Top 56 Greatest Music Albums
by catalam1234 
LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE READING THIS and IF YOU ENJOY IT! ;)
Here's some of the most interesting, musically rich, deep and overrall brilliant albums that the genre of hip hop has given.
The music in this list is grimy, jazzy, rock infused, R&B and soul flavoured, experimental, futuristic, organic, funky, spriritual, etc. Also, you'l find here a great variety of styles, sounds, lyricism and characters. Enough to drown yourself into and discover the genre.
When listening to an album you need to dechiper what the MC's is telling, I highly recommend checking the Genius.com page.
- Chart updated: 10/19/2018 22:15
- (Created: 09/09/2016 13:18).
- Chart size: 56 albums.
There are 2 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 56 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 86 out of 100 (from 2 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from De La Soul. (Remove this filter)
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It's the most inventive, confident yet childlike and playful debut in hip hop history, expanding both the palette of sampling material to use and the topics to talk about.
The music is kaleidoscopic, a colorful display of pop, soul, disco, funk and even country music that was at the time both reaffirming and sparklingly groundbreaking. The album's atmosphere is surreal and sunny, perfectly matching the MCs positivity and joy as they address issues like hippie philosophy, first love, sex, drug abuse, self-doubt, and, ehem, body odor, all delivered in a not-too-serious style with lots of humor.
On this album, from the psychedelic music, to the chill MCs to the comedy skits that tie it all, everything comes together as pure fun and joy.
IT REPRESENTS: The introducing of Afrocentrism in hip hop and the stylistic beginning of 90's alternative hip hop. [First added to this chart: 09/17/2016]
The music is kaleidoscopic, a colorful display of pop, soul, disco, funk and even country music that was at the time both reaffirming and sparklingly groundbreaking. The album's atmosphere is surreal and sunny, perfectly matching the MCs positivity and joy as they address issues like hippie philosophy, first love, sex, drug abuse, self-doubt, and, ehem, body odor, all delivered in a not-too-serious style with lots of humor.
On this album, from the psychedelic music, to the chill MCs to the comedy skits that tie it all, everything comes together as pure fun and joy.
IT REPRESENTS: The introducing of Afrocentrism in hip hop and the stylistic beginning of 90's alternative hip hop. [First added to this chart: 09/17/2016]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,032
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
37
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Fascinating yet terrifing, this is an album about juxtaposition. The MCs confront the listener with obliterating tales of abuse and drug addiction in one song, and in the next they remember the wonders of roller skating and sunny hangouts with friends. They drop some scattershot goofy jokes, mock house & gangsta music, and then on again with the horror of absurdism.
What holds together this challenging work is the music: always bright, always complex, always melodic and attention grabbing. The way it's crafted is masterful, with the DJ combining very dynamic and rhythmic beatbreaks with 70's pop and soul, all mixed together with a teaspoon of psychedelia. It's just an experimental beauty in its own.
All in all, this album works best when listened with its counterpart in mind (3 Feet High and Rising), because that serves as the biggest juxtaposition of all, of how the MCs were able to recapture their meaning and sense of purpose when the world planted them on a corner. Not anymore the soft eyed hippies, now they had tons of musical worlds to visit and make their own. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2018]
What holds together this challenging work is the music: always bright, always complex, always melodic and attention grabbing. The way it's crafted is masterful, with the DJ combining very dynamic and rhythmic beatbreaks with 70's pop and soul, all mixed together with a teaspoon of psychedelia. It's just an experimental beauty in its own.
All in all, this album works best when listened with its counterpart in mind (3 Feet High and Rising), because that serves as the biggest juxtaposition of all, of how the MCs were able to recapture their meaning and sense of purpose when the world planted them on a corner. Not anymore the soft eyed hippies, now they had tons of musical worlds to visit and make their own. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2018]
Year of Release:
1991
Appears in:
Rank Score:
468
Rank in 1991:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 2. Page 1 of 1
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Top 56 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1970s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1980s | 6 | 11% | |
| 1990s | 26 | 46% | |
| 2000s | 17 | 30% | |
| 2010s | 7 | 13% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Kanye West | 6 | 11% | |
| OutKast | 5 | 9% | |
| A Tribe Called Quest | 3 | 5% | |
| Kendrick Lamar | 3 | 5% | |
| Public Enemy | 2 | 4% | |
| Jay-Z | 2 | 4% | |
| De La Soul | 2 | 4% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 56 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 4 from 25th to 21st Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 2 from 21st to 23rd The Blueprint by Jay-Z |
| Down 1 from 23rd to 24th The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem |
| Down 1 from 24th to 25th The Money Store by Death Grips |
Top 56 Greatest Music Albums similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums | brundogg | Overall chart | 2011 | |
| The Hip-Hop Essentials |  exileonthehell | Custom chart | 2016 |  |
| Best Hip-Hop | rlang36 | Custom chart | 2017 |  |
| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums | tgodd2.0 | Overall chart | 2010 | |
| Top 40 Greatest Music Albums | James3000 | Overall chart | 2016 | |
| Top 40 Greatest Music Albums | Ccothron52 | Overall chart | 2010 | |
| The Professor's Nerd Hop |  ProfessorSquid | Custom chart | 2013 | |
| Hip-Hop |  Onater | Custom chart | 2017 |  |
| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums | normshorg | Overall chart | 2018 | |
| Top 48 Greatest Music Albums | RaP/HiP-HoPMusiKCritiC | Overall chart | 2023 | |
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Top 56 Greatest Music Albums ratings
86/100 (from 2 votes)
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Showing all 2 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
75/100  | 03/27/2025 15:57 | DrewHamster | | 79/100 |
 95/100 | 01/05/2017 01:38 | Seab | | 93/100 |
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corenfro 01/04/2017 02:39
corenfro 01/04/2017 02:39
I liked the list once I realized it was a best 40 hip hop albums of all time.
#181663 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From catalam1234 09/09/2016 13:29
Yes, this is a 40 Best Hip Hop albums of all Time, with some mini-reviews of the 5 Very Best. If you're interested in knowing my opinon on certain albums on this list, just PM me.
PS. Could not wait until being allowed to make Custom Charts. When I reach that point, i'll make the Custom chart and modify this to put the best albums of all time, ALL Genres.
#174602 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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