10 Studio Albums Long...That's The Definition of Longevity

I think any rapper that can be around long enough to drop 10 studio albums should definitely be recognised, and that's what inspired me to write this article. Rappers come and go, and since I started giving all my attention to Hip Hop in 1995, I have seen a lot of rappers come and go. In fact, the bigger they are, the harder they fall...Nelly, 50 Cent just to mention a few. I ain't saying this to diss this rappers, I am just pointing out something I noticed. I guess it's only a rapper like Eminem that be using i know who have experienced granduous success, and still remains relevant 10 years after he came in the game. Most of the rappers I am going to be listing that have had longevity in the game, never sold over the top with their albums. They all sold moderately, and stayed consistent with it. Maybe they sold a little more than they used to at some point, but they levelled back to their normal range, and stayed that way.



KRS 1, Jay-Z, Nas, Snoop Dogg & LL Cool J are rappers that have released 10 albums and more in the music industry. You have to give it to them. Even though Snoop hasn't been too commercially successful with his actual albums of recent, his singles still are relevant to today's hip hop listeners; you have to give it to the man. He dropped his first album, Doggystyle in 1993, and he recently dropped his 11th album, Doggumentary last year, .



KRS 1 has released 10 solo albums...or 16, if you count from when he was with BDP (Boogie Down Production). Criminal Minded with BDP was released in 1987, but his own first solo album, Return of the Boom Bap was released in 1993. Although a lot of new hip hop listeners might not know his works, he was one of the few rappers that laid a solid foundation for hip hop through the late 80s. His style was more of the conscious rap, and a lot of people don't want to hear the truth, so that explains why he is not too popular with today's hip hop audience. He still dropped an album 2 years ago- Back to the L.A.B.




Jay-Z is a phenomenon if you would ask me. When it comes to be consistent, I would have to place him high up there. He dropped his first album in 1996 (Reasonable Doubt), and dropped albums every year after that for 8 years straight, till he retired in 2003. Although the first two albums didn't go platinum when released, the success of his third album (Hard Knock Life- Vol.2, which sold 5 million copies) in 1998 made people go out and get the earlier albums; that's what i call grinding hard. And since then, all his albums have either sold platinum, or double platinum. All his 11 albums are Platinum certified. In case you don't know, an album being platinum certified means it has sold in excess of a million copies. And being Gold certified means selling over 500,000 copies.




Nas released his first album in 1994: Illmatic is considered the best hip hop album ever by some, but the album did poorly with sales. His second album, It Was Written (1996) had a more commercial feel to it, even though Nas still keep it lyrical. I say till this day, that if Steve Stoute hadn't found Nas in his housing projects in 1995, and schooled him on how to make hits, without straying away from his message, we probably wouldn't have known Nas as we know him today. It Was Written went on to be his highest selling album till date; selling over 2.5 million copies in the U.S alone. Illmatic finally went plat after the success of his 5th album, Stillmatic (2001). Altogether, he has 10 albums; 8 are certified Plat, one is Gold, and his 10th album recently dropped.




I don't think any other rapper stayed in mainstream hip hop for as long as LL Cool J did during his career. He dropped his first album, Radio in 1985 when he was just 17, and stayed relevant through the next two decades. He dropped his last album, Exit 13 (2008), 4 years ago...that's 23 years after his first album dropped. Now, that's what i call longevity. He dropped 12 studio albums altogether. The only two rappers that are on the way to beat that are Jay-Z and Nas. Jay is still dropping albums, and he has been in the game for 16 years. Nas just dropped his 10th album this year, which is 18 years after his debut dropped. Oh yea, i forgot Snoop; he dropped his first album 19 years ago, and is currently working on a new album. But the problem is that since he changed his name to Snoop Lion after going to Jamaica, i am not sure he is going to continue rapping. He might decide to start singing.





So, there you have it Ladies and Gentlemen; The Definition of Longevity. I think all these rappers need a round of applause. And yea, you need to go and check out their catalogues. If you want to start with KRS 1, i would advise you start with his albums with BDP back in the 80s...very informative pieces. I would say you get his 1989 album with BDP- Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop. With Jay-Z, get Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint (2001). With Snoop, go get that Doggystyle (1993) album; that's snoop at his finest. And you can go back to 1992 and get Dr Dre's The Chronic...Snoop is all over that album. As for Nas, get his first album (Illmatic), and Stillmatic album. With LL, go get his his Mama Said Knock You Out (1990) album, and Mr. Smith (1995) album.