UPS Is Hiring: The 20 Most Disappointing Hip-Hop Albums Of All-Time

What's up folks!  Been a couple weeks since we last connected due to illness but I'm back up and running.  With that said, let's get into this week's topic.  While we celebrate the great achievements within hip-hop (special shouts to Kendrick for murdering the Grammys with the wins and with that PHENOMENAL performance), there are always glitches within every artists' repertoire.  Even the best emcees have made mistakes along the way to greatness.  Whether intentional or no, speed bumps occur.  Then you have cats that are just plain and simple, no matter how you put it.  The term WACK comes to mind with some of these artists, and I use that term loosely.  This is a list of the worst in the game.  Many will debate the order of these albums, and I'm fully understanding this, but trust me, this was a hard list to compile, mostly because there are way too many in the game, way more than I'd like to admit.  With that, let's get to it.

20. Mobb Deep- Infamy

The fourth effort from QB's most infamous was arguably seen as their weakest effort.  On the heels of Jay-Z's "Takeover", where he took P to task on the song, P did his best to accentuate his tough-guy talk that earned him such a following.  The result had he and co-defendant Hav releasing an album that was all tough guy mantra, but sub par lyricism.  While Hav began his upward climb lyrically, P fell to an all-time low.  Furthermore, this was missing the chill factor that their prior classics of The Infamous and Hell On  Earth contained.  They eventually recovered, although it took a few projects to do so.  

19. Redman- Reggie

This is one of those bad decisions every artist makes along their discography.  Redman, up to this point, had put out banger after banger, with Muddy Waters being his most revered and celebrated.  However, he wanted to introduce us to "Reggie", his self-professed alter-ego even though it's actually his real name.  The album that followed was anything but his best in terms of the thumping, blunted hip-hop we had been used to from him.  With pop-sounding tracks plus his excessive use of auto-tune, this was anything but the Redman we knew.  Fortunately, he reemerged with last year's EP, Mudface, which brought us back the Sooperman Luva we all knew and loved, but this experimental album was not a great one.

18. Eminem- Encore

Mr. Mathers is known as one of hip-hop's craziest lyricists ever.  This was apparent on his prior three releases: The Slim Shady LP, his brilliant Marshall Mathers LP, and the almost equally incredible The Eminem Show.  However, he was also at the height of his drug-induced frame of mind at this point.  His love of recording was waning and he didn't put as much heart musically as we had seen up to this point.  Don't misunderstand me, this album has some high points such as the controversial "Mosh" and "Like Toy Soldiers", but overall this became known as the beginning of his end in terms of cohesive full-length albums, even though Recovery was pretty damn good as well.

17. Canibus- Can-I-Bus

The debut from the one-time Wyclef protege was seen as a bust.  Fresh from knocking people on their asses with "Second Round K.O.", expectations were high, but definitely failed to deliver on the promising potential he had amassed.  For every one decent spot like "Buckingham Palace" and "I Honor U", the rest were mediocre to borderline terrible.  Most of the rest of his albums have been fairly bad to worse than this, until he met up with former Jedi Mind Tricks' producer Stoupe for his album Rip The Jacker.  We wish he had more albums like that instead of this.  Lyrics were never his problem, the accompanying beats were.

16. 50 Cent- Curtis

There wasn't a more explosive cat from Queens during the early millennium than the dude name 'Fiddy'.  His classic debut, Get Rich Or Die Tryin', launched him into the stratosphere with nearly Diamond units sold, and then continued with his sophomore album, The Massacre, which sold nearly one point five million in one week.  His third album, however, went more into the pop arena and it showed in to critical dismay.  Although cuts like "Amusement Park", "I Get Money" and "Fully Loaded Clip" were signature 50, the rest of the album suffered from lackadaisical lyrics and average production.  It didn't help that it was released the same day as Kanye's exceptional Graduation album, which showed in relatively low number for Mr. Jackson.  Although it's been a struggle to get back to the acclaim his first two albums garnered, he's sounding better than albums like this at least.

15. Goodie Mob- World Party

Innovators of the ATL sound, and originators of the term "Dirty South", Goodie Mob made quite a statement in '95 when they released their classic debut, Soul Food, and followed it up with an equally amazing effort in Still Standing.  However, in the quest to achieve Platinum status, they sacrificed their sound for more of a Pop appeal and not bringing as much soul and consciousness as the first album, thus including the word 'party' into their title.  The album lacked a huge part of what made them such critical darlings, not just in the South but in all of hip-hop.  This was the last album they made before the break-up and we saw the emergence of the solo career of Cee-Lo Green.  They reassembled two years for their somewhat decent album Age Against The Machine, but it was this album that started the fall of the Goodie Mo crew.

