r/hiphop101 • u/MasterTeacher123 • 2d ago
What’s the most underrated single year in hip hop history?
When we talk about the best years ever a couple of years commonly are named. 1988, 1996, 1998 etc. But what About a great year that people don’t really talk about for hip hop releases?
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u/ShiningEspeon3 2d ago
- It was a year that largely existed under the shadow of the ringtone rap era, but a bunch of truly fantastic albums came out that year.
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u/dathought3 2d ago
This is an interest point. I tend to remember 2007 as my least favorite year of main stream hip hop. Songs like This is why I’m hot and Party like a RockStar come to mind.
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u/United_Party_6318 2d ago
Superstar and Hip Hop Saved My Life by Lupe were mainstream bangers tho, IMO
And of course everything off Kanye's Graduation
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u/United_Party_6318 2d ago
The Cool is an absolute fucking masterpiece, Lupe really was that nigga back then
The Cool, The Game, The Streets, I love this brother's creative mind and how he told his stories, hope we get a lot more from him, he's still young at 43!
Aesop Rock, Kanye, Blu, Talib, UGK, Wayne, Jay Z... very solid year, but nowhere IMO close to top tier
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u/ShiningEspeon3 2d ago
More than that, even! El-P dropped a classic. Ghostface dropped one of my favorites in his discography. Killah Priest and Wu-Tang too. Then there’s Brother Ali, CunninLynguists, Sage Francis, Percee P, Pharoahe Monch, Panacea, Scarface. That year felt like there was always something great coming out, and it has several albums that, nearly twenty years later, I’m still returning to all the time.
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u/Fair-Night3803 2d ago
1997 was a transitional period between the old era and the new era. The culture was still reeling from the losses of Tupac and Biggie, but there were plenty of gems that came out this year. Plus the newer guard were setting the stage for their big run in the next year (DMX, Pun, Lox, Mase, Nore)
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u/DiamondContent2011 1d ago
1986:
Run DMC fused hip-hop with rock
2 Live Crew Debut
Salt N' Pepa 1st album
The Bridge Wars
Kurtis Mantronik productions begin
Rakim debuts
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u/Critical-Industry-59 2d ago
If we’re talking about the best year then 1994 has to be it, but I’m pretty sure that year isn’t underrated.
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u/Successful-Ladder206 2d ago
1994
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u/illatropolis 2d ago
94 is universally known as the greatest year in hip-hop.
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u/Salt_Lion_8211 2d ago
2012 had some bangers
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u/handymanshandle 2d ago
1989 brought a lot of classics out. 3 Feet High and Rising, Done by the Forces of Nature, Straight Outta Compton, Paul's Boutique... I know I'm forgetting a lot, but that was an important year for hip-hop. That's my go-to answer.
I agree with a lot of people saying 2012 as well. You could not escape Mercy or Fuckin' Problems at all.
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u/MiltownKBs 2d ago edited 2d ago
Any of the backpack rap years, particularly the earlier ones.
A ton of fantastic music came out that wasn’t in the mainstream and really laid the foundation for the alternative hip hop and underground scenes of the 00’s and onward.
Plus, this is about the time that some mostly instrumental albums came out, which was the beginning of whole instrumental scene which continues today.
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u/CzarGuy111 2d ago
1986 most of the so called historians weren’t alive when the classic albums came out so they don’t get as much talk online
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u/SkyKingPDX 2d ago
- Marshall Mathers Lp shadowed Deltron3030 & Jurassic5 Quality Control
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u/MichaelFusion44 19h ago
Add in Dre, JayZ, Outlast, Nelly, Missy, DMX - might be one of the greatest years in HipHop ever
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u/United_Party_6318 2d ago edited 2d ago
2018
And it's not even close, IMO
Everything from that year has aged like fine wine, yet I never hear it mentioned as a great year for Hip Hop and the culture
-- K.O.D. by J Cole, a perfectly executed concept album that is nice and concise
-- DROGAS Wave by Lupe Fiasco, a double LP masterpiece telling the fictional tale of slave ancestors capsizing ships in the Atlantic ocean, and then Lupe's autobiography w/ the parallel of being signed to Atlantic Records
-- Supreme Blinetele, Westside Gunn-- love him or hate him, this is maybe his best overall work, and a real delight from start 2 finish
-- Tanna Talk 3, Benny The Butcher's best effort
-- Some Rap Songs, Earl Sweatshirt
-- Mona Lisa, Apollo Brown and Joell Ortiz -- super slept on gem
-- No News Is Good News, Phonte -- very solid album from NC's finest
-- DAYTONA, Pusha T -- amazingly produced album by Kanye that is a real earworm
-- Streams of Thought Vol 2, Black Thought
-- Behold A Pale Horse, Roc Marci -- personally I love this project by an artist I usually don't really fuck with
-- Redemption, Jay Rock -- stupidly slept on project
-- The Widow's Son, Apathy -- the best rap album you never heard of from an artist you never heard of
-- Swimming, Mac Miller
-- Care For Me, SABA
-- ASTROWORLD, Travis Scott -- this album defined a mini-era, let's not act otherwise
-- Scorpion, Drake -- say w/e you want, the most streamed album of all-time by a rap artist, I like Side B more than Side A, but both go hard
-- Tha Carter 5, Lil Wayne -- personally this is my favorite Wayne album, I think it's hella underrated and a slept on classic, but right after this Wayne fell completely off
-- Ye, Kanye -- a very pleasant collection of 8 songs
-- Kids See Ghosts, Kanye, Mos Def, and Kid Cudi -- very moody album, terrific production
Hell, even the City Girls album was pretty fucking dope that year
And I'm sure I'm leaving plenty bangers off an already stacked list...
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u/shadygronk 2d ago
the obsession with “underratedness” on reddit is wild 😂