#40 The Cool - Lupe Fiasco (2007)
Supposedly there's a concept in here somewhere. Unfortunately, nobody but Lupe has ever been able to find/explain it. It is a great collection of tracks, but probably would have been better served without the heaping serving of crazy. That's Lupe though, it's part of what makes him interesting.
#39 The Preface - Elzhi (2008)
Not sure how El rationalized calling this "The Preface" when he'd already been around for over 10 years at the time. It's a slightly deeper look at Elzhi than what we got to here in his Slum Village days, though. That's not to say there aren't still plenty of playful gimmick tracks.
#38 The Black Album - Jay-Z (2003)
This marks the first time Jay-Z pulled the "this is my last album" card in order to generate hype for an album. He pulled in an all-star cast of producers. Really, this is the album that started the whole Jay-Z: great or greatest debate.
#37 MM..Food - MF DOOM (2004)
2003-2005 was the golden age of DOOM. In two years, he managed to put out more good albums than all but the very best in hip-hop have in their whole careers. Typical of DOOM, it's got plenty of low-brow humor and clever wordplay. This album would be a lot higher if it weren't for the 7 straight minutes of sound collage in the middle of it.
#36 The Renaissance - Q-Tip (2008)
What this album really has going for it is that it comes from an older MC, but he's not harping about how hip-hop has changed for the worse since he started. This is an album that feels like an actual, logical progression for Q-Tip after his A Tribe Called Quest days, picking up right where The Love Movement left off. It would have been really easy for him to gripe about why hip-hop sucks now, as so many of the 80s and 90s veterans have. If I were to describe it in one word, it'd be "warm."
#35 A Long Hot Summer - Masta Ace (2004)
...and on the opposite end of the spectrum, is Masta Ace, who spends half an album condemning the rap industry. Getting past that, this is a refreshingly mature look at urban life. Masta Ace comes off as somebody who has been around the block more than a few times and is content now just to sit on his stoop and watch what's going on around him.
#34 I-Phantom - Mr Lif (2002)
Mr Lif delivers a concept album that I think a lot of people will be able to relate to here. Not so much the part about getting killed and being resurrected (Jesus?), but the overarching theme of the precarious balance between striving for success and maintaining your identity.
#33 God's Son - Nas (2002)
If Nas had scrounged together some decent beats, this album would be easily in the top 10, unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Being a legend and all, Nas still managed to give us one of the most deeply emotional albums that you'll ever hear in hip-hop. His mother had just died and it had recently come out that his baby mama had an affair with his biggest rival (Jay-Z). It's easy to see where all this self examination stems from.
#32 Nia - Blackalicious (2000)
Blackalicious ushered in the new decade with this jazzy, soulful contribution. Gift of Gab shows why he's considered one of the most versatile MCs in the game. He puts on a veritable clinic on how to switch up your flow to suit a beat.
#31 The Unseen - Quasimoto (2000)
There has never been a more ringing endorsement for chronic drug use than Madlib. He's been one of the sharpest, most interesting producers in hip-hop for over 10 years and he credits it to massive consumption of shrooms and chain-smoking of blunts. Quasimoto is Madlib's alter-ego, a yellow, anthropoid hippo thing; never seen without a brick in one hand and joint in the other. The Unseen is Madlib at his best, the samples are obscure, the chopping is unorthodox and the transitions are weird. Quas' lyrics are delivered in the most indifferent, lazy tone imaginable, almost to the point of just sounding like someone just recorded him rambling and put a beat behind it. There is nothing even close to orthodox going on here, but somehow or another, it works.
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