I realize these are fighting words. And I’m OK with that. Regardless, I'm claiming that for my generation of late 20-somethings, 1996 was the best year in hip hop albums.
I build this argument on the basis that the illest combination of albums was dropped that year by artists we still respect today. Granted, these albums may not be the best of a particular artist or group’s career. I am not arguing that Stakes is High is better than Three Feet High and Rising, nor am I making the argument that It Was Written can touch Illmatic in terms of a hip hop classic. Hell on Earth cannot match the breakthrough appeal of The Infamous. But taken together these albums present a provocative argument for the establishment of 1996 as the pinnacle year in hip hop album production and releases. Many of the albums listed below need no argument- Reasonable Doubt, Illadelph Halflife, and ATLiens are prime examples that are, for all intents and purposes, self-explanatory for the average hip hop head.
This list is about more than just the obvious, though. Critical shifts in the way we listened to and appreciated our music artists happened in 1996. For instance, 1996 introduced us (for better or worse) to the prototypical female rap acts of the late ‘90s, who would influence the industry for all female rap acts to follow by either emulating or rejecting the standards of- you guessed it - Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown. Both of their debut solo albums, Hardcore and Ill Na Na, respectively, dropped in 1996, and whether or not you agreed with their sexually explicit lyrics and the obvious ghostwriting going on, you could not deny their prominence on the hip hop scene and the tremendous impact they had on the hip hop game and how women defined themselves within it. Counter their debut albums with another released by a strong female figure, Bahamadia, whose Kollage received less publicity and is still underrated today.
This can be partially blamed for what many see as the monotony of her flow (a characterization shared by Guru, who helped produce the album), but her consistency and her self-asserted wordplay skills (“Wordplay” is also a single on that album) are due their fair share of recognition, and that album is part of what makes 1996 a great year in hip hop albums, despite being overshadowed in the mainstream by Kim and Foxy. Then there was Lauryn Hill, who added another dimension to this matrix as the female component of The Fugees, whose album The Score literally overshadowed their previous work Blunted on Reality released in 1994. Lauryn helped blur hip hop and the newly coined “neosoul” with the multidimensionality of her flow and songstress skills.
Granted, singles from CDs dropped in 1995 were floating around in 1996 (think AZ's "Sugar Hill" from the Do or Die or “Ice Cream” from Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx), as were singles from albums to be released in 1997 (Camp Lo’s “Luchini AKA This Is It” from Uptown Saturday Night is one example), blurring the chronology of singles to album release dates. However, the list of albums dropped in 1996 is crucial, and I am done with introducing my argument. Much more can said about these artists and the way their music interacted and elevated the hip hop game in 1996, but now it is time for the list to speak for itself.
1. Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
2. Outkast - ATLiens
3. The Roots - Illadelph Halflife
4. Makavelli - The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory
5. Fugees - The Score
6. Nas - It Was Written
7. De La Soul - Stakes is High
8. Tupac - All Eyez on Me
9. U.G.K. - Ridin Dirty
10. Lil Kim - Hardcore
11. Foxy Brown - Ill Na Na
12. Bahamadia - Kollage
13. A Tribe Called Quest - Beats, Rhymes, and Life
14. Ghostface Killah - Ironman
15. Jeru tha Damaja - Wrath of the Math
16. Ras Kass - Soul On Ice
17. Smoothe the Hustler - Once Upon A Time in America
18. Redman - Muddy Waters
19. O.G.C. - The Storm
20. Heltah Skeltah - Nocturnal
21. Mobb Deep - Hell on Earth
22. Busta Rhymes -The Coming
23. E-40 - Hall of Game
Bonus hip hop influenced albums in other genres:
24. R+B Album: Aaliyah - 1 in a Million
25. Soundtrack Album: The Nutty Professor OST
That being said, maybe I am stuck in the mid-90s and hold my deepest love for hip hop there. Maybe it was that life changing concert I attended in December of 1996 – Tribe, Roots, and Da Bush Babees - that solidified the year for me. But, if you disagree with 1996 as the illest album release year in hip hop, let it be known. You have to support your conclusions though. And beat that list.
By Amber Wiley
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