Here we are at 1994. Like I mentioned in the '93 post, this is one of personal favorite years in hip-hop. Just by looking at the list and noticing the 20-30 other classic tracks that have been excluded should speak volumes bout just how much good music dropped throughout the year. Many hip-hop heads widely consider '94 as the birth of a new era in the game, the peak of the genre, and a time where the quality of the music came before everything for both the artists and labels. Forget classic tracks...The sheer amount of classic albums produced during the year is just insane. You'd be hard pressed to find another 12-15 month span where such careful calculation and effort went into the making of albums. Plus, it was a time where radio was not discriminating against any music at all, as long as it was hot, it would get played. There was no such thing as a go-to producer charging half a mil for beats, or remixes with 15 guests, or even an Akon or T-Pain singing every hook on every single. Not only was there was none of that, but all types of artists from every region got equal opportunity to shine without anyone hating. By my calculations, there was a classic album dropping almost once a month! Just off the top...Nas - Illmatic, Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die, Common - Resurrection, Outkast - Southernplayalistic..., O.C. - Word...Life, Gangstarr - Hard To Earn, Pete Rock + CL Smooth - The Main Ingredient, Above The Law - Uncle Sam's Curse (Criminally slept on album + group), Method Man - Tical, The Roots - Do You Want More, and Jeru - The Sun Rises In The East all dropped that year plus I can't forget the classics released in late '93...Black Moon - Enta Da Stage, Redman - Dare Iz A Darkside, Wu-Tang - Enter The 36 Chambers, + Tribe Called Quest's - Midnight Marauders. Come on now! As far as I'm concerned that was hip-hop's peak right there...I don't think it's possible to ever recreate that kind of greatness in a year ever again. And Common had the nerve to drop "I Used To Love H.E.R" during this year...how ironic and pathetic is that?? Talk about not knowin what you got 'til it's gone...