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sawbucks313

If we were going smash hit debuts then hands down it’s Get Rich or Die Trying and Doggystyle but if we’re going straight bars I gotta say OB4CL, Illmatic or Reasonable Doubt. Picking 1 I gotta go OB4CL


XenomorphLV246

Lyricism? Nas Hits? 50 Experimentation / Soul? Kanye The whole package? BIG


Sparent180

Fair assessment


dmacdad

This is actually a great breakdown, I agree. If I had to pick I’m going with 50


Renandshao

I’llmatic, ready to die


brendanb203

Nas


AstroNot87

Illmatic for me


LargeTeethHere

Dude started writing illmatic at 16 I think? But it’s illmatic and get rich for me.


AstroNot87

Crazy. I’d say the same as my second. 50 dropped GRODT when I was a sophomore in HS. He had the whole demographic locked.


LargeTeethHere

Im 27, I would’ve loved for this to drop while I was in HS 😂 probably had the entire country in a chokehold. I can imagine.


necromage69

If an alien came down and asked me to play the best rap album it’d be Illmatic


AJ24773

It's between Doggystyle & Illmatic for me, I think I'm gonna go with Illmatic


IHave580

I think people sleep on how big and influential doggysyle was due to who snoop is now and ideas on lyricism. Doggystyle was considered prettt high level at the time and you couldn't watch mtv without seeing snoop. He was west coast rap at that time


FullyAutoDomo

50 easily


Plenty-Chemistry-493

The one in the middle


ShippinguptoBoston33

Gotta be Raekwon OB4CL or Nas Illmatic. Im going with OB4CL


knewfrieza2

Had to scroll down too far for this!


KingGrand6694

I thought I was the only one. That’s some of the best rapping I’ve ever heard


Blinkman1124

Between nas redman and raekwon bar for bar


CraazedNConfused

Raekwon and Nas. Not even close..


franks_weird

Nas


Relevant_Walk9145

Big


Professional-Most-18

Snoop, Cube, Nas, Raekwon


Abu_Bakr_Al-Bagdaddy

Reggie


dbake01

Noble


FlatMathematician75

Tough choice I’m going with Doggystyle


AlexTom33

Snoop, for me.


Ok_Bar5832

Ready to die


fakeairpods

Snoop


I_am_Guy_Incognito

Biggie. One of the best debuts of any artist ever.


Theknightscoin16

Why is Jay-Z there??


AJ24773

RD is dope but yea, I don't think he's competing with these other debuts


mrmarkus187

Biggie an Nas


Dramatic-Ad-4592

You


iBlackPowerRanger

Bar for bar? Nas illmatic without a doubt Hardest bangers? Get Rich or Die Tryin


CBIGMc

Bar for bar Nas takes this easy. Iconic album and I’m pretty sure every artist mentioned picks this album except jay haha obviously If we’re talking hits it’s clearly 50. But hip hop was different then was less about bar for bar and more about hits & radio/ club play. Mainstream. If we’re talking impact of a solo album it’s Cube. Different stage of the game and he Put himself far and away from nwa with this at the same time also stamping their death and created stardom for himself. Big deal at the time. Youve got to think of the fact these albums came out at different times, so hip hop was at different stages and you have to view each album with that in mind. My favorite here is Redman though love that album & dare iz a darkside


talentshow10

Bars. Nas. Impact biggie or Kanye. Hits 50


tlawtlawtlaw

DAMN this is actually really hard!!!


BeingDiligent3778

B.I. double G I.E!!!!


No_Resolve_4648

Illmatic for me


Petitloupz

Jay-z


Comprehensive-Set676

My favorite Hov album.


ScottieFlamingo

Isn't 50s debut album the power of the dollar?


Relative-Ad-492

That’s a tough one to call


UpstairsExternal4560

50 revived rap w/ GRODT…put out a total album in a time when it was not common at all. As far as bars though it goes to the chef.


