Great Rap Albums

I am going to attempt to list my top ten favorite rap albums. I do not claim these are all "good" in some absolute artistic sense, although I reserve the right to do so at a future date. Here goes...

7. 504 Boyz "Goodfellaz"
This album was nicely produced, but also was not afraid to be trashy...
"When you shake that ass, I get rocked up,
You got a boyfriend, boo? 'My man locked up.'"
...which really opened up some possibilities. A fun album in general.

6. OutKast "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik"
This is OutKast's very first full-length album, from back in the days when they were actually a rap group. Really funky, wonderful production and good lyrics. I particular enjoy Andre 3000, which is kind of unfortunate because he seems to have lost interest in doing verses of late. If I haven't been clear enough already, this album doesn't really sound that much like what they did later, so it is interesting on that level. And its awesome.

5. Ying Yang Twins "Alley: Return of the Ying Yang Twins"
I consider this album the ultimate in trashy booty rap. The lyrics are funny, wacky, and at least vaguely obscene at all times. Thematically, the album focuses exclusively on the D-Roc and Kaine's efforts picking up women in clubs, something they seem to approach with great enthusiasm. Their sense of adventure is contagious, and as usual as they are ridiculous to the point of being lovable. Every song on this album hits (which I couldn't say of their others) and beginning to end it is a really enjoyable listen.

4. Nas "Stillmatic"
Nas is really intelligent and has a supernaturally vivid imagination, and he really shows it on this album. I also think he's genuinely really ghetto, more so than any other rapper of comparable sophistication. Nas is able to take stock gangster rap stories and tell them with a vividness and originality that is really unmatched. On this album, I would recommend "2nd Childhood" "What Goes Around" and "Rewind" in particular as examples.

3. Dr. Dre "The Chronic"
The swagger and fuck you attitude of this album are fantastic. The production is also amazing; there's a reason Dr. Dre could take a hack like 50 Cent and make him famous. "The Chronic" is a timeless classic.

2. UGK "Ridin' Dirty"
1. UGK "Super Tight"
Both these albums are amazing. For the genre, they are uniquely emotionally complex; in one song they brag about selling drugs and the next describes the horrors of watching junkies go to pieces. They achieve conflicting goals at once in that each album maintains a cohesive feel without feeling monotous. All the songs are great: great lyrics, each has a focused theme, and the mood of the product is always topically appropriate. These two are not so well known, so if you are a rap afficionado and you haven't checked them out, you should ASAP.

Ok, I'm only at seven. Hopefully I can come back to this later.