Preface: This is my top 10 list, and while it contains some bias, I am ordering them based on their level of greatness. I am focused on the pure and authentic Boom Bap. The purest, rawest, most authentic, and overall greatest. Let's get into it
Top 10 Greatest Boom Bap Albums of All Time
#1 Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Between this and our number 2 I can't come to a full conclusion, but what puts this in number one for me is the fact that it is a boom bap supergroup at it's peak. It's insane. It's like Zues, Poseidon, and all the other greek gods teamed up to conquer the world they already had in the palm of their hands. The talent in here just adds up to an insane level that is completely untouchable. Like what the fuck is gonna happen when Nas gets put up in a fuckin showdown with the entire clan. (Well ya never know, Nas is a fucking legend), but point being, Wu-Tang together as the forces combined are fucking unstoppable. They are the exact definition of pure boom bap. And they are incredibly talented at it. Most of these dudes are in the top 10 regardless of whether they're part of Wu-Tang or not. Like fucking Rae, Ghost, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, in the same fucking group? Like c'mon that's fucking incredible. Besides all that let's talk about the album. First of all, RZA's production is on the top of the fucking world. The beats are exceptional, they're raw, dirty, and just fucking good. Then the rhymes, the bars, the flows. Exceptional all the way around. Not one track on this album lacks. They all pull their weight and more. Don't even get me started on Protect Ya Neck. I genuinely believe that to be the official greatest hip hop song of all time. My genuine unbiased opinion. It's insane. It features the entire group dropping some of the best verses hip hop has ever seen. 7 emcees, one song, on a nasty ass raw beat. Goddam it gives me chills just thinking about it. It's that fucking good. I believe it to genuinely be a prime definition of what hip hop at it's core is. It's the purest shit I've ever heard. There's not even one bar that misses. Ain't
Best Tracks:
- Bring Da Ruckus
- Protect Ya Neck
- C.R.E.A.M.
- 7th Chamber
- Clan In Da Front
- Wu-Tang Clan Ain't None Ta F' Wit
#2 Illmatic. Arguably the greatest of all time. Start to finish this album represents the foundation of boom bap. It is probably the most pure and solid album out there. Despite the advantage Wu-Tang has being a rap supergroup, the fact that Nas can even compete on his own is incredible. I genuinely believe Nas to be the greatest emcee/rapper of all time. His rhymes, incredible, his flow, incredible, his content, incredible, and not to mention, his voice, incredible. He can do it all. I don't know a more versatile emcee, I don't think there is one.
Best Tracks:
- The World Is Yours
- NY State of Mind
- One Time 4 Ya Mind
- One Love
- Represent
#3 The Infamous. If we’re talking raw and real, this one takes the cake. This is one of the most fucking incredible albums of all time, and that fact that I can't put it at. number one hurts me. Now that I'm thinking about this, this is my true number one. This deserves the number one spot in my mind. And here's why. Havoc and Prodigy. The fucking rawest, realest of all time. And an insane amount of talent. Let's start with Prodigy. One of the greatest to touch the mic. Not only are his rhymes and flow exceptional, he has one of the greatest voices boom bap has ever heard. He is probably the rawest, purest emcee to ever touch the mic. Can't touch him period. Alright, and on to Havoc. Havoc, Havoc, Havoc. What a fucking legend. Not many exceptional beatmakers are also exceptional lyricists. Havoc is living proof. He's also the fucking king of bounce. He has the bounciest drums of all time. You can feel how hard he was bopping his head to his shit when he was making it. Not even just the bounce, just the production in general. His sample choice, his arrangement, etc, all of it. Exceptionally talented. Now let's talk about the album. The realest, rawest, most authentik shit you'll ever hear in ya life. Godamn man. It's fucking incredible, words can't even describe. The entire album. As with the other top 2, not a single skip, not a single minute that doesn't hit.
Best Tracks:
- Right Back At You
- Survival Of The Fittest
- Q.B. Hectic
- Eye For a Eye
- Give Up The Goods
- Temperature's Rising
#4 Midnight Marauders. Hot damn bruh what an album. As with all of these, there are no skips. There are no songs that don’t carry their weight and more. While Tribe was not a raw street thug gangster whatever you wanna call it group, they were incredibly authentic and real about who they were. They grew up in New York and they embraced positivity. They grew up in the dirty streets of New york and decided to make light of it. The entire album is incredibly produced, lyrics on point, and overall an incredible album from start to finish. Q-Tip for some reason is often left out of the greatest producers of all time convo, but man those who know, know. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest. I'd guess it's the fact that he's the face of ATCQ. People know him as an emcee. But anyways, what a fucking talented dude. I used to listen to all my favorite hip hop songs and try to disect them and understand how they were made, and for some reason it never even popped into my head that the production of these songs were in the same realm as boom bap. That's because Q-Tip is an incredible producer. He's not a beatmaker, he created songs. They're not just loops on repeat.
#5 Only built 4 Cuban Linx. An incredible album produced by RZA. He took the shit from Enter the 36 to the next level. Clearly had defined his sound on this one. The beats - insane, the lyrics - on point as fuck, the overall vibe and content of the album - fucking genius. It’s like the dirtiest nastiest samurai movie you’ve ever heard, lyrically slicing and flying kicking your ears from the start to beginning.