14. Method Man- Tical 0: The Prequel

In terms of overall presence and star appeal, there was none that accentuated that more from the Wu than the M-E-T-H-O-D Man.  His debut, Tical, is still regarded as one of the single highlights not just within the Wu camp, but in all of the game to this very day.  His follow-up, Tical 2: Judgement Day, was not as brooding or gutter as the debut, but was nonetheless very strong and had more focused lyricism and production.  Getting word from Def Jam that he needed to aim for more of a Pop/commercially accessible sound, he got up with Diddy and then Bad Boy A&R Harve Pierre for his third effort, Tical 0: The Prequel.  Truthfully, this is one of those albums, that wouldn't have sounded too great with anyone not under the Bad Boy label at this time, much less Mr. Mef.  WHile the first single with Busta Rhymes "What's Happening" wasn't bad, nor were other cuts like "The Motto" and especially the Raekwon-assisted "The Turn", this was not his style of album, and he was vocally displeased about it later.  He attempted to correct his mistakes with 4;21...The Day After, which by all accounts was a very decent follow-up and was a lot more enjoyable.  His most recent album, The Mef Lab, was also considered a disappointment.  Here's to hoping his final album, Crystal Method, will be the sizzler we all know he's more than capable of bringing.

13. Puff Daddy- Forever

By all accounts, Mr. Combs, himself, has openly admitted he's not a rapper, he's an entertainer.  With that being said, we really shouldn't be surprised that he hasn't made a sureshot fantastic album on his own...EVER.  His debut with The Family, No Way Out, was by far his magnum opus, with radio-friendly, yet excellent, production, however, he has yet to assemble an album on his own that is captivating.  This is a great example.  While this is deliberately made for the radio, this was a rather skippable album (although it's a hard toss up between this one and his album Press Play as to which one is worse).  Below average performances from most guests on the album and average production makes this among his worst albums to date.

12. Noreaga- Melvin Flynt: Da Hustler

In '97, hip-hop had been presented its new bloodbath classic in The War Report, courtesy of the Lefrak City/QB connection, Capone-N'-Noreaga.  However, the majority of the album was done by Noreaga and then mentor Tragedy Khadafi, as Capone was serving a bid when the album was released.  Nore decided to do the solo thing until his co-defendant came home, and he delivered his very dope debut, N.O.R.E. (Niggaz On the Run Eatin') in '98.  Unfortunately, tragedy struck when Noreaga's father passed just before he started recording his sophomore follow-up, Melvin Flynt.  He did, but the album sounded uninspired and lacking the same hunger as his debut.  We will give him a pass on this one because of that reason, for it's something we can all sympathize with, but with albums that followed like God's Favorite and his reunion album with Capone, The Reunion, he more than made up for it.

11. Raekwon-Immobilarity

The "chef" of the Wu has long been considered one of the more gritty and impassioned storytellers from the camp.  His debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., is considered one of hip-hop's best gems and a classic in every sense.  The anticipation was on for his sophomore effort, and it was met with less than favorable results.  For starters, there was no RZA influence.  None.  Zero.  There was also little Wu involvement in terms of guests as well, with the exception of Meth on "Fuck Them" and Masta Killa on the exquisite "The Table".  This wouldn't have been a bad album necessarily if we didn't already know what to expect from him.  This, to nobody's surprise, is considered his worst album, and fortunately he hasn't made another one this mediocre since (although some are saying his most recent F.I.L.A. comes close).

10. Jay-Z- Magna Carta Holy Grail

The almost Hovi is on this list, and in fact, he should've been on the list at least one other time.  While we can never deny stellar albums like his memorable debut, Reasonable Doubt, and albums like Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life and The Black Album, he has also had missteps like this one.  This, in no way, shape, or form, ranks among his most inspired or his hungriest.  In fact, everything on this album is just...well...average, and even at times mediocre.  Some consider his Blueprint 2 or Kingdom Come his worst, but both of those albums are in better sonic places than this one.  I guess that, because he's a "business, man", he doesn't have to still come correct on that microphone.  This was the best example of that statement by far.

9. Ma$e- Welcome Back

The former rapper-turned-pastor-turned-rapper again first debuted with his debut smash album, Harlem World, in '97, and it was a charming, non tough guy-esque, blatant radio-accessible album, and it garnered him two Platinum plaques.  His sophomore album, Double Up, didn't strike quite as hard, but it nevertheless was a decent album to rotate.  However, once he left the stage for the pulpit, Mason Betha could've cared less about the hip-hop world.  After lots of thought, and chances are lots of outside influence, he returned with Welcome Back, to much criticism, but not just from his faithful flock and the Christian community.  The album was just as radio friendly as his debut and squeaky clean language, but the content and the production was very subpar.  This had good heart, but the album just was below many peoples expectations and is just very skippable altogether.

