First off, shout out to everyone who contributed, not only for taking the time to fill out a list and make this actually worth posting results for, but for nobody fucking up and not failing to put an order, and most of the time including the artist and album title. That made accumulating everything a whole lot easier.

In total, 27 users submitted lists containing 256 different albums by over 150 different artists.

17 albums were placed in one or more user's #1 slot, 71 landed in at least one user's top 5 and 122 were in a top 10.

I'm going to follow up this post with replies with additional stats to call out the artists that did the best, the years that ranked highest and then some awards for users who submitted ballots.

Full results can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/y5uejqsu

Without further ado, The Lesson's Top 25 Favorite Hip Hop Albums:

01. Nas - Illmatic (1994) (898 pts)
02. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (1991) (876 pts)
03. OutKast - ATLiens (1996) (770 pts)
04. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (1993) (722 pts)
05. Common - Like Water For Chocolate (2000) (630 pts)

06. OutKast - Aquemini (1998) (537 pts)
07. Reflection Eternal - Train of Thought (2000) (519 pts)
08. Mos Def - Black on Both Sides (1999) (480 pts)
09. Pete Rock & CL Smooth - The Main Ingredient (1994) (462 pts)
10. De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead (1991) (433 pts)

11. The Roots - Things Fall Apart (1999) (400 pts)
12. Gang Starr - Moment Of Truth (1998) (382 pts)
13. Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992) (381 pts)
14. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (1989) (356 pts)
15. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988) (341 pts)

16. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995) (335 pts)
17. The Roots - Illadelph Halflife (1996) (327 pts)
18. Mobb Deep - The Infamous (1995) (314 pts)
19. Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle (1993) (286 pts)
20. De La Soul - Stakes Is High (1996) (278 pts)

21. Ice Cube - Death Certificate (1991) (273 pts)
22. Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star (1996) (272 pts)
23. Slum VIllage - Fantastic, Vol. 2 (2000) (266 pts)
24. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) (259 pts)
25. Nas - It Was Written (1996) (243 pts)

Top 10 Artists:
1. A Tribe Called Quest (+ Q-Tip), 1734 points
2. OutKast (+ Big Boi), 1428 points
3. De La Soul, 1311 points
4. Nas, 1151 points
5. The Roots, 1120 points
6. Common, 916 points
7. Mos Def (+ ½ Black Star), 659 points
8. Talib Kweli (RE + ½ Black Star), 655 points
9. Pete Rock & CL Smooth, 611 points
10. Gang Starr, 565 points

Artists with the most albums:
1. The Roots, 7 albums (Highest ranked: Things Fall Apart)
2. De La Soul, 5 albums (Highest ranked: De La Soul Is Dead)
3. Little Brother, 4 albums (+1 Phonte) (Highest ranked: The Listening)
3. OutKast, 4 albums (Highest ranked: ATLiens)
3. Common, 4 albums (Highest ranked: Like Water For Chocolate)
3. Gang Star, 4 albums (Highest ranked: Moment of Truth)
3. Kendrick Lamar, 4 albums (Highest ranked: To Pimp a Butterfly)
3. Boogie Down Productions, 4 albums (Highest ranked: Criminal Minded)
3. Redman, 4 albums (Highest ranked: Muddy Waters)
10. A Tribe Called Quest, 3 albums (+ 2 Q-Tip) (Highest ranked: The Low End Theory)

points are some electoral college ish

when you look at the popular vote it is clear that de la has wider support getting more votes and more albums. this means their over all catalog > tribes or kast.

lolol

equally

But yeah, De La’s catalogue might be a little deeper.

But....that last Tribe album was better than the last De La album IMO, so that makes it a tougher call on catalogue. De La had Stakes over Beats, Rhymes, and Life and then had the fantastic Grind Date album when Tribe was nonexistent, so they never went away for too long.

>But....that last Tribe album was better than the last De La
>album IMO, so that makes it a tougher call on catalogue. De
>La had Stakes over Beats, Rhymes, and Life and then had the
>fantastic Grind Date album when Tribe was nonexistent, so they
>never went away for too long.

Both groups had peaks and valleys at different times for sure.

https://digife.com

Joking.

I think Tribe's peak is a bit higher than De La's but De La's catalog is more consistent.

De la doesn't have an album that many of its fans think is disappointing, whereas a fair chunk of Tribe's fans think Beats, Rhymes, and Life and The Love Movement are disappointments or let downs.

