The 30 Greatest Months in Rap History

They were the best of times, they were...actually the best of times.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Perhaps no type of music makes quite as much of a fuss about the calendar as hip-hop. Diddy once declared that he'd be in a position of power "from now 'til the year 3000." Jay-Z has rapped about how he held rap fans down for "six summers." It's a very time conscious genre, with artists who are incredibly self-aware about the value of their work at the time of its release, as well as its legacy for the future.

The only thing: Rap's obsession with the correlation between time and accomplishments tends to skew towards years—and any rap nerd can list off incredible years in hip-hop: 1988, 1994, 2000. We decided to take a closer a look, and examine what happened during particular months. You know that month when both Illmatic and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik dropped (hint: It was this month, 19 years ago)? It's time to pit moments like that against other landmark spans of time in hip-hop, and find out where the cards fall.

Our current month, April 2013, has been a hell of a ride. Kid Cudi and Tyler, the Creator dropped albums. Drake hopped on the radio and dissed Chris Brown. Coachella took over our Instagram feeds for two weekends. Kanye West flew a flock of artists to Paris to work on music. The news cycle never took a break. If there's any time to talk about the impact of an awesome month, it's now.

These are The 30 Greatest Months in Rap History.

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30. October 2000

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29. March 1987

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28. February 2004

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27. November 2003

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26. November 2004

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25. November 1998

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24. November 1995

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23. March 1989

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22. July 1998

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21. December 2002

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20. September 1993

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19. March 1997

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18. August 1998

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17. May 2000

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16. May 1998

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15. July 1996

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14. September 1991

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13. November 2010

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12. October 1991

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11. August 1990

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10. September 2007

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9. September 2001

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8. February 1999

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7. November 1996

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6. April 1994

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5. July 1997

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4. February 1996

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2. August 1988

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2. September 1998

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1. November 1993

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