Am I the only person who doesn't like Jay-Z at all? He's got good lyrics, great rhymes and all, but there's something about his flow that is just wrong. I've tried but I just can't listen to him.
When I was in college Digable Planets' "Blowout Comb" didn't leave the CD player for months at a time. I still listen to it, even though it's a little dated, it's still better than most of the stuff out there.
Around that same time period my favorite albums were Ice Cube's "The Predator," the first Cypress Hill album, Public Enemy's "Apocalypse '91," Nas's "Illmatic" and Biggie's "Ready to Die."