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Antithesis Definition

What is antithesis? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Antithesis is a figure of speech that juxtaposes two contrasting or opposing ideas, usually within parallel grammatical structures. For instance, Neil Armstrong used antithesis when he stepped onto the surface of the moon in 1969 and said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." This is an example of antithesis because the two halves of the sentence mirror each other in grammatical structure, while together the two halves emphasize the incredible contrast between the individual experience of taking an ordinary step, and the extraordinary progress that Armstrong's step symbolized for the human race.

Some additional key details about antithesis:

Antithesis works best when it is used in conjunction with parallelism (successive phrases that use the same grammatical structure), since the repetition of structure makes the contrast of the content of the phrases as clear as possible.
The word "antithesis" has another meaning, which is to describe something as being the opposite of another thing. For example, "love is the antithesis of selfishness." This guide focuses only on antithesis as a literary device.
The word antithesis has its origins in the Greek word antithenai , meaning "to oppose." The plural of antithesis is antitheses.

How to Pronounce Antithesis

Here's how to pronounce antithesis: an- tith -uh-sis

Antithesis and Parallelism

Often, but not always, antithesis works in tandem with parallelism . In parallelism, two components of a sentence (or pair of sentences) mirror one another by repeating grammatical elements. The following is a good example of both antithesis and parallelism:

To err is human , to forgive divine .

The two clauses of the sentence are parallel because each starts off with an infinitive verb and ends with an adjective ("human" and "divine"). The mirroring of these elements then works to emphasize the contrast in their content, particularly in the very strong opposite contrast between "human" and "divine."

Antithesis Without Parallelism

In most cases, antitheses involve parallel elements of the sentence—whether a pair of nouns, verbs, adjectives, or other grammar elements. However, it is also possible to have antithesis without such clear cut parallelism. In the Temptations Song "My Girl," the singer uses antithesis when he says:

"When it's cold outside , I've got the month of May ."

Here the sentence is clearly cut into two clauses on either side of the comma, and the contrasting elements are clear enough. However, strictly speaking there isn't true parallelism here because "cold outside" and "month of May" are different types of grammatical structures (an adjective phrase and a noun phrase, respectively).

Antithesis vs. Related Terms

Three literary terms that are often mistakenly used in the place of antithesis are juxtaposition , oxymoron , and foil . Each of these three terms does have to do with establishing a relationship of difference between two ideas or characters in a text, but beyond that there are significant differences between them.

Antithesis vs. Juxtaposition

In juxtaposition , two things or ideas are placed next to one another to draw attention to their differences or similarities. In juxtaposition, the pairing of two ideas is therefore not necessarily done to create a relationship of opposition or contradiction between them, as is the case with antithesis. So, while antithesis could be a type of juxtaposition, juxtaposition is not always antithesis.

Antithesis vs. Oxymoron

In an oxymoron , two seemingly contradictory words are placed together because their unlikely combination reveals a deeper truth. Some examples of oxymorons include:

Sweet sorrow
Cruel kindness
Living dead

The focus of antithesis is opposites rather than contradictions . While the words involved in oxymorons seem like they don't belong together (until you give them deeper thought), the words or ideas of antithesis do feel like they belong together even as they contrast as opposites. Further, antitheses seldom function by placing the two words or ideas right next to one another, so antitheses are usually made up of more than two words (as in, "I'd rather be among the living than among the dead").

Antithesis vs. Foil

Some Internet sources use "antithesis" to describe an author's decision to create two characters in a story that are direct opposites of one another—for instance, the protagonist and antagonist . But the correct term for this kind of opposition is a foil : a person or thing in a work of literature that contrasts with another thing in order to call attention to its qualities. While the sentence "the hare was fast, and the tortoise was slow" is an example of antithesis, if we step back and look at the story as a whole, the better term to describe the relationship between the characters of the tortoise and the hare is "foil," as in, "The character of the hare is a foil of the tortoise."

Antithesis Examples

Antithesis in literature.

Below are examples of antithesis from some of English literature's most acclaimed writers — and a comic book!

Antithesis in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities

In the famous opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities , Dickens sets out a flowing list of antitheses punctuated by the repetition of the word "it was" at the beginning of each clause (which is itself an example of the figure of speech anaphora ). By building up this list of contrasts, Dickens sets the scene of the French Revolution that will serve as the setting of his tale by emphasizing the division and confusion of the era. The overwhelming accumulation of antitheses is also purposefully overdone; Dickens is using hyperbole to make fun of the "noisiest authorities" of the day and their exaggerated claims. The passage contains many examples of antithesis, each consisting of one pair of contrasting ideas that we've highlighted to make the structure clearer.

It was the best of times , it was the worst of times , it was the age of wisdom , it was the age of foolishness , it was the epoch of belief , it was the epoch of incredulity , it was the season of Light , it was the season of Darkness , it was the spring of hope , it was the winter of despair , we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven , we were all going direct the other way —in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Antithesis in John Milton's Paradise Lost

In this verse from Paradise Lost , Milton's anti-hero , Satan, claims he's happier as the king of Hell than he could ever have been as a servant in Heaven. He justifies his rebellion against God with this pithy phrase, and the antithesis drives home the double contrast between Hell and Heaven, and between ruling and serving.

Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

Antithesis in William Shakespeare's Othello

As the plot of Othello nears its climax , the antagonist of the play, Iago, pauses for a moment to acknowledge the significance of what is about to happen. Iago uses antithesis to contrast the two opposite potential outcomes of his villainous plot: either events will transpire in Iago's favor and he will come out on top, or his treachery will be discovered, ruining him.

This is the night That either makes me or fordoes me quite .

In this passage, the simple word "either" functions as a cue for the reader to expect some form of parallelism, because the "either" signals that a contrast between two things is coming.

Antithesis in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Shakespeare's plays are full of antithesis, and so is Hamlet's most well-known "To be or not to be" soliloquy . This excerpt of the soliloquy is a good example of an antithesis that is not limited to a single word or short phrase. The first instance of antithesis here, where Hamlet announces the guiding question (" to be or not to be ") is followed by an elaboration of each idea ("to be" and "not to be") into metaphors that then form their own antithesis. Both instances of antithesis hinge on an " or " that divides the two contrasting options.

To be or not to be , that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them ...

Antithesis in T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets"

In this excerpt from his poem "Four Quartets," T.S. Eliot uses antithesis to describe the cycle of life, which is continuously passing from beginning to end, from rise to fall, and from old to new.

In my beginning is my end . In succession Houses rise and fall , crumble, are extended, Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass. Old stone to new building , old timber to new fires ...

Antithesis in Green Lantern's Oath

Comic book writers know the power of antithesis too! In this catchy oath, Green Lantern uses antithesis to emphasize that his mission to defeat evil will endure no matter the conditions.

In brightest day , in blackest night , No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might Beware my power—Green lantern's light!

While most instances of antithesis are built around an "or" that signals the contrast between the two parts of the sentence, the Green Lantern oath works a bit differently. It's built around an implied "and" (to be technical, that first line of the oath is an asyndeton that replaces the "and" with a comma), because members of the Green Lantern corps are expressing their willingness to fight evil in all places, even very opposite environments.

Antithesis in Speeches

Many well-known speeches contain examples of antithesis. Speakers use antithesis to drive home the stakes of what they are saying, sometimes by contrasting two distinct visions of the future.

Antithesis in Patrick Henry's Speech to the Second Virginia Convention, 1775

This speech by famous American patriot Patrick Henry includes one of the most memorable and oft-quoted phrases from the era of the American Revolution. Here, Henry uses antithesis to emphasize just how highly he prizes liberty, and how deadly serious he is about his fight to achieve it.

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take: but as for me, give me liberty or give me death .

Antithesis in Martin Luther King Jr.'s Oberlin Commencement Address

In this speech by one of America's most well-known orators, antithesis allows Martin Luther King Jr. to highlight the contrast between two visions of the future; in the first vision, humans rise above their differences to cooperate with one another, while in the other humanity is doomed by infighting and division.

We must all learn to live together as brothers —or we will all perish together as fools .

Antithesis in Songs

In songs, contrasting two opposite ideas using antithesis can heighten the dramatic tension of a difficult decision, or express the singer's intense emotion—but whatever the context, antithesis is a useful tool for songwriters mainly because opposites are always easy to remember, so lyrics that use antithesis tend to stick in the head.

