Twin Cities Hip-hop Corner

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Top 10 Hip-hop albums according to Rolling Stone

Back in Sept. 2020, Rolling Stone published a lengthy ‘The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time’ article. Let's just say Rolling Stone was rolling stoned when deciding where some of these Hip-hop albums sat in ordinance with the five-hundred list that included all genres, as well as how they stood against each other within the genre.

These were the top ten hip-hop albums that appeared on the list:

These albums are super solid classics, however there are some key factors that makes this list obsolete.

The first issue this list has is the basis in why each album was placed where it was. Are we talking about these albums in regards to how many records were sold, how much radio time was played, or the impact it had on Hip-hop culture?

Second factor that is inaccurate about the list is there is no mention of the legendary 2Pac, this is blatantly insulting and makes you wonder “Who the hell is writing these lists over at Rolling Stone? Are you guys okay? Who hurt you?”. 2Pac’s ‘All Eyez on Me’ is a front to back classic.

The amount of albums that could easily knock some of these out of the running is stupendous. The first swap would have to be Kanye’s album ‘Late Registration’ with ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’. Also Snoop Dogg’s ‘Doggystyle’ was monumental and could knock out Public Enemy’s spot easily. Let us not forget about Jay-Z, there was no mention of ‘The Blueprint’ which various platforms could agree is disgraceful.

No offense to Lauryn Hill but that number one album spot doesn't belong to her, she's also more R & B if we want to be specific. Please don't take that as an anti-Lauryn Hill statement. Her album definitely belongs in the top twenty, but having her album at the #1 spot makes Rolling Stone’s list bunk as fuck.

Making a top ten is nearly impossible, but organizing by process of elimination and calculating the impact an album had/has on Hip-hop culture was something that was neglected when making this list.

What’s your top ten best Hip-hop albums of all-time?