if asked about music i dont really identify myself as a "hip hop fan" first, but my favorite hip hop groups do come before all the other music. good rap is the best music ive ever heard really, the energy and the level of talent is jaw dropping in some of these dudes, and whats scary is some of them like big l died incredibly young.
also if you dont know big L, listen to the album lifestylz ov da poor & dangerous and get fucking obliterated. probably the most fire in any individual album. its hard to imagine anyone having more untapped potential let on the table, some may not know but he was shot literally just 2 days before signing a huge contract with Roc-A-Fella which would have undoubtedly made him a big time face in all of rap. its pretty safe to say we wouldnt just consider him an underground legend if he had lived, he'd be universally considered as one of the true elites. if rap has a wunderkind, its big L hands down end of discussion.
couple more of my favorites that i always recommend to friends:
A Tribe Called Quest- probably my favorite musical group. just great uplifting music. nothing better than a couple friends rap about how much they love the music, basically the vibe you get
Eric B & Rakim- another old school duo who often talks about their love of hip hop. Paid In Full is a quintessential album for anyone getting into that old school sound with the jazz samples and drum beats, the height of beat making was with the jazz samples looping over drum and bass tracks(ATCQ mentioned above is known for that sound as well)
Big Daddy Kane- the first one ive mentioned that which im not bonkers over every song, but the good moments he has are really memorable and underrated in the grand scheme
Biggie Smalls- Life After Death is dark as fuck, probably my favorite album because he's got the big L psychopath aura going on and ive always said this was the biggie album where he just goes for broke and lays it all out there. he and big L died so young its scary to even think about them getting better.
Snoop- Doggystyle is easily a top 10 favorite album of any genre for me, the humor in it just never gets old and just cant help but laugh everytime the w-ballz interlude plays. really the only album i got big into. cant believe snoop recorded this when he was so young, pretty sure a lot of those tracks were recorded before he even turned 20
Dr. Dre- if you're an old school hip hop fanatic and you dont own The Chronic then i cant help you. very good sketches too that often go unappreciated; underrated vision that most dont credit dre enough for in my opinion(doggystyle's interludes were mostly dre's idea as well). i literally cannot think of another individual who's influenced the genre more than Dr Dre when you consider what he did with guys like Snoop and a young Eminem in his prime. those two alone are monumental talents he played a major major hand in developing. not to mention being a founding member of NWA. hard to find a producer with the chops dre has
Nas- Illmatic is another album on the level of Chronic, you just simply cant go back and fully digest that golden era without this album entering the mix. timeless stuff that will influence hip hop forever, the fact that you still hear so many characteristics of old Nas in the new underground shit just shows how dope his shit really was despite him not being a universally recognized name like a Jay-Z(just ask jay-z he'll tell you nas isnt as big lol)
Busta Rhymes- you know i luh dat NYC shit...this dudes been in the game as long as anyone going today, and he really still even puts out fire. his album with Q-tip was a very pleasant surprise. consider Busta an unofficial member/mascot of Tribe which always made me like him more, they just always were pushing each other to the next level it seemed and constantly gave props to each other. great to see real recognize real like that.
Mobb Deep is another good one. Mos Def is more modern but has some great albums nonetheless. uh lets see, Tyler the Creator's album Goblin is actually surprisingly dope with the exception of a few mediocre songs. i do like some of Eminem's first two albums but by the album encore i was lost entirely and never regained any type of interest. more will come to me im sure....
i left off 2pac and i know youre probably thinking WTF, but i just never got what other people get out of his music...its just not my type of hip hop, i respect him as much as anyone though as an entertainer overall and certainly dont deny how profound his talent and impact was. just not my thing i like it raw baby, he just gives off a different type of musical vibe like he seems more structured and a songwriter rather than someone who grew on the streets learning how to flow by freestyling...i might be the only one who perceives it that way but unable to put into words what i mean by that any better
also ill end this post by giving a shout out to OUTKAST which was my favorite hip hop group as a little kid in the early 2000s. they put out some awesome shit back then that i love to this day and always will be nostalgia to hear it. i just remember being a happy little 12 year old kid feeling so good, damn i miss being me back then. hey yaaaaaaaaaaa