BLACK TRUTH NEWS PICKS THE BEST 25 HIP HOP GROUPS OF ALL TIME [Full List]

23. Tha Dogg Pound

• Dogg Food(1995)
• Dillinger & Young Gotti(2001)
• Dillinger & Young Gotti II: Tha Saga Continuez…(2005)
• Cali Iz Active(2006)
• Dogg Chit(2007)
• That Was Then, This Is Now(2009)
• 100 Wayz(2010)

My friends from my neighborhood will probably look at this selection with disbelief. That’s because we played the cover off Tha Dogg Pound’s first album Dogg Food. In my opinion it is a musical classic and one of my favorite Hip Hop albums of all time. The reason I got them so low is because their other albums wasn’t as good as their first. And even though the album was great it wasn’t as culturally influential as The Chronic and Doggystyle.

22. De La Soul

• 3 Feet High and Rising(1989)
• De La Soul Is Dead(1991)
• Buhloone Mindstate(1993)
• Stakes Is High(1996)
• Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump(2000)
• AOI: Bionix(2001)
• The Grind Date(2004)
• Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present… First Serve(2012)
• and the Anonymous Nobody…(2016)

Before putting De La Soul in this slot, I was thinking that their reputation was a result of the bias early East Coast media that was favorable toward New York artists and music. I was feeling that De La has been overrated and they are not that dope. It sounds harsh now that I’m writing my thoughts down, but I was thinking that I have never really been a fan of their music. Then I went back and listened to Buddy, Me Myself and I and Potholes in My Lawn and realized that I like their music from the start. I will admit that they are not one of my favorite groups and I don’t think they have a classic album. This is in contrast to the numerous people who have regarded their first album 3 Feet High and Risingas a groundbreaking classic album. Now I may be slightly correct in my assessment of the favorable East Coast media theory, but it doesn’t take from me knowing that they had hit records that has had tremendous influence on the culture.

21. The Fugees

• Blunted on Reality(1994)
• The Score(1996)

While I’m writing this, I am also watching game 7 of the NBA playoffs between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. Similarly to the way LeBron James has carried his team to victories, Lauryn Hill did the same for the Fugees. In my opinion, she was the singular force that made people want to listen to a Fugees song. It is definitely an understatement to say her lyrics stood out from the rest of the group. Regardless of my opinion on who had the most impact in the group, you can’t take away the success the group had as a whole. The Score was not only a classic album, that like other people, I bumped religiously, it was also one of the best selling Hip Hop albums ever. The album has went over six times platinum and got them a Grammy Award for the best Rap Album.