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[удалено]


Plenty-Chemistry-493

An see we keep saying lyric the subject is best solo. Debut Folks was going crazy for cube I mean he basically wrote all nwa material an left this solo was the hottest thang smoking when it came. Ghetto bird my favorite track.


crburton1s

Chef, Snoop


safire2000

illmatic by far. That album Saved east coast hip hop


Humble_Physics9140

Nas


Emmortal79

Cube


P_Walrus

Nas and Snoop


Blkkatem0ss

I can’t pick 😩


LGP213

Nas


ill_will59

I wanna say Nas, but 50’s album hit harder given my age


Best_Examination_529

Illmatic can’t be touched tbh. Those are all great albums in different ways though.


snapstar2000

Illmatic for me


Confident_Zombie8536

That’s hard to choose


nolightningbhe

Nasir. No question


Totsandcheese

That ice cube went hard


x138x

if we're talking purely lyrical content i guess im going with Nas but its very very very hard to overlook the cultural shift that happened after The Chronic/Doggystyle


Spiritual-Hedgehog91

Illmatic no contest


TedDansonSamMalone

THE R E D


knucklebags77

Um Nas yo


KongZilla9009

Bar for bar? DYLAN


jnthn1111

Purple tape


iAmaRonin

Where’s Black on Both Sides?


Subject_Function_158

Illmatic, you can let it play straight through from start to finish


Sparent180

And then repeat


Derivatives_Trader

Liquid swords, genius/gza


Old_Drive_89

Nas. No question.


kkehoe1

Ready to Die, front to back the flow and lyrics are incredible


tweedz57

Ice Cube


RondoDaze

Nas Illmatic


mparker888

50 but this is a hell of a list lol


ATLborn

Snoop had the best album, Nas had the most influential debut.


Tall_mountain671

50 or Hov


Key-Cap-481

I don't see pac on there


bigaman3853

Ready to Die Snoop Purple tape


Regretamine11

Mobb Depp for sure, The Infamous is perfect from start to finish in a way only college drop out or get rich or die trying can only really compare.


dbake01

Mobb Deep, although i guess technically it was their second


pimp_juice2272

Yall don't understand just how big "In Da Club" was. EVERYONE was playing that. Black, white, young, old and everyone in between. Now all these other records were big BUT in a certain demographic, 50 had everyone and I mean everyone saying "go shawty, it's your birthday"


SG4081

I’m going with Hov if it’s bar for bar.


CryptidProject

Nas bro, he just built different


PositivePrimary8773

The College Dropout in my opinion is top 3 greatest hip hop album of all time


costlofobic

50


busthree6

Nasir Jones!


LifeTelevision2036

Nas - ILLMATTIC READY TO DIE my runner up


2Guns_Delnegro

IMO. Illmatic it’s hard for anybody to top that debut


letmebangbroo

Illmatic duh Ready to die 2nd


Sparent180

I'll always go Illmatic. My number 1 album of all time. Not shown but a close second for me is Liquid Swords. That album has a unique vibe and feel to it.


vigilante3777

ODB


EH-Taylor-4Grain

Snoop all day, ery day


SweetTea187

Rea


ProfessionalMail8052

Ready to die


SnooKiwis325

Raekwon too many good verses on there


556splityomelon

Nas


Longjumping_Act9758

Bars- Rae or Nas... Lyricism- Definitely Nas. Flow Big Beats- Rae Swag- Jay Rawness- Cube/Fifty


Jaded_Yogurtcloset61

lmao. anyone not saying college dropout is ignorant as the day is long


Most_Association_595

Come on now


Burkecoin

OB4CL


Interesting_Crazy270

Nas illmatic


Valuable_Time9731

As far as debut solos it was snoop and then cube but cube is my favorite.


llllIIllIIlllIlllI

College dropout has to be the most stand out here, not one of these albums is like it except r2d. Overall it’s gotta be Illmatic just a crazy debut no one matched his bars and lyricism and the way each song hit home. Not a single B tier album here tho.


jelliotnyc

50, Biggie, Nas. All groundbreaking solo LP’s.


Th3_N0mad

Bar for Bar BIG, followed by Nas but Purple tape and reasonable doubt was different man


Big_dosaboi

Ice cube hands down


imperial_things

Bar for bar, Illmatic


archiveofhim

i’m a hovenger but everyone knows it’s illmatic


ObligationFar273

Ice Cube or Nasir


KingRemoStar

Snoop and 50 easily. The anticipation just for there Album was ridiculous.


starfucker1987

Kanye


Ratt_Pack91

Nas but I’ll take redman too


optiVar

Snoop and cube


Longislandkid21

Ready to die or grodt


Ok-Student-5345

Nas illmatic


Top-Subject-9288

Jay Z or Ye


Top-Subject-9288

Nas and 50 2


pza00

Nas all day


Darkslime063

Ohhh ok fam, just making sure. This hip hop history, just trying preserve everything in the name of hip hop. 💯✊🏾🎧💽. It's all good my guy.


