Meccapolis Top 100 NY Hip Hop Albums List (Full List In OP)

[ISO]

I heard Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop last night yeahhh that album should have made it

Looks like Fat Joe and Big L’s first on wax appearances too

 

[ISO]

Cuban Linx yes

Infamous NO

The bias is crazy

 

[ISO]

Album was all over the place but had bangers. Those Camron albums have like 5 good songs a piece

Nikka Cam swagged his way on this list or what

3 albums

Albums with half skits and filler and a couple decent (not classic cuts) in the top 50

 

[Wacky D]

off 2 a good start breh; I'll be tuned in.

Lol. No its not.

Critical beatdown, by any means, bacdaf&cup, and ryde or die......all of these ranked 91-100. Extremely low.

Yall swallow anything that's dressed up nice.

 

[Alexander Wiggin]

Just an example (because I can give more based upon this thread), Mobb Deep is way more revered in New York/East Coast culture than beyond...

That's not to say we don't appreciate or respect them because we do. Most non-NY heads would tell you they are a top duo ever and rank their albums pretty highly...

But I dont think I know a single person who would rank a Mobb Deep album as #1 on any list: a NY list, a duo list, an era list, etc. We view them highly but not that damn high...

Mobb Deep is huge in Europe, they single handily changed the way the entire french rap scene sounded in the mid 90's

Hav production was a really turnout point in east coast hip hop, the beat sounded grimy yet more polished

Infamous is NOT close to Illmatic. RIP Prodigy but we’re not rewriting history to appease the dead. Prodigy in his own lifetime never thought he was better than Nas and both he and Havoc were heavily influenced by Illmatic when making the Infamous.

Only Built For Cuban Linx is the only album fukking with Illmatic. Thats is THE most cinematic rap album of all time. RZA, Rae and Ghost were all on GOD mode when making that album.

It is, and you're talking to an illmatic ultra stan right here. but illmatic don't have an anthem like shook ones, the type of song that makes the crowd want to fight and shut down the venue. I still put illmatic ahead of infamous because of the level nas' emceeing is, but to say infamous is not close is a little far fetched. I'm pretty sure if you woulld've asked the people of ny back in 95 wich is the better album ? the reponses would have been 50/50. Infamous got 4,5 mics in the source, so it pretty much means it was a classic off the rip

Illmatic is probably the best ny album, but infamous may be the greatest qb/queens album. Yes Nas's influence was huge on infamous, no doubt about it, but iww was mad influenced by ready to die ob4cl and infamous too. That's not necessarily a definitive metric to determine which is better.
Nas wasn't using the thun language on illmatic but on iww yes, and I think Prodigy had a lot to do with it. Iww was more of a qb album than illmatic if it makes sense

In terms of comparing nas and prodigy, to me they were close in 95 96, I still put nas ahead because of his versality, storytelling abilities and intellectual prowess, but in termes of style, flow, voice, punchline and aura on the mic, it's very close. Live nikka rap is a testament to that. both were top 5 in theses two years. I put Nas at n1 tho, here's my 95 ranking

Nas
Prodigy
Biggie
Raekwon
Az
G Rap
Big L
Method Man
Jeru
OC

 

[Soymuscle Mike]

I'm not mad at all at Infamous being #1, but I think the reasoning behind Illmatic being where it is ("Nas had help curating it") is absolute BS when your top 3 consists of albums which had the hands of Puffy, Q-Tip and especially the GOAT CURATOR RzaRector all over their them.

Deducting points from Illmatic because Serch and Sylvia were helping Nas out doesn't make sense with that in mind. We see what kind of albums Rae and Ghost (who is my 6th favorite rapper of all time) make when Rza isn't around...

...and I do agree with @Don Jesus that P, my 3rd/4th fav rapper of alltime, influenced Nas - but that went both ways so again I don't see why it even needs to be brought up. It's fine to just say y'all don't rank Illmatic as a top 3 album but those reasons make it sound like you're reaching. And some of your comments make me think you just don't fukk with Nas like that (which is fine but just say it).