Antithesis in "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash (1981)

In this song by The Clash, the speaker is caught at a crossroads between two choices, and antithesis serves as the perfect tool to express just how confused and conflicted he is. The rhetorical question —whether to stay or to go—presents two opposing options, and the contrast between his lover's mood from one day (when everything is "fine") to the next (when it's all "black") explains the difficulty of his choice.

One day it's fine and next it's black So if you want me off your back Well, come on and let me know Should I stay or should I go ? Should I stay or should I go now? Should I stay or should I go now? If I go, there will be trouble If I stay it will be double ...

Antithesis in "My Girl" by the Temptations (1965)

In this song, the singer uses a pair of metaphors to describe the feeling of joy that his lover brings him. This joy is expressed through antithesis, since the singer uses the miserable weather of a cloudy, cold day as the setting for the sunshine-filled month of May that "his girl" makes him feel inside, emphasizing the power of his emotions by contrasting them with the bleak weather.

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day When it's cold outside I've got the month of May Well I guess you'd say, What can make me feel this way? My girl, my girl, my girl Talkin' bout my girl.

Why Do Writers Use Antithesis?

Fundamentally, writers of all types use antithesis for its ability to create a clear contrast. This contrast can serve a number of purposes, as shown in the examples above. It can:

Present a stark choice between two alternatives.
Convey magnitude or range (i.e. "in brightest day, in darkest night" or "from the highest mountain, to the deepest valley").
Express strong emotions.
Create a relationship of opposition between two separate ideas.
Accentuate the qualities and characteristics of one thing by placing it in opposition to another.

Whatever the case, antithesis almost always has the added benefit of making language more memorable to listeners and readers. The use of parallelism and other simple grammatical constructions like "either/or" help to establish opposition between concepts—and opposites have a way of sticking in the memory.

Other Helpful Antithesis Resources

The Wikipedia page on Antithesis : A useful summary with associated examples, along with an extensive account of antithesis in the Gospel of Matthew.
Sound bites from history : A list of examples of antithesis in famous political speeches from United States history — with audio clips!
A blog post on antithesis : This quick rundown of antithesis focuses on a quote you may know from Muhammad Ali's philosophy of boxing: "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

The printed PDF version of the LitCharts literary term guide on Antithesis

Climax (Figure of Speech)
Figure of Speech
Juxtaposition
Parallelism
Protagonist
Rhetorical Question
Polysyndeton
Antimetabole
Blank Verse
Round Character
Personification
Common Meter
Figurative Language

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Definition of Antithesis

Examples of antithesis in everyday speech, common examples of antithesis from famous speeches, examples of proverbs featuring antithesis, utilizing antithesis in writing, antithesis and parallelism, antithesis and juxtaposition, use of antithesis in sentences , examples of antithesis in literature.

Antithesis is an effective literary device and figure of speech in which a writer intentionally juxtaposes two contrasting ideas or entities. Antithesis is typically achieved through parallel structure, in which opposing concepts or elements are paired in adjacent phrases , clauses , or sentences. This draws the reader’s attention to the significance or importance of the agents being contrasted, thereby adding a memorable and meaningful quality to the literary work.

Example 1: Hamlet (William Shakespeare)

Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice ; Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.

Example 2: Paradise Lost (John Milton)

Here at least We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.

Example 3: Fire and Ice (Robert Frost)

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.

In his poem, Frost utilizes antithesis to contrast fire and ice as elements with devastating and catastrophic potential to end the world. Frost effectively demonstrates the equal powers for the destruction of these elements, despite showcasing them as opposing forces. In this case, the poet’s antithesis has a literal as well as figurative interpretation. As the poem indicates, the world could literally end in the fire as well as ice. However, fire and ice are contrasting symbols in the poem as well. Fire represents “desire,” most likely in the form of greed, the corruption of power, domination, and control. Conversely, ice represents “hate” in the form of prejudice, oppression, neglect, and isolation.

Example 4: The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives so that nation might live.

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

Function of Antithesis

Synonyms of antithesis, post navigation.

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Definition of antithesis

Did you know.

Writers and speechmakers use the traditional pattern known as antithesis for its resounding effect; John Kennedy's famous "ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country" is an example. But antithesis normally means simply "opposite". Thus, war is the antithesis of peace, wealth is the antithesis of poverty, and love is the antithesis of hate. Holding two antithetical ideas in one's head at the same time—for example, that you're the sole master of your fate but also the helpless victim of your terrible upbringing—is so common as to be almost normal.

Examples of antithesis in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'antithesis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Late Latin, from Greek, literally, opposition, from antitithenai to oppose, from anti- + tithenai to set — more at do

1529, in the meaning defined at sense 1b(1)

Dictionary Entries Near antithesis

anti-theoretical

Cite this Entry

“Antithesis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antithesis. Accessed 9 Sep. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of antithesis, more from merriam-webster on antithesis.

Nglish: Translation of antithesis for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of antithesis for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about antithesis

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Do you remember the famous line that Neil Armstrong spoke when he landed on the moon and achieved the great feat? His words ‘that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’ struck the minds and hearts of everyone. His line showed a sharp contrast between the two words. Can you identify them?

The words small and giant have opposite meanings. This phrase used a figure of speech called antithesis. A ntithesis means the direct opposite. It is a contrary opinion or a concept. The statement can include characteristics that are contrasting. Using antithesis can highlight and drive home an important point.

Antithesis is found everywhere but it is used widely in films and literature . Using this makes the audience understand the point of the other person with more clarity.

What is Antithesis?

Antithesis is a rhetorical device that brings out the contrast in the statement. It contains two ideas in the phrase that are complete opposites of each other. They are used to strengthen an argument and make it easier for the listener or reader to remember.

Antithesis is also used to make the reader feel a certain way. They persuade the other person to elicit a particular emotion that the writer wants to show.

The dictionary defines antithesis as the placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another to which it is opposed to form a balanced contrast of ideas. It means the direct opposite or contrasting ideas in the same sentence .

Antithesis examples:

Everyday examples-.

Antithesis can be used in everyday speech as well. Many phrases spoken use this device.

Go home or go big- this is a phrase heard more in games.
No pain, no gain.
Speech is silver but silence is golden- this one would have been used by every teacher out there!

Examples from famous speeches-

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. ” – this was quoted by John.F. Kennedy during his inaugural speech as the 35th President of the USA.

“We must all learn to live together as brothers – or we will all perish together as fools.” Martin Luther King Jr quoted this to highlight the contrast between two versions of the future.

Proverbs featuring antithesis-

Beggars can’t be choosers.
One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
Hope for the best and prepare for the best.

How to write with Antithesis?

Antithesis is best used to add contrast. Concepts such as emotions and opposing elements of a setting use this. The concepts don’t need to be complete opposites but they should be distinct. Antithesis creates a lyrical quality so one should keep in mind the rhythm and wording to be similar. Overuse should be avoided since the impact will sound duller and make writing seem forced.

Why do writers use Antithesis?

Writers use antithesis to create a contrast and present a choice between two different things.
Placing opposites together gives more clarity and attention to its characteristics.
It allows the expression of strong emotions and conveys range.
It also allows the text to be more memorable for the reader or listener.

Read this article to get more information on Literary Syntax .

Difference between Antithesis and Juxtaposition:

Antithesis often gets confused with other literary terms. Juxtaposition is one such literary device that is mistaken in place of antithesis. Juxtaposition places two things next to each other for an interesting effect. This is done to bring attention to their similarities or differences. The juxtaposition does not always compare or contrast, unlike antithesis. Antithesis could be a juxtaposition but vice versa cannot be told as the same.

Difference between Antithesis and Oxymoron:

Oxymoron is another literary device that gets confused with antithesis. Oxymoron is a combination of contradicting words placed next to each other. For example, living dead, making haste slowly, the only choice, etc.

The idea of an oxymoron focuses on contradiction while antithesis is more based on opposites. Antithesis doesn’t function with only a few words and is not placed next to each other. Pretty easy to identify them!

You can get more information about Anaphora in this article.

Difference between Antithesis and Foil:

A foil is a literary character that highlights attributes and reveals information in another character through opposing traits. It is used to draw attention to the other person’s qualities. This can get confused with antithesis. While the character can have opposing qualities, it does not mean it is a bad character. This is a foil character. If the main character is a hero, then antithesis will mean being the villain and foil will mean being a sidekick of the hero.

