50 Greatest Rap Albums of All Time: A Kenyan Approach

Previously:

Hip Hop Top 50 Lists: A Kenyan Approach

50 Greatest Female MCs of All Time: A Kenyan Approach

50 Greatest Rap Groups of All Time: A Kenyan Approach

Coming Up:

50 Greatest Rap Songs of All Time

50 Greatest Rap Verses of All Time

50 Greatest Hip Hop Collabs of All Time

50 Greatest Hip Hop Instrumentals of All Time

Putting together a musical body of work is an at-times unappreciated art. Different artists approach it differently and in skimming through the various musical volumes, it becomes evident that not enough artists have mastered this fine art. Especially in today’s ‘microwave’ singles-driven culture, some do not even see the need to work on an album/EP/mixtape. Indeed, some artists simply dig through their hard drives and cobble together a couple of singles and slap the title ‘album’ on this collection of songs – songs that, in many cases, have no correlation whatsoever to each other (whether stylistically or as part of any larger scheme).

So, what comprises a dope – nay, classic – album? I would argue five main ingredients: Quality, (right) Quantity, Sequencing, Mixing & Mastering and Cohesion. Quality refers to the actual music – top-tier beats, the rhymes, the flows. Quantity refers to the length of the album – these days there seems to be an increasingly-thinning line between what constitutes an album or an EP, at least as far as length is concerned. Some projects touted as albums are simply too short to qualify as such! On the opposite end of the spectrum are albums that are way too lengthy to be truly cohesive or to even maintain listener interest. Surprisingly (or maybe not), this ‘blemish’ has become a staple of the streaming era – where the length of some projects couldn’t possibly be anything other than a blatant cash grab for those streaming dollars. In my opinion, music quality is usually the ultimate loser.

Sequencing, to me, is probably the most striking element in an album. Simply put, the album’s organization (how the songs follow each other). Even when preparing one of my projects, that’s probably the part of the process I put the most premium on after beat selection and writing the rhymes to fit. Sequencing may be dictated by the need to follow a certain theme or story (especially for concept albums) or to make the sound and mood of the album more cohesive. Ever listened to an album and you felt like it was trying to go in 7 different directions at the same time? Sequencing was most probably the missing link.

Mixing & Mastering is the spice for the gumbo – that makes it all make sense how it came together. A lot of dope songs or projects content-wise have been made to sound pedestrian ‘coz of missing this one element. Conversely, there are average bodies of work that sound so phenomenal over some good speakers that they sometimes get more credit than they probably merit. Cohesion is the relationship each song has to the other on the project; do those songs being on the same project make sense? – whether sonically, concept-wise/thematically or even as far as the features.

There are also the intangibles: albums that influenced a region/era, albums that influenced a whole sound, those that are a part of Hip Hop folklore (for one reason or another – including non-music reasons), iconic album cover art (Yes! This is important) & so on…

A couple of disclaimers: Firstly, there are those unique MCs who practically have a classic discography, let alone a solitary definitive album. In the interest of making the list as inclusive as possible, I have restricted them to the one album in the catalogue that is my favorite. Also, the list tries its best to be representative of the essence of the different eras of Hip Hop to this point. For this reason, there are albums that, despite being dope in their own right, have been left out for sounding too similar to the musical zeitgeist of the time (because, truth be told, you can make a credible 50 from ‘90s & ‘00s offerings alone). Also, in the same spirit of representation, this selection reflects projects that have shaped my personal journey in Hip Hop.

Haya, twende…