Blog post: http://djrtistic.tumblr.com/post/123572275055/my-20-favorite-rap-albums-from-2000-2015

Not necessarily the "best" 20, and not even sure which ones would be in a Top 10 overall. But these are my 20 favorites to come out since then.

1. Jay-Z – The Blueprint


This is the album that got me into Just Blaze and Kanye, and they both ended up being dominant for the rest of the decade. Aside from “Jigga that nigga,” the album still sounds just as good as it did that first day I downloaded it, days before the September 11th release.

2. Common - Like Water For Chocolate


I remember being on a site back in 2000 that had links to songs that played in RealPlayer, and they listed a track called “Dooinit.” I was never into Common (Sense) before this, and was still a bit salty that he dissed my favorite rapper on “The bitch in yoo” a few years earlier…yet, this track blew my mind, and made me an instant fan of Jay Dee/Dilla. I went on to buy the album, and that intro alone had me hooked.

3. Kanye West - Late Registration


College dropout showed Kanye’s potential, but this album here let me know that he would be legendary. Surprisingly, I wasn’t a fan of “We major” the first time hearing it, but it grew on me, and is a true masterpiece at this point. The skits were almost too perfect, since I was in college at the time.

4. Kendrick Lamar – To pimp a butterfly


This is one of the most polarizing major releases to drop since 2000. I feel that this album has to be listened to from start to finish, without shuffle or skipping any tracks. Musically, it appeals more to my Jazz sensibilities on most tracks, and I can understand that it won’t impact all fans the same way. But to me, it’s nearly perfect. The only song I don’t care for is “U,” but it still makes sense within the context of the album, although it’s hard for me to listen to.

5. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, Mad City


It’s hard to say if I like this more than “To pimp a butterfly,” but to me, this album had the stronger, impact songs, while TPAB is a more complete, deeper album. The skits on here are perfect, and he showed that he can make great songs without forcing them to sound commercial (well, except for “Poetic justice.”)

6. Slum Village - Fantastic Vol 2.


I bought “The Wash” soundtrack in 2001, and one of my favorite songs was from Latoiya Williams, which was called “Everytime.” I checked the liner notes, and saw that it sampled a song called “Get dis money” from Slum Village. I checked their song out, then got the album…and I was mad at myself for discovering it so late, especially since I was a huge fan of Dilla’s work on “The love movement” and “Like water for chocolate.” Production wise, this is my favorite album on the list.

7. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP


Eminem completely showed out on this album. It was one of those rare cases where a great rapper was able to really get off lyrically and flow-wise, while still making an enjoyable album. I won’t lie, I hate “Kim” though.

8. Little Brother - The Minstrel Show


I didn’t hear this album until 2007, but it ended up in my rotation almost weekly once I found out about it. Unlike most albums I have enjoyed, I could actually relate to a lot of the topics. Everything from the standout tracks like “Slow it down” to the Mr. Biggs skit were fire.

9. Snoop Dogg - Tha Last Meal


I first heard this album when Death Row pulled an extremely slick, yet hilarious move. They had just released an album full of Snoop’s unreleased material, which was disrespectfully called “Dead man walking,” and they put both albums up on their website. However, “Dead man walking” was only available as a low –quality RealPlayer stream, while “Da last meal” was a high quality, CDQ MP3 download. I downloaded it, and knew it would be a personal classic as soon as I heard that Rose Royce interpolated intro. The album officially dropped the day after I started driving, so it is tied to my memories of rolling into my High School parking lot, blasting it loud enough for everyone to hear it.

10. Young Jeezy - Let’s Get it: Thug Motivation 101


For some reason, I wasn’t a fan of Jeezy when I first heard him…oh yeah, that’s because I first heard him and Gucci Mane on “So icey,” which I wasn’t a fan of. Everyone on campus at FAMU was playing this album, and when I finally listened, I finally understood the appeal, and was hooked. I can’t count how many times I had to re-wire my unmounted sub, just to make sure it was working for when I played this.

11. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter


It’s hard to decide which Wayne album is the “best” between the first three Carters, but I feel like this is the one that I enjoyed the most. Carter III was the most commercially appealing, and Carter II was his best rap-wise, but Carter I seemed to show his personality the most, and Mannie Fresh’s production was on fire.

12. Drake - So far gone


Early in 2009, I remember everyone on Twitter and Facebook talking about some new kid named Drake…and my first thought was, “the dude who had that song with Dwele and Little Brother, called ‘Don’t you have a man?’” I realized that it was the same person, and checked it out. It took a while to get into, since it was so much different at the time, but it stayed in rotation even after his debut album dropped the next year.

13. Jay-Z - The Black Album


First, I’m gonna be petty and say that I’ll never forgive Jay for picking that beat for “Justify my thug” from Quik. Quik is my favorite producer ever, and I was hype when I found out that he was producing on this album. However, Quik gave him some beats to select from, which included that “California” track that he uses on “Trauma,” but Jay chose the one he chose. I was highly disappointed…but aside from that, the album is easily classic, and was a great way for him to fake retire. Since his return, he still hasn’t topped this album.

14. The Game - The Documentary


I have a lot of personal ties to this album, since I was producing for Game’s label, Black Wall Street, as it was being created. I even remember being at the house on Brazil St. back in September 2004, when Game got the call from Aftermath that the album was being pushed back to January. Once the album finally came out, it was what everyone was hoping for. He was able to tie in all of the current sounds at the time, while having a great presence on every track.

15. Lil Jon – Kings of Crunk


This album was basically the soundtrack to my Freshman year in college. Lil Jon may have become a novelty to many of us after Dave Chappelle’s skit, but he was great at what he did in the Crunk era (and even the Hyphy era), and this album was proof. Being an 18 year old, going to clubs in Florida, L.A., and Atlanta, “Get low” was the most amazing, perfect club song ever when it first came out.

16. Murs & 9th Wonder - Murs 3:16: The Ninth Edition


I still love every song on this album. The production matches Murs stories and lyrics perfectly, and it’s just as cohesive as 9th’s Little Brother projects. I was almost in shock the first time I saw Murs perform “And this is for…” in front of a 95% White crowd, but he pulled it off and received a great ovation for it.

17. Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below


I’ve heard “The love below” described as “Andre doing karaoke,” but to me, it was great to see how he tied in so many sounds and eras into one project and made it work. I wasn’t a big fan of “Hey ya,” but was a fan of the full album from the first listen. I even enjoy hearing the Jazz Fusion meets Drum n Bass version of “My funny valentine.” As for Big Boi’s album, he had some slept on gems like “Bowtie” which surely should have been a single.

18. Nas – Stillmatic


I still remember playing this on the way to school in December 2001, as my boy Bryan rode with me. He was the biggest Jay-Z fan ever, and was almost mad that I even bought a Nas album. Yet, when “Ether” came on, and he heard it for the first time…I remember him saying “no! NO!!! NOOOO!!!!!!!!!” as the song went on. He knew it was a new day, just as most of us did at the time. The rest of the album was even better, musically…and the first time I heard “One mic,” I said “yeah….Nas is back, for real, for real!”

19. Rick Ross - Teflon don


Rick Ross was probably the biggest thing in Rap when this came out. Drake was the newest, hottest commercial rapper, and of course Jay and Kanye were holding it down, but Ross was the street’s favorite. I was always amazed at how he could make the biggest trap songs at the time, which started with the Jeezy influenced “BMF,” but then make the coldest smooth tracks like “Super high.”

20. E-40 – My ghetto report card


Hyphy was at it’s peak when this album dropped, and it was exactly what I hoped for. I mean, the album opens up with “Yay area,” where the Digable Planets sample had me hype before the beat even dropped!