10 Most Underrated Hip-Hop Albums Of All Time
Rap's hidden gems, forgotten classics, and misunderstood masterpieces.
Since hip-hop hit the mainstream, it has steadily risen to be the most profitable musical genre around. Rap acts have headlined festivals of all stripes, the business remains booming, and hip-hop has even generated a legitimate billionaire in Dr Dre. Its youthful leaning keeps things fresh, and it continues to go from strength to strength.
With so much hip-hop around, though, it only stands to reason that some golden material flies under the radar. For every major release there are plenty of cult favourites that deserve mainstream exposure, unsung efforts from famous artists, or records that got the bum rush and deserve critical rehabilitation.
Some of the albums on this list are well respected efforts that somehow never seem to make it on the list of all-time greats. Others are more well hidden curios that any rap fan looking for something a little different would be well advised to give a spin.
In any case, hip-hop is such a prolific genre that it can be difficult to know where to start or what to try out next. These 10 albums are definite winners.
10. Ka - Honor Killed The Samurai
Merging hip-hop and Asian culture is nothing new, but few have done it so sincerely and yet so effectively as Ka on his conceptual 2016 LP Honor Killed The Samurai. A stripped back and focussed release in the age of bloated mixtapes, it’s a fantastic showpiece for the rapper and producer, for whom this is a real auteur effort.
Honor Killed The Samurai paints the picture of a young man on the mean streets who tries to live his life according to a code. The tracks are minimalist and often sinister, with the hypnotic, sparse keys on “Mourn At Night” as close as Ka comes to giving us a catchy hook. His delivery is withdrawn but mesmeric, his reserved vocals insisting the listener comes in closer.
He’s good for a quotable, too, with opener “Conflicted” recalling how he learned the lesson to “be a body or catch one”. The track bristles with almost atonal, Asian-influenced sounds and a rumbling, percussive bassline that burrows in deep.
This is a knowingly atypical rap album with a fleshed out central protagonist. Even the clips of samurai philosophy actually work here - a rare skit that actually adds to the production.