“I think 2 albums define the era: Dr. Dre - The Chronic & Nevermind - Nirvana; those 2 albums by themselves held the 90’s together IMO” Idalis DeLeon

[RennisDeynolds]

All Eyez on Me >>>>>>>> the chronic

 

[I love Latina women]

Definitely true for the early 90's.

Two groundbreaking projects that spawned whole sounds and opened the floodgates for copycats and labels to try and go in the same direction.

She's right about that.

Yup

Those albums were cultural shifts in the music and society at that time

It's not about sales though.

Because if it were, we'd be talking Hammer, Whitney, Celine Dion, Garth Brooks and Metallica and sh*t like that.

She said two albums, not artists. The Chronic changed Hip Hop, more than any other project for the first 1/2 of the decade. And anybody that was around back then, knows that Nevermind did the exact same for grunge/rock. It's not about sales or who we think was better. It's about impact. Which is why Buzz from The Melvins said, "We taught Nirvana everything, and they took what we gave them and became the face of the era." That's just a fact.

Exactly

And that’s what so many who talk about sales these days always don’t understand.

They miss the whole part about the impact albums like The Chronic and Nevermind had and I think it’s because they’re either too young to remember or weren’t born yet and now are looking back at it with 2025 eyes with just going by how much an album sold.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

It’s the safest bet. It’s the album that made it to every block, hood to the burbs, changed the paradigm of the genre

 

[Piff Perkins]

I don't know why people try to define an entire decade off of one or 2 albums. This is the dumbest shyt ever. The entire 90s wasn't an era. Eras change sometimes every 2 years. In the 90s we started in the pro black era, went to the gangsta rap era, that overlapped with the boom bap era, then shifted to the jiggy/80s sampled hits loops era, which went to down south and the street era again with DMX. All of that took place in 10 years of the 90s in hip hop. In Nirvana's form of music, there were multiple You had Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. We were not just listening to 3 or 4 albums in the 10 year period of the 90s

The argument would be that there are certain albums that become bookmarks in history, that influence everything that came after. Illmatic fits that bill for rap, as does 36 Chambers. I get the argument for Nevermind but if I had to pick a definitive rock album for the 90s it's Loveless from My Bloody Valentine. Changed how guitars sounded and how they were recorded, similar to Coltrane changing saxophones or Miles Davis altering the sound of jazz.

And then you could argue the next bookend from there is Ok Computer in 1997. Nevermind has to be on the list but I don't see an argument for it being ahead of either of those albums.

Beyond rap and rock...club scenes were heavily influential in the 90s and spawned a lot of wild albums that had major impact. Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope for instance. Or Portishead's Dummy.

 

[Awesome Wells]

All Eyez on Me >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[Ziggiy]

I don't know why people try to define an entire decade off of one or 2 albums. This is the dumbest shyt ever. The entire 90s wasn't an era. Eras change sometimes every 2 years. In the 90s we started in the pro black era, went to the gangsta rap era, that overlapped with the boom bap era, then shifted to the jiggy/80s sampled hits loops era, which went to down south and the street era again with DMX. All of that took place in 10 years of the 90s in hip hop. In Nirvana's form of music, there were multiple You had Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. We were not just listening to 3 or 4 albums in the 10 year period of the 90s

I truly feel the only singular album that could PERHAPS define an entire decade is Thriller. And even then there are arguments for Purple Rain, The Joshua Tree, Back in Black, etc.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

That's true for the Rolling Stones "Rockist" POV of the EARLY 90s of general American pop music culture! Nowhere close to being true for the mid to late 90s.

 

[Ashtrey]

Dookie by Green Day is a contender. I saw a cultural shift amongst the cacs at my school plus on MTV, etc. Pop punk became mainstream after that whereas punk in the 70s and 80s was counterculture.

Chronic and Nevermind def 1 and 2 tho.

For me Diary Of A Mad Band should be mentioned too. It wasnt HUGE but R&B went from Boyz II Men to thuggish after that album from my perspective.

 

[Awesome Wells]

Yup

Those albums were cultural shifts in the music and society at that time

Exactly

And that’s what so many who talk about sales these days always don’t understand.

They miss the whole part about the impact albums like The Chronic and Nevermind had and I think it’s because they’re either too young to remember or weren’t born yet and now are looking back at it with 2025 eyes with just going by how much an album sold.

FACTS!

I was just about to say, they weren't there. No lie, n*ggas in Harlem loved f*ckin' "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Some albums and songs reach way beyond what's expected in an audience. That's literally the only grunge or rock joint I've ever heard played at the Rucker. Sh*t was undeniable.

Nobody cared or knew how much anything sold. It was just about whether or not the sh*t was everywhere! Some albums you just couldn't escape!

 

[Whips-n-Chains]

All Eyez on Me >>>>>>>> the chronic

You might like it more, but AEOM wasn't more impactful or influential than The Chronic. shyt, without The Chronic, AEOM never even gets made.

 

[bigde09]

Lol east coast dusties were fuming reading the thread title

Puff himself said Chronic was the biggest influence on Ready to Die

All Eyez on Me was the biggest influence on Life After Death. both are west coast albums

 

[bigde09]

NY rappers were barely going gold in the 90s

 

[King Poetic]

The chronic changed hip hop And had all kind of rappers changing their style to more street/gangsta vibe

 

[AMcV'88]

on a smaller scale Jay's The Blueprint and The Strokes Is This It is the definitive early 00's New York version of this.

 

[I love Latina women]

FACTS!

I was just about to say, they weren't there. No lie, n*ggas in Harlem loved f*ckin' "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Some albums and songs reach way beyond what's expected in an audience. That's literally the only grunge or rock joint I've ever heard played at the Rucker. Sh*t was undeniable.

Nobody cared or knew how much anything sold. It was just about whether or not the sh*t was everywhere! Some albums you just couldn't escape!

Yeah, back then, we were not paying attention to sales.

We loved the music when it was great.

Oh I believe it!

I was in VA and for us down here, it was the same way. Yeah, those albums transcended beyond their target audience.

Great music was great music and Nirvana was one of those groups a who’s who of everyone embraced because the music was undeniable

I don’t even know if I can really explain how impactful The Chronic was because that album had like a domino effect on hip hop. That’s the first hip hop I got in trouble listening to! Lol

There’s will be another time like that again.