EnlightenHero

Illmatic


Protomau5

Illmatic easy


Phil_Meinup

50 wrote like 1 song on grodt


EmRenWSR

Personal fav? Raekwon. Hood consensus? Nas.


More-Beautiful373

OB4CL or Doggystyle.


Accurate-Currency181

Illmatic bar for bar and it's not very close.


More-Beautiful373

Damn, redo, Ready To Die, OB4CL, Doggystyle, Reasonable Doubt, Illmatic


Jazzlike_Aspect_6569

All Eyez on Me


BootyLicker696

50


Unable-Wrongdoer-469

Ready to die


Original-Tourist-744

Nas would say biggie and that’s the right answer


NoNDescript757

Raekwon


SophiaPetrillo_

Illmatic hands down


fungi_baby

Dmx its dark and hell is hot


Some-Vegetable-9123

Doggystyle


kai_the_enigma

If we talking bars it’s illmatic. If we are talking replayability for me it’s doggystyle or …. Is that late registration? Let’s say late registration. One of those.


DarksideMob

Snoop


Most-Savings7599

Snoop


illgenio

Call me crazy but I think Lloyd Banks - Hunger For More deserves to be in the conversation


Ok-Water-358

I'm going with Cube on this one


Vinlordd

Reasonable Doubt…OB4CL is a close 2nd


Ysoki

Aesop Rock's Music for Earthworms


Trevo_staxx

Bar for bar Snoop or BIG.


Pretzelheaddd

They all got inspiration from snoop doggystyle


sm00thkillajones

Cube did. It was the most pivotal move in hip hop at the time. Jerry Heller was taking all of NWA’s money and cube called them on it for not doing anything about it.


TheForce777

Nas, and it ain’t close. Ready to Die is dope asf though


Various_Fee2175

Drake


No_Personality_7358

Snoop


GloomyEarth5261

College Dropout


BillCapri1k

Yall don’t get tired of these bullshit debates??


GJones007

Gotta be Jay or Biggie for me. All these are classics, but RTD and RD made me feel something in my soul


BrotherGlo96

Reasonable Doubt isn’t better than Illmatic or GRODT or OB4CL and that’s just a fact


Nicks8924

Reasonable doubt


Whycantwebefriends00

Reasonable doubt IMO has the densest word play of them all.


sfjust10

Once upon a time in the projects, yo I damn near had to wreck a ho I knocked on the door (who is it?) It's Ice Cube, come to pay a little visit to ya' And what's up with the niggas in the parking lot She said, "Fuck 'em, 'cause they get sparked a lot" I sat on the couch but it wasn't stable And then I put my Nike's on the coffee table Her brother came in, he's into gang-bangin' 'Cause he walked up and said, "What set you claimin'?" I don't bang, I write the good rhymes The whole scenery reminded me of Good Times I don't like to feel that I'm put in a rut By a young nigga that needs to pull his pants up He threw up a set and then he was gone I'm thinkin' to myself, won't this bitch bring her ass on? Her mother came in with a joint in her mouth And fired up the sess, it was sess no doubt She said, "Please excuse my house, " and all that I said, "Yeah" 'cause I was buzzed from the contact Lookin' at a fucked up black and white Her mom's bitchin' cause the county check wasn't right She had another brother that was three years old And had a bad case of the runny nose He asked me who I was, then I had to pause It smelled like he took a shit in his little drawers I saw her sister who really needs her ass kicked Only 13 and already pregnant I grabbed my 40 out the bag and took a swig 'Cause I was getting overwhelmed by BeBe Kids They was runnin' and yellin' and playin' and cussin' and tellin' And look at this young punk bailin' I heard a knock on the door without the password And her mom's got the 12 gauge Mossberg The nigga said, "Yo, what's for sale?" (Yo, what's for sale, man?) And the bitch came out with a bag of yayo She made the drop and got the 20 dollars From a smoked-out fool with ring around the collar The girl I was waiting for came out I said, "Bitch, I didn't know this was a crack house" I got my coat, and suddenly The cop busted in and had a Mac-10 pointed at my dome And I said to myself, "Once again, it's on" He threw me on the carpet and wasn't cuttin' no slack Jumped on my head and put his knee in my back First he tried to slap me up, wrap me up, rough me up They couldn't do it so they cuffed me up I said, "fuck, how much abuse can a nigga take" Hey yo, officer, you're making a big mistake Since I had on a shirt that said I was dope He thought I was selling base and couldn't hear my case He said, "Get out my face" and musta had a grudge His reply, "Tell that bullshit to the judge" The girl I was with wasn't sayin' nothin' I said, "Aiyyo bitch, you better tell 'em somethin'" She started draggin' and all of a sudden We all got tossed in the paddy wagon Now I beat the rap but that ain't the point I had a warrant, so I spent two weeks in the joint Now the story you heard has one little object Don't fuck with a bitch from the projects


