I Got 25 On It

Huge props should go out to Joey over at Straight Bangin' who has spent the last few weeks compiling the list of The Greatest 25 Hip-Hop Albums of All Time.

I'm sure it started out as something quite innocuous, but the final top 25 list and the ridiculously thorough accompanying spreadsheet shows the whole exercise was undertaken with serious care to ensure that, as Joey says, Lloyd Banks didn't come out on top.

I won't ramble any longer except to say the list is at first glance very good, although I am slightly troubled by Mase finishing ahead of Special Ed. That being said, all 25 of my choices made it onto the list...which isn't really saying much when the final list is 384 entries strong (see aformentioned ridiculously thorough spreadsheet).

Vibes and Stuff's Greatest 25 Hip-Hop Albums of All Time Ballot

1. De La Soul – 3 feet High and Rising
2. A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders
3. Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back
4. Nas – Illmatic
5. Pete Rock and CL Smooth – Mecca and the Soul Brother
6. Eric B & Rakim – Paid in Full
7. Outkast – Aquemini
8. Main Source – Breakin’ Atoms
9. Jungle Brothers – Done By the Forces of Nature
10. Black Star (Mos Def and Talib Kweli) – Black Star
11. The Roots – Illadelph Halflife
12. Organized Konfusion – Stress: The Extinction Agenda
13. Common – Resurrection
14. Mobb Deep – The Infamous
15. Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt
16. Boogie Down Productions – Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop
17. Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics – Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop
18. Slum Village – Fantastic vol. 2
19. GZA – Liquid Swords
20. EPMD – Business As Usual
21. Souls of Mischief – 93 'til Infinity
22. Gang Starr – Hard to Earn
23. Big Daddy Kane – Long Live the Kane
24. Raekwon – Only Built for Cuban Linx
25. Jeru the Damaja – The Sun Rises in the East