Top 10 Hip-Hop Records of the Decade (Part 1: David's List)

1. Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele (2000)

The best hip-hop album ever recorded is Wu-Tang Clan’s debut, Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers. Since that release in 1993, the Clan has struggled to match that record’s brilliance as a collective, but individual members of the Wu have crafted full-lengths that harness the unique feel of 36 Chambers while spinning the music so that it reflects that rapper’s personal styling. The 1990s gave us GZA’s sinister Liquid Swords and Raekwon’s Mafioso manifesto Only Built 4 Cuban Linx; the 2000s have thus far been dominated by Ghostface, with Supreme Clientele being the crown jewel in a remarkably consistent catalog. But this record doesn’t owe its greatness to the greatness of the Wu-Tang discography. It’s great because it showcases Ghost’s aggressive and vivid lyrical complexities while a set of ace tracks provide the perfect complementary atmosphere. And of course, the record is replete with guest spots from fellow Wu members, including a verse from RZA on “Nutmeg” that comes out of nowhere to surpass anything I’ve ever heard from the guru himself. If you’re in the market for just one hip-hop album for a post-2000 world, it should be this one.

2. Jay Dilla (Jay Dee) – Donuts (2006)

I’ve never gotten into much instrumental hip-hop, but lately I’ve been trying to appreciate producers who emphasize instrumentals, samples, and atmospherics without relying on hooks or narrative vocals. This is by far the best record I’ve encountered thus far on my search. The context in which this album was created is essential to fully contemplating its brilliance: hip-hop wunderkind Jay Dee produced the LP while dying from lupus, releasing Donuts just three days before his too-early death. Spread over thirty-one cohesive tracks, Donuts gives the listener a snapshot into Jay Dee’s soul, as it bends and breaks with an uplifting tenor that speaks louder than nearly any other hip-hop record I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. His passion spills from every carefully placed note, and while listening, I can’t help but feel a mixture of sadness and joy for both the magnificence of this swan song and the tragedy of losing a genius so early in his life.

3. Madvillain – Madvillany (2004)

Unlike most much-hyped collaborations, this marriage of underground legends Madlib and MF DOOM is bubbling with creative energy. Madvillain works so well by allowing each artist to shine doing exactly what he’s always done. For 2004’s Madvillainy, Madlib crafted a set of captivating, manic tracks that provided the perfect playing field for DOOM to showcase his lyrical eccentricities while throbbing with a pulse that makes them more than typical hip-hop fodder. For once the producer is as prominent as the MC, and the record is much better for it. Madvillainy is a fractured masterpiece that should continue to inspire the progression of hip-hop for years to come. I should also mention that it includes an accordion.

4. Jay-Z – The Blueprint (2001)

This record is both easy to underestimate and impossible to forget. Jump-started by Kanye-produced “Izzo (HOVA),” The Blueprint hit stores on September 11, 2001. Jigga has been so prolific since debuting with Reasonable Doubt in 1996—this was already his sixth full-length—and so frighteningly consistent, that it’s easy to misremember just how brilliant this record is. One of the many highlights is the confrontational track “The Takeover,” where Jay-Z focuses his lyrical acumen on a number of targets, most notably fellow-great Nas. While one can overlook the fact that Nas’s reprisal was even sharper and wittier than what Jay-Z gave us, “The Takeover” is perfect in its own right, existing within the flow of the album and never sounding forced or whiny. Add to that exercises in lyrical virtuosity with “Jigga That Nigga” and “U Don’t Know,” emotional tour-de-forces with “Song Cry” and “Blueprint (Momma Loves Me),” and a timeless ode to promiscuity with “Girls, Girls, Girls,” and Jay-Z has given the music world a record that will outlive his countless retirements.

5. Viktor Vaughn – Vaudeville Villain (2003)

This effort by MF DOOM (Daniel Dumile) alter-ego Viktor Vaughn was only narrowly edged by DOOM’s collaboration with Madlib. Despite these two records occupying close spots on the list, they aren’t all that similar. While Madvillainy was an all-star project undertaken by two of the biggest acts in underground hip-hop, it was as much a Madlib record as it was an MF DOOM LP. On Vaudeville Villain, DOOM assumes the persona of Viktor Vaughn to spit some of the most inspired and creative rhymes in the genre’s canon. He always has a way of sounding old school without sounding dated, and here he perfects that ability while immersed in a great set of dark, roiling backing tracks.

6. Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury (2006)

Before listening to Clipse, the thought of crack would elicit visions of Chris Rock sweating and convulsing as a fiend in New Jack City; now I think of “diet Coke” and all the wonderful moments in the Clipse discography. Brothers Malice and Pusha T hit the big time with Lord Willin’ in 2002, but it was this 2006 release that cemented the Virginia tandem’s legacy as giants in the genre. Propelled by some of the best production of Pharrell’s career, Hell Hath No Fury is an engrossing and whimsical adventure through drug culture and material fancies. The lyrics are clever and the flows are perfectly lazy, as Clipse somehow succeeds at converting trite themes into something new and compelling.

7. Cannibal Ox – The Cold Vein (2001)

In the opening track of this 2001 epic, Cannibal Ox boasts, “Fuck five, I want a hundred and eight mics,” referencing the scoring scale of industry staple The Source. They came pretty fucking close. Produced by mega-name El-P, The Cold Vein is a seventy-three minute experience in icy atmospherics and relentless lyrical gymnastics. The beats are mechanical and crisp but never lacking soul as MCs Vast Aire and Vordul Mega begin with the masterful “Iron Galaxy” and refuse to relinquish the listener’s attention until the close of the ambient-influenced “Scream Phoenix.” Unfortunately, the world never saw a second proper release from CanOx, but I suppose it’s sometimes better to impress and explode rather than slowly smolder into mediocrity. We can only hope that they someday rise from the dead like the mythical creature of the last track’s title.

8. Dizzee Rascal – Boy in da Corner (2003)

Grime might be the United Kingdom’s greatest gifts to hip-hop. Its merger of hip-hop and electronic elements is given a distinctly British twist that provides listeners with insight into a variant of recognized hip-hop culture. This record showcases the genre and serves as a palatable entryway into the complex world of UK garage, which is also known for the darker and less familiar subgroup dubstep. The often-incomprehensible Dizzee Rascal rhymes with a uniquely halting flow over glitchy, crunching beats that are as layered as they are danceable. Boy in da Corner is the grime album to own, and it’s a fantastic demonstration of the diversity that continues to push hip-hop into uncharted frontiers.

9. Lil’ Wayne – Da Drought 3 (2007)

This is the best mixtape in the mixtape-era; and from all I’ve heard, it’s no all that close. And it deserves credit for omitting those painful shout-outs that so often tattoo a record with a DJ’s imprint. As a double album, Da Drought 3 is even more remarkable for it’s exhausting consistency. Wayne comes up aces lyrically, and the beats he selects are generally well suited to his flow and vocal pitch (apart from the cringe-worthy decision to rework Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”). He even manages to reinvigorate a forgotten classic with a fresh take on Nas’s “If I Ruled the World” (appearing here as “Get High, Rule the World”). Weezy is his most creative and insane on this record as he one-ups anything he’s ever dropped on a commercial release.

10. Dead Prez – Let’s Get Free (2000)

Hip-hop has often reached its highest peaks when confronting salient social and political issues. Unfortunately, it seems like this stalwart of the genre has taken a backseat in the new millennium, with material rap overtaking gangsta rap as the chic approach for entrants into the culture. At least gangsta rap was rooted in socioeconomic hardship and acts like NWA aroused consciences through brutal, graphic storytelling. Gone are many traces of pioneers like the Last Poets and Gil-Scott Heron, and although Public Enemy’s genius can never be replicated, it’s sad seeing Flav continually exploit himself on reality television. Enter Dead Prez. This is some of the best “political rap” to come about in the new millennium. Rappers stic.man and M-1 are consistently sharp and wonderfully socially aware, and their lyrics succeed at being militant without ever sounding tiresome. Let’s Get Free also gets bonus marks for using the “Diamonds Are Forever” sample years before Kanye ever got to it.