25 Greatest Golden Age Hip Hop Albums

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15. Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z – 2 Pac (1993)

Tupac Shakur was one of the most popular and influential hip-hop stars of the 90s.

He has sold 75 million plus albums to date and is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. In addition to his status as a top-selling recording artist.

Shakur was a promising actor and a social activist. Most of Shakur’s songs are about growing up amid violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, problems in society and conflicts with other rappers.

Shakur’s work is known by many for often advocating equality and social justice. Shakur was initially a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground.

His murder in 1996, fuelled by a building rivalry between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop stars, shocked America, and has still never been solved.

When rival the Notorious B.I.G. was murdered six months later, the biggest murder mystery of the decade took another twist.

14. The Great Adventures of Slick Rick – Slick Rick (1988)

Slick Rick foreshadowed and epitomized the pimpster attitude of many rappers during the late ’80s and early ’90s.

With gold chains, his trademark eye-patch, and recordings that were no less misogynistic —

“Treat Her Like a Prostitute,” for example, became an underground hit in 1988, though it was justly criticized for its view of women.

His 1989 album, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, was a certified-platinum classic,

13. Doggy Style – Snoop Dogg (1993)

Snoop Dogg was a skinny kid from the ghettos of Long Beach when producer Dr. Dre made him a star on The Chronic.

Their collaboration was the beginning of the g-funk era: smooth funk-infested grooves combined with some of the most explicit, criminal lyrics to ever hit the mainstream.

Snoop’s debut, Doggystyle (1993), sold over 800,000 copies in its first week, and has now sold over six million.

12. illmatic – NAS (1994)

Hip-hop star Nas is best known for his landmark 1994 LP Illmatic, recorded when he was just 19 years old.

His debut release, it is often considered to be among the best hip-hop albums ever made, mostly thanks to his sharp lyricism and astute treatment of difficult subjects.

Although it didn’t do well in the charts upon release, its continued appraisal as a landmark record meant it eventually reached platinum sales in 2001, and still sells well today.

11. Enter the Wu-Tang – Wu Tang Clan (1993)

Named after a cult martial arts film, the collective of nine New York rappers known together as Wu-Tang Clan became one of the most influential hip-hop groups ever following the release of debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

36 Chambers was so well-received that it launched each member into solo careers, which have also spawned several more acclaimed albums.

The extent of Wu-Tang’s success, derived from this one breakthrough album, marks out 36 Chambers as one of the most important albums in the history of hip-hop. in 1993.