<--- Me when my head hits the pillow

1. Low End Theory
2. Midnight Marauders
3. De La Soul Is Dead
4. People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
5. Stakes Is High
6. We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service
7. Buhloone Mindstate
8. Grind Date
9. 3 Feet High and Rising
10. AOI: Bionix
11. Beats, Rhymes, and Life
12. and the Anonymous Nobody
13. Love Movement
14. AOI: Mosaic Thump

we got it is so fantastic. i loved it when it came out but on each listen it keeps blowing me away. if it didnt exist de la would take it easier. that album really keeps it close.

i think i need to give each album a listen before i can rank them to make sure im not misremembering. i will probably do a ranking before i listen to them then see how it changes it after. ill come back to this.

Nothing really surprising here. The 90s dominated, with 93 thru 96 being the absolute prime. 91, 98 and 2000 were the years that really stood out above the rest. Obviously it really depends on whether we are going by total points (which can be skewed by an album that rated particularly high) or total number of albums. All of the top 10 years, based on points, were years in the 90s with the exception of the year 2000. 1997 was the only year from the decade not to be in the top 10.

One thing I found interesting was that every year from 1986 to 2020 received at least one vote with the exception of 2013. Looking at the most popular/critically acclaimed albums from that year there were some solid albums, but definitely nothing that stands out a surprising omission: Kanye West - Yeezus, Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels, Danny Brown - Old, Drake - Nothing Was The Same

Top 10 Years (based on total points):
1. 1994, 2414 pts
2. 1996, 2223 pts
3. 1991, 1978 pts
4. 1993, 1909 pts
5. 1995, 1847 pts
6. 2000, 1799 pts
7. 1998, 1597 pts
8. 1999, 1104 pts
9. 1992, 989 pts
10. 1988, 937 pts


Years with the most albums:
1. 1994, 16 albums (Highest ranked: Nas - Illmatic)
1. 1996, 16 albums (Highest ranked: OutKast - ATLiens)
1. 1995, 16 albums (Highest ranked: The Roots - Illadelph Halflife)
4. 1993, 12 albums (Highest ranked: A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders)
4. 1998, 12 albums (Highest ranked: OutKast - Aquemini)
4. 1992, 12 albums (Highest ranked: Dr. Dre - The Chronic)
7. 1988, 11 albums (Highest ranked: Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back)
7. 2006, 11 albums (Highest ranked: The Roots - Game Theory)
7. 2007, 11 albums (Highest ranked: Blu & Exile - Below The Heavens)
7. 1990, 11 albums (Highest ranked: Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted)

Albums on the most user's ballots:
1. Nas - Illmatic (19 votes)
2. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (16 votes)
2. Common - Like Water For Chocolate (16 votes)
4. OutKast - ATLiens (15 votes)
5. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (14 votes)
6. Reflection Eternal - Train of Thought (12 votes)
6. Mos Def - Black on Both Sides (12 votes)
6. Pete Rock & CL Smooth - The Main Ingredient (12 votes)
7. Gang Starr - Moment of Truth (11 votes)
10. OutKast - Aquemini (10 votes)
10. De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead (10 votes)
10. Dr. Dre - The Chronic (10 votes)

Albums with multiple #1 votes:
Nas - Illmatic (3 #1 votes)
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (3 #1 votes)
OutKast - Aquemini (3 #1 votes)
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (3 #1 votes)
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - The Main Ingredient (2 #1 votes)
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (2 #1 votes)

Albums with the highest average placement on ballots they appeared on (min. 5 votes):
1. Ice Cube - Death Certificate (6.2 avg placement)
2. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (6.3 avg placement)
3. Mobb Deep - The Infamous (6.5 avg placement)
4. OutKast - Aquemini (6.7 avg placement)
5. OutKast - ATLiens (6.9 avg placement)
6. A Trie Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (7.5 avg placement)
7. Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle (8.0 avg placement)
8. Goodie Mobb - Soul Food (8.6 avg placement)
9. Nas - Illmatic (8.8 avg placement)
10. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (9.0 avg placement)

-----------------------------

my music: www.soundcloud.com/jessewarren
my mixes: www.mixcloud.com/jessewarren
my label: www.fb.com/mettamuzik

The "Stuck in the 90's" Award for the user whose albums averaged the earliest release year:
WINNER: c71 (1991.1 avg)
2. mrhood75 (1992.0 avg)
2. My_SP1200_Broken_Again (1992.0 avg)
4. Nick Has a Problem...Seriously (1993.4 avg)
5. Marbles (1993.6 avg)

