Dead Serious
Artist: Das EFX
Community Score: 9.83

Das EFX -- part of EPMD's Def Squad crew, which also included K-Solo and Redman, among others -- made such a wide breakthrough in 1992 with their debut album that their hit "They Want EFX" was even referenced in the lily-white teen serial Beverly Hills 90210. That Dead Serious could have that sort of broad impact and still retain its credibility... Read More

The Master - CLEAN
Artist: Rakim

When you've been named the best rapper ever in countless readers' and critics' polls, it must be easy to get a bit complacent. And as a veteran who's been on the mic since 1985 (yes, there are several rappers who weren't even on the earth back then), it also must be easy to make a few concessions to all the rappers and delivery styles that have... Read More

Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood
Artist: DMX
Community Score: 8.22

On the heels of his multi-platinum debut, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, DMX unleashed his dogs again on an album overflowing with raw energy and spiritual catharsis. The irascible Yonkers MC, 27 at the time of this recording, continues the Ruff Ryder legacy on this follow-up release. DMX's canine split personality flow is like none other, not only... Read More

Tical 2000: Judgement Day
Artist: Method Man
Community Score: 7.34

Method Man's second solo recording is a harder album than his debut, much more focused on rap than the frequent R&B excursions that hit the pop charts on the original Tical. Though the emphasis on the hardcore makes for a better album, Method Man's own raps are often diluted by the staggering number of collaborations; as usual, almost all of the... Read More

Capital Punishment
Artist: Big Punisher
Community Score: 8.25

Big Punisher's debut album, Capital Punishment, established him as one of the stronger New York natives working hardcore territory toward the end of the '90s. He's a terrific lyricist with microphone technique to spare, and actually rhymes faster than his clear influence, the Notorious B.I.G.. He's also quite versatile, aiming for the dance... Read More

House of Pain
Artist: House of Pain
Community Score: 8.02

It's an album that ushered in an era of a thousand suburbanites drinking malt liquor, wearing U.S. Postal Service caps, and reawakening their Irish (or in some cases pseudo-Irish) heritage. And it's also the debut album that ushered House of Pain into the forefront of rap culture for a brief period of time. While it's unfair to expect a whole... Read More

Sleeping with the Enemy
Artist: Paris
Community Score: 6.00

The Devil Made Me Do It established Paris as a pro-black radical, a firebrand. The follow-up, 1992's Sleeping With the Enemy, saw the MC unleash his most provocative rhymes to such an extent that WEA, Tommy Boy's distributor at the time, opted to have no part in it. This forced Paris to reactivate his Scarface imprint; it delayed the album's... Read More

Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beets
Artist: Terminator X
Community Score: 10.00

For hardcore Public Enemy fans, the release of Terminator X's debut solo album, Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beets, in 1991 was a major event. Terminator X, of course, is best-known for his work as Public Enemy's DJ; his cutting and scratching added a lot to five-star albums like Fear of a Black Planet and It Takes a Nation of Millions... Read More

Together Forever: Greatest Hits 1983-1991
Artist: Run-D.M.C.
Community Score: 7.00

For the most part, all of Run-D.M.C.'s most important singles and biggest hits are included on Together Forever: Greatest Hits 1983-1991. That alone makes the compilation a necessary purchase. However, that doesn't mean it's a perfectly assembled collection. Instead of presenting the singles in chronological order, the sequencing skips back and... Read More

Live From the Styleetron
Artist: Raw Fusion

When Money-B came out with his side project Raw Fusion, it was clear that the Digital Underground member wasn't trying to duplicate Underground's sound. Parts of Live from Styleetron are as quirky and eccentric as Underground, but while Underground was heavily influenced by the 1970s funk grooves of George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic,... Read More

A Future Without a Past...
Artist: Leaders of the New School
Community Score: 8.67

Even in the vibrant early-'90s hip-hop scene, A Future Without a Past... emerged as a breath of fresh air, simultaneously presenting a throwback to the old-school rhyme tradeoffs and call-and-response rapping styles of crews like the Furious Five and the Funky Four + One, and vaulting rap headlong into its future. Brash and full of youthful... Read More

...And Then There Was X
Artist: DMX
Community Score: 7.55

Though it's DMX's third album in two years, ...And Then There Was X doesn't show much sign of burnout. True, it's similar to his last, which balanced new-school gangsta tracks ("The Professional," "Make a Move") with a couple that question the inevitable trappings that come with success ("Fame," "One More Road to Cross"). And the productions by... Read More