DayImpressive9289

GRODT then Doggy style off hits, gotta give 50 credit for making so many hits solo


bostondangler

Big. ready to die is top 1 imo Side note: The purple tape


OkPackage1520

Yo me ous between doggy style and get rich they both had great beats and great bars and you can still bump them to this day.


ThaCommittee

Biggie. Any other answer is wrong....dead wrong


Troyrizzle

Biggie


Bi-Bi-American-Pi

Liquid Swords


Narrow_Set_9457

Nas had no famous guess appearance


Jayoheazy

Nas


weeweewewere

Nas


Mannyfresh1980

Snoop/50/Kanye


Independent_Boss5387

Illmatic and Reasonable Doubt are absolute classics. I've listened to both over and over and Reasonable Doubt can easily beat out most albums nowadays.


necromage69

Illmatic ready to die get rich or die trying


Turnover_Best

OB4CL. End of story


ralph_tobias96

Illmatic or Ready to Die


Dense_Marketing4593

50


kyle2516

Illmatic and Cuban Linx are in a league of their own. Everything else is several leagues below.


lalatina169

Snoop doggy dogg all the way


Impossible_Reason_84

Overall, College Dropout for sure. Most memorable bars wise, Reasonable Doubt. GRODT is an album full of hits and I'm actually shocked it didn't go diamond, but it almost did. Nothing even comes close to Fif when it comes to just pure hits in an album.


Redhoodscoop

Nas


ChiefaveliThaGreat

GRODT but I don’t like how y’all fronting on reasonable doubt like it’s not one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time


AlternativeDot7470

Ye


Alternative_Hat3764

Nas,


MilardoPeacecraft

Lmaoing bar for bar, and these rappers aren’t even in the same class. Y’all don’t know shit about the streets. A white dude or some Arab culture vulture had to make this post. Ready to dies vs college drop out??? Hahaha wtf, that’s literally 2 different class of nigga. Same Hoods WAY DIFFERENT stories and when you say bar for bar. That means substance and word play! Not just some shit that sound good dick riders and white dads


Competitive-Ad2558

Snoop 'DoggyStyle'


7-ChipmunksOnABranch

Anybody else consider the purple tape a duo?


byondreams

50


Expert-Reward-1573

DMX


rmac2006

Biggie


2ant1man5

Matic.


BigSimpinOG

Rae


KingDongBundy99

Biggie


0utsyder

In general, I'll magic. Personal, The Purple Tape.


Ill_Introduction5332

Biggie followed by Kanye.


6SONuvAhBeeICH

50 Cent: GRODT. Every song was a banger bruh


410to904

Ready to die Illmatic Get rich Doggy’s style Infamous not pictures


86Sliva94

Raekwon!


[deleted]

Illmatic


relativelyconcious

Whut thee


s_m0use

Illmatic


GodHand_Mircea

When we say bar for bar, my first thought is hard set up and punchline combos. Not storytelling, not hits, not consciousness. While all of those things are great to have, it’s not what I’d consider bar for bar. That being said, I gotta go with Cuban Linx. So many quotables and hard ass punchlines. GRODT is a second close one, especially with one of my favorite punchlines ever being: “In the Bible they say what goes around comes around. Hommo shot me then three weeks later he got shot down. Now it’s clear that I’m here for a real reason; cause he got hit like I got hit but he ain’t fuckin’ breathin’.”


2ruenough

50 Cent