The "Hip Hop Isn't Dead" Award for the user whose albums averaged the most recent release year:
WINNER: phenom (2004.8 avg)
2. Stadiq (2002.5 avg)
3. Oak27 (2002.4 avg)
4. agentzero (2002.1 avg)
5. blueeclipse (2001.2 avg)

The "Step Outside Your Realm" Award for the user whose gap between their earliest album and most recent album was the shortest:
WINNER: Anonymous (9 years)
2. My_SP1200_Broken_Again (11 years)
3. Nick Has a Problem...Seriously (12 years)
4. maro (14 years)
4. c71 (14 years)

The "Typical OKP" Award for the user whose ballot featured the most albums from The Lesson's Top 25:
WINNER: LeroyBumpkin (16 albums)*
2. Kosa 12 (14 albums)
3. maro (14 albums)
4. Mack (12 albums)
4. Anonymous, agentzero, Bentagin, seandammit (11 albums)

The “Rather Unique” Award for the user whose ballot featured the least albums from The Lesson’s Top 25:
WINNER: c71 (2 albums)
2. Dj Joey Joe (3 albums)
2. phenom (3 albums)
4. DJR (5 albums)
4. reaction (5 albums)

Lol...

I’m very honest with that 94-96 being my absolute favorite period and that’s how I voted.

I’ve posted this on this site before, but I always separate, favorites, best, and greatest.

Yeah The Chronic is one of the greatest albums of all time but it’s not my favorite.

Drogas Wave to me is one of the best albums of all times and while it is one of absolute favorites of newer releases, it doesn’t have that nostalgia for me yet that my “favorite” albums have.

Great job going through these bro!

Interesting to see how common many of us were on here.

I'm not ashamed...ha ha. Good work.

https://digife.com

yep

Doing favorite albums instead of what I'd consider the "best" gave me such a different list.

Most of the great albums I don't play as much....I can let them rock once and be good on hearing them for years.

phemom's the name, all-star writer/
searching 4 journalistic fame, mindframe igniter....www.twitter.com/hayabusaage

I started posting in high school....I am not surprised at all lmao

----------
https://93millionmilesabove.blogspot.com/
https://rateyourmusic.com/~Kosa12

Because the list of 25 are all albums I love and respect. There wasn’t one album there that I was surprised at or thought didn’t belong.

So it didn’t even register that so few of them are on my list.

I try to stay in the moment and not just listen to the same old albums over and over. So in that respect I’m happy that I didn’t just have all 90s albums(though that certainly is the best decade). Tried to focus more on the albums that really connected with me. Like Doggystyle and The Chronic are phenomenal albums but “Conversation” or “G Funk Era” are much more “me”.

..with carefully crafted good posts (sometimes, lol)

< Live Mixshow - Thurs 11PM/EST >
https://twitch.tv/djchiefone

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This is really cool. Was interesting looking over the full results.

"Dressed up like an evil villain dressed up like a soccer dad"

hard to argue that any album is not worthy of being on the list. i obviously would debate the order but this is a list i can ride with.

as one of the de la heads i officially dispute de la not being in the top 5. having 3 albums on top 25 though?? i guess thats acceptable.

Every single album on that list is an album that I absolutely *love* front to back, and most of which are in my top 25 of top 50ish.

Which is atypical I think. Typically if I find a "top X hip hop albums of all time" list there's a bunch that, while I understand why they are on said list(s), I just don't personally care for for whatever reason.

This list is not like that.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Interesting stuff, thanks for taking all that time. It was a fun topic too.

These albums all came out the same year as Train Of Thought:

Common, Like Water For Chocolate
Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele
OutKast, Stankonia
Slum Village, Fantastic Vol. 2

So to me, it's not even the best hip hop album that came out that year.

Understand that I like the album, but definitely not in the conversation of greatest of all time.
I've always thought the second half of the album (outside of Good Mourning and Love Language)
was average and I just had a tough time getting through it.

https://digife.com

>I've always thought the second half of the album (outside of
>Good Mourning and Love Language)
>was average and I just had a tough time getting through it.

I definitely think the 1st half of the album is far superior to the 2nd.

But there's a lot to like about most of the 2nd half. Good Mourning and Love Language as you mentioned, Soul Rebels w/De La, I am a big fan of Touch You ... and Fo(ur) Women is just about the best closing song I can think of.

Buuuut I could understand someone not loving Soul Rebels and thinking it dragged on a bit in the latter half. I also think Eternalists is the worst song on the album so I imagine I'm not alone in that.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

>>I also think
>Eternalists is the worst song on the album so I imagine I'm
>not alone in that.

