Ghetto D
Artist: Master P
Community Score: 7.80
Angel Dust
Artist: Indo G
Community Score: 7.00

Once Three 6 Mafia gained a measure of respect and popularity, Indo G broke from the ranks and released a solo album, Angel Dust. Musically, as well as lyrically, it's not far removed from his main group. It's a familiar mix of low-riding gangsta rap, party-ready grooves, hardcore rhymes, funky beats and bass -- with the bass being emphasized,... Read More

Make It Reign - CLEAN
Artist: Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz

You could compare the debut release from the rap team of Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, Make It Reign, to the party rap albums of such hip-pop stars as Mase, Puff Daddy, and the Lox and you wouldn't be missing the mark by much. Make It Reign is an album tightly produced and packed together so that it rolls and flows from one end to the next with... Read More

Make It Reign
Artist: Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz
Community Score: 7.00

You could compare the debut release from the rap team of Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, Make It Reign, to the party rap albums of such hip-pop stars as Mase, Puff Daddy, and the Lox, and you wouldn't be missing the mark by much. Make It Reign is an album tightly produced and packed together so that it rolls and flows from one end to the next with... Read More

It's Dark and Hell Is Hot
Artist: DMX
Community Score: 8.18

Just as rap music was reaching its toughest, darkest, grimmest period yet, following the assassinations of 2Pac and Biggie in the late '90s, along came DMX and his fellow Ruff Ryders, who embodied the essence of inner-city machismo to a tee, as showcased throughout the tellingly titled It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. Unlike so many other hardcore... Read More

L' Ecole du Micro D'Argent
Artist: IAM
Community Score: 9.00
Welcome to Our World
Artist: Timbaland & Magoo
Community Score: 8.84

Welcome to Our World is one of the better rap debuts of 1997, establishing Timbaland & Magoo as gifted hip-hop musicians in their own right. The pair had previously written or produced tracks for such stars as Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Ginuwine, and the spare, kinetic beats of "Supa Dupa Fly" and "Pony" are a good indication of what's... Read More

Chapter 2: World Domination
Artist: Three 6 Mafia
Community Score: 7.60

For Chapter 2: World Domination, their first widely distributed album (via Relativity), Three 6 Mafia further refine the hardcore motifs of their underground efforts, toning down the outright horror and playing up their Southern gangsta-isms. Their equation works out to a wonderfully novel album for its time, one that would set the course of... Read More

The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel
Artist: Gravediggaz
Community Score: 6.00

Between the Gravediggaz' first album, Six Feet Deep, and the second, The Pick, The Sickle, The Shovel, RZA became the most influential producer in hip-hop, as his productions for the various Wu-Tang Clan side projects established his distinctive, skeletal style as rap's cutting edge. So, it's a little surprising that The Pick doesn't showcase... Read More

My Soul
Artist: Coolio
Community Score: 6.40

Coolio's third album, My Soul, follows the same formula as its two predecessors, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Where others have failed as pop-rappers, Coolio succeeds because of his love of melody, message, and funky beats. My Soul lacks anything as monolithic as "Gangsta's Paradise," yet it has a more elaborate production, boasting... Read More

Here Come the Horns
Artist: Delinquent Habits