Here they are, the 10 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of the 2000s.
… Let the arguments begin.
–todd williams, amir shaw
10. Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor (2006)
Lupe Fiasco
Generating an endless amount of online buzz prior to its release, this assured debut from the intellectual Chicago kid helped invent the “nerd rap” subgenre and solidified the essence of a hip-hop B-boy circa mid-2000s: quirky, smart and with skills to spare. Lupe Fiasco clearly was indebted to Kanye West’s “everyman” approach to music, but Lupe struck his own chord with rhymes that were both topical and playful, and he still stands as one of the decade’s most underappreciated artists.
9. Trap Muzik (2003)
T.I.
T.I.’s boasts of being the “King of the South” fell on deaf ears after his debut, I’m Serious, was a commercial flop. Enter Trap Muzik. With its tales of life steeped both in the southwest Atlanta drug culture and hip-hop excess delivered through T.I.P.’s spit-fire, balls-out flow, the album sold almost 200,000 copies in its first week and instantly became a Southern rap classic. From the triumphant signature single “Rubber Band Man,” to the Kanye West-produced, “Doing My Job,” T.I. showed both musical and personal growth and proved he had the walk to back up his early career talk.
8. Be (2005)
Common
After years of being one of the most underappreciated rappers in hip-hop, Common finally received mainstream attention with Be. Produced mostly by Kanye West, Be captures the essence of street life in Chicago in a way that is similar to Nas’ description of New York on the critically acclaimed Illmatic. By approaching this album with the vigor of an 18-year-old searching for a record deal, Common created a classic and proved that backpackers could find a place on the pop charts.
7. Tha Carter III (2008)
Lil Wayne
It seemed like he took over hip-hop overnight, but Wayne’s ascension from second-tier Hot Boy to multiplatinum megastar. But when he released the highly anticipated third album his acclaimed Tha Carter series, Wayne’s star smashed through the stratosphere. Coming with a string of hit singles and featuring some of the N’awlins native’s most ambitious (and just plain weird) music and lyrics to date, this album became the best seller of 2008 and Wayne’s magnum opus.
6. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2002)
50 Cent
Undeniably the most anticipated debut of the last decade, 50 Cent crashed mainstream hip-hop with everything a superstar should have: a gripping backstory, a flair for confrontation, and a co-sign from both the hottest producer in the industry (Dr. Dre) and the hottest rapper of the era (Eminem). Of course there was a backlash, but love him or hate him, Fiddy’s debut album couldn’t be denied; every single was a smash and the entire album was a Billboard-meets-the block success.
5. Stillmatic (2001)
Nas
Nas had been the hip-hop equivalent of Penny Hardaway in the years leading up to his 2001 return-to-glory on Stillmatic. A young phenom who had been hailed as the future of his craft, Nas stumbled down to earth after a phenomenal career start. After chart-topper and rival New Yorker Jay-Z took a few shots at the Queens-bred MC in the fiery “Takeover,” Nas answered with his most scathing diss, (“Ether”), and his most complete album since his debut. It stands as the first — and best — representation of the mature Nasir Jones.
4. The College Dropout (2004)
Kanye West
Superproducer, MC and urban iconoclast, Kanye West’s first album was an announcement as much as it was a debut. After a decade of corner kingpins and champagne poppin’ party rappers, and long before he became the “Louis Vuitton Don,” West resurrected the “regular guy” rap aesthetic. Lyrically, Kanye was simultaneously brash and thoughtful, and the superproducer still had plenty of sonic tricks up his sleeve; having the audacity to turn a rap about spirituality into his most fist-pumping anthem, and delivering the verses on his debut single through a wired jaw.
3. Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Eminem
Even though his darkly comical debut, 1999s The Slim Shady LP, established Eminem as a commercially viable and unique voice in the world of rap; The Marshall Mathers LP cemented Em’s reputation as a thoughtful wordsmith and gripping storyteller. His trademark wit and macabre humor are still intact, but this time Mr. Mathers adds the autobiographical touches that would go on to become his hallmark. Despite the fact that he never really topped it, and years later he would descend into self-imposed exile, this stands as hip-hop’s first classic by a (ahem) melanin-challenged MC since Paul’s Boutique.
2. Stankonia (2000)
OutKast
Electrically funky, rooted in the earthy down-home flavor of the duo’s previous classic, Aquemini, Andre 3000 and Big Boi took their sound to the stratosphere on their fourth album. The Atlanta legends had consistently pushed boundaries ever since their 1994 debut, but Stankonia’s powerful mix of crunk swagger, sonic eclecticism and Parliament-esque mythology took them from a critically-acclaimed act to the most popular and adventurous group in hip-hop; and the commercial success of the album set the stage for Atlanta’s dominance of popular music for much of the next decade.
1. The Blueprint (2001)
Jay-Z
Jay-Z had ascended to rap’s elite after his beloved 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt, and the commercial appeal of 1998’s Vol. 2, Hard Knock Life and Vol. 3, The Life & Times of S. Carter; but his transition from brilliant street lyricist to pop superstar was met with criticism by many of hip-hop’s hardcore community. He fired back with his most consistently brilliant album since his debut — an album that cemented his place as rap’s most dominant force in the 2000s, gave then-rival Nas the motivation to step up his game, and jump-started the career of a little-known producer from Chicago named Kanye West.
Honorable Mention:
Supreme Clientele – Ghostface Killah (2000)
Tha Carter – Lil Wayne (2004)
Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor – Lupe Fiasco (2006)
Documentary – The Game (2005)
The Fix – Scarface (2003)
Train of Thought – Reflection Eternal (2000)
Kala – M.I.A. (2007)
The Black Album – Jay-Z (2003)
Like Water For Chocolate – Common (2000)
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – OutKast (2003)
Graduation – Kanye West (2007)
Let’s Get Free – dead prez (2000)
