As part of our 2023 Annual Report, Consequence is taking a look back at our massive Hip-Hop 50 celebration. The landmark anniversary was a major part of this year’s story, and there are plenty other awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2023 that you can find here.
Make sure to check out our list of the 15 Best Independent Rap Albums of the Year.
Of all the major anniversaries that were observed this year, one stands as arguably the most culturally important. August marked the 50th anniversary of what is considered the birth of hip-hop, and we explored the genre’s massive impact throughout our Hip-Hop 50 celebration.
We listed out the best hip-hop albums, songs, and mixtapes; spoke with icons like Run-DMC’s Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and filmmaker Allen Hughes; revisited how hip-hop’s 25th anniversary changed the game; and even explored the intersection of rap and rock.
For the true heads, we also presented a series of special edition Crate Digging interviews asking artists from across the map to name their essential records. The idea was to highlight not only what influenced these MCs from different regions, but how these different regions influenced hip-hop at large.
Some of our artists, like Texas’ Big Jade and Chicago’s Mick Jenkins, picked out albums entirely from their home areas, while Toronto’s Haviah Mighty noted a few local highlights mixed with other undeniable classics. Atmosphere’s Ant looked at the underrated records that helped define Minneapolis’ sound, Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog highlighted landmark LPs from Los Angeles and beyond, and Cheryl “Salt” James of Salt-N-Pepa revealed her core influences.
While each interview centered on a specific area, the final takeaway is that music — especially hip-hop — is universal. No matter where you’re from, whether you’re a hip-hop artist, fan, or neophyte, these albums are essential to the story of rap music.
Explore all our Hip-Hop 50 Crate Digging lists by clicking on the artists in the map below. You’ll see selections from their individual lists to get a flavor of what their respective regions — California, Texas, Minnesota, Illinois, Ontario, and New York — have brought to hip-hop. You can also listen to Sen Dog’s complete interview as part of our Consequence Uncut podcast series using the player above.
Cypress Hill's Sen Dog
Mellow Man Ace - Escape from Havana: Groundbreaking, really opened up the Latino rhyme style, the bilingual rhyme style. He opened a lot of doors for a lot of Latino kids that would come behind him and leave their mark in this hip-hop industry.
Kid Frost – Hispanic Causing Panic: He represented so hard for his culture… from the whole zoot suit to the lowrider cars, Cholo rap and all that stuff. He had the Mellow Man Ace effect; he’s turning the culture on to so many other people around the world that perhaps hadn’t seen how it’s done in East LA.
The D.O.C. – No One Can Do It Better: I could only imagine if he could have delivered more records, what a bigger contribution he would have made. Because I believe that he’s one of the best rappers to come down that Dr. Dre production line. For sure.
Big Jade
Megan Thee Stallion – Tina Snow: "Big Ole Freak" was one of my favorite ones off that. She was talking her shit. The way it came on, all slow... since I'm from Beaumont, I'm one of the people who saw her from the beginning.
Z-Ro – The Life of Joseph W. Mcvey: "I Hate U B***c" is probably one of my favorite ones out of all of them. My mama's boyfriend would get mad at her and play that song, and that was my favorite shit. Every time she made me mad I'd just turn the song on then.
KenTheMan – 4 da 304's: I love "He Be Like." "Body smokin' marijuana/ I get that shit from my mama" -- know what I'm sayin'? She had the city turnt with that. I'm from Beaumont, so these are people that I be on. I feel her.
Atmosphere's Ant
The Time – The Time: My favorite band from Minneapolis is The Time. The Time’s first record, self-titled, is the one to me. I mean, pound-for-pound, Ice Cream Castles might be the best one, but the first one is the one with the splash, like most people’s music.
Cherrelle – Fragile: Anything by Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam I love… One of the records they had was Cherrelle, her first record called Fragile. Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam producing it is the only thing that really makes it Minneapolis, but it is a Minneapolis sound.
The S.O.S. Band – Just the Way You Like It: This might be the Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis show, now that I think about it, but who cares? You have to [give them props], there’s no way around it, and Just the Way You Like It just happens to be kind of my favorite.
Mick Jenkins
Do or Die – Picture This: They’re not ‘unsung,’ per se, but they’re underrated legends. I think everybody in Chicago knows that. But you know, the rest of the world I don’t think keeps them so frontal.
Common – Be: This is one of the top three hip hop albums for me, easily. Common is one of my favorite artists. I think this era of him working with Kanye is the best music that he made, just because you can’t really beat that production for somebody like Common.
Vic Mensa – Straight Up EP: I am a huge Vic Mensa fan. I wasn’t rapping when I first heard of Vic Mensa, and I checked out that project Straight Up and I just thought the dude was amazing, dude was cold. I’m rocking with it. It wasn’t even a question.
Haviah Mighty
Mustafa – When Smoke Rises: This is a really impactful project with a unique perspective for the genre. He has such a nice vocal tone and great lyrics.
Clairmont the Second – Lil Mont from the Ave: The storytelling is topnotch and it pushes production forward. I'm still actively listening to this album.
Haviah Mighty – Crying Crystals: I stand behind my own music and I feel it’s pushing boundaries with lyrics and themes – same with production, and expressing hip-hop through different sounds. It’s also genre bending.
Salt-N-Pepa's Salt
Ms. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill: I thought it was super cool that Lauryn Hill could hold her own in this group [Fugees] with two guys and then she split out. She always just had a really special quality, with a deep, spiritual connection and confidence.
De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising: The sound was just different, eclectic. It was very whimsical and it was their own sound. I hate cookie-cutter music and cookie-cutter groups, cookie-cutter beats. I think artists who really impact entertainment are artists who actually develop their own sound.
Usher – Confessions: There's such a big difference between a moment artist and a legacy artist, like a star. Usher's always been a star. He just razzle dazzles 'em. It still fascinates me to this day, the way that guy can entertain a crowd like he was born to do it.
You can still snag some of our exclusive Hip-Hop 50 merch, with proceeds benefiting Chance the Rapper’s SocialWorks. See what we have to offer at the Consequence Shop, or by using the buy-now buttons below.