10 Rap Albums That Every Rock Fan Should Listen To

There has always been a bit of a rub between the genres of rock and rap at the best of times. Since the entire genre of nu metal has had a negative reputation in recent years, making hip hop with the ideals of rock and roll has always made for songs that fall on the wrong side of cringy a lot of the time. When you break them down, there's a lot more overlap in these genres that most people realize.

Much like rock, rap was used as a release for most of its artists and (in some cases) is trying to use their musical platform as a chance to change the world. And as crazy as it sounds, rap does have a heavy amount of respect for rock as well, if these albums are any indication. While they might be far from something like Led Zeppelin or Metallica, the beats that are used on these albums are known much more for their muscle than the old school rap music.

Even though it might not have a guitar solo melting your face off in every song, the whole ethos behind these projects has been just like the rock stars of old, with rappers staking their claim as being the best in their field or the most dangerous person to ever grab the mic. Just put down the layers of pretension, rock fans, and see what you've been missing out on for years.

When we're talking albums that rock fans would like, it would normally be because of the heavy guitars or slamming drums on the record. If you're looking to get the rock fans into the genre, you have to try and at least meet them on their own terms from time to time. Then again, anyone who really likes music in general can get down with anything on Lauryn Hill's debut.

Fresh off of her nasty exit from the Fugees, this is the one album that turned Ms. Hill into one of the biggest superstars in music, taking the entire soul vibe that she was going for and turning it on its head. With a killer backing band behind her, these are the kind of feel good songs that we were sorely missing during the mid '90s, with something like Ex Factor still sounding absolutely golden as the years go on.

As much as the hip hop community like to chalk this up as one of the greatest records ever made, this also just serves as a reminder to what kind of artist we were dealing with when Lauryn went solo. Even though she might seem to go off the rails with her live performances from time to time, this is the kind of record that any music lover can get into at some point. There has been radio silence about her next album, but when you hit it out of the park right out of the gate like this, you've already hit perfection.