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    On 11th August 1973, hip hop was born, at a birthday party in the Bronx. Ever since this day, the music genre has had a monumental impact on the creative arts.

    Over the years, weve listened to the likes of Jay-Z, Outkast, 2pac, Snoop Dogg and The Notorious B.I.G. express themselves over head-bopping beats and intoxicating rhythms.

    Today, we still cant get enough as the likes of Lil Baby, Cardi B, Travis Scott, Roddy Rich, Megan Thee Stallion and, of course, Drake and Kanye who are carrying the torch, keeping the storied genre alive.

    Unfortunately, the numbers are pretty unclear when it comes to the best-selling hip hop albums, but are enough stats out there for us to compile a rough list of the best-selling hip hop albums of all time, at least.

    Below, we get nostalgic about albums such as Fugees’ The Score and 50 Cents Get Rich or Die Tryin’, and pick out the key hip hop records set to drop in 2022.

    30 Best-Selling Hip Hop Albums of All Time

    • The Eminem Show – Eminem
    • The Score – Fugees
    • The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem
    • The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill
    • Please Hammer Dont Hurt Em – MC Hammer
    • Crazy Sexy Cool – TLC
    • To the Extreme – Vanilla Ice
    • Devil Without a Cause – Kid Rock
    • Curtain Call: The Hits – Eminem
    • Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – Outkast
    • Get Rich or Die Tryin – 50 Cent
    • Big Willie Style – Will Smith
    • Encore – Eminem
    • Nellyville – Nelly
    • Doggystyle – Snoop Dogg
    • The Massacre – 50 Cent
    • 2001 – Dr. Dre
    • Greatest Hits – 2Pac
    • Life After Death – Notorious B.I.G.
    • E. 1999 Eternal – Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
    • Licensed to III – Beastie Boys
    • All Eyez on Me – Tupac Shakur
    • Country Grammar – Nelly
    • Recovery – Eminem
    • The Slim Shady LP – Eminem
    • Monkey Business – The Black Eyed Peas
    • Elephunk – The Black Eyed Peas
    • No Way Out – Puff Daddy
    • Vol.2…Hard Knock Life – Jay-Z
    • Very Necessary – Salt-n-Pepa

    The Eminem Show – Eminem

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 27 million

    Label(s): Shady, Aftermath and Interscope

    Release date: 26th May 2002

    Spotify streams: 3 billion

    The Score – Fugees

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 22 million

    Label(s): Ruffhouse and Columbia

    Release date: 13th February 1996

    Spotify streams: 890 million

    The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 21 million

    Label(s): Aftermath and Interscope

    Release date: 23rd May 2000

    Spotify streams: 2.2 billion

    The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 20 million

    Label(s): Ruffhouse and Columbia

    Release date: 25th August 1998

    Spotify streams: 815 million

    Please Hammer Dont Hurt Em – MC Hammer

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 18 million

    Label(s): Capitol and EMI Records

    Release date: 12 February 1990

    Spotify streams: Unknown

    CrazySexyCool – TLC

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 15 million

    Label(s): LaFace and Arista

    Release date: 15th November 1994

    Spotify streams: 267 million

    To the Extreme – Vanilla Ice

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 15 million

    Label(s): SBK and EMI

    Release date: 3rd September 1990

    Spotify streams: Unknown

    Devil Without a Cause – Kid Rock

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 15 million

    Label(s): Atlantic, Lava and Top Dog

    Release date: 18th August 1998

    Spotify streams: Unknown

    Curtain Call: The Hits – Eminem

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 13 million

    Label(s): Shady, Aftermath and Interscope

    Release date: 6th December 2005

    Spotify streams: 5.1 billion

    Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – Outkast

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 13 million

    Label(s): Arista

    Release date: 23rd September 2003

    Spotify streams: 1.2 billion

    Get Rich or Die Tryin’ – 50 Cent

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 12 million

    Label(s): Interscope, Aftermath, Shady and G-Unit

    Release date: 6th February 2003

    Spotify streams: 2.3 billion

    Big Willie Style – Will Smith

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 12 million

    Label(s): Columbia

    Release date: 25th November 1997

    Spotify streams: 612 million

    Encore – Eminem

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 11 million

    Label(s): Aftermath, Shady and Interscope

    Release date: 12th November 2004

    Spotify streams: 1.4 billion

    Nellyville – Nelly

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 11 million

    Label(s): Universal and FoReel

    Release date: 25th June 2002

    Spotify streams: 929 million

    Doggystyle – Snoop Dogg

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 11 million

    Label(s): Death Row and Interscope

    Release date: 23rd November 1993

    Spotify streams: 746 million

    The Massacre – 50 Cent

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 11 million

    Label(s): Shady, Aftermath, G-Unit and Interscope

    Release date: 3rd March 2005

    Spotify streams: 1.1 billion

    2001 – Dr. Dre

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 10 million

    Label(s): Aftermath and Interscope

    Release date: 16th November 1999

    Spotify streams: 2.6 billion

    Greatest Hits – 2Pac

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 10 million

    Label(s): Amaru, Death Row and Interscope

    Release date: 24th November 1998

    Spotify streams: 2 billion

    Life After Death – The Notorious B.I.G.