8. Nas- Nastradamus

There's no denying the fact that Illmatic is considered by many as the greatest hip-hop album of all-time.  Its author, Nas, was seen as hip-hop's next prophet and became the ghetto's own Langston Hughes.  His sophomore album, It Was Written, failed short of Illmatic expectations (in hindsight that was unfair to do in the first place), but was still an excellent album, plus still stands as his most commercially successful album to date.  His next album was I Am...The Autobiography.  The original plans for it were for it to be a double album, but due to rampant bootlegging, the album got split up, with some tracks going to I Am, some for mixtapes, and others to get released for his fourth effort, Nastradamus.  While the revamped version of I Am was still very good and underappreciated, it was Nastradamus that was the bad hand.  In all due respect, the album isn't THAT bad, as tracks like "Project Window", "Life We Chose" and "God Love Us" were quite profound, but it's nowhere near the load and acclaim of his prior work.  Partially due to him wanting to get more radio spins again, but suffered from overall bland production and lack of cohesiveness.  This was undeniably his weakest effort, but fortunately he hasn't made the same mistake twice.

7. Common- Electric Circus

It's not many times we say Common and disappointing in the same sentence.  One of hip-hop's most prolific and enduring emcees has crafted many outstanding pieces of work, most notably the practically perfect BE.  However, in 2002, Lonnie Rashid Lynn followed up his exceptional Like Water For Chocolate with this very unique and experimental album.  While not necessarily a WACK album per se, it was just a way different, very eclectic album.  One that sonically challenges the listener as it often times contains very ethereal production from the likes of Quest-Love and the late icon Dilla and The Neptunes, who did hip-hop's best love song by far "Come Close".  By his own admission, he wasn't feeling hip-hop at that time so he put in every other genre except hip-hop.  Perhaps this is a slight more so for the listener more so than the artist, but to those of us that had known his prior work, this had Erykah Badu written all over it, as this was, in many aspects, NOT the Common we knew.  Thank GOD he came back with Be, and all but eliminated the fact that this experimental album even existed.

6. The Firm- The Firm: The Album

One of hip-hop's most anticipated supergroups was The Firm, headed by Nas, and featured Brooklyn diva Foxy Brown, close homie AZ, and at that time QB cohort Cormega.  Fresh off the standout track "Affirmative Action" from Nas' It Was Written, they decided to do a full-length hip-hop album.  On top of that, this was a joint venture between at-that-time poppin' production team Trackmasters and the almighty good doctor himself, Dr. Dre.  How could this possibly go wrong?  That's what we may still may be trying to figure out.  Before the album was even released, Cormega was ousted and QB upstart Nature was brought in, thus indicating inner turmoil.  The album, itself, was just a great disappointment and almost a practical failure.  Although cuts like the fantastic "Phone Tap" and "Firm Fiasco" were ridiculous, unfortunately the rest of the album couldn't keep up and couldn't withstand the weight, much less the expectations.  While not necessarily WACK, this is still surely underwhelming and one of hip-hop's greatest disappointments.

5. Hammer- The Funky Headhunter

Well folks, let's the laughter begin.  I don't care who you are, you were a fan of MC Hammer's music in the early nineties.  Whether you wanted to or not, you were up dancing and having a good time with his music.  His first two albums made him an official crossover star and became a Pop music superstar.  Somewhere along the line, Stanley Burrell had enough of people talking shit and calling him a sellout and all.  Hence, he emerged with The Funky Headhunter, a noticeably harder, edgier album that was completely unnecessary and made him look stupid.  He clearly acted like he wanted to prove something in an age of gangsta rap emerging and him  needing to stay relevant and of importance.  Who can forget the infamous "Pumps & A Bump" video and the completely atrocious "It's All Good"?  Every album up to this point isn't necessarily considered WACK, but this one so far comes the closest and in fact is right there on the line.  

4. Soulja Boy Tellem- iSouljaBoyTellem

Not really sure how much detail I need to go into with this one.  He tried to replicate the "success" of his debut album and depending on your view of it, he succeeded.  This is not flattering by the way.  He dominated the old BET franchise show "106 & Park", but this was clearly a sign of the generation we were in at the time.  Dumb dances and even dumber sayings were the rule and this album was among the leaders of the degenerative era.

3. Riff Raff- Neon Icon

Ummm...I'm not too sure what to say about this cat.  The Houston native is as gimmicky as any wanna be rapper there's ever been.  Although establishing a small bubbling noise in H-town's underground by being down with SwishaHouse, he soon left from that circle to establish his own identity to where he was virtually considered something of a comedic act, or at the least one not to take but so seriously.  This album, Neon Icon, made a lot of noise in a lot of different areas.  Although he had assistance from DJ Mustard, the album is very unfocused, incohesive, and is not an entertaining listen.  For those that don't take rap seriously, this is definitely your album.