Antithesis and Parallelism:

Parallelism is a literary device in which parts of a sentence are the same. They can be grammatically the same or at least similar in construction. This makes it a great persuasion tool as people find it a pattern and rhythm more memorable.

The easiest example to understand this device would be Martin Luther King Jr’s speech-

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today…”.

Although anyone would not be able to remember the whole speech, the part that uses parallelism sticks to the mind. This shows the power parallelism holds in making a bigger impact.

Antithesis uses parallelism in many cases. It can involve parallel elements of the sentence which can be verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc. An example that has both antithesis and parallelism in it is from the book The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens-

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness;

Origins of Antithesis:

Antithesis originates from the Greek word Antitithenai which means set against. It comes from two words ‘ anti’ meaning ‘against’ and ‘ tithenai’ meaning ‘to place’. The earliest usage of this as a literary device is known from the 16th century.

Antithesis in Literature:

Antithesis is a favorable device that a lot of authors use. Some of Shakespeare’s best works use this.

Othello by Shakespeare-

“This is the night

That either makes me or fordoes me quite .”

The antithesis in this is quite clear as the antagonist uses it to differentiate between the two potential outcomes.

Julius Caesar by Shakespeare-

There is a subtle use of antithesis here. The author uses it to show the contrast between the characters Markus Brutus and Marc Anthony. The former being a noble, honorable man and the latter being evil but honorable.

Antithesis in poetry:

Paradise Lost by John Milton-

“Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.”

There is the use of double antithesis here. One between heaven and hell and the other one between ruling and serving. The poet justifies that it is better to rule even in hell than be a servant, even if it is heaven.

Fire and Ice by Robert Frost-

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Antithesis is used to contrast fire and ice as opposing yet destructive forces. The fire represents desire while the ice represents hate. There is the literal and figurative meaning used by the poet.

Antithesis in popular culture:

In the song ‘My Girl by the Temptations’ (1965)

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day

When it’s cold outside I’ve got the month of May.

The singer uses antithesis to express joy in contrasting conditions.

In the movie ‘Beauty and the Beast’ by Disney-

The movie uses antithesis on its characters. While Belle is the epitome of beauty, the beast is a stark contrast by being ugly. Yet, they find their way to each other which makes it a heartfelt union.

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Table of Contents

Definition of Antithesis

Antithesis is a literary device designed to highlight the difference/s of two irreconcilable opposites. Structurally, the contrasting ideas (be it concepts, words, phrases or sentences) are placed in sharp juxtaposition and sustained tension, i.e. observing correct grammar and parallelism, in order to achieve the ultimate contrasting effect. The well-balanced or parallel structure makes the comparison easier and highlights the contradictions between the ideas.

Antitheses are common in both writing and speeches. Here are a few examples:

This famous expression by Muhammad Ali displays two contrasting animal actions: a silent (floating) butterfly and an aggressive (sting) bee.
It presents the contrasting qualities of speech versus silence and silver versus gold .
It highlights the differences between rude and kind and between sadness and joy .

Here’s an antithesis-laden excerpt from Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s speech:

When there is need of silence , you speak , and when there is need of speech , you are dumb . When you are present , you wish to be absent , and when absent , you desire to be present . In peace you are for war , and in war you long for peace . In council you descant on bravery , and in the battle you tremble .

In sum, an antithesis is composed of three main components: (1) at least two parts, (2) contrasting ideas, and (3) a parallel grammatical structure.

Antithesis vs. irony vs. juxtaposition

Oftentimes, antithesis is mistaken as irony when used in speech. Although both are used to convey contrasts of ideas, they have a distinction: antithesis is structured with parallelism in mind, whereas irony implies contradictions between appearance and reality through tone or choice of words. See examples below:

Antithesis: Temperance leads to happiness; intemperance ends, in general, to misery.
Irony: You found yourself in a no-smoking zone on your cigarette break.

Juxtaposition, on the other hand, is used to also highlight the differences between two things, but those two things do not necessarily have to be totally opposites. This rhetorical device compares similar things so that the audience will spot the subtle differences. Juxtaposition also does not require sentence parallelism or balanced grammatical structure. One popular example of this literary device is the expression “When it rains, it pours,” which means when one thing goes right, many things will go right; also, when one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong.

Functions and Antithesis Examples

Literally meaning “opposite,” antithesis is commonly used among writers as it adds color and flavor to their works. This literary tool can be used to show the character’s mindset and personality as well as set up an argument. Here are some of literary works where the use antithesis stands out:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. (Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens)
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n. in Paradise Lost by John Milton
To err is human; to forgive divine. – An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice. – Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Antithesis is also commonly used among famous personalities’ speeches and in common quotes and idioms. Here are a few examples:

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. ( Martin Luther King, Jr .)
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. (John F. Kennedy Jr.)
We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. ( Barack Obama )
That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. ( Neil Armstrong )
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. (Jack London)
Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing. (Goethe)
Patience is bitter, but it has a sweet fruit. (Aristotle)
Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. (Samuel Johnson)
Folks who have no vices have very few virtues. (Abraham Lincoln)
All the joy the world contains has come through wishing happiness for others. All the misery the world contains has come through wanting pleasure for oneself. (Shantideva)

Antithesis Worksheets

This bundle contains 5 ready-to-use antithesis worksheets that are perfect to test student knowledge and understanding of what antithesis is and how it can be used. You can use these antithesis worksheets in the classroom with students, or with home schooled children as well.

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Literary Terms
Definition & Examples
How to Use Antithesis

I. What is an Antithesis?

“Antithesis” literally means “opposite” – it is usually the opposite of a statement, concept, or idea. In literary analysis, an antithesis is a pair of statements or images in which the one reverses the other. The pair is written with similar grammatical structures to show more contrast. Antithesis (pronounced an-TITH-eh-sis) is used to emphasize a concept, idea, or conclusion.

II. Examples of Antithesis

That’s one small step for a man – one giant leap for mankind . (Neil Armstrong, 1969)

In this example, Armstrong is referring to man walking on the moon. Although taking a step is an ordinary activity for most people, taking a step on the moon, in outer space, is a major achievement for all humanity.

To err is human ; to forgive , divine . (Alexander Pope)

This example is used to point out that humans possess both worldly and godly qualities; they can all make mistakes, but they also have the power to free others from blame.

The world will little note , nor long remember , what we say here, but it can never forget what they did (Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address )

In his speech, Lincoln points out that the details of that moment may not be memorable, but the actions would make history, and therefore, never entirely forgotten.

Antithesis can be a little tricky to see at first. To start, notice how each of these examples is separated into two parts . The parts are separated either by a dash, a semicolon, or the word “but.” Antithesis always has this multi-part structure (usually there are two parts, but sometimes it can be more, as we’ll see in later examples). The parts are not always as obvious as they are in these examples, but they will always be there.

Next, notice how the second part of each example contains terms that reverse or invert terms in the first part: small step vs. giant leap; human vs. divine; we say vs. they do. In each of the examples, there are several pairs of contrasted terms between the first part and the second, which is quite common in antithesis.

Finally, notice that each of the examples contains some parallel structures and ideas in addition to the opposites. This is key! The two parts are not simply contradictory statements. They are a matched pair that have many grammatical structures or concepts in common; in the details, however, they are opposites.

For example, look at the parallel grammar of Example 1: the word “one,” followed by an adjective, a noun, and then the word “for.” This accentuates the opposites by setting them against a backdrop of sameness – in other words, two very different ideas are being expressed with very, very similar grammatical structures.

To recap: antithesis has three things:

Two or more parts
Reversed or inverted ideas
(usually) parallel grammatical structure

III. The Importance of Verisimilitude

Antithesis is basically a complex form of juxtaposition . So its effects are fairly similar – by contrasting one thing against its opposite, a writer or speaker can emphasize the key attributes of whatever they’re talking about. In the Neil Armstrong quote, for example, the tremendous significance of the first step on the moon is made more vivid by contrasting it with the smallness and ordinariness of the motion that brought it about.

Antithesis can also be used to express curious contradictions or paradoxes. Again, the Neil Armstrong quote is a good example: Armstrong is inviting his listeners to puzzle over the fact that a tiny, ordinary step – not so different from the millions of steps we take each day – can represent so massive a technological accomplishment as the moon landing.

Paradoxically, an antithesis can also be used to show how two seeming opposites might in fact be similar.

