Source: General / Radio One
Looking back at 1999, there’s a lot to take in.. especially the fact that albums that dropped that year have now been around for a quarter of a century. So, to kick off Hip Hop History Month, a few of us on the editorial team reflected on our favorite album of that year and gave special shutouts to other projects that stood the test of time.
Artist: Eminem
Album: The Slim Shady LP
Release Date: February 23, 1999
To be fair, when Eminem came on the scene in the late 90s, Hip-Hop was in a very.. strange place. Culturally, we were still recovering from the brutal murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., industry titans whose gifts were cut short far too soon.
Commercially, rap became a lot more pop: Radio-friendly singles and flashy videos translated into massive record sales at a time where people consumed (and physically purchased) music one album at a time. Of course, acts like DMX, Scarface and The Lox still offered more hard-edged records, but the climate was shiny, glossy and things felt very much big-budgeted. And as various competitors eyed the throne, along came Eminem, a white boy from Detroit who was neither flashy or particularly intimidating.. but little did we know (at the time) that’d he’d become one of the biggest acts rap had ever seen.
Introduced to the mainstream by Dr. Dre, it would’ve been easy to write Em off as a gimmicky artist who was fortunate enough to be carried by Dre’s production. But aside from the shocking lyrics, blonde hair and cartoonish persona… the boy could spit. Not only that, his major label debut featured tracks that ranged from goofy, to gloomy and toward the latter half, grotesque. A commercial and critical success, The Slim Shady LP is a testament to what happens when an artist is brave enough to be themselves. – J. Bachelor
Artist: Nas
Album: I Am..
Release Date: April 6, 1999
Commercially carried by two singles, Nas Is Like and Hate Me Now (featuring Puff Daddy), I Am debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It sold over 470,000 copies in its first week and eventually went double platinum.
By the time Nas dropped I Am he was already cemented as a prolific storyteller, and this collection worked to push that narrative a lot further. His bars on the final track Undying Love are basically cinema. He tells the story of a love affair gone awry while painting vivid scenes through prolific rhymes. He touches on young life in New York through N.Y. State of Mind, Pt. II, and raps to recently deceased emcees Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac on We Will Survive.
In addition to Puff Daddy (now Diddy), the project also featured guest appearances from Scarface, Aaliyah and DMX.
One little-known fact – I Am was originally intended to be a double album. But after songs were leaked, Nas was forced to shift gears and re-record a lot of the music. That prompted him to drop I Am in April, then Nastradaumus later that same year. Some of this project’s original music eventually showed up on his Lost Tapes album in 2002. – Matty Willz
Artist: Eve
Album: Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady
Release Date: September 14, 1999
At the turn of the century, Hip-Hop became a more prominent force in pop culture, and female MCs were finding their footing within the ever-changing landscape. By 1999, rappers like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown made raunchy lyrics and overt sex appeal a part of their brand, while Lauryn Hill was coming into her own as a rap/neo-soul hybrid achieving mainstream success. And then there was the self-proclaimed “pit bull in a skirt” known as Eve.
The Philly native held her own as the first female artist to come from Ruff Ryders, an imprint that was home to DMX, Swizz Beats and Drag-On. Matching their sonic grittiness and adding her own flair, “Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady,” was a welcomed departure from what female hip-hop offered at that time. She was sexy without being too overt, and her lyrics were as seductive as they were reflective. Tracks like “Gotta Man” and “What Yall Want” were catchy and made moves on the dance floor.
However, what set her apart was her storytelling in songs like “Love Is Blind” and “Heaven Only Knows.” Exposing the realities of domestic violence and the importance of self-respect proved that Eve wasn’t just some pretty face that could rap a few bars. She was a female artist who could stand with the men, hold her own, and share a story to touch the masses. She may not get the same accolades as Kim or Foxy, but her talent is more than enough to make her a Queen in her own right. – Paige Boyd
Scroll below and check out more albums that turned 25 this year.