 

[Budda]

I'm not mad at all at Infamous being #1, but I think the reasoning behind Illmatic being where it is ("Nas had help curating it") is absolute BS when your top 3 consists of albums which had the hands of Puffy, Q-Tip and especially the GOAT CURATOR RzaRector all over their them.

Deducting points from Illmatic because Serch and Sylvia were helping Nas out doesn't make sense with that in mind. We see what kind of albums Rae and Ghost (who is my 6th favorite rapper of all time) make when Rza isn't around...

...and I do agree with @Don Jesus that P, my 3rd/4th fav rapper of alltime, influenced Nas - but that went both ways so again I don't see why it even needs to be brought up. It's fine to just say y'all don't rank Illmatic as a top 3 album but those reasons make it sound like you're reaching. And some of your comments make me think you just don't fukk with Nas like that (which is fine but just say it).

To put Illmatic number 1 would be cliche so what you get is a lot of people making these articles going against the grain.

 

[Soymuscle Mike]

To put Illmatic number 1 would be cliche so what you get is a lot of people making these articles going against the grain.

Illmatic is my second favorite album of all time

Not because of who helped Nas with what, not because who influenced him, not because of whatever - but because I prefer another album (Liquid Swords).

I feel like dudes wanted to have a surprise #1, and Infamous is absolutely worthy - but felt the need to justify it with some unnecessary benchmarks.

 

[Budda]

1. Whether it was Faith or Serch doesn’t matter fact is he had to get polished

2. Stop caping. Of course he’d never admit he struggled to find himself musically but the fact is he did. There was a way he could have done a follow up to Illmatic without it being commercialized he just didn’t know how to. Theres a reason Steve Stoute is a heavy consigliere in his career

(This isn’t me shytting on It Was Written)

3. In the same book Prodigy tells you Nas stole some of his ideas but says it in a kind way.

The “Nas is him and everybody borrows from him” thing is played out. Nas took elements from Raekwon and AZ in terms of fashion and he took elements from Prodigy in terms of subject matter and ideas and vision (the Queensbridge Finest album was Nas taking Prodigy’s idea)

I have to say this multiple times because you dudes be emotional but once again this isn’t Nas slander

You're talking about influence but did you hear Prodigy before Illmatic?

 

[Ziggiy]

To put Illmatic number 1 would be cliche so what you get is a lot of people making these articles going against the grain.

The truth is not cliche. Its simply the TRUTH

 

[Budda]

Faith Newman polished and crafted his project by knowing who to hire as producers

Theres a reason why his beat selection was questionable after she left the picture

What her and Q Tip did is a false equivalence

Q Tip helped Mobb Deep not become another Illegal or Da Youngsta’z or Kris Kross but helping them mature their sound. Q Tip did not craft their project on some “yall be the artist and let me do everything else” shyt. He took what Havoc and Prodigy was already doing (Shook Ones Part 1 showed they were already distancing themselves from that teenage rap lane but it was way too dark) and helped them add some textured elements to it using his extensive jazz and musical knowledge. When Q Tip left the picture, Mobb Deep became Mobb Deep as Hell On Earth was them growing into who they are becoming the quintessential rap duo of NYC and creating a sound that got dubbed as the “winter” sound.

When Faith Newman left Nas, Nas was finding himself and chased radio hits and etc and had hits and had misses. It Was Written’s direction was greatly influenced by OB4CL (another Loud Records album).

It’s not the same. Both acts are legends tho

IWW had great beat selection.

You giving so much credit to this white lady is laughable, she did what A and Rs are supposed to do, she was no executive producer on the album though. Many of the producers on the album already had relationships with young Nas, i think three were from Queens one from QB himself.

Nas followed up Illmatic with another album in your top 20 list, so i don't know what you mean by beat selection went downhill, when he made another classic two years later.

 

[Budda]

The truth is not cliche. Its simply the TRUTH

Exactly but this is how these contrarians like to paint it.

 

[mobbinfms]

I heard Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop last night yeahhh that album should have made it

Looks like Fat Joe and Big L’s first on wax appearances too

This was his first verse

 

[bigde09]

Infamous is NOT close to Illmatic. RIP Prodigy but we’re not rewriting history to appease the dead. Prodigy in his own lifetime never thought he was better than Nas and both he and Havoc were heavily influenced by Illmatic when making the Infamous.

