personally, i was a bigger fan of it was written… don’t get me wrong, illmatic is beyond classic, but iww just did it for me… i might have 36 chambers on the list instead of cuban linx also… but OB4CL is classic too! top 5 is too tough
West coast gets no love?
yeah, It Was Written i agree is top 5 material, it’s an amazing album front to back, and lots of people don’t give it the props it deserves. But you gotta give it to Illmatic, it’s just too perfect and raw. 36 Chambers too is crazy of course, but lyrically and maybe even beatwise I think Cuban Linx is a step up for the Wu. Lots of close friends have argued Liquid Swords in there too, and I love Ironman alot myself, but Cuban Linx is the one for me. I also think Midnight Marauders is Top 5 material but it could never touch The Low End Theory. To me, this is my perfect Top 5 in terms of just quality beats and lyrics and styles and also impact on hip hop in general. But yeah, there’s some really dope hip hop albums that came out during that time period, a bunch of them, and in their own right they all deserve Top 5 status.
As for the west coast, well to me you’ve got a few classics from out there, but none will fall into my personal Top 5. People always mention The Chronic, but I like Doggystyle better. But my favorite west coast hip hop album is Del’s No Need For Alarm. I was born in Oakland and I’ve always been a fan, and have spent many thoughts wondering what type of hip hop music I would prefer if I never moved to New York, mainly because I just love classic NY hip hop more than any type of music. And it should be noted that Outkast’s first album is Top 5 status too, we used to bump the shit out of that in high school.
So this is my Top 5, and I stand by it proudly, but of course, there’s a ton of great albums out there, I could go on for a while listing them. There’s some new classics too from this decade, don’t sleep! I love hearing people’s opinions, so keep em coming.
Westcheddar 
personally, i was a bigger fan of it was written… don’t get me wrong, illmatic is beyond classic, but iww just did it for me… i might have 36 chambers on the list instead of cuban linx also… but OB4CL is classic too! top 5 is too tough
West coast gets no love?
yeah, It Was Written i agree is top 5 material, it’s an amazing album front to back, and lots of people don’t give it the props it deserves. But you gotta give it to Illmatic, it’s just too perfect and raw. 36 Chambers too is crazy of course, but lyrically and maybe even beatwise I think Cuban Linx is a step up for the Wu. Lots of close friends have argued Liquid Swords in there too, and I love Ironman alot myself, but Cuban Linx is the one for me. I also think Midnight Marauders is Top 5 material but it could never touch The Low End Theory. To me, this is my perfect Top 5 in terms of just quality beats and lyrics and styles and also impact on hip hop in general. But yeah, there’s some really dope hip hop albums that came out during that time period, a bunch of them, and in their own right they all deserve Top 5 status.
As for the west coast, well to me you’ve got a few classics from out there, but none will fall into my personal Top 5. People always mention The Chronic, but I like Doggystyle better. But my favorite west coast hip hop album is Del’s No Need For Alarm. I was born in Oakland and I’ve always been a fan, and have spent many thoughts wondering what type of hip hop music I would prefer if I never moved to New York, mainly because I just love classic NY hip hop more than any type of music. And it should be noted that Outkast’s first album is Top 5 status too, we used to bump the shit out of that in high school.
So this is my Top 5, and I stand by it proudly, but of course, there’s a ton of great albums out there, I could go on for a while listing them. There’s some new classics too from this decade, don’t sleep! I love hearing people’s opinions, so keep em coming.
I’d like to add Rza’s Bobby Digital to the list.