All of this and more too.

Rakim - now there's a brilliant MC.

does hip hop mean rap?

I can't say that I specifically do although it seems familiar. I'm probably thinking of Mix Master Mike. I'm sure there are a thousand known Djs with some variation of Mike in their name. Where is he from? Back in the 80's and 90's with the exception of a few West Coast gangster rappers, I listened to predominantly N.Y. based Hip-Hop.

Tablo - Fever's end

It's so epic.

There you go, I just Googled him and yeah, Miami bass scence in the 80's. I have no knownledge of Florida Hip-Hop except for 2 live Crew and.... wait for it.....................Vanilla Ice......lol.

It's either "The College Dropout" or "Late Registration" by Kanye West. Others include:

• Me Against the World (Tupac)
• It was Written (Nas)
• The Eminem Show (Eminem)
• The Chronic (Dr. Dre)
• Doggystyle (Snoop Dogg)
• ATLiens (Outkast)

Yeah, these seem like popular choices and something that a noob would pic (and I'm most definitely not a noob when it comes to rap--been a fan since the VERY beginning!) but these albums and artists became legendary for a reason. Any one of these albums can be listened to today as you ride down the streetin any neighborhood and nobody will look at you funny. They're timeless classics and my all time favorites.

My number 1 and 2 are easy. It is making a top 5 that would be near impossible.

Number 2: Never Better - P.O.S.

Number 1: East 1999 Eternal - Bone Thugs N Harmony.

Bone's album is the best rap album end to end ever recorded. I started listening to rap in the late 80's (born in '82)but got a feel for all rap through every generation.

Bone rapped with Easy E.  He died.

Bone rapped with Tupac.  He died.

Bone rapped with Biggie.  He died.

The only thing that saved Mariah Carey was that she was already an angel (at the time).

Agreed - whether it be music, games or movies - a list of 5 absolute all time classics (eg Citizen Kane, Aliens, Pulp Fiction, Inception, Spirited Away - not necessarily my 5 top - but just a list of good movies with broad appeal) - can always seem like a "noob" list because - well this stuff is the staple, the bread and butter - the Super Mario Bros/Sonic The Hedgehog entry level  - the "learn to appreciate the artform" type stuff!

Be Proud!

(also wondering why I didn't include Andre3000/Outkasts The Love Below on my list - another album many could accuse of being on a noob list).

Also - loved eminems first two albums (and the tracks on 8 mile) - but really thought he'd lost it d12/eminem show onwards. His flows became formulaic and slower, choruses tired (and usually with him singing quite averagely eg. Superman) and beats mediocre. Which didn't seem to hurt his sales at all, he was incredibly popular. It was never "terrible" I felt, just not up to par with his earlier output - I agreee with Spurgeonryan that Marshall Mathers LP was his best , I banged that album so much in 02/03! Maybe I just got old then! The only reason I didn't put it on my list (or Chronic 2001) was that my list was packed already, and SpurgeonRyan had already given him/the MM album mad props.

Straight Outta Compton and It Takes a Nation of Millions are both great.

I'm not a big rap guy though so can't really say.