By All Means Necessary
by Boogie Down Productions

By All Means Necessary by Boogie Down Productions
Year: 1988
Overall rank: 6,551st   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 62 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1988 (91st)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (953rd)
Award Best albums of all time (6,551st)

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Boogie Down Productions bestography

By All Means Necessary is ranked 2nd best out of 7 albums by Boogie Down Productions on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Boogie Down Productions is Criminal Minded which is ranked number 3472 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 428.

Boogie Down Productions album bestography « Higher ranked (3,472nd)
Criminal Minded
This album (6,551st)
By All Means Necessary
Lower ranked (10,572nd) »
Ghetto Music: The Blueprint Of Hip Hop

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Apr
22
Wed
Magdalena Bay
Indiana University Auditorium, Bloomington, United States. United States
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Mar
25
Wed
Orbit Culture - Death Above Life North American Tour
The Underground, Charlotte, United States. United States
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Mar
14
Sat
Damage, Inc. @ Rialto Theatre
Rialto Theatre-Tucson, Tucson, United States. United States
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By All Means Necessary track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

By All Means Necessary rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 6,551st | 1980s rank: 953rd | 1988 rank: 91st
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of 198825/1004
2026saltysurpriseTop 63 Music Albums of 198830/633
2025 covecoveTop 50 Music Albums of 198814/504
2025MaxStorm98Top 51 Music Albums of 198816/514
2025blueandthemoonTop 27 Music Albums of 198812/273
2025PapaShiz86Top 50 Music Albums of 198837/501
2025 Larcx1320th Century Hip Hop Revision75/100 -
2025 paladisiac1980s 65rating (62), #001-100*95/96 -
2025WayneMCTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s80/1004
2025 Larcx13Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s93/1002
2025 paladisiacTop 100 Music Albums of 198872/1001
2025mostlymorTop 100 Music Albums of 198856/1002
2025 paladisiactop 65r albums (62), #0501-0600*68/86 -
2025 Larcx13Top 30 Music Albums of 198817/302
2025 Larcx13Best Hip Hop Records 1988 Top 156/15 -
2025HyggevinylTop 51 Music Albums of 198840/511
2025 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of 198837/1003
2025blueandthemoonTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s88/1003
2025replacementlevelTop 50 Music Albums of 198843/501
2024 ArthurknightTop 100 Music Albums of 198892/1000
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 82
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 197
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

By All Means Necessary collection

By All Means Necessary ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 62 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 62 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
65/100
 
11/10/2025 15:14 Hyggevinyl  Ratings distribution  4,25072/100
 
75/100
 
03/04/2025 12:31 cicadelic  Ratings distribution  12,09173/100
 
55/100
 
08/24/2024 02:36 BorderFreeAndrew  Ratings distribution  14,90374/100
 
80/100
 
01/03/2024 12:56 Rayzer6  Ratings distribution  1,58286/100
 
80/100
 
08/08/2023 20:44 Graeme2  Ratings distribution  4,89279/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.9/100, a mean average of 76.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.6.

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By All Means Necessary favourites

Showing all 7 members who have added this album as a favourite

By All Means Necessary comments

Showing all 5 comments |
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Rating:  
90/100
From 06/25/2019 12:00 | #238232
One of the essential conscious hip-hop albums. KRS-One's lyric's toe the line between corny and insightful, but they come across as honest and earnest due to his young age at the time and the circumstances surrounding the death of the other member of BDP, Scott La Rock. Despite La Rock's absence, the beats and production are still top notch, and KRS proves why he's one of the greatest MC's of his generation.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 09/26/2018 18:58 | #221721
More perfectly adequate hip hop from 1988. With the amount of hip hop albums that came out that year, many of them struggle to pull away from the pack but KRS One is a forceful rapper and is beginning to transition into a more conscious hip hop style.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 05/15/2016 22:47 | #166070
Boogie Down production might be influential but their music haven't aged well.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 06/28/2014 14:48 | #115526
Must have listened to my philosophy as much as any other track ever. Rest of the album nowhere near as strong as that or the debut but still strong.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 09/17/2012 19:00 | #50647
The J, the I, the M
The M, the Y, the J, the I...
It's Jimmy!
It's Jimmy!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1988
1. Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth
2. Surfer Rosa by Pixies
3. Spirit Of Eden by Talk Talk
4. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
5. ...And Justice For All by Metallica
6. Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman
7. Isn't Anything by My Bloody Valentine
8. Green by R.E.M.
9. Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
10. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son by Iron Maiden
11. I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen
12. Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction
13. Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 by The Traveling Wilburys
14. Operation: Mindcrime by Queensrÿche
15. If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues
16. 16 Lovers Lane by The Go-Betweens
17. Viva Hate by Morrissey
18. Tender Prey by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
19. Starfish by The Church
20. Rattle And Hum by U2
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