but it’s Snoop’s wit and inventive flows that set this record apart from the rest. Full of catchy hooks, melodic verses and clever uses of guest artists such as The Lady Of Rage, while Snoop Dogg’s lyrics on Doggystyle have a tendency to veer towards sexism and violence, his unique delivery paired with Dre’s production are enough to help you turn a blind eye if you view it as a product of its time. Gin ’n’ juice, anyone?

Illmatic by Nas (1994)

Nas’ debut album, Illmatic, is a genuine triumph, peppered with jazz samples and sophisticated lyricism that put the then 20-year-old on a pedestal he hasn’t left since. Enlisting the help of DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip and LES on production, Nas paints a portrait of inner-city life that flits from frustration to optimism, introducing a fresh narrative of what it’s like to grow up in a poverty-stricken area while harbouring dreams of an escape. Illmatic is so good that scholars have studied it and it will forever be remembered as not only one of the greatest hip-hop records of all time, but also one of the best albums ever made full stop. Nas might have insisted that “Life’s a bitch and then you die”, but his legacy will always live on through Illmatic.

Ready To Die By the Notorious Big (1994)

Siapa pun yang suka mengkritik musik rap karena pemuliaan kekerasan dan aktivitas kriminal harus memberikan Big yang terkenal siap untuk mati mendengarkan dengan tepat. Yes, iconic singles such as “Juicy” and “Big Poppa” linger on the pros of his lifestyle – his rags-to-riches story and getting laid, respectively – but elsewhere on Ready To Die Biggie opens up about the cons with frank honesty , dengan trek seperti "perjuangan sehari -hari" dan "pikiran bunuh diri" yang menangani tema depresi dan rasa malu yang menyertai kehidupan kejahatan. Di belakang Bravado dan pengirimannya yang sedang booming, ada kerentanan nyata pada Ready to Die dan, dipasangkan dengan kemampuan bercerita dan produksi album yang licin, tidak sulit untuk melihat mengapa ia dianggap oleh banyak orang sebagai rapper terhebat sepanjang masa.

All Eyez On Me oleh 2Pac (1996)

Di 27 Longs Long, album keempat dan terakhir 2Pac yang akan dirilis selama Lifetime adalah tur de force of hip-hop, yang pertama dari jenisnya yang pernah dirilis untuk konsumsi massal dan kembalinya musik setelah menghabiskan sebelas bulan di penjara untuk kekerasan seksual. Di dunia saat ini, tidak ada label dalam pikiran kanan mereka yang akan menebusnya untuk kejahatannya, tetapi itulah yang dilakukan oleh Death Row Records pada tahun 1995, membayar $ 1,4 juta dengan syarat ia akan membuat tiga album untuk mereka pernah dirilis. Rapper itu meninggal dalam penembakan drive-by kurang dari setahun kemudian, tetapi tidak sebelum rilis All Eyez On Me, sebuah album yang direkam dengan tergesa-gesa dalam dua minggu. Sementara nada urgensi berjalan melaluinya, karya 2Pac di album ini sama sekali tidak ceroboh, menghindari tema yang lebih reflektif yang dieksplorasi pada saya terhadap dunia untuk perayaan kehidupan preman yang tidak malu-malu. Dilengkapi dengan produser Death Row Records yang paling terkenal - termasuk, Anda dapat menebaknya, Dr Dre - untuk mencocokkan braggadocio -nya yang menyombong Mempertimbangkan skala semata -mata dan perputaran yang cepat, layak dikenang sebagai salah satu yang hebat.

Skor oleh Fugees (1996)

"Ini hampir seperti versi hip-hop Tommy, seperti apa yang dilakukan untuk musik rock," kata album kedua Lauryn Hill of Fugees, bahkan sebelum dirilis. Jika Anda berbicara tentang pembicaraan semacam itu, Anda pasti harus berjalan -jalan dan, setelah dirilis, skornya tidak mengecewakan. Menenun bersama sampel pintar, instrumen langsung dan sketsa cerdas kehidupan ghetto, skornya intim dan bijaksana, pada saat itu memberikan daya tarik yang lebih luas kepada massa yang skeptis tentang musik hip-hop. Setiap anggota band memiliki kesempatan untuk benar -benar bersinar dalam rekaman ini, tetapi skor harus dicatat karena membawa Hill ke audiens arus utama, dengan vokalnya yang menampilkan suara penuh semangat grup pada single seperti "Ready or" dan "Killing Aku lembut dengan lagunya ”. Kelompok ini berpisah dan mulai mengerjakan proyek-proyek solo hanya setahun setelah rilis skor, tetapi itu adalah waktu yang cukup untuk menempatkan Fugees di Hip-Hop Hall of Fame, mengubah lanskap genre selamanya.