2. Lil' Wayne- Rebirth

The legacy of Lil' Wayne is that of being one of the game's most polarizing, yet indisputably talented, emcees over the last twenty years of him picking up a mic.  Becoming a juggernaut in the mid millennium, his albums have mostly been easy to digest and, in the case of The Carter III, win him a million fans within a week.  Wayne, wanting to push his artistic envelope, embraced the rocker/skater lifestyle, thus presenting Rebirth, an album filled with themes that almost sound a parody of a rock album.  This should be an embarrassment to the rock community, because it damn sure is to the hip-hop world.  Maybe that was his point, to not make anything that had to do with hip-hop (see Common from earlier), but even with this being a non hip-hop album, this is still a disgraceful album that should've never left the cutting room floor.  Not only are his lyrics excessively tacky and juvenile (no pun intended longtime Cash Money heads), but the production is just inexcusable.  Thankfully, this experimental album of his has only been attempted once, and let's hope this part of his musical life is gone forever.

1. Soulja Boy Tellem- Souljaboytellem.com

Welp, what can you say?  He became an internet sensation literally overnight with his viral crazy, nationwide infected dance called, dun dun DUN, the "Soulja Boy".  From the very young to the middle aged, everyone was doing, or attempting to do the "Soulja Boy".  This was enough to put him on the Forbes list, earning him over seven million dollars that year just from the dance craze and putting out the subsequent album.  I'm going to stick with the facts here, this is not for the over twenty-five year old crowd.  This is strictly for those that are pre-teens to teens.  The most generic rhymes and beats perhaps ever heard on wax, this showed the shallowness of the generation's climate during that time.  Was it fun? With tracks like "Crank That" and "Donk", yeah it was.  That's as far as it goes.  Don't expect any of the following: substance, good lyricism, decent production, and fluid cohesiveness.  Sadly, he became the leader of non-substance and lyrical laziness in hip-hop so this became a trendsetter and trailblazer in ways that are in no way flattering.  This is folks, the definition of the word I haven't described in one album on this entire list...WACK.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions:

Master P- Only God Can Judge Me

Wasn't sure if this or Ghetto Postage belonged on this list.  Both stunk up the joint.

Jay-Z & R. Kelly- Unfinished Business
While the first collab album, Best Of Both Worlds, but stomachable, this one, folks, was not.  Everything sounding like cutting room floor material

Kris Kross- Da Bomb
Nothing worse than hearing good kids turn hardcore, but that what we got with these cats' sophomore album.  RIP Mac Daddy!

Brand Nubian- Everything Is Everything
Not even close to the parameter set by One For All, or even for that matter In God We Trust.

T.I.- No Mercy
Many consider this his weakest piece of work, and based upon his past dope material, I'm inclined to agree

Wiz Khalifa- O.N.I.F.C.
I'm really trying to find some reputable redeeming qualities about this album as a whole, really I am

Busta Rhymes- Back On My B.S.
Hands down his worst project to date, and that's saying something considering It Ain't Safe No More was a let down as well

Juvenile- Project English
Trying to capitalize off his breakout 400 Degreez album, he tried to duplicate the success of it, to no avail.

Common- UMC
Although not the messiness Electric Circus was, this was still in all rights a sub-par album from the one who brought us Resurrection and Like Water For Chocolate before this one

Main Source- Fuck What U Think
It's hard to follow-up an INCREDIBLE debut like Breakin' Atoms, but once Large Pro left and replaced with Mikey D, not only was it not the same, it was worth shaking your head over.

Pras- Win, Lose, Or Draw
Has he really done anything on his own that was worth meriting? His Ghetto Superstar debut was barely acceptable, but this album...???

Canibus- C True Hollywood Stories
This was just plain awful...I don't really have a lot of terms to define this any better than this.  Yes, worse than his debut.

As you can tell, there's almost as much to be ashamed of as to celebrate.  While a lot of albums on this list weren't essentially bad albums or terrible albums, most were either thoroughly disappointing or was way below our levels of expectations when we know these artists were capable of putting out quality product.  Fortunately, most on the list did redeem themselves quite nicely, so there's a silver lining to all this.  That's all for now cats and dogs, see you on the next one!