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 10 million

    Label(s): Bad Boy and Arista

    Release date: 25th March 1997

    Spotify streams: 1.4 billion

    E. 1999 Eternal – Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 10 million

    Label(s): Ruthless and Relativity

    Release date: 25th July 1995

    Spotify streams: Unknown

    Licensed to III – Beastie Boys

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 10 million

    Label(s): Def Jam and Columbia

    Release date: 15th November 1986

    Spotify streams: Unknown

    All Eyez on Me – 2Pac

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 10 million

    Label(s): Death Row and Interscope

    Release date: 13th February 1996

    Spotify streams: 1.9 billion

    Country Grammar – Nelly

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 10 million

    Label(s): Universal and FoReel

    Release date: 27th June 2000

    Spotify streams: 620 million

    Recovery – Eminem

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 10 million

    Label(s): Shady, Aftermath and Interscope

    Release date: 18th June 2010

    Spotify streams: 2.9 billion

    The Slim Shady LP – Eminem

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 10 million

    Label(s): Aftermath and Interscope

    Release date: 23rd February 1999

    Spotify streams: 1 billion

    Monkey Business – The Black Eyed Peas

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 9 million

    Label(s): will.i.am, Interscope and A&M

    Release date: 25th May 2005

    Spotify streams: 817 million

    Elephunk – The Black Eyed Peas

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 9 million

    Label(s): A&M, will.i.am

    Release date: 24th June 2003

    Spotify streams: 865 million

    No Way Out – Puff Daddy

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 8 million

    Label(s): Bad Boy and Arista

    Release date: 22nd July 1997

    Spotify streams: Unknown

    Vol.2…Hard Knock Life – Jay-Z

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 8 million

    Label(s): Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam

    Release date: 29th September 1998

    Spotify streams: Unknown

    Very Necessary – Salt-n-Pepa

    Estimated worldwide album sales: 7 million

    Label(s): Next Plateau and London

    Release date: 12th October 1993

    Spotify streams: Unknown

    Hip Hop Albums of 2022

    Here are the hip hop albums due this year that were most looking forward to. From Kendrick Lamar to Cardi B, we wonder if any of these albums could miraculously surpass Eminems current record.

    Kendrick Lamar

    As one of the undisputed kings of contemporary hip-hop, Kung Fu Kenny’s forthcoming fifth album is one of 2022’s most anticipated releases in any genre.

    And if his verses on Baby Keems 2021 record The Melodic Blue are anything to go by, were in for a real treat.

    Cordae

    Since dropping the YBN tag from his stage name, Cordae has grown up. Clearly, hes no longer the lost boy he portrayed himself to be in his debut studio album.

    Bearing this in mind, were expecting a more mature take on hip hop from his sophomore album, officially titled From A Birds Eye View.

    Cardi B

    Considering that she’s one of the most famous people on the planet, its quite astonishing that Cardi B has only dropped one studio album.

    Of course, weve got extremely high expectations when it comes to her 2022 record – were hoping for more Insta caption-worthy lyrics, an assortment of exciting features and an abundance of boss energy.

    Gunna

    Gunna is constantly attracting attention, whether its for his white-hot albums, his unique sense of style or his unlikely friendships with other industry insiders.

    Consequently, theres a lot of talk about his next project, Drip Season 4.

    According to his recent Insta post, the record will feature Chlöe Bailey, Kodak Black, Lil Baby, Chris Brown and more. Could we be any more excited?!

    Pusha T

    Ex-Clipse man Pusha T may be a little controversial at times, but his music always delivers.

    It’s no wonder then that we’re chomping at the bit to hear the Virginia-raised rapper’s forthcoming 12-track album, not least because his last LP, DAYTONA, was our favourite Pusha T project to date.

    Music for Your Next Project

    So, there you have it – the 30 top-selling hip hop albums of all time and the hip hop albums to look out for 2022.

    The artist to beat? Eminem, by a (8) mile. Not only does the rapper seemingly have the best-selling album of all time (The Eminem Show), but five more of his albums were also successful enough to make the cut.

    Evidently, it is Marshall Bruce Mathers III who aspiring artists should be taking notes from if theyre looking to crack the code of commercial hip hop success.

    Aspiring filmmakers, podcasters, vloggers, TV producers and advertisers may be more interested in cracking the code of the perfect production – this is something that we can help with.

    Here at Audio Network, we store over 200,000 licensable background music tracks that you can employ for your creative projects.

    From pop to rock to hip hop, weve got music of every genre to help you evoke any mood imaginable.

    Head over to our playlist and discover pages to get better acquainted with our ever-expanding catalogue of high-quality tracks and find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!

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