The Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death (1997)

Label: Bad Boy Records

One of the few double discs in hip-hop history that doesn't feel padded with filler, Biggie's prophetically titled, posthumously released sophomore album stands as the crowning achievement of his all-too-brief career, demonstrating the full range of his lyrical brilliance, from club bangers like "Hypnotize" to Primo classics like "10 Crack Commandments" and "Kick In The Door" and the double-time mastery of "Notorious Thugs." Biggie Smalls is was and shall ever be the illest.