Sourced and sung.
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The Message
The record that proved hip hop could report and not just party, and the edge everyone's been close to since.
Lose Yourself
Written between takes on a film set, delivered like a man with exactly one shot at everything.
Rapper's Delight
Big Bank Hank auditioned outside the pizzeria where he worked, rapping lines borrowed from Grandmaster Caz's notebook.
Fight the Power
Spike Lee asked for a defiant anthem, and the Bomb Squad answered with layered samples and Branford Marsalis's saxophone.
C.R.E.A.M.
RZA looped a lonely piano figure from the Charmels, and Inspectah Deck's second verse became hip hop scripture.
Nuthin' But a G Thang
Dre built G-funk on a Leon Haywood sample, handed Snoop the mic, and gangsta rap reached number two.
Crazy in Love
Rich Harrison looped a Chi-Lites horn fanfare; Jay-Z turned up at three in the morning and improvised his verse.
Straight Outta Compton
Dre and Yella built it in a Torrance studio on almost no money, and Compton stopped being invisible.
Stan
The 45 King looped Dido under four letters, and Eminem's fan character ended up in the Oxford dictionary.
Ms. Jackson
Andre 3000 apologizing to Erykah Badu's mother, who liked it enough to buy a Ms. Jackson license plate.
N.Y. State of Mind
Premier built the beat on the spot; Nas nailed verse one in a take, muttering doubt into the intro.
Fuck tha Police
Structured as a mock trial with Dre presiding, and it drew a warning letter from an FBI assistant director.
Dear Mama
Pizarro built it from a Joe Sample loop and the Spinners' Sadie, and the Library of Congress later archived it.
Get Ur Freak On
Timbaland set a tumbi melody over tabla and left Elliott acres of empty space to fill.
Juicy
Poke and Combs looped Mtume's Juicy Fruit, and Wallace told the rags to riches story that hip hop kept retelling.
They Reminisce Over You
Pete Rock looped a Tom Scott saxophone line, and CL Smooth's eulogy for a lost friend still aches.
Planet Rock
Bambaataa welded Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express to a Roland 808, and Tommy Boy paid Kraftwerk a dollar per record.
California Love
Roger Troutman's talk box over a Joe Cocker sample, and Shakur's first single after Death Row sprang him from prison.
B.O.B.
Bombs Over Baghdad at 155 beats per minute, drum and bass colliding with a gospel choir and a guitar solo.
Shook Ones Part II
Havoc built the beat in his Queensbridge bedroom from a slowed Herbie Hancock piano figure and a Daly-Wilson drum break.
Sabotage
Yauch's bass line started it, Ad-Rock turned a joke about their producer into a scream, and Jonze filmed the rest.
99 Problems
Rick Rubin's first rap production in years, a Billy Squier drum break, and a second verse about a traffic stop.
It Was A Good Day
DJ Pooh looped the Isley Brothers' Footsteps in the Dark, and Ice Cube spent four minutes on an uneventful day.
Work It
Timbaland's beat under a hook Elliott had reversed, a Run-DMC sample, and ten weeks parked at number two.
In Da Club
Dre's beat was offered to D12 and Rakim before 50 Cent wrote to it and held number one nine weeks.
The World Is Yours
Ahmad Jamal's piano figure, a hook Pete Rock sang himself, and the most hopeful stretch of Illmatic.
Jesus Walks
A marching ARC Choir sample, Rhymefest's co-write, and a label convinced nobody would play a rap record about God.
Still Dre
Jay-Z wrote every line of it, Scott Storch played the piano figure, and Dre's seven-year album silence ended.
Gin & Juice
Dr. Dre produced it, George McCrae supplied the sample, and Snoop's unhurried drawl became the West Coast blueprint.
Paper Planes
Gunshots and a cash register over a Clash loop, with Brixton kids singing a hook about immigrant stereotypes.
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Timbaland flipped Ann Peebles into stuttering space, and Hype Williams shot Elliott in an inflated suit through a fisheye.
Doo-wop (That Thing)
Hill wrote and produced it herself, aimed one verse at women and one at men, and debuted at number one.
Mama Said Knock You Out
His grandmother told him to knock them out; Marley Marl looped Funky Drummer, and the Grammy followed.
M.A.A.D City
Sounwave and THC build the first half, Terrace Martin the second, and MC Eiht walks in from Compton's own past.
Mind Playing Tricks On Me
An Isaac Hayes loop from Tough Guys, three verses by Scarface, and a rap record about fear rather than swagger.
Protect Ya Neck
Eight MCs, a beat RZA scrapped and rebuilt, and a 12-inch the group pressed themselves before any label would.
Stronger
West cleared the Daft Punk sample through their manager, had Timbaland reprogram the kick drums, and hit number one.
Gold Digger
Foxx sang the Ray Charles hook fresh from his Oscar for playing him, and it held number one ten weeks.