Worst for me is easily "Touch You" if we aren't counting the "Big Del From Da Natti" that comes right before it as an actual song.

*shrugs*

I don't dislike "Eternalists" it's just always been at the bottom of the list for me.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

And Soul Rebels at the time was not a favorite of mine either.

Was fun watching the votes come in and appreciate the time and effort getting the results posted.

The various stats and awards were a nice touch!


werd.

It's a very cool look at how this board thinks.

Seeing the tangible evidence of The Lesson's favorites is cool to see.

The list seems to match 'the eye test' of what I sense about the tastes of the posters here. Lots of fondness for the 90's jazz based hip hop and great displays of lyricism.

It's surprising to me that there are only two albums from The Roots and none of them are post IH. A lot of people here really took to Game Theory and to see it not be on the list, along with Phrenology or even undun, is a bit of a shock. Also, while TFA is the album their most associated with by the general public, it was odd that the album got a lot of love here given that I don't think of TFA as an album for heads.

Nas getting two albums is a bit surprising given how little It Was Written is mentioned here. It is a great album and it used to be my favorite Nas album but I maybe thought I Am would make it above IWW. Some think of IWW as their favorite Nas album but the mention of the album is interesting.

I can't quite believe Jay-Z didn't get one album. I guess Jay lost. *rimshot* Since The Blueprint and The Black Album came after our musical tastes formed, it's not too odd that neither of those albums were mentioned but no Reasonable Doubt is a surprise.

No Kanye or Kendrick or Ghostface or Doom is stunning. Their peak obviously is past our formative stages but not including any of their work is stunning.

<--- Me when my head hits the pillow

nice work tho.
And lol at there being nothing from the last 20 years.
Old heads, man.

--

"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."

>nice work tho.
>And lol at there being nothing from the last 20 years.
>Old heads, man.

I think you are gonna get wilder answers and less uniformity.

phemom's the name, all-star writer/
searching 4 journalistic fame, mindframe igniter....www.twitter.com/hayabusaage

Very interesting, I just realized that not one Jay-Z album made the list.

Must have taken a fair amount of time to put that together. Thank you so much.

Biggest surprises for me were The Main Ingredient and Reflection Eternal both being top 10. A couple of classics for sure, but I feel like I don't see The Main Ingredient mentioned much as one of the GOAT albums. Good to see Kweli falling off hard didn't affect the legacy of that album.

Also a bit surprising to see Rakim all the way down at 39 with Paid in Full, I thought this would be top 10.

Kendrick, Aesop and Elzhi (really?) had the only albums 2010s in the top 100.

Edit: Damn I just realised I didn't vote. I remember at least starting to write the list. Must not have finished it and just forgot all about it. Otherwise ATLiens would have had at least 1 #1 ranking.

http://www.last.fm/user/_CondoM_/

That just doesn't hold up and didn't catch me then either. To say it's better than The Chronic....

But that's my only gripe. Interesting breakdowns, too.

The Chronic is perhaps the most overrated album on the history of hip-hop.

Sonically it is immaculate. It SOUNDS good.

We have our taste but the rankings have been set by your peers.


This list WAS definitely mostly made by cats that went to high school in the early to mid nineites...

I’m listen to hip-hop albums for the following (in no order); beats, lyrics, arrangements, content, originality, sequencing.

>Sonically it is immaculate. It SOUNDS good.

That’s cool. But as I said above, one aspect of the album isn’t enough. Not really rocking with Dre Day and Bitches Ain’t Shit at my age any more. To me, that’s when music doesn’t hold up.

>
>We have our taste but the rankings have been set by your
>peers.
>

Not sure what this has to do with anything.


>
>This list WAS definitely mostly made by cats that went to high
>school in the early to mid nineites...

Or this...*shrug*

It’s just perfection. To me.

So start thinking about and re-visiting your favorite hip hop albums of the 2000-2009 decade.

I'm terrible with coming up with albums X and X dates for stuff like this, lol.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

https://www.liveabout.com/best-hip-hop-albums-of-the-2000s-2857802

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/genre/3-hip-hop/2000s/pitchfork/

https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/2000s/g:hip%2dhop/

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/ratings/user-highest-rated/2000s/hip-hop/

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/genre/3-hip-hop/2000s/


Edit: the albumoftheyear links only work if you add the "/" at the end of the URL for whatever reason.

https://hiphopgoldenage.com/list/top-150-hip-hop-albums-of-the-2000s/

I think the site does lists for every year in the '00s too.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

thanks!

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~