Greatest 50 Albums Since '93 / Vibe

[Rattle1]

Another day, another debate. That's the creed on which VIBE's first-ever "List Issue" was created. And in case we haven't got you up in arms or nodding in agreement to our list of the Greatest Musical Geniuses of the past two decades, here's another list to give the squinty eye.

For the 50 Greatest Albums, we itemized the crème de la crème of the past 20 years—from usual suspects to sleepers across genres—and got to Jinsu-ing. Even freshman LPs weren’t discriminated against if worthy (see: our two cover guys). We pressed play, assessed the questionable projects and sipped the classics with a teaspoon of nostalgia, giving flawless albums slot boosts. Those that proved groundbreaking ranked higher, and those with skippable tracks dropped low. Through the raucous debates, the body of work always spoke loudest.

Alas, the best of the best reside here. Consider this our gold-embossed stamp.



50. Musiq Soulchild - AYEJUSWANSEING
49. Alicia Keys - Songs In A Minor
48. Green Day - American Idiot
47. Donell Jones - Where I Wanna Be
46. Young Jeezy - The Recession
45. Miguel - KALEIDOSCOPE Dream
44. Common - Common
43. Adele - 21
42. Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving
41. Beyoncé - B'Day
40. 112 - 112
39. John Mayer - Continuum
38. Jill Scott - WHO IS JILL SCOTT? WORDS AND SOUNDS VOL. 1
37. Faith Evans - Faith
36. R. Kelly - R. Kelly
35. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
34. Jay-Z - The Black Album
33. Amy Whinehouse - Back To Black
32. Lil’ Kim - Hard Core
31. Toni Braxton - Toni Braxton
30. 2Pac - The Don Killuminati - The 7 Day Theory
29. Erykah Badu - Baduizm
28. Radiohead - Kid A
27. 50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin
26. Mobb Deep - The Infamous
25. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch Thr Throne
24. Mariah Carey - The Emancipation Of Mimi
23. Dr. Dre - Chronic 2001
22. Janet Jackson - Janet
21. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
20. OutKast - Aquemini
19. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid Maad City
18. Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
17. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
16. Kanye West - Late Registration
15. Maxwell - Urban Hang Suite
14. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang
13. The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die
12. Snoop Dogg - DOGGYSTYLE
11.Raekwon - ONLY BUILT FOR CUBAN LINX…
10. Usher - Confessions
9. Lauryn Hill - THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL
8. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
7. R. Kelly - TP-2.com
6. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
5. Justin Timberlake - Futuresex
4. Mary J. Blige - My Life
3. Nas - Illmatic
2. D’Angelo - Brown Sugar
1. The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death

http://www.vibe.com/photo-gallery/great ... 93/?page=1

[PAINKILLƎR]

Lol what a shittyass list.

[King Lance]

the albums from the top 20 are also in my personal top 20

I would have put MBDTF in the top 5 but it's ok

[PAINKILLƎR]

How is MBDTF that good I will never understand.
And WTT...the fuck?

Lmao exactly.

[Kill You]

I wouldn't have put MBDTF even in the top 10, it disgusts me how overrated the album is. I like the album and like Kanye but come on now. I like Wolf better than MBDTF and it sounds far more cohesive to me.

[Trimss]

Honestly...how is MMLP never in the top five? People seem to have forgotten just how much of a monster it was.

That's cuz Eminem's white yo

[Shameek]

mbdtf yes !!!
Well deserved

[Trimss]

I like MBDTF but I'll never understand the hype either. It's something that clicks probably, it didn't click with me. Shit happens.

I absolutely love CD, LR and Graduation. Even 808 though

[King Lance]

mbdtf is also my favorite album of these last 5-6 years ? maybe 10 tbh.

Kanye isn't a great rapper but the album is just amazing, pure art

[Rattle1]

GRODT, WTT, MBDTF, The Recession, 21 and Hard Core don't deserve to be on the list.

But who am I to judge, Complex and Vibe got it all covered

Why do you think that GRODT shouldn't be on the list ?

[Trimss]

I like MBDTF but I'll never understand the hype either. It's something that clicks probably, it didn't click with me. Shit happens.

I absolutely love CD, LR and Graduation. Even 808 though

I agree with everything you said - although I still don't see how any of those really make "greatest" lists.

I wouldn't mind College Drop Out on a greatest list. I also love Kanye's production on Graduation (it's honestly mind blowing) way more than on MBDTF. But it seems like people overlook Graduation.

I hate how Eminem barely makes it on these "Greatest lists" while he has 2 classics at least. I also hate how only a few rapper mention Em as one of their favorite artist lol but when they get asked they're all like oh yeah Em da goat

[King Lance]

I like MBDTF but I'll never understand the hype either. It's something that clicks probably, it didn't click with me. Shit happens.

I absolutely love CD, LR and Graduation. Even 808 though

I agree with everything you said - although I still don't see how any of those really make "greatest" lists.

I wouldn't mind College Drop Out on a greatest list. I also love Kanye's production on Graduation (it's honestly mind blowing) way more than on MBDTF. But it seems like people overlook Graduation.

I hate how Eminem barely makes it on these "Greatest lists" while he has 2 classics at least. I also hate how only a few rapper mention Em as one of their favorite artist lol but when they get asked they're all like oh yeah Em da goat

But TMMLP and TES are usually on every list (well, TES isn't on this one)

[Shameek]

The Eminem Show should have been on that list, that's for sure.

Kendrick is on every list, the kid has been winning since October, that's impressive

GRODT is a classic, the album influenced multiple artists and it's arguably a reference for bangers.

[Francesco]

I actually always check those lists... I don't even believe a perfect list could be made anyway, esp. when there are different music genres involved. In general everybody's list would be different... by far in a lotta cases too.

Thanks for posting anyway!

[tadpole25]

Something from the Deftones or Blink 182 would have been appreciated.