IV. Examples of Verisimilitude in Literature

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Forgive us this day our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us . (The Lord’s Prayer)

The antithesis is doing a lot of work here. First, it shows the parallel between committing an evil act and being the victim of one. On the surface, these are opposites, and this is part of the antithesis, but at the same time they are, in the end, the same act from different perspectives. This part of the antithesis is basically just an expression of the Golden Rule.

Second, the antithesis displays a parallel between the speaker (a human) and the one being spoken to (God). The prayer is a request for divine mercy, and at the same time a reminder that human beings should also be merciful.

All the joy the world contains has come through wanting happiness for others . All the misery the world contains has come through wanting pleasure for yourself . (Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva )

The antithesis here comes with some pretty intense parallel structure. Most of the words in each sentence are exactly the same as those in the other sentence. (“All the ___ the world contains has come through wanting ____ for ____.”) This close parallel structure makes the antithesis all the more striking, since the words that differ become much more visible.

Another interesting feature of this antithesis is that it makes “pleasure” and “happiness” seem like opposites, when most of us might think of them as more or less synonymous. The quote makes happiness seem noble and exalted, whereas pleasure is portrayed as selfish and worthless.

The proper function of man is to live , not to exist . I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong (Jack London, Credo )

The opening antithesis here gets its punch from the fact that we think of living and existing as pretty similar terms. But for London, they are opposites. Living is about having vivid experiences, learning, and being bold; simply existing is a dull, pointless thing. These two apparently similar words are used in this antithesis to emphasize the importance of living as opposed to mere existing.

The second antithesis, on the other hand, is just the opposite – in this case, London is taking two words that seem somewhat opposed (waste and prolong), and telling us that they are in fact the same . Prolonging something is making it last; wasting something is letting it run out too soon. But, says London, when it comes to life, they are the same. If you try too hard to prolong your days (that is, if you’re so worried about dying that you never face your fears and live your life), then you will end up wasting them because you will never do anything worthwhile.

V. Examples of Verisimilitude in Pop Culture

Everybody doesn’t like something, but nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee. (Sara Lee pastry advertisement)

This classic ad uses antithesis to set up a deliberate grammatical error. This is a common technique in advertising, since people are more likely to remember a slogan that is grammatically incorrect. (Even if they only remember it because they found it irritating, it still sticks in their brain, which is all that an ad needs to do.) The antithesis helps make the meaning clear, and throws the grammatical error into sharper relief.

What men must know , a boy must learn . (The Lookouts)

Here’s another example of how parallel structure can turn into antithesis fairly easily. (The structure is noun-“must”-verb. ) The antithesis also expresses the basic narrative of The Lookouts , which is all about kids learning to fend for themselves and become full-fledged adults.

Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (the band “AFI” – album title)

The antithesis here is a juxtaposition of two different actions (opening and shutting) that are actually part of the same sort of behavior – the behavior of somebody who wants to understand the world rather than be the center of attention. It’s basically a restatement of the old adage that “those who speak the most often have the least to say.”

VI. Related Terms

Juxtaposition

Antithesis is basically a form of juxtaposition . Juxtaposition, though, is a much broader device that encompasses any deliberate use of contrast or contradiction by an author. So, in addition to antithesis, it might include:

The scene in “The Godfather” where a series of brutal murders is intercut with shots of a baptism, juxtaposing birth and death.
“A Song of Ice and Fire” (George R. R. Martin book series)
Heaven and Hell
Mountains and the sea
Dead or alive
“In sickness and in health”

Antithesis performs a very similar function, but does so in a more complicated way by using full sentences (rather than single words or images) to express the two halves of the juxtaposition.

Here is an antithesis built around some of the common expressions from above

“ Sheep go to Heaven ; goats go to Hell .”
“Beethoven’s music is as mighty as the mountains and as timeless as the sea .”
“In sickness he loved me; in health he abandoned ”

Notice how the antithesis builds an entire statement around the much simpler juxtaposition. And, crucially, notice that each of those statements exhibits parallel grammatical structure . In this way, both Juxtaposition and parallel structures can be used to transform a simple comparison, into antithesis.

List of Terms

Alliteration
Amplification
Anachronism
Anthropomorphism
Antonomasia
APA Citation
Aposiopesis
Autobiography
Bildungsroman
Characterization
Circumlocution
Cliffhanger
Comic Relief
Connotation
Deus ex machina
Deuteragonist
Doppelganger
Double Entendre
Dramatic irony
Equivocation
Extended Metaphor
Figures of Speech
Flash-forward
Foreshadowing
Intertextuality
Literary Device
Malapropism
Onomatopoeia
Parallelism
Pathetic Fallacy
Personification
Point of View
Polysyndeton
Protagonist
Red Herring
Rhetorical Device
Rhetorical Question
Science Fiction
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Synesthesia
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What is Antithesis? Definition, Examples of Antitheses in Writing

Home » The Writer’s Dictionary » What is Antithesis? Definition, Examples of Antitheses in Writing

Antithesis definition: Antithesis is a literary and rhetorical device where two seemingly contrasting ideas are expressed through parallel structure.

What is Antithesis?

What does antithesis mean? An antithesis is just that—an “anti” “thesis.” An antithesis is used in writing to express ideas that seem contradictory.

An antithesis uses parallel structure of two ideas to communicate this contradiction.

Example of Antithesis:

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” –Muhammad Ali

First, the structure is parallel. Each “side” of the phrase has the same number of words and the same structure. Each uses a verb followed by a simile.

Second, the contracting elements of a butterfly and a bee seem contradictory. That is, a butterfly is light and airy while a bee is sharp and stinging. One person (a boxer, in this case) should not be able to possess these two qualities—this is why this is an antithesis.

However, Ali is trying to express how a boxer must be light on his feet yet quick with his fist.

Modern Examples of Antithesis

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Through parallel structure, this quotation presents an antithesis. It seems contradictory that one action could be a “small step” and a “giant leap.”

However, this contradiction proposes that the action of landing on the moon might have just been a small physical step for the man Neil Armstrong, but it was a giant leap for the progress of mankind.

The Function of Antithesis

An antithesis stands out in writing. Because it uses parallel structure, an antithesis physically stands out when interspersed among other syntactical structures. Furthermore, an antithesis presents contrasting ideas that cause the reader or audience to pause and consider the meaning and purpose.

Oftentimes, the meaning of an antithesis is not overtly clear. That is, a reader or audience must evaluate the statement to navigate the meaning.

Writers utilize antitheses very sparingly. Since its purpose is to cause an audience to pause and consider the argument, it must be used with purpose and intent.

Antithesis Example from Literature

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…”

From the beginning, Dickens presents two contradictory ideas in this antithesis.

How can it be the “best” and the “worst” of times? These two “times” should not be able to coexist.

Similarly, how can the setting of this novel also take place during an “age of wisdom” and an “age of foolishness?”

The antithesis continues.

Dickens opens his with these lines to set the tone for the rest of the novel. Clearly, there are two sides to this story, two tales of what is the truth. These two “sides” should not function peacefully. And, in fact, they do not. That, after all, is the “tale of two cities.”

Dickens sets up this disparity to set the tone for his novel, which will explore this topic.

Summary: What is an Antithesis?

Define antithesis: An antithesis consists of contrasting concepts presented in parallel structure.

Writers use antithesis to create emphasis to communicate an argument.

Note: The plural form of antithesis is antitheses.

Literary Devices

Literary devices, terms, and elements, definition of antithesis, difference between antithesis and juxtaposition, common examples of antithesis, significance of antithesis in literature, examples of antithesis in literature.

HAMLET: To be, or not to be, that is the question— Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them?

( Hamlet by William Shakespeare)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…

( A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens)

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

This case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant.

( To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird , Atticus Finch is a lawyer representing Tom Robinson. Atticus presents the above statement to the jury, setting up an antithesis. He asserts that the case is not difficult and yet requires the jury to be absolutely sure of their decision. Atticus believes the case to have a very obvious conclusion, and hopes that the jury will agree with him, but he is also aware of the societal tensions at work that will complicate the case.

Test Your Knowledge of Antithesis

WITCHES: Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.

MACBETH: Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?

WITCHES: Something wicked this way comes.

4. Which of the following quotes from Heller’s Catch-22 contains an example of antithesis? A. There are now fifty or sixty countries fighting in this war. Surely so many counties can’t all be worth dying for. B. He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission each time he went up was to come down alive. C. You’re inches away from death every time you go on a mission. How much older can you be at your age? [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #4″] Answer: B is the correct answer.[/spoiler]

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[ an- tith - uh -sis ]

the antithesis of right and wrong.

