From Illmatic to Madvillainy, To Pimp a Butterfly to Aquemini, Tha Carter II to De La Soul Is Dead, we look at the best hip hop albums of all time, year by year.
By the beginning of the ’90s, hip hop had transformed from an emerging music genre into a truly recognised global force.
With the rise of pop acts like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice with their hit singles like “Ice Ice Baby” and “U Can’t Touch This,” the music industry were no longer able to deny that people wanted rap music.
But while those two acts eclipsed any other hip hop artists on a commercial level, 1990 was also the year we saw the debuts of A Tribe Called Quest and Brand Nubian – two important rap groups to the alternate movement – the rise of Ice Cube as a solo rapper, who would become one of the best rappers of the 90s, and the comeback of LL Cool J, amongst many other great releases.
From Eric B. & Rakim’s Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em to Fear of a Black Planet and AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, here are the top 25 best hip hop albums of 1990.
25. MC Hammer – Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em
Released: February 12, 1990
Label: Capitol, EMI
Singles: “Help the Children”, “Dancin’ Machine”, “U Can’t Touch This”, “Have You Seen Her”, “Pray”, “Here Comes the Hammer”
Features: N/A
24. K-Solo – Tell the World My Name
Released: May 22, 1990
Label: Atlantic
Singles: “Spellbound”
Features: N/A
23. Poor Righteous Teachers – Holy Intellect
Released: May 29, 1990
Label: Profile, Arista Records
Singles: “Time to Say Peace”, “Holy Intellect”, “Rock Dis Funky Joint” (1990), “Shakiyla (JRH)”
Features: N/A
22. Compton’s Most Wanted – It’s a Compton Thang
Released: June 19, 1990
Label: Orpheus Records
Singles: “This Is Compton”, “One Time Gaffled Em Up”, “I’m Wit Dat”
Features: N/A
21. D-Nice – Call Me D-Nice
Released: July 24, 1990
Label: Jive Records
Singles: N/A
Features: Dawnn Lewis
20. Above the Law – Livin’ Like Hustlers
Released: February 20, 1990
Label: Ruthless, Epic
Singles: “Murder Rap”, “Untouchable”
Features: N.W.A.
19. N.W.A. – 100 Miles and Runnin’
Released: August 14, 1990
Label: Ruthless, Priority
Singles: “100 Miles and Runnin'”
Features: N/A
18. Grand Daddy I.U. – Smooth Assassin
Released: September 14, 1990
Label: Cold Chillin’, Reprise, Warner Bros. Records
Singles: N/A
Features: Desiree Price, Raezia Rolle, Toni Rolle, Mary Brown
17. X Clan – To the East, Blackwards
Released: April 24, 1990
Label: 4th & B’way, Island
Singles: “Raise the Flag”/”Heed the Word of the Brother”, “Funkin’ Lesson”/”Shaft’s Big Score”, “Grand Verbalizer, What Time is It?”
Features: N/A
16. Too $hort – Short Dog’s in the House
Released: September 11, 1990
Label: Jive Records, RCA
Singles: “Short But Funky”, “The Ghetto”
Features: Ice Cube
15. Masta Ace – Take a Look Around
Released: July 24, 1990
Label: Cold Chillin’/Reprise/Warner Bros.
Singles: “Together / Letter to the Better”, “Me and the Biz”, “Music Man”, “Movin’ On”
Features: N/A
14. Paris – The Devil Made Me Do It
Released: October 9, 1990
Label: Scarface, Tommy Boy
Singles: “The Devil Made Me Do It”
Features: N/A
13. Tragedy Khadafi – Intelligent Hoodlum
Released: July 10, 1990
Label: A&M, PolyGram Records
Singles: “Black and Proud”, “Back to Reality”
Features: N/A
12. Ice Cube – Kill at Will
Released: December 18, 1990
Label: Lench Mob, Priority
Singles: “Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)”
Features: Chuck D
11. Digital Underground – Sex Packets
Released: March 20, 1990
Label: Tommy Boy, Warner Bros.
Singles: “Doowutchyalike”, “The Humpty Dance”
Features: N/A
10. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Wanted: Dead or Alive
Released: August 14, 1990
Label: Cold Chillin’, Warner Bros. Records
Singles: “Streets of New York”, “Erase Racism”, “Bad to the Bone”
Features: Large Professor, Freddie Foxxx, Ant Live, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie
9. Boogie Down Productions – Edutainment
Released: July 17, 1990
Label: Jive, RCA Records
Singles: “Love’s Gonna Get’cha (Material Love)”, “Ya Know the Rules”
Features: Kwame Toure, Special K, Heather B., Jamal-Ski, Ms. Melodie, Harmony, D-Square
8. Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth – Funky Technician
Released: February 6, 1990
Label: Wild Pitch, EMI Records
Singles: “Baby, You Nasty”/”Track the Movement”, “Funky Technician”/”Bad Mutha”, “Stricly for the Ladies”/”Back to Back Rhyming”
Features: A.G.
7. EPMD – Business as Usual
Released: December 18, 1990
Label: Def Jam, Rush, Columbia
Singles: “Gold Digger”, “Rampage”, “Give the People”
Features: Redman, LL Cool J
6. Brand Nubian – One for All
Released: December 4, 1990
Label: Elektra
Singles: “Brand Nubian”, “Feel So Good”, “Wake Up”, “Slow Down”, “All for One”
Features: N/A
5. LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out
Released: September 14, 1990
Label: Def Jam, Columbia
Singles: “To da Break of Dawn”, “The Boomin’ System”, “Around the Way Girl”, “Mama Said Knock You Out”, “6 Minutes of Pleasure”
Features: Big Money Grip, Bomb, HIC
4. A Tribe Called Quest – People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Released: April 10, 1990
Label: Jive, RCA Records
Singles: “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo”, “Bonita Applebum”, “Can I Kick It?”
Features: N/A
3. Eric B. & Rakim – Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em
Released: June 19, 1990
Label: MCA Records
Singles: “Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em”, “In the Ghetto”, “Mahogany”
Features: N/A
2. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
Released: April 10, 1990
Label: Def Jam, Columbia
Singles: “Fight the Power”, “Welcome to the Terrordome”, “911 Is a Joke”, “Brothers Gonna Work it Out”, “Can’t Do Nuttin’ for Ya Man”
Features: Ice Cube, Big Daddy Kane
1. Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
Released: May 16, 1990
Label: Lench Mob, Priority
Singles: “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted”, “Who’s the Mack?”
Features: Chuck D, Lil Russ, Flavor Flav, Yo-Yo
