R B Hip Hop Urban Golden Age Music (Used, New, Hard-to-Find)

IN POP AND JAZZ: NEW RELEASES | BROWSE ALL GENRES | STAFF PICKS | BARGAINS

» advanced search

browse MUSIC

Page 1 of 19

sort by

1	Licensed to Ill (1986) more music like this by Beastie Boys Perhaps Licensed to Ill was inevitable -- a white group blending rock and rap, giving them the first number one album in hip-hop history. But that reading of the album's history gives a short shrift to the Beastie Boys; producer Rick Rubin and his label, Def Jam; and this remarkable record, since mixing metal and hip-hop isn't necessarily an easy ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $8.66!
2	3 Feet High and Rising (1989) more music like this by De La Soul The most inventive, assured, and playful debut in hip-hop history, 3 Feet High and Rising not only proved that rappers didn't have to talk about the streets to succeed, but also expanded the palette of sampling material with a kaleidoscope of sounds and references culled from pop, soul, disco, and even country music. Weaving clever wordplay and ... see all copies from $7.57! new only from $15.65!
3	It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988) more music like this by Public Enemy Yo! Bum Rush the Show was an invigorating record, but it looks like child's play compared to its monumental sequel, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, a record that rewrote the rules of what hip-hop could do. That's not to say the album is without precedent, since what's particularly ingenious about the album is how it reconfigures ... see all copies from $3.95! new only from $5.21!
4	Paul's Boutique (1989) more music like this by Beastie Boys Such was the power of Licensed to Ill that everybody, from fans to critics, thought that not only could the Beastie Boys not top the record, but that they were destined to be a one-shot wonder. These feelings were only amplified by their messy, litigious departure from Def Jam and their flight from their beloved New York to Los Angeles, since it ... see all copies from $3.79! new only from $10.79!
5	All World: Greatest Hits (1996) more music like this by LL Cool J All World: Greatest Hits is an excellent compilation of LL Cool J's greatest hits, featuring 16 of his biggest and best singles, including "I Can't Live Without My Radio," "Rock the Bells," "I'm Bad," "I Need Love," "Going Back to Cali," "Jingling Baby," "The Boomin' System," "Mama Said Knock You Out," "Around the Way Girl," and "Hey Lover." It's ... see all copies from $3.76! new only from $13.42!
6	Fear of a Black Planet (1990) more music like this by Public Enemy At the time of its release in March 1990 -- just a mere two years after It Takes a Nation of Millions -- nearly all of the attention spent on Public Enemy's third album, Fear of a Black Planet, was concentrated on the dying controversy over Professor Griff's anti-Semitic statements of 1989, and how leader Chuck D bungled the public relations ... see all copies from $2.99! new only from $8.34!
7	The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988) more music like this by Slick Rick Slick Rick's reputation as hip-hop's greatest storyteller hangs on his classic debut, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, one of the most influential rap records of the late '80s -- for better and worse. Most of the production is standard early Def Jam, but Rick's style on the mic is like no one else's. His half-British accent and odd, singsong ... see all copies from $6.62! new only from $8.34!
8	Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987) more music like this by Public Enemy Sometimes, debut albums present an artist in full bloom, with an assured grasp on their sound and message. Sometimes, debut albums are nothing but promise, pointing toward what the artist could do. Public Enemy's gripping first album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, manages to fill both categories: it's an expert, fully realized record of extraordinary ... see all copies from $4.23! new only from $8.44!
9	One for All (1990) more music like this by Brand Nubian Brand Nubian never sold as many albums as the many West Coast rappers burning up the charts in the early '90s, but the New York group commanded great respect in East Coast rap circles. In black neighborhoods of New York and Philadelphia, Nubian's debut album, One for All, was actually a bigger seller than many of the platinum gangsta rap releases ... see all copies from $2.94! new only from $9.20!
10	Greatest Hits (2002) more music like this by Run-D.M.C. Supplanting the 1991 collection Together Forever, BMG Heritage's 2002 Greatest Hits also runs 18 tracks and shares ten of the same songs -- namely, all the big hits and usual suspects. Of the eight tracks left behind, there are some big ones -- no "Peter Piper" or "My Adidas" -- and the sequencing, while flowing much better than its predecessor, ... see all copies from $7.99! new only from $10.61!
11 view cover	Boyz N the Hood (1991) more music like this by Original Soundtrack John Singleton's debut as a director, Boyz N the Hood, was naturally compared to other urban dramas that came out during the early '90s -- such as New Jack City, Straight out of Brooklyn, Menace II Society, Fresh, Juice, and South Central. While the soundtrack for South Central was heavy on late-'70s and early-'80s funk, the soundtracks released ... see all copies from $3.95! new only from $4.99!
12 view cover	Death Certificate [Bonus Track] (2003) more music like this by Ice Cube If Ice Cube's debut was a shocking attack that proved the N.W.A legacy would be stronger divided, his sophomore effort was a new kind of superstar pulling off the miraculous, a follow-up that equals its classic predecessor and tops it in some people's books. With a million copies of Death Certificate preordered, Cube was no longer the rock critics ... see all copies from $8.74! new only from $12.61!
13 view cover	Strictly Business (1988) more music like this by EPMD EPMD's blueprint for East Coast rap wasn't startlingly different from many others in rap's golden age, but the results were simply amazing, a killer blend of good groove and laid-back flow, plus a populist sense of sampling that had heads nodding from the first listen (and revealed tastes that, like Prince Paul's, tended toward AOR as much as ... see all copies from $10.07! new only from $13.45!