Her behavior was the very antithesis of cowardly.

Synonyms: reverse , opposite

the placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another to which it is opposed to form a balanced contrast of ideas, as in “Give me liberty or give me death.”
the second sentence or part thus set in opposition, as “or give me death.”
Philosophy. Hegelian dialectic

/ ænˈtɪθɪsɪs /

the exact opposite
contrast or opposition
rhetoric the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, phrases, or words so as to produce an effect of balance, such as my words fly up, my thoughts remain below
philosophy the second stage in the Hegelian dialectic contradicting the thesis before resolution by the synthesis

Other Words From

self-an·tithe·sis noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of antithesis 1

Example Sentences

In the Democratic primary in his home state, he was humiliated by his old antithesis Wallace, who beat him decisively.

It cannot be stressed enough that the behavior of the sitting president is the antithesis of the ideals of American democracy, institutions or peaceful transitions.

American Christians may have chosen cynicism in 2016, but cynicism is the antithesis of the Christian faith, and cynicism won’t have the final word in America, either.

The transhuman cannot exist outside of ubuntu, of course, which is the antithesis of the colonial order for a number of reasons.

Tesla’s being touted as a go-go player in the antithesis of a go-go sector.

Belle Knox is the antithesis of Jenna Jameson—and not just in looks.

To me this is the antithesis of what travel should be about.

Married at First Sight is the antithesis of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

Yet its sound is the musical antithesis of a blended Frappuccino.

Now Joffrey, the Starks' black-hearted antithesis, has met a similar fate.

If you did fail, you would try Exclusion, and you would find nothing which is the antithesis of the area of New York.

Thus seen, socialism appeared as the very antithesis of law and order, of love and chastity, and of religion itself.

There is, however, but little danger of overdoing the parallel construction where there is no antithesis.

Nor is it to be wondered at, if we consider the antithesis which is presented to their usual mode of life.

He is a sentimental Classicist, and his subjects the antithesis of the Grco-Roman ideal to which he does homage in his technique.

Antithesis Definition & Examples in Speech and Literature

Antithesis does not have to be a difficult thing to understand, despite its complicated name, it is a relatively simple form on English grammar which can be easily explained. We are going to take a look at what antithesis is and how it is to be used. We will look at various examples of antithesis in both written and spoken language to further assist us to understand it.

Antithesis Definition

Antithesis is, in fact, a word from ancient Greek that directly translates as ‘ opposite .’ When we talk about antithesis in the English language we are referring to a phrase that contains two contrasting ideas. Antithesis is used to express opposing ideas in a more vivid fashion in order that it has more of an impact on the person listening to or reading the language.

Antithesis in Figures of Speech

Antithesis used in figures of speech might sound something like the famous phrase made by Neil Armstrong on his moon landing, he said: “that’s one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.” The small step and giant step are the antitheses because they are the direct opposite of one another and yet contrast in the sentence.

Antithesis in Rhetorical Devices

Antithesis in rhetoric, when two opposite statements are juxtaposed to create a contrasting notion, can be seen in the speech made by Martin Luther King, in the sentence “ I hope that one day my children will be judged not by their skin colour but by their character. ” When used in a rhetorical device , antithesis is designed to paint a picture of the concept.

Antithesis in Figurative Language

Antithesis can be used in figurative language , a good example of this is the phrase “ man proposes, God disposes. ” The two ideas are completely opposite to each other and yet when put in a sentence together create a contrasting idea.

Antithesis in a Literary Device

When used as a literary device , antithesis is designed to be used to sway the opinion of the reader or listener through the statement itself. An example of this comes once again from Martin Luther King when he said: “ we must learn to come together as brethren or perish together as fools. ” In this context, the antithesis is being used to point out the bad thing and highlight the good thing.

Antithesis Examples

Examples of antithesis in speech.

There will be many occasions when you are likely to hear antithesis during everyday conversations. We will now take a look at some examples of sentences in which antithesis is present.

Give all men your ear, but few men your voice.
Love is an ideal thing but marriage is a real thing.
Speech is silver but silence is golden .
Patience is bitter but it bears sweet fruit.
Money is the root of all evil, poverty is the fruit of all goodness.
She is easy on the eyes but hard on the heart.
Everybody doesn’t like something but nobody doesn’t like this.
Integrity without knowledge is frail and has no use and knowledge without integrity is risky and awful.
People who have no vices also have not many virtues.
Burning a fire to stay cool.
Shutting a door in order to leave.
Even though the sun shines, I can feel the rain.
It is never too late but it is never too soon.

Examples of Antithesis in Literature

Many authors have used antithesis in their work in order to provide the reader with a thought-provoking, contrasting statement. We are now going to take a look at some examples of times when writers have used antithesis within poetry, fiction and other types of written work.

A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens opens with the use of antithesis in the line “ Twas the very best in times, Twas the very worst in times. That was a time of wisdom and yet a time of foolishness. ” In this example, antithesis is used to imply the conflict of the time in which the story was set.
“ To err is human, to forgive is divine, ” This is a line from the play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare. Here antithesis is used to refer to the fact that God the creator is forgiving yet he created a race of humans who were far from perfect.
In the poem ‘community’ written by John Donne, we see the use of antithesis to compare love and hate. “ Good we must love and must hate ill. “
Paradise lost written by John Milton features the use of antithesis when it compares the opposing ideas of heaven and hell alongside the opposing ideas of serving and reigning , in the sentence: “ It is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven. “
In the Holy Bible, we see the use of antithesis in the book of Matthew, where we can read the line “ many are called but few are chosen .”
“ Give me a bit of sunshine, give me a bit of rain. ” This is an example of antithesis from the song Give me some sunshine by Swanand Kirkire. The notion of wanting sunshine is completely opposite to the idea of wanting rain and yet both are contained within the same sentence.
In the song “My girl” by the band The Temptations we see antithesis being used in the line “ When it is cold outside, I have got the month of May .”
“ In my beginning is my end .” This is an example of the use of antithesis within the poem Four Quartets which was written by T S Elliot.
In the comic book featuring the character Green Lantern, an oath is written and the first line of this oath contains antithesis. “ In the brightest of days and in the blackest of nights .”

As we have seen, antithesis can be used in various ways in order to compare and contrast two opposing ideas. It can be used in a variety of ways depending on how it is being used, whether that be in the rhetorical, as a literary device or in a figure of speech.

Antithesis Infographic

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English Grammar
Figures Of Speech

Antithesis: Meaning, Definition and Examples

Figures of speech , otherwise known as rhetorical devices, are used in the English language to beautify and make your language look and sound a lot more effective rather than a literal presentation of information. Each figure of speech has its function and is meant to perform its roles giving the context a unique effect. In this article, you will learn about one such figure of speech called antithesis. Read through the article to learn more about what antithesis is, its definition and how it differs from an oxymoron. You can also check out the examples and analyse how it is written for an in-depth understanding of the same.

What is antithesis – meaning and definition, what differentiates an antithesis from an oxymoron, some common examples of antithesis, frequently asked questions on antithesis.

An antithesis is a figure of speech that states strongly contrasting ideas placed in juxtaposition. They contain compound sentences with the two independent clauses separated by a comma or a semicolon , in most cases. However, there are also instances where the antithesis is a compound sentence with a conjunction . An antithesis is mainly used to portray the stark difference between the two opposing ideas.

Antithesis, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, is defined as “a contrast between two things”, and according to the Cambridge Dictionary, “a difference or opposition between two things”. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives a more explanatory definition. According to it, antithesis is “the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences”.

Knowing the difference between an antithesis and an oxymoron will help you comprehend and use both the rhetorical devices effectively. Take a look at the table given below to learn more.


in juxtaposition.	to produce an effect.

Here are some of the most common examples of antithesis for your reference.

Hope for the best; prepare for the worst.
Keep your mouth closed and your eyes open.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” – Charles Dickens
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong
“Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.” – John Milton
Speech is silver, but silence is gold.
“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.” – William Shakespeare
Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.
“To err is human; to forgive divine.” – Alexander Pope
Money is the root of all evil: poverty is the fruit of all goodness.

What is antithesis?

An antithesis is a figure of speech that states strongly contrasting ideas placed in juxtaposition. They contain compound sentences with the two independent clauses separated by a comma or a semicolon, in most cases. However, there are also instances where the antithesis is a compound sentence with a conjunction.