The Top 20 Best Midwest Albums Of All-Time

What's good cats and dogs?! This is your dude again, and thanks again for riding with me yet one more time.  This is yet another list of greatness within hip-hop.  Whether you agree or disagree with these lists is irrelevant.  What is always welcomed is conversation and even debates (educated that is) about these lists.  The whole point of these is just that: healthy conversation.  We don't have enough of it anymore, especially concerning good hip-hop (notice I said GOOD.  I may make a list of wack/disappointing albums in the future).  I've been off and on under the weather most of the week but a guy from Twitter suggested that I make a list of best Midwestern hip-hop.  Without a doubt some stellar, landmark albums have been from the Midwest.  In this case, cities like Detroit, Chicago, St. Paul/Minneapolis, Cleveland,, Cincinnati, and others from that region are highly represented in this list.  For the record, don't sleep or overlook my honorable mentions.  The point of honorable mentions are to give respect and due props to the albums even though their not necessarily on the list.  Sometimes there are albums that need to be put on the list itself.  So don't hate on the honorable mentions list.  These are still very good and prized albums.  With that said, let's get to the list saluting the Midwest.

20. Black Milk- If There's A Hell Below

The D's appointed successor to the late, great Dilla had put out very good albums such as Tronic, Album Of The Year, and No Poison, No Paradise.  Not to mention his damn good collab album with fellow D native Guilty Simpson and the late, great Sean Price as Random Axe.  However, in what has been called his final album (though I highly doubt that), this album is actually a continuation of No Poison, No Paradise, only with even better lyricism and his best production to date.  A darker album, this album showcases a more moody conceptual path with him for this album, but if this is in his fact his last solo album, he ended it on a very high note.

19. Atmosphere- You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having

Minneapolis' famed duo of producer Ant and emcee Slug, otherwise known as Atmosphere, had been already receiving critical acclaim with previous albums like God Loves Ugly and Seven's Travels, but it was this album that really established them as perhaps the hottest duo at the time in the entire underground, and besides Brother Ali, the heart and soul of Rhymesayers Entertainment.  Although considered very large in what's called the "emo-rap" style, it was this album that every other album has been measured by.  

18. J Dilla- Donuts

Considered one of the most revered hip-hop producers of any era, the late James "J Dilla" Yancey had a production style that was so influential and so musically organic that he was practically unparalleled.  From Pete Rock to Dr. Dre, every widely known and esteemed producer has put Dilla as their favorite producer over the years before and especially after his untimely death from complications of Lupus.  Known for instrumental albums before, this became the blueprint for all future instrumental hip-hop albums, no matter who you were.  Regarded as the greatest hip-hop instrumental album ever released, it immortalized the legacy of Dilla.  Most of the beats on it have been used by the likes of Ghostface, MF DOOM, Termanology, Talib Kweli, and Nas but I believe there are so many more beats waiting for our ears to hear.  The man behind cuts by A Tribe Called Quest, Keith Murray, and even gave Common a Grammy for "The Light" cemented his name in history, and this was the album, albeit instrumental, that did it.

17. Lupe Fiasco- Tetsuo & Youth

We had been familiar with Mr. Fiasco's stellar work on his exceptional debut (see later) and his follow-up The Cool (also see later).  As time proceeded, he lost his artistic merit in exchange for more notoriety with his third album, Lasers.  His next album was the underwhelming Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album.  Many were losing hope in this otherwise highly talented emcee.  In comes Tetsuo & Youth, and boy oh boy what a return to his essence.  This was the album he should've put out years ago, and it took people thinking he had completely fallen off in order for him to do it.  The first track alone is considered his lyrical alpha and omega in itself with "Mural", but trust me, it only got more consistent from there.  This was educational and informative, yet passionate, and the production was top notched.  Simply put, this was one of 2015's truly shining moments and is his best in years.

16. Slum Village- Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1

One of the first acts to really give Detroit its buzz was a trio known as Slum Village.  The cats comprised of T3, Dilla (then known as Jay Dee), and Baatin were a group of dudes that, although not especially known for being the greatest wordsmiths in the world, were nonetheless a group of very hungry heads looking to put a statement in the game, and with the very prodigious production of Dilla, this was the start of what would become a tragic, yet determined, legacy of SV.  Most cuts would get reworked for their unbelievable follow-up, but this was also a chance to show off their freestyle abilities, which was admired at that time.  One of the most enduring acts to emerge from the D, this album was the initial album that put the spotlight on them.

15. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony- Creepin' On Ah Come Up

From the city of Cleveland came five young cats that introduced a style to us the likes of which we had never seen before.  Under the mentorship of Eazy-E, these guys presented a double-triple time rap style mixed with sung vocals and harmony and it worked profoundly.  Their major label debut was an EP filled with dark images, gritty street tales, and hustling, not to mention Eazy was featured on three tracks.  Different and original yet highly dope, this was the start of monumental things to come for the residents of St. Clair, Cleveland.

