Are There Any More Great Years In Hip-Hop to Come?

Nearly three decades after a legendary run in 1998, the genre’s fragmented landscape raises questions about what greatness looks like now.

(Photo by Envato)

On Sept. 29, 1998, five (arguable) landmark hip-hop albums were released to the masses: Outkast’s Aquemini, Jay-Z’s Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life, A Tribe Called Quest’s The Love Movement, Brand Nubian’s The Foundation and Talib Kweli and Mos Def Are Blackstar, the title’s namesake duo. At this point, 27 years later, at least three of those albums are indisputable classics in the hip-hop canon (Aquemini, Vol. 2 and Blackstar). And that was just one day. Other hip-hop essentials released in 1998 include Gang Starr’s Moment of Truth, The Lox’s Money, Power, Respect and Eightball’s Lost. The list goes on and on.

Let us not forget that Lauryn Hill released her magnum opus, one of the GOAT albums ever, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, that same year. Oh, and who can forget an album that helped usher along a movement, Juvenile’s 400 Degreez, which featured both “Ha” and “Back Dat Azz Up,” two Southern classics that still move dancefloors today. To say that 1998 was a great year in hip-hop almost feels like an understatement.

It’s 2025, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt like “this was a great year for hip-hop.” Now, considering my moniker harkens to an album released in the early 1990s, I can and will acknowledge that I’m old and biased towards the 1990s and early aughts. Now this isn’t to say that amazing albums haven’t been released since 1998; of course, there have, with myriad artists from all over the hip-hop diaspora. I (try to) listen to them all. Kendrick Lamar, Doechii, J. Cole, JID, Lil Wayne, etc. The list of artists who continue to elevate and propel the art form forward is extensive. I just think it’s a lot harder to have a “great year in hip-hop” at this point in general.