What is the definition of antithesis?

What is the difference between antithesis and oxymoron.

The main difference between an antithesis and an oxymoron is that antithesis refers to the use of two contrasting ideas or thoughts conveyed in two independent clauses placed in juxtaposition, separated by a comma, a semicolon or a conjunction; whereas, the term ‘oxymoron’ refers to the use of two opposite words within a phrase to create an effect.

Give some examples of antithesis.

Here are a few examples of antithesis for your reference.

“Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.” – Goethe
“Folks who have no vices have very few virtues.” – Abraham Lincoln
“Man proposes, God disposes.”
Beggars can’t be choosers.
Be slow in choosing, but slower in changing.

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Other forms: antitheses

An antithesis is the complete opposite of something. Though the counterculture was strong in America in 1968, voters elected Richard Nixon, the antithesis of a hippie.

The noun antithesis comes from a Greek root meaning "opposition" and "set against." It's often used today when describing two ideas or terms that are placed in strong contrast to each other. We might come across antithesis in school if we learn about the "Hegelian dialectic." There, the thesis , or main idea put forward in an argument, is countered with its opposite idea — the antithesis — and the two are finally reconciled in a third proposition, the synthesis . An antithesis wouldn't exist without a thesis because it works as a comparison.

noun exact opposite “his theory is the antithesis of mine” see more see less type of: oppositeness , opposition the relation between opposed entities
noun the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance see more see less type of: rhetorical device a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance)

Vocabulary lists containing antithesis

Learn these words beginning with the prefix anti , meaning "against," "in opposition to," or "opposite of." Want to increase your prefix power? Learn our complete set of Power Prefix lists: anti- , con- , dis- , ex- , fore- , inter- , mis- , pre- , pro- , sub- , super- , trans- , uni-

Looking to build your vocabulary? Then practice this list of 300 "hard words" — the kind that used to be tested on the SAT before 2016. If you're a high school student prepping for the SAT, check out Vocabulary.com's Roadmap to the SAT , which focuses on the vocabulary you'll need to ace today's SAT test.

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Meaning of antithesis in English

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antithetical
anything but idiom
diametrical
dichotomist
dichotomous
or otherwise idiom
poles apart idiom

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Antithesis | intermediate english, examples of antithesis, translations of antithesis.

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Antithesis (Grammar and Rhetoric)

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

Richard Nordquist

An Introduction to Punctuation
Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
B.A., English, State University of New York

Antithesis is a rhetorical term for the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses . Plural: antitheses . Adjective: antithetical .

In grammatical terms, antithetical statements are parallel structures .

"A perfectly formed antithesis," says Jeanne Fahnestock, combines " isocolon , parison , and perhaps, in an inflected language, even homoeoteleuton ; it is an overdetermined figure . The aural patterning of the antithesis, its tightness and predictability, are critical to appreciating how the syntax of the figure can be used to force semantic opposites" ( Rhetorical Figures in Science , 1999).

From the Greek, "opposition"

Examples and Observations

"Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." (Goethe)
"Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara Lee." (advertising slogan)
"There are so many things that we wish we had done yesterday, so few that we feel like doing today." (Mignon McLaughlin, The Complete Neurotic's Notebook . Castle Books, 1981)
"We notice things that don't work. We don't notice things that do. We notice computers, we don't notice pennies. We notice e-book readers, we don't notice books." (Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time . Macmillan, 2002)
"Hillary has soldiered on, damned if she does, damned if she doesn't, like most powerful women, expected to be tough as nails and warm as toast at the same time." (Anna Quindlen, "Say Goodbye to the Virago." Newsweek , June 16, 2003)
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way." (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities , 1859)
"Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours." (President Barack Obama, election night victory speech, November 7, 2012)
"You're easy on the eyes Hard on the heart." (Terri Clark)
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." (Martin Luther King, Jr., speech at St. Louis, 1964)
"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." (Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address , 1863)
"All the joy the world contains Has come through wishing happiness for others. All the misery the world contains Has come through wanting pleasure for oneself." (Shantideva)
"The more acute the experience, the less articulate its expression." (Harold Pinter, "Writing for the Theatre," 1962)
"And let my liver rather heat with wine Than my heart cool with mortifying groans." (Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare)
Jack London's Credo "I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." (Jack London, quoted by his literary executor, Irving Shepard, in an introduction to a 1956 collection of London's stories)
Antithesis and Antitheton " Antithesis is the grammatical form of antitheton . Antitheton deals with contrasting thoughts or proofs in an argument ; Antithesis deals with contrasting words or ideas within a phrase, sentence, or paragraph." (Gregory T. Howard, Dictionary of Rhetorical Terms . Xlibris, 2010)
Antithesis and Antonyms Antithesis as a figure of speech exploits the existence of many 'natural' opposites in the vocabularies of all languages. Small children filling in workbooks and adolescents studying for the antonyms section of the SAT learn to match words to their opposites and so absorb much vocabulary as pairs of opposed terms, connecting up to down and bitter to sweet, pusillanimous to courageous and ephemeral to everlasting. Calling these antonyms 'natural' simply means that pairs of words can have wide currency as opposites among users of a language outside any particular context of use. Word association tests give ample evidence of the consistent linking of opposites in verbal memory when subjects given one of a pair of antonyms most often respond with the other, 'hot' triggering 'cold' or 'long' retrieving 'short' (Miller 1991, 196). An antithesis as a figure of speech at the sentence level builds on these powerful natural pairs, the use of one in the first half of the figure creating the expectation of its verbal partner in the second half." (Jeanne Fahnestock, Rhetorical Figures in Science . Oxford University Press, 1999)
Antithesis in Films - "Since . . . the quality of a scene or image is more vividly shown when set beside its opposite, it is not surprising to find antithesis in film . . .. There is a cut in Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick) from the yellow flickers of a flaming house to a still gray courtyard, lined with soldiers, and another from the yellow candles and warm browns of a gambling room to the cool grays of a terrace by moonlight and the Countess of Lyndon in white." (N. Roy Clifton, The Figure in Film . Associated University Presses, 1983) "It is clear that in every simile there is present both differences and likenesses, and both are a part of its effect. By ignoring differences, we find a simile and may perhaps find an antithesis in the same event, by ignoring likeness. . . . - "In The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges), a passenger boards a liner by tender. This was conveyed by the two vessels' whistling. We see a convulsive spurt of water and hear a desperate, soundless puff before the siren of the tender found its voice. There was a stuttering amazement, a drunken incoordination to these elaborate preliminaries, foiled by the liner's lofty unruffled burst of sounding steam. Here things that are like, in place, in sound, and in function, are unexpectedly contrasted. The commentary lies in the differences and gains force from the likeness." (N. Roy Clifton, The Figure in Film . Associated University Presses, 1983)
Antithetical Observations of Oscar Wilde - “When we are happy, we are always good, but when we are good, we are not always happy.” ( The Picture of Dorian Gray , 1891) - “We teach people how to remember, we never teach them how to grow.” ("The Critic as Artist," 1991) - “Wherever there is a man who exercises authority, there is a man who resists authority.” ( The Soul of Man Under Socialism , 1891) - “Society often forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer.” ("The Critic as Artist," 1991)

Pronunciation: an-TITH-uh-sis

What Are Tropes in Language?
Chiasmus Figure of Speech
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Scheme (Rhetoric): Definition and Examples
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presence (rhetoric)
Isocolon: A Rhetorical Balancing Act
What Is a Maxim?
The Art of Public Speaking
Decorum in Rhetoric
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Antimetabole: Figure of Speech
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Definition of antithesis noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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	theses
	a statement or proposition put forward and supported by proof or argument. , , , , , ,
	an essay or dissertation, esp. one based on research or critical study, submitted as a requirement for an advanced academic degree. , , , , , , ,
	the opening of a dialectical argument or process, followed by antithesis and resolved in synthesis.
	the accented part of a musical measure; downbeat. , ,
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What Is Volume in Math? A Kid-Friendly Guide

From the glass on your table to the skyscrapers that reach for the clouds, volume helps us understand and measure the scale of our physical world.

We’ve put together a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know to get started with volumes in math.

Read on to find simple definitions and explanations, learn to calculate volumes of 3D objects, see solved examples, and test your knowledge with bonus practice exercises.

What Is Volume?