14. Lupe Fiasco- Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor

After the buzz he created on Kanye's "Touch The Sky", this young Chi-town native had a anticipated debut on his hands, and once "Kick, Push" hit, the buzz grew that much more.  Originally leaked on to the Internet, the album had to get redone, but to no dismay, the album was still greatly handled and resulted in one the smartest and exemplary debuts heard in the early millennium.  Covering racism, terrorism, being an individual, and other social issues, this album was for the purist and the nerd.  The intelligent and the conflicted.  It would be years (read Tetsuo & Youth) before he would fully return to this greatness, but this is where it started and still stands as his magnum opus.

13. Kanye West- Late Registration

The first of Mr. West's appearances on this list comes from his 2005 follow-up to his classic debut, The College Dropout (see later).  This album was a bit more lush and dramatic in production than his soulfully boom-bap debut, and focused on some live musicianship, with heavy emphasis or strings and clever arrangement.  This album had something for everyone: the elaborate with "Diamonds" to neck-snapping boom-bap with "Golddigger".  There was hit after hit on here, and at this point, with plenty of nominations and awards, it was clear with this album, his star appeal was continuing to soar.

12. Elzhi- The Preface

One of the most lyrically nuts emcees to emerge from the D is Elzhi.  Although he had already been known locally, he became a third member of Slum Village when Dilla broke away from the group.  He appeared on Trinity: Past, Present, and Future and was with T3 as a duo when Baatin unfortunately passed for their decent album, Detroit Deli.  Once he, himself, left, his first album away from SV was a Black Milk-crafted project known as The Preface, and this became an immediate classic.  Lyrically, he showed his superb talent but this album was very conceptual as well, with him using areas like dreams, colors, and fill in the blank-type themes, this shows his ability to be conceptually flexible over some BM's most noted production to date.  Incredible to say the least, here's hoping his forthcoming Lead Poison can even come close to rivaling this album (don't sleep on his Illmatic tribute album, Elmatic).

11. Tech N9ne- Something Else

This Kansas City native has grown to become an indie legend.  Selling over two to three million independently over twenty plus years, Tech N9ne is the go-to guy on how to be successful without a major deal.  Lyrically, his machine-gun rapid fire, triple-time rhymes are stuff of icons and his ability to keep his already cult status continue to grow is impeccable.  Albums such as AngHellic, Everready (The Religion), Absolut Power, and All 6's and 7's gave him more national national notoriety, but it was this album that everything fully came together to be his most complete work ever.  Known for shock value and entertainment, as well as deeply personal and introspective, Tech balanced everything he had built while continuing to grow artistically and musically.  This became a memorable album more so than any of his other major albums in his discography.  

10. Brother Ali- The Undisputed Truth

All hail the king of Minneapolis.  Brother Ali is a talent that's beyond words.  No other underground artist has amassed more of a widely acclaimed catalog of hip-hop more than this cat.  While not quite the benchmark standard Shadows Of The Sun, this album still stands among the absolute best in the entire roster of albums from Brother Ali.  Filled with social commentary, especially the explosive "Uncle Sam Goddamn", this album is a middle finger to the establishment and there's no room for soft, emotional, introspective rap.  This is heartfelt frustration and true science from one of the game's most passionate and intelligent artists, above or below ground.  

9. Eminem- The Marshall Mathers LP

Within this millennium, there hasn't been a more polarizing emcee in the game than Mr. Mathers.  Not so much in terms of his lyrical stature because he's become known as one of the greatest emcees and lyricists of all-time, but more so because of his shock value.  In 2000, he followed up his seven times platinum Aftermath debut, The Slim Shady LP with an album that's nothing short of a masterwork.  Blending his incredible and prodigious lyricism with macabre, brutal imagery of violence, drug use, sodomy, and maternal hatred, this album, artistically, is among the most passionate and intense albums you'll ever hear in your hip-hop life.  Gone is the shocking, juvenile humor of The Slim Shady LP, and included are the true hated feelings of a young man walking the tight rope between brilliance and insanity.  Who can front on the Grammy Award-winning song about a deranged, obsessed fan called "Stan" being one of the most ingenious songs ever put on wax?  Not to mention this was the fastest selling album for sixteen years, selling nearly two million units its first week.  If you thought he was a one album wonder with his debut, this shattered all those thoughts and threw them in the trash.

8. Common- Like Water For Chocolate

Mr. Lonnie Rashid Lynn was responsible, along with Twista, for putting the Chi on the map in '92 with his debut Can I Borrow A Dollar? Then greatly continued his talent on his sophomore album Resurrection (see later).  However, in '99, Common delivered what would be one of his finest prizes ever with Like Water For Chocolate.  While achieving acclaim with production work of close homeboy and production great No I.D., he wanted to expand his sound somewhat with a more live instrumentation, organic feel, thus getting himself up with the likes of Quest-Love, Kareem Riggins, and J Dilla.  The result: a career-turner for him.  His first gold-selling album, mostly due to the breakout success of "The Light", this album marked the start of the star power Common would eventually gain on a worldwide level.  

7. Kanye West- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

After a self-imposed exile due to the sad and untimely passing of his mother, Dr. Donda West, and his fatigued mind state, he emerged from his funk with an album many have called his best artistic work to date.  Musically, this was even more lush and dramatic than anything he had done prior, including the aforementioned Late Registration.  His subject matter is almost solely based on status and ego, but also tackles the positives and negatives of having them.  There were multitudes of guests, whether featured or on background vocals, and had an, at times, over the top feel about it, but is still regarded as a supreme work by him.  This created new areas of music for his album, and this almost very eclectic in nature, yet provided phenomenal cuts for him.  Although his next project, Yeezus, didn't come close to this, this album is one of his best treasures.

6. Brother Ali- Shadows On The Sun

Oh God!  To say this changed and redefined the underground is an understatement.  One of the most important and exemplary underground albums ever put on wax was from a blind Albino, yet lyrically sick Minneapolis native known as Brother Ali.  As conscious as it is personal and raw, this album set a whole new standard for the underground, never to be touched in quite this level until Madvillainy came along.  Produced entirely by Atmosphere's Ant, this is brilliant, intelligent, and extremely poignant.  A star was made official with this album that left many a listener speechless.

5. Slum Village- Fantastic Vol. 2

The album that defined SV.  While we were enamored with Vol. 1, we knew that with enough cleaning up of the flaws, the sequel would be amazing, and it did not disappoint.  From top to bottom, we were exposed to the burgeoning greatness Dilla would embark upon, and with he and groupmates T3 and Baatin, this album introduced Motown to a whole nother sound that was soulful and grooves that were so breezy yet funky at the same time.  With the breakup of A Tribe Called Quest at that time, many were feeling that they were the next in line to take over that title.  Although just short of that feat, this album was the highly acclaimed start of a respected tenure.  Motown had officially become the home of the Dilla sound.

4. Common- Resurrection

The sophomore album of Lonnie Lynn was seen as the official maturation of the emcee known as Common.  His debut, Can I borrow A Dollar, was more street and even misogynistic at times, so once he abandoned that area for more of intelligence and poignancy, the album was a certified hit.  Although not his best selling album, this album for many years was seen as his best album and was the album that people started paying some attention to him, most notably due to the classic "I Used To Love H.E.R.".  This album helped put the Chi on the map and became a great look for him.  We knew we had a burgeoning star, but we had no idea how legendary his talent would become.  This, however, was a fantastic glimpse into his future.

3. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony- E. 1999 Eternal

Going off the widespread buzz the Bone brothers were receiving from their aforementioned debut, Creepin' On Ah Come Up, the anticipation was building and building for their sophomore effort, and once we heard the ode to welfare "1st Of The Month", we knew we were in for something great.  We had no clue just how much this album would propel them into superstardom.  Dark, brooding, and menacing, this album picked up where their debut left off.  The subjects of death, guns, and drugs are prevalent in this album.  Only mixed with their unique talent of harmonizing and making even the worst deaths sound good.  Of course, this was the album that also spawned the iconic smash "Tha Crossroads" in dedication to departed family and friends, including their mentor Eazy-E.  This album sold nearly diamond units worldwide, and in fact made them household names.  While other albums like The Art Of War, Strength & Loyalty, and BNTHResurrection were albums that reaffirmed their excellent abilities to be double-time storytellers with great harmony, this was the album that started them on their way to becoming one of the greatest hip-hop groups in history.

2. Kanye West- The College Dropout

If there was a memorable debut for the ages on a mainstream level, this was definitely one of them.  In 2004, we were introduced to a producer-turned-rapper that was turning heads with his chilling, yet incredible, "Through The Wire", in which he describes the terrible car accident that nearly killed him.  Already known for working with the likes of Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Infamous Syndicate and several others, it was time he showcased his skills an emcee, and he definitely showed that he could hang.  This album could possibly be seen as his most down-to-earth in his entire catalog, touching on subjects like college Greek life, materialism, school, and even religion with the unbelievable "Jesus Walks".  He's brash, yet down-home.  Comical, yet intelligent.  All in one legendary debut.  This was not a tough guy album by any means, in fact it didn't need to be.  He was himself the entire ride, and at its time, was one of the most refreshing albums to emerge during that time period. Selling over four million units and earning multiple Grammys, Hip-hop just saw its newest breakout star.

1. Common- BE

Common's magnum opus hit us in 2005, and when we heard it would be entirely produced by golden child Kanye West, we knew it would something that would be among his best work ever.  Was that an understatement or what?  After the disappointment many felt from his prior album Electric Circus, we needed the unadulterated backpacking b-boy again, and thanks to Mr. West he reemerged, and with force.  This album is among the pure hip-hop albums ever presented for our listening pleasure.  With only eleven tracks, this had no room for filler, and there wasn't.  At all.  None.  Zero.  This was his hungriest record since Resurrection, and the best produced album of his life.  This album stands with brilliant landmarks in hip-hop like Illmatic, Ready To Die, The Low End Theory, Aquemini, and To Pimp A Butterfly due to its practically perfect consistency, non-complex themes, and just a soulful yet lyrical approach to good ol' fashioned hip-hop.  Although he has dropped great follow-ups such as Finding Forever, The Dreamer, The Believer, and the most recent Nobody's Smiling, this may an album he never has the heights to achieve again, and in essence it shouldn't be.  You can't repeat perfection, and that's exactly what this album is.  In a single word...FLAWLESS.

Honorable Mentions

Eminem- The Slim Shady LP

The world gets introduced to a RIDICULOUS, yet somewhat deranged, emcee named Marshall Mathers and the world would never be the same

Da Brat- Funkdafied

The first female emcee to ever obtain platinum status dropped this unavoidably dope debut EP

Lupe Fiasco- The Cool

Very formidable follow-up to his brilliant debut, and equally as cohesive.  

Do Or Die- Picture This

Often seen as Chi-town's Bone biters, the debut from this trio didn't just settle with their huge cut "Po Pimp", as they presented a violent, yet formidable debut worthy of rotation

Twista & The Speedknot Mobstas- Mobstability

Seen as the father of Chicago hip-hop, the legendary Twista had decent albums like Adrenaline Rush and Kamakazi, but it was this album with his homies that is still seen as his overall best effort

MOOD- Doom

This group based out of the Natti (Cincinnati for those not in the know) presented a very highly-slept on debut that also gave us Hi-Tek.  Seen as a Midwest underground classic, one can only hope we see them get back together again

Danny Brown- XXX

Extremely dope effort from one of Detroit's most unique and complex emcees.  His star appeal is continuing to grow to this day as a result of this album

Freddie Gibbs- Cold Day In Hell (mixtape)

Gary, Indiana gave us Freddie Gibbs, who has become quite the name primarily in the underground, especially due to his instant classic with Madlib, Pinata.  Known for his excellent mixtapes, this particular one is arguably his most cold and gritty one to date. 

Royce Da 5'9'- Death Is Certain

Moody, dark, and cold, Royce gave us his angst and personal album to date that many feel is his most defining album as a solo artist

Atmosphere- When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold 

Slug and Ant can practically do no wrong whatsoever, and this album became their highest charting effort ever when it debuted at number five on Billboard's Top 200 without sacrificing an ounce of integrity or artistry

Jay Dee- Welcome To Detroit

Dilla's first solo effort was an incredible mixture of boom-bap, soul, and world music, as we continued to pay attention to the brilliance that was within the aura of James Yancey

Black Milk- No Poison, No Paradise

This was the precursor to his aforementioned If There's A Hell Below, and it fully showcased his ability to come up with conceptual albums and keep the highly regarded reputation of the D in tact.  

Soul Position- 8 Million Stories

These highly regarded underground acts from Ohio of emcee Blueprint and producer RJD2 combined their talents into a very good debut effort that can rival most debuts to come out the Midwest during that time

Blueprint- 1988

Staying with Blueprint, this album was a bonafide sleeper but established the Columbus native as a sure-fire talent to watch out for

Hi-Tek- Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip

Working with the likes of Nas, Xzibit, Bun B, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, and Common on this sequel to his dope debut made this album even more noteworthy than the debut itself

Infamous Syndicate- Changin' The Game

Primarily produced by No I.D., and a young up-and-coming producer extraordinaire named Kanye West, Rashida and Shawnna (yes, that Shawnna from DTP) delivered a very good debut that sadly went largely ignored but showed that sistas from the Midwest came to spit too, and spit they did.

Tech N9ne- All 6's & 7's

Unrelenting and brash, the Midwest indie legend delivered this album with as much potency as one would expect from him ever.

This was yet another fun list that made me go back into my very, very extensive hip-hop knowledge (all these albums I own BTW), and this will surely cause even more debates and controversies.  Whatever you're view on this list, it's at least worth another conversation.  While clearly the D and the Chi contained the most consistent highlights, we also saw the twin cities area, as well as Cleveland and Cincinnati handle your business as well.  Here's to more certifiable bangers in the future from the Midwest.  Until next time folks, one love!