40 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of the ’90s (COMPLETE LIST)
Whenever anyone brings up hip hop’s golden era, chances are they’re talking about the ’90s. Originating in the Bronx in the 1970s, the genre that would later become a global phenomenon grew substantially in the ’80s and, by the time the ’90s rolled around, had fully matured both artistically and commercially.
When you think about hip hop in that decade, two names hover above the rest: 2Pac (“California Love”) and The Notorious B.I.G. (“Hypnotize”). If you’ll recall, though, the ’90s was also a period in which hip hop expanded from being purely a coastal phenomenon. Southern anthems like “Back That Thang Up” by Juvenile and Fiend, Silkk, Mia-X and Mystikal-featured Master P song, “Make Em Say Uhh!,” dominated the charts. Meanwhile, the East and West Coasts held it down with their own distinctive hits, respectively, including Jay-Z’s “Can I Get A…” and Warren G ft. Nate Dogg’s “Regulate.” If any of the aforementioned songs come on right now, in any region, hip hop fans will react. And that acknowledgment likely manifests with head bobbing, rapping along, or dancing.
So, what are you waiting for? VH1 is celebrating hip hop’s “golden era” with our long-running series, The Greatest: 40 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of the ’90s, and the full list starts here! Don’t forget to listen to our collection of timeless tracks on Spotify and, while you’re at it, subscribe here to VH1′s 40 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of the ’90s playlist.
"Back That Thang Up" – Juvenile
Album: 400 Degreez
Year: 1999
Juve and his Hot Boyz taught mainstream America how to "walk it like a dog," and for that, we should all be eternally grateful.
“I’ll Be Missing You” – Puff Daddy ft. Faith Evans & 112
Album: No Way Out
Year: 1997
Who could possibly forget when Sting joined Puff on stage at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards to mourn the loss of his friend and label signee, Biggie Smalls.
“Summertime” – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Album: Homebase
Year: 1991
Before Will hit it big with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, this friends-since-childhood duo recorded a summer anthem that eventually won a Grammy for Best Rap Single in 1991.
“I Wish” – Skee-lo
Album: I Wish
Year: 1991
Whether you felt bad for him or found him deserving of ridicule, this Chicago-born rapper had a catchy song that still gets referenced today in discussions about height.
“Still Not A Player” – Big Punisher ft. Joe
Album: Capital Punishment
Year: 1998
Latin’s Going Platinum! Another MC gone too soon, Pun made this still-incredible Uptown record one that we’ll dance and party to until the world ends.
“Whatta Man” – Salt-N-Pepa ft. En Vogue
Album: Very Necessary
Year: 1993
When two of the era’s most popular female crews collaborated, a ladies anthem for the ages was born. The icing on top? It saluted the men out there who know how to treat a woman right!
“Insane In The Brain” – Cypress Hill
Album: Black Sunday
Year: 1993
With the help of an instantly recognizable DJ Muggs beat, this West Coast rap group injected hysteria into the population’s zeitgeist.
“Shimmy Shimmy Ya” – Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Album: Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version
Year: 1995
Always keeping it real with the no-holds-barred verbals, O.D.B. came out the gate letting us know that condom use, to him, is frowned upon. Stay strapped, kids!
“Jump Around” – House Of Pain
Album: House of Pain
Year: 1992
Before the homie Everlast went solo and started singing in a different genre, he, Danny Boy and DJ Lethal gave everyone a legit reason to, you know, JUMP.
“Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” – DMX
Album: It’s Dark and Hell is Hot
Year: 1998
If you don’t get pumped up listening to this classic New York anthem, then you have no love for rap music. Pure Ruff Ryder magic, this track was released when DMX was in his prime and Swizzy’s beats were all over NY radio.
“Tennessee” – Arrested Development
Album: 3 Years, 5 Months, & 2 Days in the Life Of…
Year: 1992
Not only did this curious and somber song win Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1993, but the video, shot in Georgia, remains iconic to this day.
Album: Regulate… G Funk Era
Year: 1994
Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole! In this G-Funk classic, Nate Dogg came to the rescue of his boy Warren G. so that they could execute their planned night of canoodling with ladies at the East Side Motel.
“911 Is A Joke” – Public Enemy
Album: Fear of a Black Planet
Year: 1990
Public Enemy’s first Top 40 hit, this Bomb Squad-produced song shed light on the slow response time of emergency assistance in black neighborhoods.
“Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” – Digable Planets
Album: Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
Year: 1992
Another Grammy winner, this song was the trio’s only Top 40 hit. Using jazz in the song’s soundbed was still a relatively new production technique, but became an infectious trend during the time period.
“Now That We Found Love” – Heavy D and The Boyz
Album: Peaceful Journey
Year: 1991
Both sassy and sincere, this track had a hook that became embedded in your brain, whether you liked it or not. Not to mention, Heavy D and his brightly-colored outfits got it in in the video!
“The Choice Is Yours” – Black Sheep
Album: A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing
Year: 1991
Members of the Native Tongues’ clique served up some options for listeners with a dance-floor instigating song that features the infamous “engine, engine, number 9″ line we all know and love.
"I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By” – Method Man ft. Mary J. Blige
Album: Tical
Year: 1995
Balancing gritty with heartfelt, supportive lyrics, Meth hits Mary J. with a solid assist on this hood-turned-mainstream love song.
Album: Ghetto D
Year: 1998
No Limit’s glory days; there was a tank in the video, and Mystikal wasn’t yet locked up for sexual assault.
“Hypnotize” – The Notorious B.I.G
Album: Life After Death
Year: 1996
Rapping about everything from Blues Clues to “sex in expensive cars,” Biggie helped Bad Boy keep momentum with this timeless record that features Total’s Pamela Long on the enchanting hook.
