The Best Hip-Hop Group and Duo Albums
23 albums · Updated
Groups were the engine of rap's first two decades. Two rappers trading lines, or a rapper and a producer working as one unit, gave albums a chemistry that solo records rarely match. Since the 2000s the format has become rarer, which makes duos like Run the Jewels and Armand Hammer stand out.
This list covers every group or duo album reviewed on the site, including rapper-producer pairs such as Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Atmosphere and Madvillain. Ranked by scorecard.
How this list works: Albums credited to a group or a duo, reviewed on the site, ranked by current score. Scores come from each review's six-part scorecard; see the methodology.
- 1
Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
Score: 10.0 · Read the review · Public Enemy albums ranked
The Bomb Squad stacked dozens of samples into sirens and noise while Chuck D delivered political sermons and Flavor Flav cut through them.
- 2
A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory (1991)
Score: 10.0 · Read the review · A Tribe Called Quest albums ranked
Ron Carter's upright bass, sparse drums and Q-Tip and Phife's back-and-forth defined jazz rap in forty-eight minutes.
- 3
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu‐Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
Score: 10.0 · Read the review · Wu-Tang Clan albums ranked
RZA's murky, kung-fu-sampling beats and nine distinct MCs from Staten Island rewrote what a rap group and a rap album could sound like.
- 4
Mobb Deep – The Infamous… (1995)
Score: 9.7 · Read the review · Mobb Deep albums ranked
Havoc's bleak piano and string loops and Prodigy's cold verses made Queensbridge sound like a warzone; "Shook Ones Pt. II" anchors it.
- 5
OutKast – Aquemini (1998)
Score: 9.7 · Read the review · OutKast albums ranked
Big Boi and André 3000 split the difference between street rap and psychedelic soul, with live harmonica, guitars and the nearly nine-minute "Liberation".
- 6
Madvillain – Madvillainy (2004)
Score: 9.7 · Read the review · Madvillain albums ranked
MF DOOM and Madlib's 22 short tracks, most under three minutes, with almost no hooks and loops that end mid-thought.
- 7
Pete Rock & CL Smooth – Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)
Score: 9.4 · Read the review · Pete Rock & CL Smooth albums ranked
Pete Rock's horn-heavy soul loops and filtered basslines set a production standard; "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" is its centerpiece.
- 8
EPMD – Strictly Business (1988)
Score: 9.3 · Read the review · EPMD albums ranked
Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith rapped slow and conversational over Zapp and Eric Clapton loops, and showed how much groove a sample could carry.
- 9
Mobb Deep – Hell on Earth (1996)
Score: 9.3 · Read the review · Mobb Deep albums ranked
The follow-up to The Infamous narrows the sound to colder, sparser loops and keeps the tension high from start to finish.
- 10
The Roots – Things Fall Apart (1999)
Score: 9.3 · Read the review · The Roots albums ranked
Named after Chinua Achebe's novel, the live band's breakthrough includes "You Got Me" with Erykah Badu and some of Black Thought's best writing.
- 11
Black Moon – Enta da Stage (1993)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Black Moon albums ranked
Da Beatminerz's dusty, bass-heavy loops and Buckshot's low-key menace became the blueprint for Brooklyn's Boot Camp Clik.
- 12
Smif‐n‐Wessun – Dah Shinin’ (1995)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Smif‐n‐Wessun albums ranked
Tek and Steele's debut extended Black Moon's Beatminerz sound with patois-flecked Brooklyn street rap.
- 13
CunninLynguists – A Piece of Strange (2006)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · CunninLynguists albums ranked
Kno's Southern-gothic production carries a concept album about sin, faith and redemption.
- 14
Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 3 (2016)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Run the Jewels albums ranked
Released early on Christmas Eve 2016, RTJ3 pushes El-P and Killer Mike's politics further with a darker tone.
- 15
Armand Hammer – Haram (2021)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Armand Hammer albums ranked
billy woods and ELUCID over beats produced entirely by The Alchemist: dense, abstract and unusually musical.
- 16
A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders (1993)
Score: 9.0 · Read the review · A Tribe Called Quest albums ranked
Tribe's third album is warmer and punchier than Low End, framed by a tour-guide voice and stacked with "Award Tour" and "Electric Relaxation".
- 17
OutKast – Stankonia (2000)
Score: 9.0 · Read the review · OutKast albums ranked
Drum and bass, gospel, rock guitars and "B.O.B.": OutKast's most restless album also gave them "Ms. Jackson".
- 18
Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 2 (2014)
Score: 9.0 · Read the review · Run the Jewels albums ranked
El-P's industrial production and Killer Mike's politics, harder and angrier than the first record, with Zack de la Rocha on "Close Your Eyes".
- 19
Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill (1986)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · Beastie Boys albums ranked
Rick Rubin's rock-loud Def Jam production and three trash-talking voices made this the first rap LP to top the Billboard 200.
- 20
BROCKHAMPTON – Saturation III (2017)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · BROCKHAMPTON albums ranked
The last of three albums the boy band released in 2017, louder and more confident than the first two.
- 21
Wu-Tang Clan – Wu‐Tang Forever (1997)
Score: 8.0 · Read the review · Wu-Tang Clan albums ranked
The group's sprawling double-album sequel, more orchestrated than 36 Chambers and built around "Triumph", its verse-only centerpiece.
- 22
Atmosphere – God Loves Ugly (2002)
Score: 7.7 · Read the review · Atmosphere albums ranked
Slug's confessional writing over Ant's warm, sample-built beats made Atmosphere the face of Minneapolis's Rhymesayers scene.
- 23
OutKast – Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994)
Score: 6.5 · Read the review · OutKast albums ranked
Organized Noize's live-band funk and two Atlanta teenagers announced that the South had its own sound, not a copy of the coasts.