List of hip hop albums, exclusive

This is a list of influential albums in the history of hip hop music. The list has been derived from a more complete list at list of hip hop albums, inclusive, which collects the data from amateur and professional "best of" lists in order to create an aggregate list of the most influential albums in hip hop; this is the most frequently cited albums from that list.

Most-cited albums (in order, from most to least)

1. Dr. Dre - The Chronic (43)
2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (41)
3. Nas - Illmatic (29)
4. Notorious B.I.G - Ready to Die (28)
5. NWA - Straight Outta Compton (27)
6. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (26)
7. Tie (23)
   1. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
   2. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
8. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (19)
9. Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full (17)
10. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (16)
11. The Fugees - The Score (15)
12. Tie (14)
    1. Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
    2. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
13. Notorious B.I.G - Life After Death (12)
14. Tie (11)
    1. Tupac Shakur - Me Against the World
    2. Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
15. Tie (10)
    1. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
    2. GZA - Liquid Swords
    3. OutKast - Aquemini
    4. Run-D.M.C - Raising Hell
    5. Tupac Shakur - All Eyez on Me
    6. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

The most frequently-cited album by a woman is Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (6). The following were tied for second place with three citations.

• Erykah Badu's Baduizm
• Missy Elliott's Supa Dupa Fly and Under Construction
• Queen Latifah's All Hail the Queen
• Salt-N-Pepa's Hot, Cool and Vicious
• TLC's Crazysexycool