Volume is the measure of how much space an object takes up in three dimensions. Sometimes, people also use the term "capacity" to talk about volume, especially when discussing how much a container like a cup or a box can hold.

To put it differently, if you understand volume, you can figure out how many candies fit in a jar, how many books fill a shelf, or how much water a swimming pool can contain.

Knowing how to calculate volume can help us figure out about how many jellybeans fit into a jar.

In this short video , one of the founders of Mathnasium Larry Martinek explains volume using Rubik's ® Cubes.

What Are the Volume Units?

Just like we use inches, feet, and miles to measure length, and ounces and pounds to measure weight, volume also has its own set of measuring units.

When measuring the volume of three-dimensional (3D) objects, we use cubic units .

In the customary system , we use cubic inches (in³), cubic feet (ft³), cubic yards (yd³), and cubic miles (mi³) to measure volume.
Similarly, in the metric system , we use cubic centimeters (cm³), cubic meters (m³), and cubic kilometers (km³).

As you might have guessed, the reason why we use cubic units to measure volume is because we are measuring three-dimensional spaces. When we are measuring the area of two-dimensional (2D) spaces like squares or rectangles, for example, we use square units such as ft 2 or m 2 .

Find Top-Rated Geometry Tutors at Mathnasium

How to Find the Volume of Cubes, Prisms & Cylinders

As 3D objects can vary greatly in shape, there is no universal formula for calculating their volume, but there is a universal logic we can follow to calculate the volume of cubes, prisms, and cylinders.

To find the volume of any of these 3 shapes, all we have to do is calculate the area of the base and multiply it by the height .

Let's put this into action:

Finding Volumes of Cubes

Cubes are special types of rectangular prisms where all sides are equal in length. You can find cubes in everyday items like dice, building blocks, and sugar cubes!

To find the volume of a cube, we should calculate the area of its base and multiply it by the height.

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Let’s say the length of the side is 7 inches.

The area of a square base is 7 x 7, or 7 2 .

As all the sides are equal in length, the height of the cube is also 7 .

So to calculate the volume of the square, we should multiply by 7 2 by 7 , which we can also express as 7 3 . The volume of our square is 343 cubic inches (in 3 ).

The formula we use to calculate the volume (V ) of a cube is simply the length of its side cubed (s 3 ):

For example, let's consider a cube with side length: s = 4 in

To find its volume, we use this formula: V = s 3

V = 4 3 or V = 4 x 4 x 4

V = 64 in 3

The volume of our cube in this case is 64 in³.

Finding Volumes of Rectangular Prisms

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A rectangular prism is a three-dimensional shape with six faces, all of which are rectangles. You can see rectangular prisms all around, like in cardboard boxes, shoeboxes, and bricks!

Rectangular prisms have three pairs of parallel faces:

Top and bottom
Front and back
Left and right side

The faces in each pair are the same shape and size, so they have the same area.

To calculate the volume of a rectangular prism, we start by defining its length (l) , height (h) , and width (w) .

To find the base, we multiply the length by the width l x w.

To find volume, we multiply the base l x w by the height: l x w x h

And we found the formula for calculating the volume of prisms:

V = l x w x h

Let's try this example.

$what is antithesis kid definition$

The length of our rectangular prism is 6 inches (l = 6 in)
The width is 3 inches (w = 3 in)
The height is 2 inches (h = 2 in)

To calculate the volume of the prism, we multiply all three values:

V = 6 x 3 x 2

V = 36 in 3

Finding Volumes of Cylinders

A cylinder is a three-dimensional shape with two circular bases of the same size that are parallel to each other and connected by a curved surface. For example, you can see cylinders in objects like paper towel tubes or soda cans.

To calculate the volume of a cylinder, we need to know the radius of its base and its height.

$what is antithesis kid definition$

To find the formula for the volume of a cylinder, let’s start by calculating the area of its base.

As the base of a cylinder is a circle, to calculate the area we multiply π by the squared radius (r 2 ): π x r 2 .

Now all we have to do to find the volume is to multiply the area of the base with the height of the cylinder: π x r 2 x h

There we have it! The formula for calculating the volume of a cylinder is:

V = π x r 2 x h

Let’s put it into action!

If you remember your lessons on the area of the circle, you will recall the Greek letter π, or “Pi”, and that its value is approximately 3.14.

In our examples, we will leave the volume in terms of π (pi) to simplify calculations.

What we are missing now is to define the radius (r) of the base and the height of our cylinder (h), so let’s say they measure:

Radius r = 3 in

Height h = 5 in

To calculate its volume, we use the formula from earlier:

Substitute the values:

V = π x 3 2 x 5

V = π x 9 x 5

So, the volume of our cylinder is 45π in³.

How to Find the Volume of Pyramids, Cones & Spheres

Ready for the next challenge?

Let’s level up your geometry skills and tackle the volumes of pyramids, cones, and spheres.

Finding Volumes of Pyramids

A pyramid is a three-dimensional shape with a flat base and triangular faces that meet at a single point called the apex.

The base of a pyramid is the flat surface that the pyramid sits on. The surface can vary in shape, from triangles to squares, and beyond.

The height of a pyramid is the vertical distance from its apex (top) down to its base, measured along a straight line perpendicular to the base.

$what is antithesis kid definition$

To find the volume of a pyramid, just like with prisms and cylinders, we need to know the area of its base ( ) and its height.

But, unlike prisms and cylinders, pyramids do not have two parallel bases, so our volume formula will differ slightly.

We will multiply the base and the height of the pyramid by 1/3 , like so:

V = 1/3 x B x h

For example, let's say our pyramid has a square base with these dimensions:

Base side length: s = 3 in
Height: h = 6 in

To find its volume, we use the formula: V = 1/3 x B x h

For a square base, the base area is calculated as: B = s 2

V = 1/3 x 3 3 x 6

V = 1/3 x 54

V = 18 in 3

So, the volume of our square-based pyramid is 18 in³.

2. Finding Volumes of Cones

A cone is a 3D shape with a circular base and a curved side that gets smaller as it goes to a point at the top, called the apex.

$what is antithesis kid definition$

To find the volume of a cone, we need to know the radius (r) of its circular base and its height (h). Then, we find the area of the base, multiply it by the height of the cone and by 1/3 .

V = 1/3 x π x r 2 x h

You may have noticed that this is the same formula as the pyramid (base x height), except in this case the base is a circle, so we will calculate the area using: π x r 2

Let's try our hands at this example.

If we know the radius is 4 in, and the height(h) is 6 in, we can find the volume of the cone.

When we substitute the formula above with the given values, we get:

V = 1/3 x π x 16 x 6

V = 1/3 x π x 96

V = 96/3 x π

The volume of our cone is 32π in³.

3. Finding Volumes of Sphere

A sphere is a perfectly round 3D shape where every point on the surface is the same distance from the center.

$what is antithesis kid definition$

To calculate the volume of a sphere, we need to know its radius (r) . The formula for the volume of a sphere is V = 4/3 x π x r 3 .

Let’s use an example to illustrate. If a sphere has a radius of 3 in, we can find its volume using the formula above.

V = 4/3 x π x r 3

V = 4/3 x π x 27.

V = 4 x27/3 x π

V = 108/3 x π

Finally, we get the volume of our sphere and it’s 36π in³.

Solved Examples of Volume Exercises

Let's explore some solved examples to reinforce our knowledge.

Example 1: Cube

Most of our students love cubes because their volumes are one of the easiest to find!

$what is antithesis kid definition$

Why are they easy to find?

Because all of their sides are the same length, so if we know one, we know them all.

In this example, the side of our cube measures at 5 in.

Substituting the values, we get:

V = 5 x 5 x 5

V = 125 in 3

Example 2: Rectangular Prism

$what is antithesis kid definition$

Based on the information you see in the image, how would you calculate the volume of this rectangular prism?

Let’s start by taking note of the dimensions:

Length (l) = 12 in
Width (w) = 6 in
Height (h) = 4 in

We remember the rectangular prism volume formula:

When we insert the values into our formula, we get:

V = 12 x 6 x 4

V = 288 in 3

Example 3: Cylinder

Cylinders might look scary because of their formula, specifically the π, but once you get used to the formula, their volumes are pretty easy to calculate.

$what is antithesis kid definition$

In this case, our cylinder has:

Radius: 4 inches
Height: 10 inches.