#6 Low End Theory
#6 Liquid Swords. RZA again. The man was on fire. The production was lovely, the beats were on point as fuck. Then we have the fucking genius, GZA to bless the tracks. An incredible voice, incredible content. He touches on real issues, he talks that dirty raw shit, he does it all. Another incredible album. In defense of other albums I will say that a few of the tracks on here were a slip. And mainly what I’m talking about is the beats. Only of 2-3 of the tracks. Up for debate, but that is my humble opinion. Nevertheless, the truth of the matter is - this is still one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.
#7 Big L - Lifestylez of da Poor and Dangerous. Man, Big L Rest In Peace. That was a big fucking hit to authentic hip hop, he should’ve had another incredible album we would be talking about. Now lets talk rawness, authenticity, pureness, dirtiness, this album embodies the dirtiest rawest purest side of hip hop on the same level as The Infamous by Mobb Deep. The content is plain nasty, the vibe is pure, and overall the album knocks it out the park. Don’t even get me started on the lyricism. Big L was a fucking G. So incredibly talented and good at what he did. He had the voice, he had the rhymes, he had the flow, he had it all. Now, what keeps this album from being at the top of the list (And with Big L’s talent at this time he easily could’ve been one of the top 3 of all time) - is the beats and the features. Don’t get me wrong, the beats are great. Some of them are incredible. However, a few of them are lacking in a few areas. Some of them could’ve just been better. If this album was produced by Havoc in that same year. Holy Shit I think I just orgasmed. That would’ve been one of the greatest gifts to hip hop. Anyways, enough dreaming, what also brought this album down was the features. Not to diss on the features and the people Big L was associated with, but in terms of talent, Big L was far above his crew, which unfortunately did not give Big L the respect he deserves. Still, this is a fucking incredible album and deserves a solid spot on this list.
[YO - Here’s the deal, in my humble, unbiased as possible opinion, I truly believe that these 7 albums are highly deserving of being on this list and stand out far above all other hip hop albums in terms of rawness, authenticity, purity, and overall greatness. The gap between these albums and all other albums I believe to be a fairly big one. Not huge, but I can definitely see and feel it. If ending a top 10 list at Top 7 was a normal thing to do I would do it right here. But fine, just to conform to social pressure and give peace of mind to the people who just don’t feel right not rounding up to 10 or just down to 5, I’ll keep going)
#8 Jeru The Damaja - Wrath of The Math
Now here’s where DJ Premier comes in. He had worked with Jeru just 2 years previous to this on The Sun Rises In The East, and while that was a great album from these 2, Wrath of The Math clearly shows that the 2 put in the fucking work since then. Wrath of the Math is an incredibly produced album. DJ Premier has a very simple, yet effective production style on this album especially. In my honest opinion, the beats could’ve been taken even further, but nevertheless they were still great. Now, adding the lyrical prowess that is Jeru The Damaja, we’ve got a classic. Jeru is one of the wise (Him and Nas both very philosophic) and his rhymes are real, he doesn’t fake, he doesn’t front, and he calls out the wack shit. As does Premier. The album has some serious bangers, many actually, and it even has some fun shit twisted into it, like on tracks like Can’t Stop The Prophet it’s like Jeru’s own musical comicbook story or Tha Bullshit, which is essentially just a diss track on the wack commercial rappers of the time. Aka what unfortunately consumed rap in the 21st century. What a shame, but that’s a topic for another time. Back to the album, overall it’s a really good. While it falls below the other albums on the list, mainly because it lacks pure and true authenticity, I can’t place it, but something is missing. Still, one of the greatest Hip Hop albums of all time.
#9 Black Moon Enta Da Stage. Yeah, yeah, yeah, this wouldn’t be a complete list of the greatest authentic hip hop albums of all time if It didn’t at least mention Black Moon, Smif N Wessun, Boot Camp Clik, Original Gun Clappas, you know the deal, the same crew. This album is on point. In terms of authentic raw pure hip hop this album’s got it. Great beats, great lyrics. Many banger tracks. This album shook the hip hop world and gave us some incredible tracks like Buck Em Down and Who Got Da Props. Definitely deserves a spot up here.
#10 Now this is a fight for 10th place and this one is definitely up for debate. But I’m going with Dah’ Shinin - Smif-N-Wessun. Original gun Clappas are back again. This album is incredible. A lot of banger tracks, very real feeling, very authentic, and definitely true to the art of authentic hip hop. This album gave us some great tracks, Bucktown specifically, Stand Strong and Hellucination two of my other favorites. But lets talk about what this album lacked. For starters, it is not a solid album from start to finish. There’s definitely some bias in there, but it did not feel as complete and whole as the top 5 on this list. Some of the beats on certain tracks could’ve been better, as could’ve the lyrical content. But nevertheless, this album still made it onto the top 10 list, it is still a fucking classic and it is still an incredible album.
Honorable Mentions:
There are so many other incredible albums and you’re probably thinking “How the fuck did you not even mention blah blah blah”. And you’re right, maybe this list is a lil more biased than I think, but it is still my honest and humble opinion. I am highly drawn to what is the greatest, most authentic, and pure, of all things not just hip hop. And this list wrote itself. After #7 I didn’t really know where to go, but the until then it was like churning butter.
Anyways, the honorable mentions
Diamond and the Psychic Neurotics - Stunts Blunts and Hip Hop
Gang Starr - Moment of Truth (FUCK, how did I forget this bruh, this definitely deserves a spot on the top 10)
Lord Finesse - The Awakening
Jeru The Damaja - The Sun Rises in the East
Gang Starr - Hard To Earn
Ironman - Ghostface Killah
ODB - Brooklyn Zoo
Digable Planets - Reachin’
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth