Quite simply, this is the best rapper of the era's best album - kind of hard for it not to be number 1. It had hits, battle records (against Nas no less), lots of Kanye West, unlisted bonus tracks, and, we know now, guest vocals by Michael Jackson!?! What an album. From the intro to the bonus cuts, it's almost flawless. Its two follow-ups never got close to the original.

Supreme Clientele may not be Ghostface's best album, but it probably is and it is often referred to as such. For me personally, it helped me survive two hour solo drives between DC and my first on air gig in Ocean City, Maryland. Good times. Imagine if I had smoked weed back then!

With only 13 spots some great albums are bound to get left off the list. That's why I need to mention two projects from the best producer of the 21st century. Champion Sound paired Jay Dee with Madlib and made for an album that was all over the place and simultaneously cohesive. Ruff Draft was Dilla's EP i recorded straight to tape - and you can hear it. Dirty!

Say what you want about the first Eminem album, but this was the one for me. The production, rhymes, and overall concept of this album is what finally showed me that Eminem was no gimmick. "Y'all don't wanna fuck with Shady!"

Even though Reflection Eternal's "Fortified Live" single was one of the first Rawkus releases I ever heard, we didn't get an album from Talib Kweli & DJ Hi Tek until 2000. It was worth the wait. I still play "The Blast" at pretty much every party I do.

For many East Coast hip hop snobs, it took Scarface's Def Jam debut to really earn their respect. That was about a decade late for those who knew the deal with Face from the Rap-a-Lot days, but this album was still a bona fide classic featuring production from Kanye, The Neptunes, and more.

50 took the world by storm and had lots of Dre beats to boot. Some people consider Get Rich a top 10 all-time album. I don't, but for 2003 it was some hot shit! And 50 has yet to get back there again.

I remember the first time I heard about this North Carolina trio. All I heard was that they made you remember the glory days of the Native Tongues. This was basically the first album of the age of blog rap, and unlike most blog rap today which can barely be relevant for six weeks, this album has held up for six years. Plus, LB’s style and outlook is the foundation for a lot of what’s happening in rap going into the next decade.

You know I've still never given H.N.I.C. the time it deserves, but based on the Alchemist-produced "Keep It Thoro" alone, this album turns up at number 9.

Ah, young Kanye. This is when he was just crazy with the beats - not completely crazy all together. I must have played "Through the Wire" for about a year nonstop before the first album dropped. At the time half the world thought his name was KaYNE West. We know his name now and this classic, along with Late Registration, may be the main reason. These albums felt fresh and authentic, and they filled a space that really never had been filled before - smart soulful college rap.

Everyone told me how awesome The Carter II was and I did enjoy it, but this was the first time I ever ran to the store to buy a Lil Wayne album. Say what you want about Wayne and he definitely became over-exposed in the period around the release of Tha Carter III, but this album was chock full of party hits and dope production. A rare hip hop album that matches its hype.

Speaking of rare hip hop albums that match the hype. This future classic was over a decade in the making. What eventually came was a great conclusion to the 1995 classic. This one features production from the GOATs - Pete Rock, Rza, J Dilla, and many more.

This one slid under the radar for many people, but man, was it a keeper. Crazy production through and through, and the under-appreciated Low Budget founder had himself a classic producer-driven album.