In professional sports, players receive awards like Rookie of the Year. The trophy marks the newcomer who had the best season over a given 12 months. Well, given that, doesn’t it seem like there should be an award for best debut album? Why should sports leagues have all the fun! And in the 1990s, if there was such an award, it would surely have gone to these three rappers here below. Indeed, we wanted to highlight the golden age of rap music—the iconic decade of the 1990s—and examine three debut albums released then that were simply off the charts. Three LPs that both marked artists’ solo entry into the rap space and that have since proven to be timeless. These are three iconic rap debut albums from the 1990s that still slap. Illmatic by Nas (1994)In 1994, New York City-born rapper Nas released his debut LP, Illmatic. With that, he re-set the bar about a skyscraper high. The album features a legendary ode to the Big Apple, one of the greatest rap features of all time (on “Life’s a Bitch”) and remains a blueprint for how you can find success as a thinker, an observer and an entertainer all at once. Nas is brutal in his depictions of the world. But he lacks not an ounce of honesty as he elucidates the human experience. Bar for bar, he might be the best ever. And this LP kicked it off. The Chronic by Dr. Dre (1992)While most rap fans got to know Dr. Dre from the Compton, California-born rap collective N.W.A., he went solo after that group dissolved and released his debut LP The Chronic in 1992. Not only was it a smash success for the producer and rapper but the album also introduced lyricist Snoop Dogg to the world. What a two-for! The Chronic set up the next several decades for Dre, who famously also discovered Eminem and went on to found the Beats headphones giant. Today, The Chronic is not only thought of as one of the best debuts ever but one of the best rap albums ever—period. Black on Both Sides by Mos Def (1999)Released at the very end of the decade, this album from Mos Def encapsulates the power and style that rap music boasts. But it does so without a thirst for commercial success. Instead, it does so with a sense of personal fulfillment. Mos Def is an artist. He is hip-hop. While rap fans got to know him from his time in the group Black Star with rapper Talib Kweli, this was Mos’ debut solo LP. With songs like “Fear Not of Man,” “Umi Says” and “Ms. Fat Booty,” this is an incredible record—leave the fast-forward button behind. The post 3 Iconic Rap Debut Albums From the 1990s That Still Slap appeared first on VICE.