Best East Coast Rap
1 Illmatic
Import only budget vinyl pressing of this classic 1994 release.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Even though I already have it..."
"Deep lyrics, deep bass, deep beats."
":) People should get to know what a classic hip-hop album sounds like not the trash people hear on a daily basis."
"Best album ever, the bible of hip hop."
"Mixing the beats with Nas and his vivid rhymes, you have a master piece."
The week this debut album came out, Kanye's name was all over the Top 20s for his hit singles "Through the Wire," "Jesus Walks," "All Falls Down" and "Slow Jamz."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Music sounds good and quality is perfect!"
"Old Kanye West is some of his best stuff."
"Purchased for 18 year old son."
"Love the CD, didn't know it was a remaster (I would have preferred the original), but it's a great record and I have listened to it for months while working on my own music and schoolwork."
"One of the greatest albums of all time."
"Digital is great, but the disc itself won't actually play anything."
and the controversial track which included diss lyrics aimed at rappers Nas and Prodigy, "Takeover" while Just Blaze produced 3 tracks including "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Song Cry", and "U Don't Know", in addition produced the hidden bonus track "Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)".
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Classic album that brings back so many memories."
"It helped lead a shift back towards using samples in rap beats, as Jay-Z and the various producers on the album (including Kanye West before he launched his own career) took a lot of 70s R&B and soul, and even a bit of The Doors, and made it sound new, with pretty much every track having its own sound yet a consistent feel with a heavy dose of bass. The content of the album is heavily autobiographical as would probably be expected, and also a bit defensive, as he was getting some backlash at the time for being presumptuous about his place in the scene, although he's still very confident in his own greatness."
"This album features that innovative style of production along with the fiery metaphors and witty phrases that made Reasonable Doubt such a great album. The album starts off with a fiery intro called "The Ruler's Back" where Jay tells you exactly what he's going to do on this album. On most of the second half of the album Jay gets more introspective. "Never Change" in my opinion is the best song on the entire album. Everyone has heard "Song Cry" by now, where Jay relents the loss of a girl he used to love. The final song called "Blueprint" has Jay talking about all the people who helped him get where he is today."
"Fast shipping very legit."
"I started noticing a lot of the songs that I did like were coming from The Blueprint, so I thought I'd order it."
"Record skips, exchanged for a new one."
"I ordered this and exchanged it because the vinyl was warped and terrible quality."
Best West Coast Rap
The very first double album in rap, "All Eyez on Me" was a critical and popular success, shooting all the way up to number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Very good product 100% recommended, 2 thumbs up!"
"i am so happy with my cd purchase."
"Classic Tupac a must own for anyone that loves Hip Hop a man with many talents gone too soon Rip ."
"Big Tupac fan was happy when the cd arrived."
"One of my favorite albums ever."
"I bought the vinyl version of this album as a Christmas gift for my son."
Best Pop Rap
Originally released in 1984, Bob Marley's LEGEND illustrates the remarkable life and recording career of one of reggae music's most important figures.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you have a home theater with 5.1 Surround sound and an appreciation for the art of music and quality audio, you will LOVE this set."
"Bought it as a surprise for my mother to go along with a Bluetooth suitcase record player from Amazon as well."
"THE MOST GORGEOUS VINYL IN MY COLLECTION!!!"
"Great song."
"How can you go wrong with Bob Marley?!?"
"I love Bob Marley and this CD has lots of the old favorites."
"What can I say, It's one of my all time favorite artist and albums. Wore the last disk out."
"There is just something about Bob Marley's music and sound."
Best Experimental Rap
The album is back-to-back classic Beastie Boys anthems including 'Hold It Now, Hit It,' 'Brass Monkey,' '(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party),' 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn' (featuring Slayer's Kerry King) and 'Girls.'.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Excellent record."
"The CD sounds amazing after all these years."
"Gotta go hear some Rhymin and Stealin to make me happy again :)."
"Brings back memories of H.S."
"First CD I ever got, excited to have it on vinyl now too."
"Anyone who likes the Beastie Boys should definitely purchase this album, even if you've heard it all already. If you haven't, strap in and prepare for great rhymes, clean beats and some thick bass. I strongly caution anyone who leans toward cheaper headphones as the basslines in some of these songs will wreak havoc on lower quality drivers."
"this is a great album."
"sounds great, great album."
Best Southern Rap
The band employed a large number of musicians for the album, who frequently entered and exited the studio throughout the recording process and had a major influence on the writing development of the album's songs. The album was certified platinum in November 1998, only two months after its release, and was certified double platinum on July 2, 1999 by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"good product/fast shipping."
"I bought this album on accident when I was showing a friend how to use the Amazon Music App."
"Transports me to beyond all that trouble."
"Standing for something while y'all falling for nothin!"
Best International Rap
Triumphant 2005 album from the huge New Zealand dub & roots kings!
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The composition of the songs are flawless too, long and dramatic intros, good instrumental breaks, nice blend of instruments, and the drum beat always kicks in and stops at the right time and at a good amount."
"After that initial purchase I have bought up every Fat Freddy release I can find and can't wait for more either."
"Uno de mis álbumes favoritos de Fat."
"There is a lot of great music out there in the rest of the world and ya gotta travel outside to U.S. to discover the sounds."
"A friend was playing "Wandering Eye" one night on a playlist and I said to her, "that's the best song you played all night!""
"I purchased 2 of Fat Freddys albums for my husband."
"Simply put."
"Love these guys, found them via some Budos Band and Menehan Street Deptone stuff, quite happy about it..."
Best Old School Rap
SOLID GOLD HITS is considerably more concise than the previous compilation, spanning just one disc and containing a mere 15 songs compared to the 42 on Sounds.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Bought this for my mom for nostalgia purposes."
"Got exactly what I ordered, brings back some memories."
"I haven't purchased a CD in years but when my husband bought a vintage car without Bluetooth/AUX port, I decided as a gag gift I'd get him this CD."
"Obviously this record is awesome."
"I got it for their popular radio hits (i.e. No sleep to Brooklyn and Fight for your right) and ended up very surprised on how much I enjoyed the lesser known (to me) hits like Brass Monkey."
Best Rap & Hip-Hop Bass
Platinum selling, Grammy nominated recording artist Drake releases his hotly anticipated sophomore album, TAKE CARE.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great artist."
"I still primarily listen to this album!"
"I love all the slow, easy listening songs on this album, way better than what's on the radio. I also looked up the wikipedia page for the album, so many producers worked on this album and it shows. * Note: The Motto didn't come on the download, so I might just have to download it at an extra cost. Best songs: - The Ride, I like how he goes in and out of first person / third person."
"good album fast delivery."
"I love this Album."
"Absolutely love this album..so much so that this is my second time purchasing it... First the cd now digital."
"This album rocks because Drake makes good music."
"Great album, fantastic price for a vinyl."
Best Gangsta & Hardcore Rap & Hip-Hop
Dr Dre - Chronic - LP Vinyl Album.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I like this album and it has a few danceable singles."
"I'm collecting Dr. Dre albums and realized I still didn't have 'The Chronic.'."
"Super fast delivery Ed you can't go wrong with dr. Dre Snoop Dogg all of their."
"Classic.. why wont you want this."
"We all have that one thang of music that set the mode of programming that would dictate the art of our soul forever..."