Aquemini oleh Outkast (1998)

Hot off kesuksesan dua album pertama mereka, Outkast's Aquemini mengangkat kerajinan mereka dengan instrumen langsung dan aliran kreatif, membawa rasa hormat yang baru ditemukan untuk hip-hop selatan dalam genre. Mengundang perpaduan eklektik musisi ke studio dan menulis instrumental album melalui sesi jamming, musikalitas dalam Aquemini memposisikan André 3000 dan Big Boi sebagai seniman dengan telinga untuk inovasi, dengan duo yang memanfaatkan kepribadian mereka yang berbeda (judul album ini adalah A Nod Telinga, dengan duo ini memanfaatkan kepribadian mereka yang berbeda (judul album ini adalah A NOD A NODS A COLPENT Untuk tanda -tanda bintang mereka yang terpisah, Aquarius dan Gemini) untuk menciptakan suara yang benar -benar individual. Ini adalah rekor yang menggembirakan dan penuh kemenangan, dengan suara jiwa dan funk yang diselimuti melalui produksi dan lirik yang mengesankan untuk boot. Apa yang lebih keren dari menjadi keren? Ada yang mengatakan "es dingin!", Tapi kami mengatakan Outkast - dan hanya Outkast.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill oleh Lauryn Hill (1998)

Lauryn Hill memenangkan hati publik dengan skor Fugees ', tetapi album solo debutnya, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, menegaskan bahwa dia sendiri adalah kekuatan yang harus diperhitungkan, vokalnya dan kecakapan mengetuk yang bersinar terang sebagai bintang mereka catatan sendiri. Ditulis dalam ledakan kreativitas yang terinspirasi oleh kehamilannya bersama Rohan Marley, miseducation of Lauryn Hill diilhami dalam jiwa dan kerentanan yang bijaksana, dengan penampilan sesekali dari orang -orang seperti Mary J Blige dan D'Angelo, ketika Hill dengan lancar menyelinap di antara rap dan rap Bernyanyi dengan mudah yang mengesankan. Memenangkan lima Grammy, miseducation of Lauryn Hill menjadikan sejarah sebagai album hip-hop pertama yang memenangkan hadiah album tahun ini, sementara ia menjadi wanita pertama yang memenangkan lima penghargaan dalam satu upacara. Dengan warisan yang masih sangat hidup dan sehat, suara miseducation masih dapat didengar dalam rilis hip-hop dan neo-soul hari ini. Adapun single utama album, "Doo Wop (That Thing)", yah, itu dapat didengar di pesta mana pun yang layak pergi ke seluruh planet ini.

The Blueprint by Jay-Z (2001)

If we’ve learned anything from the Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance, it’s that the best way to come back at critics is to excel and that’s exactly what Jay-Z did on his sixth album, The Blueprint. At the time, he was one of the most dissed rappers in the game, with everyone from Nas to Prodigy firing shots his way, but while he fights back on “Takeover”, the rest of the album speaks for itself, reviving hip-hop’s sample culture with the help of a young Kanye West and Just Blaze’s production. The result is soul-influenced exercise in bravado, as Jay-Z toots his own horn over carefully refined samples, confidently assuring listeners on “Hola’ Hovito” that “If I ain’t better than BIG, I'm the closest one”. While it’s debatable that The Blueprint is Jay-Z’s best record – he himself has said that he believes his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, is his best work – its influence is indisputable, quite literally mapping out the sonic blueprint for hip-hop production over the next few years. Now that’s how you shut those pesky haters up.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Ye (2010)

Many balked and laughed when Kanye West said, “I’m a creative genius and there’s no other way to word it,” on Jimmy Kimmel in 2013, but on 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy he walks with a swagger that backs up the talk. Released alongside the short film Runaway, featuring music from the album, it’s clear that West set out to showcase the full breadth of his talent with this record, excelling across the board with lavish production and lyrics musing on the manic highs and sobering lows of fame and excess. No two tracks sound the same, but they’re all tied together by a distinctly darker sound that emerges through their production, from the echoing chants on “Power” to the furious drums on “All Of The Lights”. Enlisting the industry’s finest for features – Jay-Z, RZA, Raekwon, Rick Ross, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, to name a few – West crafted a modern masterpiece that rewrote the hip-hop rule book and confirmed that, actually, he probably is a creative genius after all.

Good Kid, m.A.A.d City by Kendrick Lamar (2012)

The snubbing of Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, at the Grammys in 2013 is one of the ceremony’s greatest injustices: to make matters worse, it lost out to Macklemore’s maudlin The Heist, which no one has listened to since. M.A.A.D City, on the other hand, is still considered one of the greatest records — nay, artistic achievements — of the current century. Billed on its cover as a “short film,” the richly constructed concept album recalls the story of Lamar’s adolescent coming-of-age in Compton, California. Punctuated by narrative-weaving voicemails from his friends and parents, Lamar navigates love, lust, gang violence, and peer pressure on the streets. “Swimming Pools” became something of an ironic house party hit; the features from Drake (“Poetic Justice”), Jay Rock (“Money Trees”) and MC Eiht (“M.A.A.D. City”) rank among their greatest. At the tail-end of “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst,” Maya Angelou baptises Kendrick and his friends anew in a frisson-inducing moment of inspiration: the rest of the artist’s life, demarcated.

