Top Ten Hip-hop Albums released during 2000-09:

Anyways I was sitting around today, and I was fairly bored and when I'm bored I normally think of random top ten lists, so I decided a good list to do might be the top 10 hip-hop albums of the 2000s, because I've been listening to a lot of early 2000s hip-hop recently. This list isn't going to have particularly long/good explanations for why I chose which albums I did because I don't really feel like writing so much as just making a list; but anyways, without further ado, here are my ten favorite hip-hop albums released during the first decade of the 2000s:

10. Purple Haze- Cam'ron

Cam'ron's greatest album and one that showcases everything great about him.  From the exceptionally malleable flow, to the hilarious skits, the Dipset features, and the best "chipmunk soul" song ever in "Down and Out," this is the essential Cam'ron album.

9. Hell Hath No Fury- Clipse

Nearly perfect production combined with nearly perfect rapping makes for a nearly perfect album, and that's exactly what Hell Hath No Fury is.  One of the darkest and coldest hip-hop albums ever, up there with Liquid Swords, The Infamous, and an album that appears at number seven on this list. . .

8. Travel at Your Own Pace- Y Society

Probably the least well known album of any of the ones on my list, but this album is great.  The album isn't a challenging listen by any means, but it certainly isn't conventional, and definitely marches to the beat of its own drum.  Both Insight and Damu the Fudgemunk are very capable MCs and they have great chemistry.  The whole album is very cohesive, and although it has a very laid-back vibe it takes itself seriously.  If you haven't heard this yet, you should definitely check it out, this album needs more exposure.

7. The Cold Vein- Cannibal Ox

One of the most fascinating listens you'll ever experience, as anyone who has ever heard this album can attest.  This album creates its own bizarre, dystopian, futuristic, dark universe that's utterlly mesmerizing.

6. The Cool- Lupe Fiasco

An overlong, sprawling album that sonically is just all over the place, and despite being a concept album, isn't really cohesive at all.  Yet it contains some of the catchiest hooks,  highest quality production, and virtuosic, tongue-twisting lyricism of any album released during the entire decade.

5. Below the Heavens- Blu & Exile

Exile's lo-fi, soul-heavy production meshed brilliantly with Blu's terrific lyricism and effortless, dexterous flow; and the result of the two coming together was one of the most cohesive, catchy, and listenable hip-hop albums released during the 2000s.

4. Fantastic, Vol. 2- Slum Village

Fantastic, Vol. 2 is similar to Travel at Your Own Pace, because both are criminally underrated mainly because how unknown they are.  The production on this record (every song is produced by J Dilla) is quite possibly the best on any album released from 2000-2009, and although the lyrics certainly are not deep or meaningful, or anything like that, all the members of SV have pretty nice flows.  The album sounds like some pretty good rappers just having fun and freestyling over some of the best beats of the decade, and creating one of that decade's best albums in the process.

3. Vaudeville Villain- Viktor Vaughn (aka MF DOOM)

This album contains the best rapping of the entire decade, MF DOOM is simply an amazing MC, and this album is a terrific example of his talent.  The reason I prefer this to Madvillainy is not only because the songs are way more fleshed out, but also because MF DOOM really gets to showcase his storytelling abilities and have a lot of fun with the Viktor Vaughn personality he uses on this album. Over the course of this album DOOM exhibits of some of the most impressive yet hilarious lines ever rapped.

2. FishScale- Ghostface Killah

Although Supreme Clientele is normally the album that most people select as the best Ghostface effort of the decade, I'm  partial to FishScale.  Overall I think the album is much more consistent, with basically no tracks (except some skits) worth skipping, the production is better, and it also showcases all aspects of Ghostface Killah more than Supreme Clientele does.  FishScale has impeccable beats, typically amazing Ghostface rapping, and a great Wu-Tang cut in "9 Milli Bros." It's hard to get any better than that.

1. Late Registration- Kanye West

Yet, we have this. Kanye West showed/proved that he is one of the true auteurs of hip-hop as he almost completely redefined his sound while making an album that was still indelibly his own.  Late Registration is one of the most ambitious albums of all time, as Kanye incorporated many classic orchestral elements and created one of the most beautiful, elegant, and great hip-hop albums of all time, and the best of the first decade of the 21st century.