This is the album that probably had the most influence on me as a rapper. I always enjoyed listening to music but after I heard this album, it made me want to go create my own. The way Nas reeled you in by painting pictures with words over the perfect sonic canvas was too much for me to not want to be a part of this culture.

The Chronic is the album that changed how music would sound. Even now, if you go back and listen to your favorite albums pre-Chronic you will notice that the overall sound quality is inferior to the masterpiece Dr. Dre created. Not only did he usher in a bigger sound quality, Dre also introduced the world to Snoop Dogg, The Dogg Pound, Warren G, and countless others who ended up having a stranglehold on the rap world for years.

This album introduced us to if not the greatest, then one of the greatest to ever touch a microphone. The way Biggie effortlessly floated over every track made you feel like his voice was another instrument being played. This album also helped change the landscape of rap music when Diddy decided to sample known hits to create new ones. Safe to say that became a trend.

This album also helped to shape the current landscape of rap music as we know it. Stakes Is High came out at the same time as Nas' It Was Written. These two albums seemed to separate the rap world into two categories, underground and commercial.

Ice Cube's first album as a solo artist let us know that Cube was here to stay. Nobody knew what kind of mark he would make after splitting from NWA but he proved his worth to the world. The combination of one of the greatest West Coast representers and Bomb Squad production proved to be timeless.

Ask anybody to rank the Wu-Tang Clan albums in order of quality and this one will be number one 99 percent of the time. Hearing Rae and Ghost go back and forth with their own brand of storytelling, as well as their own brand of slang, drew you in and made you listen even more attentively every go round.

In my opinion, this is the best OutKast album. Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was the introduction to the duo from Atlanta, Ga., while their third album Aquemini began the transition to what we see today. ATLiens was the album that made you say, "these boys are one of the best doing it!" You could hear 3000 coming into his own and Big Boi earning the respect of those who may have slept on him the first go round, all while serving you social commentary, shit talk, introspective thoughts, etc.

Most people would argue that Low End Theory is the best Tribe album ever made. I always counter that Midnight Marauders is the best album of my generation. Marauders produced hit after hit after hit after hit. I can put this album on right now and appreciate it the same way.

When speaking of Wu-Tang Clan you can honestly say that they have a cult following. In fact, they may be the only urban group in the history of music to have a cult following that would compare to groups such as The Greatful Dead or U2. Flawless posse album from top to bottom that unleashed a swarm of killer bees on our listening ears for years.

Even though this is technically their second album, to most of the world, The Infamous was our introduction to the duo out of Queens. Although many albums sound like New York, when you listen to this album it feels like New York City. I remember going to New York for the first time and Infamous was the soundtrack to that journey.

I guess if you are in a group and decided to go your separate ways then this is the way to go. It's a creative album put together wonderfully to showcase the talents of all members (especially Wyclef and Lauryn Hill) like it was set up for it to be the last album. Definitely an album that has a time stamp on the hip hop timeline.

Another one of those emcees whose name will always be mentioned when you ask the question, "who is the greatest?" Jay-Z had the charisma, the word play, the flow, and the production to catapult him into the ears and hearts of all those who loved the east coast and east coast inspired rap. To this day, after all the money and the plaques, Reasonable Doubt is still one of his two flawless albums (the other being The Blueprint), in my opinion.

This is the album that introduced me to Public Enemy. I eventually went back and listened to It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back but by that time, Fear Of A Black Planet was already my favorite album. The feeling I got when listening to this album is almost the same feeling you have when you haven't been to church in a long time, and when you hear the first sermon back you think the preacher wrote it especially for you. The message they slid in over those Bomb Squad beats made it more penetrable to those who may have refused to listen before.