Album: Volume 2… Hard Knock Life
Year: 1998
Just a bit of advice: Never perform this song at a work karaoke party. It’s naughtier than we all remember, but Amil and Ja help Jigga with the heavy lifting.
“O.P.P.” – Naughty By Nature
Album: Naughty By Nature
Year: 1991
Hailing from New Jersey, the Naughty by Nature boys struck gold with the Jackson 5 sample of “ABC” and a contagious chorus that asked if we were down with O(ther) P(eoples’) P(roblems).
“Scenario” – A Tribe Called Quest
Album: The Low End Theory
Year: 1992
Aiding in ATCQ’s transition to the mainstream listener’s ear, “Scenario” exploded with a technologically progressive video and gave Busta Rhymes his rapping debut. Rah, Rah, like a dungeon dragon!
“Doo Wop (That Thing)” – Lauryn Hill
Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Year: 1998
L-Boogie knew her audience well, and pandered to both genders in the song that earned her Grammys for the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song in 1999.
“C.R.E.A.M.” – Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Year: 1994
Produced by RZA, “C.R.E.A.M.” was the raspy second single from the Staten Island hip hop collective and is often considered the group’s most successful track.
“The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” – Missy Elliott
Album: Supa Dupa Fly
Year: 1997
Missy and Timbaland were lethal in the ’90s, and this early Misdemeanor Top 20 hit was accompanied by a Hype Williams-directed visual. Word to the fisheye lens and the trash bag, right?
“U Can’t Touch This” – MC Hammer
Album: Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em
Year: 1990
Hammer pants first made their debut on the Arsenio Hall show, and “Stop… Hammertime” was a widely used motto in the early ’90s as a result of this hip hop crossover’s “too legit to quit” power.
“Mama Said Knock You Out” – LL Cool J
Album: Mama Said Knock You Out
Year: 1991
Shirtless in the middle of a boxing ring is how you picture LL when you think of this endearingly tough Marly Marl-produced song that revved the engine for his career and earned him a Grammy in ’92.
“So Wat’Cha Want” – Beastie Boys
Album: Check Your Head
Year: 1992
The second single from the already-established group’s third album, “So Wat’Cha Want” lit up the summer of ’92 and bestowed upon us some pretty wild photo negative visuals in the video.
“Baby Got Back” – Sir Mix-A-Lot
Album: Mack Daddy
Year: 1992
Not a man to mince words, Sir Mix-A-Lot got busy describing his desires in this early ’90s ode to ladies with large rear-ends.
“Gangsta’s Paradise” – Coolio ft. LV
Album: Gangsta’s Paradise
Year: 1995
Not only was this creepy-sounding song on the Dangerous Minds soundtrack, but the video featured the film’s star, Michelle Pfeiffer, having a staring contest with the Compton rapper.
“Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” – Busta Rhymes
Album: When Disaster Strikes…
Year: 1997
Another Hype-directed video, Busta already had his footing as an artist, and burst on the scene with a tribal themed video to support his second album’s lead single. Glow paint, y’all – buy some.
“It Was A Good Day” – Ice Cube
Album: The Predator
Year: 1993
Taking a break from his gangster South Central lifestyle, Cube took some time out to tell us about a liesurely day in his life where positive vibes were on full flourish.
“Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” – Jay-Z
Album: Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life
Year: 1998
A specialist at piggy-backing on pop culture iconography, Hova used music from Broadway musical Annie to help paint a picture of his experiences growing up in New York City’s concrete jungle.
“My Name Is” – Eminem
Album: The Slim Shady LP
Year: 1999
“My Name Is” was Em’s rambunctious introduction to the world, and with the help of Dr. Dre and in-your-face controversial imagery in the video, it clearly accomplished everything they aimed to, plus more.
“Killing Me Softly” – Fugees
Album: The Score
Year: 1996
Before her Miseducation album, Lauryn Hill’s vocals spilled into radio airwaves and had little girls singing into their hair brushes and women grabbing for kleenex.
“Gin & Juice” – Snoop Dogg
Album: Doggystyle
Year: 1994
Yes, Snoop, you may kick something for the Gs. In addition to giving America an idea of the laid-back, West Coast lifestyle, the video captured one of the best behind-your-parents’ back house parties ever.
“Mo Money Mo Problems” – The Notorious B.I.G. ft. Puff Daddy & Mase
Album: Life After Death
Year: 1997
In Bad Boy’s heyday, Puffy made sure everything was over-the-top. Seeing him and Ma$e in character on a golf course for the Bad Boy World Champion PGA Tour in the video was an entertaining substitute for an already-deceased Biggie Smalls.
"Nuthin’ But A G Thang” – Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg
Album: The Chronic
Year: 1992
The first single off of his debut solo album, “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” is Dre’s only song in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. With a barbeque and beach volleyball-filled video, the Cali producer and rapper earned major cool points for his innovative sound early in the decade.
Album: All Eyez On Me
Year: 1995
From this Dre and Pac collabo, a timeless Cali anthem emerged alongside a video of epic proportions, nodding to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
“Juicy” – The Notorious B.I.G. ft. Total
Album: Ready To Die
Year: 1994
Everyone knows this song, even your grandmother; spread love, it’s the Brooklyn way! Just like #2 on our list was for Dre, “Juicy” was Biggie’s first single and, in most cases, is rapped word for word by fans -hardcore and fairweather alike – within earshot.
Now that you're back in the '90s groove, check out this exclusive Spotify playlist for The Breaks soundtrack, featuring classics from De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy and more!
Gotta have more '90s? Check out this sneak peek of VH1's The Breaks below, and be sure to tune in The Breaks Monday, February 20th + 9/8c on VH1!