Items12The creator’s order
  1. 1good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012)good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012)Released 1 Jan 2012Subtitled 'A Short Film by Kendrick Lamar', this Compton coming-of-age chronicle tracks a teenager borrowing his mother's minivan and navigating peer pressure, romance and neighbourhood gang violence across a single fateful day. Voicemails from his parents tether the cinematic production to painful…0
  2. 2A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004)A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004)Released 1 Jan 2004Mike Skinner's Streets album follows one ordinary young man through a lost thousand pounds, a new relationship and a run of everyday mishaps. The conversational flow and plain, local detail make it feel like overheard life rather than a concept. It Was Supposed to Be So Easy sets up the plot; Dry…0
  3. 3Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995)Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995)Released 1 Jan 1995RZA produced this Wu-Tang cinematic masterpiece like an Italian mob epic scored with gritty Staten Island dust and razor-sharp kung-fu samples. Raekwon and Ghostface Killah play street operatives navigating the high-stakes underworld, trading intricate criminal slang and atmospheric vignettes that…0
  4. 4The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)Released 1 Jan 1988Recorded with breezy 1980s New York charm, Slick Rick laid down the foundational template for narrative rap. Tracks like Children's Story and The Moment I Feared prove that humour, vivid character voices and moral caution can coexist effortlessly, delivered with aristocratic British wit and…0
  5. 536 Seasons (2014)36 Seasons (2014)Released 1 Jan 2014Ghostface teams up with Brooklyn soul-funk revivalists The Revelations to deliver a vivid graphic-novel narrative set in Staten Island. Returning home after nine years away, an aging street veteran finds his old neighbourhood corrupted by crooked cops and former associates, setting off a gripping,…0
  6. 6The Cool (2007)The Cool (2007)Released 1 Jan 2007Expanding on characters introduced on his debut, Lupe Fiasco crafted a dark, allegorical fable about the seductive pitfalls of street glamour. Through recurring figures representing modern vice, the album tracks the rise and tragic fall of an aspiring hustler with dazzling multisyllabic rhyme…0
  7. 7The Minstrel Show (2005)The Minstrel Show (2005)Released 1 Jan 2005Phonte and Big Pooh collaborate with producer 9th Wonder to stage a biting satirical broadcast on the fictional UBN television network. Parodying commercial exploitation and racial stereotypes in contemporary entertainment, the record frames sharp social commentary within soulful, melodic North…0
  8. 8A Long Hot Summer (2004)A Long Hot Summer (2004)Released 1 Jan 2004Brooklyn veteran Masta Ace tells a warm, episodic story of a struggling rapper spending a summer on the road with an eccentric hustler named Fats Belvedere. Skits link the songs, and soulful horns and humid, easy grooves bring a Brooklyn summer to life. It is the gentlest storytelling on this list:…0
  9. 9Deltron 3030 (2000)Deltron 3030 (2000)Released 1 Jan 2000Del the Funky Homosapien, producer Dan the Automator and turntablist Kid Koala construct a sprawling dystopian space opera set in the year 3030. Del plays a rebellious intergalactic mech-soldier competing in viral rap battles against mega-corporations, driven by orchestral strings, vintage…0
  10. 10Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2021)Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2021)Released 1 Jan 2021North London's Little Simz choreographs an epic internal monologue between her shy private self and her commanding public artistry. Inflo's sweeping cinematic orchestrations, vintage soul samples and driving afrobeat rhythms frame theatrical spoken-word interludes by Emma Corrin, exploring family…0