Yeezus by Ye (2013)

Ye’s follow up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is almost diametrically opposed to its predecessor’s downbeat rhythm and rhyme. Where Fantasy is variously celebratory and introspective, “On Sight,” the album’s shrill, distorted opener, can only be described as confrontational — effectively setting the mood to come. As unashamedly grandiose as anything Ye has ever made, many regard Yeezus as the demarcation point between Ye old-and-new: his absolute ascension, for better or worse, into the figure of extreme self-involvement he is broadly considered today. What cuts through, nevertheless, through reflective songs like “Hold My Liquor” and “Guilt Trip,” is an undergirding awareness of the artist’s foibles. The music video for “Bound 2,” in which Ye and then-new beau Kim ride a motorbike in front of an inconspicuous green screen, might’ve been the thing to capture the popular consciousness, reproduced across memes and late night talk show skits. But the sonic legacy of Yeezus, considered way ahead of its time by critics today, is nothing to shake a stick at.

RTJ2 by Run The Jewels (2014)

Composed of Brooklynite producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike, Run The Jewels established themselves as one of the supreme hip-hop groups of the mid-2010s, releasing all of their invariably critically acclaimed self-titled albums for free. They’re all bangers, but Run The Jewels II is inarguably the most notable, featuring A-list cameos from Rage Against The Machine’s Zack de la Rocha, Travis Barker and Boots. This was the confluence of two near-unparalleled artists at the apex of their powers: thematically and formally dark, its hits woven together with an unrelenting, breathless cadence — manouvering from the slow build of “Jeopardy” to the freneticism of “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry” with seldom a blink. Last year’s Zola, Janicza Bravo’s extremely online sophomore film adapted from a Twitter thread, made terrific use of “Love Again (Akinyele Back)” at height of its frenetic climax — and truthfully, anything on the album could make for a bona fide needle-drop.

To Pimp a Butterfly oleh Kendrick Lamar (2015)

Album studio ketiga Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly, telah dibandingkan dengan Public Enemy's Take a Nation oleh banyak orang, yang seharusnya memberi Anda gambaran tentang apa yang diharapkan dari epik modern ini. Puncak kreatif pengaruh musik hitam puluhan tahun, dari jazz hingga funk ke jiwa, Lamar menjalin bersama permadani yang bermuatan politis yang memetakan pengalaman hitam untuk menjadi mucikari kupu -kupu, dengan orang -orang seperti George Clinton dan Thundercat di atas kapal untuk meminjamkan bakat mereka kepada The album. Memukul tema ras dan ketidakadilan untuk Black Lives Matter Generation, album ini adalah karya sinematik, dengan Lamar bermain sandiwara dengan sejumlah karakter di jalurnya untuk mengarahkan poinnya pulang. Buatan mahir, ini bukan hanya salah satu album hip-hop modern terhebat, tetapi juga salah satu album terbaik dalam dekade terakhir dari genre apa pun.

Kami mendapatkannya dari sini ... Terima kasih 4 Layanan Anda oleh A Tribe Called Quest (2016)

Direkam di ambang kematian anggota pendiri Phife Dawg akibat komplikasi diabetes, sebuah suku yang disebut Quest yang terlambat bersatu kembali setelah bertarung setelah gerakan cinta tahun 1998. Hasilnya, album keenam dan terakhir mereka: kami mendapatkannya dari sini ... terima kasih 4 layanan Anda. Dibebankan secara politis, funky, dan campur aduk, suku mengambil munculnya Trumpisme - sebagai lagu kedua album, "We the People," ironisnya: "Semua orang Meksiko Anda harus pergi / dan semua orang miskin, Anda harus pergi / Muslim dan kaum gay / anak laki -laki, kami membenci jalan Anda ” - dengan chutzpah ganas. Seolah -olah untuk menambah bakat raksasa yang dipamerkan, album ini menawarkan pemeran Hollywood dari fitur -fitur tambahan: dari kolaborator yang sering rima dan konsekuensi, hingga Kanye, Kendrick, Anderson. Paak, Elton John, André 3000 (Napas Dalam) dan The White Jack White Stripes. Satu pernyataan perpisahan.

Berengsek. Oleh Kendrick Lamar (2017)

Lamar memulai album studio ketiganya, Damn., Dengan kematiannya yang dibayangkan. Pada "Blood.," Lagu pembuka album, rapper Compton menyampaikan sebuah cerita - didukung oleh string heroik yang mungkin menyertai pertarungan terakhir seorang pria Barat tanpa nama - di mana seorang wanita tua dan buta menembaknya. Yap, ini adalah Lamar di introspektifnya yang paling tidak malu-malu: beragam fatalistik, mencela diri sendiri, dan eksistensial. Pernah seniman yang sadar dan menyinggung jiwa, ada garis-garis yang jelas dari karya-karya sebelumnya: "Kebanggaan.," Di mana ia bergulat dengan rasa tidak aman romantisnya, adalah penerus spiritual untuk "U," DNA "Butterfly" DNA. " adalah paean untuk keunggulan hitam seperti halnya hitselebratory-nya. Ini sama petualangnya dengan apa pun yang telah dilakukan Lamar, dan meskipun lebih kompak daripada kupu -kupu dan anak yang baik, M.A.A.D City, tentu saja tidak kekurangan ide. Klasik instan.

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