14 view cover	Street Jams: Hip-Hop from the Top, Vol. 1 (1992) more music like this by Various Artists Rhino's first attempt at archiving old-school rap of the early '80s, Street Jams: Hip-Hop From the Top, Vol. 1 succeeds by balancing a few undeniable classics (tracks that everyone should have in their collection) with more obscure inclusions that fanatics will appreciate as well. The classics on this debut volume are "Rapper's Delight" by the ... see all copies from $2.78! new only from $10.71!
15 view cover	Funky Beat: The Best of Whodini (2006) more music like this by Whodini Nearly identical to 1990's Greatest Hits and 1995's The Jive Collection, Funky Beat: The Best of Whodini contains all but one of Whodini's charting singles (including "One Love," "Friends," "Funky Beat," "Freaks Come Out at Night," "Five Minutes of Funk," and "Magic's Wand") and a couple better-known -- and radio-unfriendly, lyrically -- album ... see all copies from $9.17! new only from $9.61!
16 view cover	To the East, Blackwards (1990) more music like this by X Clan The self-sufficient X Clan should've made a bigger splash with To the East, Blackwards, the group's debut album for 4th & Broadway. Name-dropping Nat Turner and Marcus Garvey and dressing in red, black, and green instead of black and silver didn't exactly lend itself to marketability in 1990, but there's no evidence to the contrary that this ... see all copies from $10.04! new only from $10.04!
17 view cover	Nature of a Sista (1991) more music like this by Queen Latifah Nature of a Sista isn't quite the outstanding album Queen Latifah is quite capable of recording. But even so, it's a decent sophomore effort that has more strengths than weaknesses. The North Jersey native tends to spend a lot of time boasting about her microphone skills...but there's no denying the fact that she has considerable technique. As on ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $2.62!
18 view cover	A Salt With a Deadly Pepa (1988) more music like this by Salt-N-Pepa Attempting to follow up the crossover success of "Push It," Salt-n-Pepa hastily recorded A Salt With a Deadly Pepa, which essentially tries to replicate the charms of their debut without expanding on them very much. It doesn't end up quite as engaging, and the duo's limitations start to show themselves on the more underdeveloped material here. ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $2.98!
19 view cover	Naughty by Nature (1991) more music like this by Naughty by Nature There was not a bigger, more contagious crossover radio smash in the autumn of 1991 than Naughty by Nature's "O.P.P.," a song that somehow managed the trick of being both audaciously catchy and subversively coy at the same time. Its irrepressible appeal -- the Jackson 5 sample, the saucy subject matter, the huge anthemic chorus, Treach's phat rat ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $10.76!
20 view cover	MTV Party to Go, Vol. 2 (1992) more music like this by Various Artists The second volume in MTV's yearly club remix extravaganza features several of 1992's biggest, including "O.P.P." by Naughty by Nature, "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt-N-Pepa, "Now That We Found Love" by Heavy D., "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men. Keith Farley, All Music Guide see all copies from $1.99! new only from $12.43!
21 view cover	Mama Said Knock You Out (1990) more music like this by LL Cool J Increasingly dismissed by hip-hop fans as an old-school relic and a slick pop sellout, LL Cool J rang in the '90s with Mama Said Knock You Out, a hard-edged artistic renaissance that became his biggest-selling album ever. Part of the credit is due to producer Marley Marl, whose thumping, bass-heavy sound helps LL reclaim the aggression of his ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $5.00!
22 view cover	19 Naughty III (1993) more music like this by Naughty by Nature Despite an excellent debut album, Naughty by Nature was pegged as a one-hit wonder by some observers -- after all, they'd never duplicate the inescapably catchy "O.P.P.," would they? 19 Naughty III's lead single, "Hip Hop Hooray," proved that they could, and the album confirmed that Naughty by Nature were indeed highly underrated in terms of ... see all copies from $2.50! new only from $8.25!
23 view cover	Walking with a Panther (1989) more music like this by LL Cool J Released at a time when hip-hop's anxieties about crossover success were at a fever pitch, Walking With a Panther found LL Cool J trying to reinvent his sound while building on the commercial breakthrough of Bigger and Deffer. Even though the album succeeded on both counts, it did so in a way that didn't sit well with hip-hop purists, who began to ... see all copies from $2.68! new only from $4.20!
24 view cover	Straight Up Sewaside (1993) more music like this by Das EFX By the time Sewaside saw the light of day, the public hadn't fully absorbed Das EFX's innovative debut, Dead Serious. The hardcore rap game had barely caught up with the brilliance of their rapid-fire vocal delivery and sample-laden beats. But then again, another crew from Staten Island emerged in 1993 and took the rap game by total storm, leaving ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $9.20!
25 view cover	O.G. Original Gangster (1991) more music like this by Ice-T One of gangsta rap's defining albums, O.G. Original Gangster is a sprawling masterpiece that stands far and away as Ice-T's finest hour. Taken track by track, O.G. might not seem at first like the product of a unified vision; perspective-wise, it's all over the map. There's perceptive social analysis, chilling violence, psychological storytelling, ... see all copies from $1.99! new only from $5.65!

Page 1 of 19: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next>

Browse artists

Browse genres

Our Money-Back Guarantee

We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.