10 Albums Where Hip Hop Got Real

In the era when gangsta rap was just starting to come into its own, A Tribe Called Quest never claimed that they were looking to get their hands dirty. This was the sound of alternative hip hop, and Tribe have said themselves that they wanted to do their thing and lay low for most of their career. You weren't going to see guys like Q Tip or Phife Dawg killing cops... but they did have some harsh bars to spit on their magnum opus.

Released the same day as Nirvana's Nevermind, The Low End Theory might have as much an influence on hip hop as Kurt Cobain did on rock and roll, taking elements of old school acts like Run DMC and filtering them through something that was much more user friendly. Looking to create the perfectly produced hip hop record, the jazzy beats that they interweave throughout this record sound absolutely amazing, giving Tip the perfect backdrop to tell a story about being a black man, with the title being a play on the way that black people get treated in America.

There's more than just sloganeering on here though, from the epic posse cut Scenario featuring Busta Rhymes to some of the most amazing chemistry on any hip hop album ever on Check the Rhime, talking about the inner workings of hip hop and how to keep your head above water in the industry. Hip hop might look like a dog eat dog world out there most of the time, but there's no shame in just chilling in the studio and making some of the best vibe music known to man.