Here's the thing - I respect that people are gonna have their favorites based on what era they grew up on. But if you come at me as a 'hip hop fan', and you haven't done your homework, I can't take you seriously.
I'm 30. The very first rap album I remember loving as a kid was "The Funky Headhunter". Because my dad played it. When I started listening to rap on my own, the first album that really put me into hip hop was "Harlem World". This was 1997. I LOVED that album.
Just because you grew up in an era doesn't make that era the best. My era is technically 97-2004. But having done my homework, my favorite era is 93-2000. Particularly 93-97.
If you consider yourself a hip hop fan, you owe it to yourself to go back and listen to what the genre has offered. Really take it in and understand each era. I have OGs who put me on to stuff pre-1985. I believe I've heard most major recordings from 1980 onwards. Or at least have an idea of why Run DMC were so influential, and how they were different from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
The great thing about hip hop is that it gets surprisingly easy to figure out who was really dope and who was not so dope. The classics jump out at you. Nobody hears "Top Billin" and thinks: 'yeah, this record sucks'. Or The Bridge. Or Freaks Come Out At Night. whatever.
and the only reason why 80s rappers get short-changed (though the 80s blended into the 90s and OGs I know consider the 80s/90s to be very closely linked) is because their careers were shorter. and the great 90s rappers who came after them really did their homework, so it became hard for them to compete. Can you really say Nas is iller than KRS-One? No. But Nas has had a longer career than KRS, had access to more amazing producers, and thus has made more bangers. If we were to compile a list of superb tracks, Nas would have more. That doesn't take anything away from KRS; he dropped amazing music in his time.
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