{"id":149196,"date":"2026-03-01T21:18:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T21:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/149196\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T21:18:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T21:18:25","slug":"4-hip-hop-albums-to-play-when-you-visit-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/149196\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Hip-Hop Albums To Play When You Visit New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York, the concrete jungle some call home and the city that never sleeps, the mecca of hip-hop. It dictated the trends, it led with its distinctive styles, and it gave birth to so many iconic artists over the years. Frank Sinatra<\/a> and Jay-Z<\/a> said it best: if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.<\/p>\n

This was especially true in hip-hop for a long time, NY acting as the focal point in which artists would become viable across the country. The identity of NY rap has shifted slightly to fit new stylings. But the essence of New York has always remained the same. Consequently, Noisey has selected four albums over the decades that depict NY\u2019s growth and cultural reflection in hip-hop. In doing so, someone who has never visited before can sample some of the energy they lead with every day.<\/p>\n

4 New York Hip-Hop Albums You Should Play When Visiting the Big Apple<\/p>\n

\u2018Illmatic\u2019 by Nas<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

Illmatic is the quintessential NY album. Few records are so vivid in how they depict their setting both lyrically and musically. \u201cLife\u2019s A B***h<\/a>\u201d is a sun peeking above an apartment building as Nas<\/a> and AZ reflect on their struggles and successes. \u201cNY State Of Mind<\/a>\u201d takes its grimy DJ Premier production and lends visions of dirty subways, tight apartment complexes, and danger in any alleyway. Skyscrapers, bodegas, and the sounds of trains passing by, Illmatic has a keen sense of texture and context to seamlessly define what New York sounds and looks like.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Blueprint\u2019 by Jay-Z<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

Released on the day of 9\/11, The Blueprint has taken on a new context within the New York ethos. It\u2019s Jay-Z<\/a> at the peak of his powers, where he created an empire from the chaos and rubble of an unfair system. It\u2019s a measure of perseverance as well as indulging in its luxuries. Because they beat the odds, it\u2019s only right they bask in it. Despite the tragedy, it still sold 427,000 copies, reflective of the hustler\u2019s mentality that comes with being a New Yorker.<\/p>\n

\u2018Meet The Woo 2\u2019 by Pop Smoke<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

As much as it\u2019d be easy to say records like Illmatic, The Blueprint, or even Wu-Tang Clan\u2019s Enter The 36 Chambers represent the NY State of Mind today, it wouldn\u2019t be completely correct. Although those records\u2019 DNA can still be found, New York is known for its malleability and innovation.<\/p>\n

However, during the 2010s, hip-hop was in a vice grip by seemingly everyone but them. Chicago, LA, Central\/South Florida and especially Atlanta were pumping out the most exciting artists of the moment. But by the end of the decade and into the 2020s, the late Brooklyn-bred Pop Smoke struck New York like a jolt of lightning. His gruff, Rottweiler voice and delivery gave credence to the state\u2019s bubbling drill scene. Meet The Woo 2 was his opus, a record that gritty street rappers still attempt to capture. An out-of-towner could immediately grasp the blockbuster energy he led with before his tragic death in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u20182 Slizzy 2 Sexy\u2019 by Cash Cobain and Chow Lee<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

Similar to Pop Smoke, Cash Cobain and Chow Lee don\u2019t exactly represent the romantic ideals of New York hip-hop. However, they do distill a magical energy that New Yorkers experience with \u2018Sexy Drill,\u2019 a sexy, extremely lusty sub-genre where sex, liquor, and hookah smoke reign supreme. <\/p>\n

2 Slizzy 2 Sexy laid the groundwork for this sound to take off. Cobain glues contemporary samples that give universal appeal at a drill tempo that cements it as an NY exclusive. Meanwhile, he and Chow Lee galavant in their horniness, listing off their freakiest inclinations fueled by whatever alcohol they could find. \u201cI hit it raw but it\u2019s feelin\u2019 like Friday Night Smackdown,\u201d Lee cheekily raps. It\u2019s decidedly fun above all else, a much-needed form of levity after losing artists like Pop Smoke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York, the concrete jungle some call home and the city that never sleeps, the mecca of hip-hop.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1123,2538,9,11,10,3287],"class_list":["post-149196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-hip-hop","tag-music","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-noisey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}