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#1 – Nas – Illmatic

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At 18 years of age Nas took a picture of early 90s NYC and placed it over 10 tracks, collectively called Illmatic. One of the most honest, straightforward albums of all time, is also LOUD.com’s Top Hip Hop Album of All Time.  This timeless classic introduced, Nasir Jones, to the world in 1993 and he has been a steady force in Hip Hop ever since.  With production from Hip Hop legends Peter Rock, Premiere Q-Tip and others, the album samples everything from Michael Jackson to The Gap Band. Nas’ career has been plagued since Illmatic becuase everyone has been waiting for him to “return to form”.  This is a testament to how good this album is because very rarely in any art form does one create a body of work and instantly be considered one of if not the best to have ever done it.

In 1994, Notorious BIG lifted up the East Coast, put it on his back and changed hip hop forever. Ready To Die, his true gift to music, is stacked with radio hits and gets better as the album goes on. Mostly produced by Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs and Eazy Mo Bee, the beats go through old funk records and 80s hip hop samples.

Almost 15 years later, you can put the first single, “Juicy”, on in any club in America and everyone will know the words. Many of the great rappers of the past decade bite lines from this song on the regular. “Juicy” was the lead single but the true BIG introduction was in his 2^nd single “Big Poppa”. Still one of the smoothest songs in Hip Hop history, it took BIG to the next level of national awareness. From there, the album is filled with classics from “Warning” to “The What” to “Unbelievable”. It’s rare to skip around tracks on this gem.

This album spawned “aka’s” in hip hop among other things. You would be hard pressed to find a hip hop album that had such an impact and created as many trends as Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Raekwon’s detailed crime narratives became standard fare for any rapper after this album came out.  Released on Loud Records in 1995 this album not only featured one of the best guest verses ever, Nas on “Incarcerated Scarfaces”, but it also launched the solo career of Ghostface Killah.