UK Rap, UK Grime and UK Hip Hop are all completely different sounds and sub-genres under the same art form. While the labelling doesn’t suggest much difference between the three genres at first glance, they all have their own unique rhyme styles, instrumentals, cultures and practices. Generally speaking, UK Hip Hop is heavily influenced by the Golden era/90’s Hip Hop sound, with head-nodding boom-bap, jazz instrumentals and heaving political and conscious lyricism.

For clarity, there are no rap/grime/drill/garage albums included in this list as they’re separate genres in my eyes. Moreover, I’ve decided to include 25 albums by 25 different 25 artists as I want to recommend as many new artists and good music as possible. So, here are 25 essential UK Hip Hop albums in chronological order:

A good list if you wanna dive into UK Hip Hop

During the 90s and early 2000s, hip hop was finding its way to Britain, adopting the boom bap sound that was growing at the same time in the States. What came next was gangsta rap, the subgenre that was to revolutionise UK rap forever. From approximately 2006–12, London street crews gravitated to this music due to relatability to their environments. These six years were the bridge between underground boom bap and the commercially thriving scene we have today.