The Top 10 Rap Albums of 1986
I’m looking back at the entire history of hip hop. Last time, we looked at the Golden Age. With 1986, we get enough proper albums that we can do a ranking of a single year.
1986 was the year where the New School artists took over the genre. Sure, Cool J and Run-DMC put out albums in ’84/’85, but this is where the best of rap was focused on the newer sound and traditional old school artists began to fade away. Rap was still shifting at this time, struggling to shed off the novelty aspects of early rap, beginning to move forward as a true form of artistic expression, and pushing boundaries to force record companies to allow performers to bring their street game to wax.
10. Good Music by Joan Jett. Okay, I couldn’t find ten 1986 albums that I still find rewarding to listen to today, even if only as a curiosity. If you think I’m wrong, drop me a note OR take a sharpie to your screen, cross this out, and write in your pick. I’m putting this here because how many people remember Joan Jett’s collaboration with Melle Mel and Grandmaster Flash? Okay, it’s not as good as Blondie’s “Rapture” but it’s definitely … Interesting …
9. Back in Black by Whodini. Not much to say here. Whodini were electro-rap, which was dying off even in 1986, but they were great at it.
8. Saturday Night by Schoolly D. There’s definitely an offensive-in-the-bad-way lyric here, especially directed at homosexuals, but if you’re able to skip over that bar this is still vintage Schoolly D–a forefather to gangster rap and East Coast grime.
7. Oh, My God! by Doug E. Fresh. This was Doug E.’s debut, and it had reggae influences–which wasn’t common at this time. Of course, nothing was common at this time–rap singles were spotty and albums were a rarity. Doug E. Fresh went down in history as the first “human beatbox,” predating the Fat Boys in history but not in recording. The FBs got a record deal first because, I assume, novelty rap was the dominate currency at this time.
6. On Fire by Stetsasonic. Early Prince Paul production.
5. Hot, Cool, and Vicious by Salt N Pepa. An early example that rap can be just as good when it’s got two X chromosomes—and first platinum album by a woman (or women) in this genre. Not a great album, but a solid one. Key songs: Push It, I’ll Take Your Man.
4. Back to the Old School by Just-Ice. Produced by Manotronix, as this album was released, Just-Ice was arrested and charged with an execution-style murder. He was later cleared and released. I wonder if that helped sales back in the 1980s?
3. Planet Rock: The Album by Afrika Bambaataa. Okay, the title track came out a few years earlier—but the album added more long-form hip hop songs like “Renegades of Funk,” which later was the name-checked inspiration for a Rage Against the Machine song. This album sounds like if you gave a 10-year old access to buttons that would make all kinds of wild noises and two turntables and asked him to chant and go nuts. And the kid turned out to be Mozart. There is so much going on in each of the songs on this album that it’s still a rich and rewarding listen, even a quarter century later. You can hear how hip hop brings together jazz, blues, rock, spoken word, community, and the need to move your body. Not just a great album, an incredibly important one as well.
2. Licensed to Ill by The Beastie Boys. Dismissed as frat rap, it’s important to remember that this album had true chops (No Sleep Til Brooklyn, Paul Revere), the definitive party anthem of the day (Fight For Your Right), drinking and sex (She’s Crafty, Brass Monkey), and “real” hip hop songs that even today feel fresh and powerful (Rhymin’ and Stealin’, Slow and Low). Just skip “Girls.” It’s awful.
1. Raising Hell by Run-DMC. This album is basically a greatest hits album. I’m not singling any specific songs out because Goddamn, every song is amazing. It’s also got the first rock/rap collaboration, with Aerosmith. I never thought, 40 years later, that more people would remember Run-DMC than Steve and Joe…
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