5 Rap Albums That Should Be In The Library Of Congress

“Be”-  There are currently six hip hop “recordings/albums” in the Library Of Congress, with Jay-Z’s “Blueprint” this year, to be the seventh.  Its surprisingly that “Be” is not one of the first six added to the list.  Be is just a classic all around album.  Classic in 2005 and still classic now.  Not too many tracks, no fillers, no stupid unneeded skits, not overly produced and not flooded with guests.  If Be was released today it would still be called a classic.  This one should be added to the library soon.

“Illmatic”- Not much needs to be said about this album.  Many rap fans consider this album to be utter perfection.  An intro, 8 cuts with one guest apperance.  The guest appearance was perfection, the intro was perfection, and each of the 8 cuts were perfection.  For those that don’t consider this the perfect album, its the absolute closest of any rap album ever released.  It deserves to be in the Library Of Congress for sure.

“Reasonable Doubt”- We love the fact that the Library Of Congress acknowledges that “Blueprint” is a worth of an induction.  In fact, the news that “Blueprint” was chosen inspired this blogpost.  As much as we love Blueprint though, we feel that “Reasonable Doubt” slightly edges out as the superior album.  If the Library Of Congress was to add to this to their catalog in the near future, it would make Jay-Z the only rap artist with two recordings in their catalog.  Another win for HOV.

“Ready To Die”- “Ready To Die” shouldn’t be left of any rap list.  It deserves to be on hip-hop’s Mount Rushmore, it deserves to be in top rap albums of the 1990s and in the top rap albums of all time.  It deserves to be on the top list of albums all time regardless of genre.  To us honestly, “Ready To Die” is our favorite album of all time.  Biggie happens to be our favorite rapper of all time, so “Ready to Die” gets the number 1 spot EASILY.  If you think Nas is the goat and “Illmatic” is the goat album, we don’t think anything negative about that.  If you feel 2Pac is the goat and “All Eyez On Me” is the goat album, we won’t argue with you.  Those albums all timeless classics and are way up on our list as well.  We just feel that Biggie was the greatest to ever touch a mic, and because of that,  his music deserves to be in the Library Of Congress along with Tony Bennett, Metallica, and U2.

“The Chronic”- The Chronic sets the scene for all-things-rap after 1992.  The Chronic is the start of EVERYTHING.  Rap should be B.C. (Before The Chronic) and A.C. (After The Chronic).  The Chronic launched Death Row Records.  The Chronic launched Suge Knight’s career.  The chronic launched the careers of Dr. Dre and at the time a young skinny rapper named Snoop.  “Doggystyle” was a huge success because the “Chronic” was a huge success first.  The Chronic inspired east coast rappers to step up their game commercially.  The Chronic inspired Biggie and Puffy to create “Ready To Die”.  2Pac eventually joins Death Row Records because they are the most successful music label in the world.  It all starts with “The Chronic” and the Library Of Congress should consider that fact.