I collected 12 lists of Best Hip-Hop and Rap Albums from various sources on the Internet and combined them into one meta-list. Here are the results – every album on at least two of the original source lists. For a list of the Best Hip-Hop and Rap songs of all time, go here.
On 10 lists
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
Nas – Illmatic (1994)
9 lists
Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready To Die (1994)
8
N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton (1988)
Dr. Dre – The Chronic (1992)
7
Eric B. & Rakim – Paid in Full (1987)
Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
6
Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique (1989)
A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory (1991)
Snoop Doggy Dogg (now Snoop Dogg) – Doggystyle (1993)
Jay Z – Reasonable Doubt (1996)
2Pac – All Eyez On Me (1996)
5
Run-D.M.C. – Raising Hell (1986)
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… (1995)
GZA – Liquid Swords (1995)
Madvillain – Madvillainy (2004)
Kanye West – The College Dropout (2004)
4
De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
Cypress Hill – Cypress Hill (1991)
A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders (1993)
2Pac – Me Against the World (1995)
Fugees – The Score (1996)
Outkast – Aquemini (1998)
Eminem – The Slim Shady LP (1999)
Jay Z – The Blueprint (2001)
50 Cent – Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2003)
Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012)
3
Boogie Down Productions – Criminal Minded (1987)
EPMD – Strictly Business (1988)
Queen Latifah – All Hail the Queen (1989)
Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
De La Soul – De La Soul is Dead (1991)
Gang Starr – Step in the Arena (1991)
Pharcyde – Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992)
Redman – Whut? Thee Album (1992)
Common Sense (now Common) – Resurrection (1994)
Mobb Deep – The Infamous (1995)
Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill (1996)
Outkast – ATLiens (1996)
Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
Big Pun – Capital Punishment (1998)
Outkast – Stankonia (2000)
Scarface – The Fix (2002)
Outkast – Speakerboxx/The Love Below (2003)
Common – Be (2005)
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III (2008)
Drake – Take Care (2011)
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
2
Run-D.M.C. – Run-D.M.C. (1984)
LL Cool J – Radio (1985)
Big Daddy Kane – Long Live the Kane (1988)
Ultramagnetic MCs – Critical Beatdown (1988)
MC Lyte – Lyte as a Rock (1988)
Jungle Brothers – Straight Out of the Jungle (1988)
Biz Markie – Goin’ Off (1988)
Brand Nubian – One For All (1990)
Digital Underground – Sex Packets (1990)
A Tribe Called Quest – People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990)
Main Source – Breaking Atoms (1991)
Ice Cube – Death Certificate (1991)
Souls of Mischief – 93 ‘til Infinity (1993)
Organized Konfusion – Stress: The Extinction Agenda (1994)
AZ – Doe or Die (1995)
DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996)
Dr. Octagon – Dr. Octagonecologyst (1996)
The Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death (1997)
DMX – It’s Dark & Hell is Hot (1998)
Black Star – Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998)
Mos Def – Black on Both Sides (1999)
The Roots – Things Fall Apart (1999)
Dr. Dre – 2001 (1999)
Dead Prez – Let’s Get Free (2000)
Nas – Stillmatic (2001)
Eminem – The Eminem Show (2002)
Jay-Z – The Black Album (2003)
Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor (2006)
T.I. – Paper Trail (2008)