Highly original and innovative, and very consistent too – there are no weak tracks on this album. Critical Beatdown has stood the test of time – Kool Keith‘s unique style and off-the-wall lyrics along with Ced Gee’s revolutionary production make this record one for the ages. Critical Beatdown turned out to be a hugely influential album – production team The Bomb Squad has cited the album as a major influence on their production for Public Enemy’s iconic 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, for instance. Ultramagnetic MCs’ debut album Critical Beatdown is often seen as one of the earliest examples of underground Hip Hop, as it was released on the at that time independent record label Next Plateau Records. Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown (Next Plateau Records, 1988) What do YOU think? Are your favorite underground Hip Hop albums here? Do you think any essential records are missing? Share your thoughts in the comments! Let’s get into it, and don’t forget to check the honorable mentions section at the end – it was hard to limit this list to ‘just’ 100 albums. Most of the albums on this list are from the 2000s, as the aughts were the decade in which the gap between underground Hip Hop and mainstream rap was at its widest. It can be argued that independent and underground aren’t necessarily synonymous any longer these days (is a Rhymesaysers or Mello Music Group release really still underground?), but all of the albums on this list were at least considered underground to a lesser or greater extent at the time when they were released, because of the labels they were released on. No major label albums on this list, strictly indie or no label projects – which btw does not mean there are no classics on this list: some of the albums on this list were great commercial successes and/or are staples of the genre now. In this piece, you will find 100 underground Hip Hop albums – no compilations, no mixtapes, no instrumental albums, no EPs – we consider to be essential, not ranked but presented in release year order.
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