Only Built For Cuban Linx is the only album fukking with Illmatic. Thats is THE most cinematic rap album of all time. RZA, Rae and Ghost were all on GOD mode when making that album.

You can make an album that was heavily inspired by something else and do some things better. I know I play Infamous more than Illmatic

 

[murksiderock]

I would have it on there toward the back end. Minor classic and it hold up nicely.

Seem like Redman is DQ'd from the list for being from Jersey though, so maybe that's why

Redman should be on here since Westside Gunn is...

Some observations

Places

• Queens - 29 Entries
• Brooklyn - 24
• LI - 11
• Mt Vernon/Yonkers - 9
• Harlem/Staten Island/The Bronx - 8 a piece

Affiliations

• BCC - 3
• DITC - 3
• RR - 3
• The Lox - 3
• Dipset - 4
• Gangstarr Foundation - 4
• Rocafella - 5
• Native Tongues - 6
• Wu - 8

Multiple Albums

• Mos Def - 1.5
• Pharoah Monche - 1.5
• Biggie - 2
• Busta - 2
• DMX - 2
• Ghostface - 2
• Kool G Rap - 2
• Onyx - 2
• Pete and Corey - 2
• PE - 2
• Rakim - 2
• Wu Tang - 2
• De La - 3
• Gangstarr - 3
• Mobb Deep - 3
• Nas - 3
• Run DMC - 3
• Jay Z - 4
• LL - 4

Eras

• Up to 86 - 6
• 87-91 - 22
• 92-97 - 41
• 98-05 - 6
• 06 - now - 5

This list is heavily era-dependent, 63% of this list came in a decade stretch from 1987 to 1997. Which, a ton of people call that the golden age of hip hop, not sure I agree, but it probably is the golden era for New York rap regardless...

Mobb Deep is huge in Europe, they single handily changed the way the entire french rap scene sounded in the mid 90's

Hav production was a really turnout point in east coast hip hop, the beat sounded grimy yet more polished



It is, and you're talking to an illmatic ultra stan right here. but illmatic don't have an anthem like shook ones, the type of song that makes the crowd want to fight and shut down the venue. I still put illmatic ahead of infamous because of the level nas' emceeing is, but to say infamous is not close is a little far fetched. I'm pretty sure if you woulld've asked the people of ny back in 95 wich is the better album ? the reponses would have been 50/50. Infamous got 4,5 mics in the source, so it pretty much means it was a classic off the rip

Illmatic is probably the best ny album, but infamous may be the greatest qb/queens album. Yes Nas's influence was huge on infamous, no doubt about it, but iww was mad influenced by ready to die ob4cl and infamous too. That's not necessarily a definitive metric to determine which is better.
Nas wasn't using the thun language on illmatic but on iww yes, and I think Prodigy had a lot to do with it. Iww was more of a qb album than illmatic if it makes sense

In terms of comparing nas and prodigy, to me they were close in 95 96, I still put nas ahead because of his versality, storytelling abilities and intellectual prowess, but in termes of style, flow, voice, punchline and aura on the mic, it's very close. Live nikka rap is a testament to that. both were top 5 in theses two years. I put Nas at n1 tho, here's my 95 ranking

Nas
Prodigy
Biggie
Raekwon
Az
G Rap
Big L
Method Man
Jeru
OC

Not doubting what you're saying about Mobb in France, but domestically they don't carry that kinda weight in the South or on the West Coast. They just don't, and I grew up in the era right after their heights...

I never knew anyone who was a big Mobb Deep head. We knew who there were (how couldn't you if you're my age and coming into junior high circa 2000?). But wasn't no one going around playing Mobb like that and they weren't topics of discussion to any major degree...

I knew more about them from Jay dissing P in Takeover than any of their work...

So you're probably right but my point stands that culturally, they didn't have the same impact in other US regions. And I think we all recognize that there are different cultural impacts in terms of what's impacting street trends and industry trends. Ruff Ryders had more support than Mobb and it's not like I knew a ton of people listening to them, either...