The formula for measuring the volume of a cylinder is: V = π x r 2 x h

Remembering that π ≈ 3.14 and substituting the given values, we get:

V = π x 4 2 x 10

V = π x 16 x 10

V = π x 160

V = 160π in 3

Example 4: Pyramid with a Rectangular Base

In this example, we have a pyramid with a rectangular base.

We know the universal formula for pyramid volume is V = 1/3 x B x h where B represents the area of the base.

$what is antithesis kid definition$

Let’s take note of the dimensions:

Height: 9 in
Length: 6 in
Width: 4 in

Since we’re dealing with a rectangular base, we will get the value of the base (B) by multiplying the length and width of the rectangle, so our formula will look like this:

V = 1/3 x (l x w) x h

Now let’s insert our values and calculate the volume of our pyramid:

V = 1/3 x 6 x 4 x 9

V = 1/3 x 216

V = 72 in 3

Example 5: Cone

Now, let's work out the volume of this cone together.

$what is antithesis kid definition$

For cone volume, we use the formula: V = 1/3 x π x r 2 x h

Write down the dimensions:

Radius (r): 6 in
Height (h): 10 in

Let’s substitute the values:

V = 1/3 x π x 36 x 10

V = 1/3 x π x 360

V = 360/3 x π

V = 120 x π

V = 120π in 3

Example 6: Sphere

Time to tackle spheres—those perfectly round wonders of geometry!

To get the volume of a sphere, we follow the formula: V = 4/3 x π x r 3

$what is antithesis kid definition$

Since our radius is 6 in, we can substitute the value right away:

V = 4/3 x π x 6 3

V = 4/3 x π x 216

V = 4 x 216/3 x π

V = 864/3 x π

V = 288 x π

V = 288π 3 in 3

Quiz – Test Your Knowledge of Volume

Frequently asked questions about volume.

Here are the questions we often get from our students when learning about volumes in math:

1. How is volume different from area?

Volume is the space inside a three-dimensional object, like a box, while area measures the space covering a two-dimensional surface, like the floor of a room.

To measure volume, we use cubic units (in³, ft³, etc.) and to measure area we use square units (in², ft², etc.).

2. Can the volume change?

Yes, volume can change! For example, when you pour water into a cup, the volume in the cup increases because it’s holding more liquid.

Similarly, if you squeeze a balloon, its volume decreases because you're reducing the amount of air inside.

3. How is volume used in everyday life?

Perhaps one of the best examples of how we use volumes in everyday life is cooking.

We use volume to measure ingredients like flour, sugar, and liquids.

When a recipe says "1 cup of flour" or "1/2 cup of milk," it's talking about how much space those ingredients take up in a measuring cup.

These precise measurements allow us to replicate the dishes we love.

We also use volumes to measure how much:

Water we’ll need to fill a pool
Fuel we can put into our car
Space we can occupy in a storage unit and so on

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Our tutors assess each student’s current skills and considers their unique academic goals to create personalized learning plans that will put them on the best path towards math mastery.

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The 100 Greatest Rap Albums of All Time: Staff List

Our full list of picks for the best full-length hip-hop projects ever made is out now.

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Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Lauryn Hill and Nicki Minaj, Best Rap Albums

Hip-Hop has spoiled us. In the 50 years since a group of kids decided to throw a party in the Bronx, the genre has grown and blossomed in ways Kool Herc couldn’t have imagined. Hip-hop left New York and moved south to Atlanta, Miami, Memphis, and Houston, and west to Chicago and St. Louis. It took up shop out in Los Angeles and The Bay Area and reinvented itself before moving back across the country. And in that time, as it worked its way across this country, we’ve been fortunate to experience a seemingly endless amount of incredible, culture-shifting, delectable, classic albums.

There have been so many amazing albums that it’s damn near impossible to capture them all in one list. You can point to any corner of the map and find 50 albums that could be the best album ever made. As a matter of fact, you’ve probably already had this conversation multiple times at parties or over dinner or in your various group chats. It’s a tough nut to crack. But, it’s a challenge we relish.

So, to round off Black Music Month, we decided to attempt the impossible and rank the 100 greatest rap albums of all time. Yep, of all time — and, yep, from all regions. A few members of our staff huddled to come up with a list of albums we believe represent the best of what the genre has given us over the past 50 years. We had a few criteria when deciding: We only included full-length projects that were commercially released, so no mixtapes or EPs. We took into account the world into which the album was released: Did it break new ground or was it just a different version of a more popular album? We weighed the album’s impact and how it’s endured over time: Did it change the game? Do people still play it? And, of course, since we’re Billboard , we took into account how the albums performed commercially — though ultimately, that was a lesser consideration.

To make this more digestible, we’ve been rolling the list out 25 albums at a time. And now we’ve come to the end. Today (July 11), we reveal what we here at Billboard believe are the 100 greatest hip-hop albums of all time. As ever, getting to 100 was a massive undertaking. There are albums you love that didn’t make the list. That’s just how it goes, but if there are projects you strongly believe deserved to be on the list, let us know.

Lil Baby, My Turn

Lil Baby secured the solo spotlight with his sophomore album My Turn . It’s easy to mistake his mellow vocals as being devoid of emotion, but his lyricism uncovers the perplexing reality of what it’s like to experience glitz and glamour after coming out of the gutter (“What’s the chances that you run you up a couple mil’?/ And you really come from sleepin’ out the projects?” Baby wonders on “Hurtin.”). And the turbo-speed delivery on songs like the Future-featuring “Live Off My Closet” mimics the rapid rate of his own ascension in the rap game. But he’s ready to become a dignitary on “The Bigger Picture,” a modern-day Black Lives Matter protest anthem where Baby’s poignant reflections about racial injustice galvanize him to lead his community to action: “I got power, now I gotta say somethin’.” Baby earned his first Billboard 200 chart leader with My Turn, and on top of producing two Hot 100 top 10 hits with the deluxe edition’s 42 Dugg-assisted “We Paid” and “The Bigger Picture,” it ended 2020 as the most popular album of the year in the U.S. , according to MRC Data, as well as the most-streamed album of the year. — HERAN MAMO

E-40, In a Major Way

E-40’s best album, the perfect synthesis of his swaggering flow and the Bay Area style he pioneered, also contains a transcendentally sweet moment. On the socially conscious song “It’s All Bad,” 40 addresses his then-five-year-old son, who asks “Daddy sprinkle me with some more game,” and even raps bars of his own. The track is not the strongest off In a Major Way, that honor belongs to the silky “Sprinkle Me” or “1-Luv,” a moving exploration of life behind bars, but it illustrates why E-40 has endured and grown from a local stalwart to a global hip-hop force: since the earliest days of his career, he’s been molding minds, inventing vocabulary and making music that made the Bay Area’s highly idiosyncratic style feel welcoming and inclusive, even for his own preschooler. — GRANT RINDNER

Do or Die, Picture This

For most people, Chicago rap beings when Kanye got into a near-fatal car accident and then threw on a pink Polo shirt. But the Chi has as deep a rap history as any major city. Do or Die, a trio from Chicago’s west side, looms large over that history. After the group found local success with their single “Po Pimp,” they were signed to Houston’s Rap-A-Lot Records where they dropped their gutsy and funky debut. Produced primarily by the Legendary Traxster and featuring a young Tung Twista, Picture This gave Chicago a flag to plant in its home soil while the West and East coasts were dominating the airwaves. — DAMIEN SCOTT

Geto Boys, We Can’t Be Stopped

When it comes to Geto Boys’ third project, the conversation always bends towards “Mind Playing Tricks on Me,” and for good reason. Haunting and morose, the song cut through the noise with an unwavering clarity of purpose: to highlight just how f–ked up it is trying to make it out of a U.S. ghetto when your options are limited to gangster s–t. The rest of the album does well in exploring that motif, giving an unfiltered look at the south that wasn’t being shown in the popular music videos of the day. To call it groundbreaking feels reductive because in reality it decimated the ground it came in on. — D.S.

Run-D.M.C., Raising Hell

After Run-D.M.C. helped bring rap into the modern era with their debut album and then used their second LP to help the genre find new audiences by melding it with rock, Run-D.M.C. was on an unthinkable run. Turned out they had nowhere to go but up: The group’s third album continues its focus on sparse, hard-hitting production as Rick Rubin works his minimalist magic, pulling from all places to create a sound bed authentic enough for rap purists but accessible and innovative enough to break through into the mainstream. Run and D.M.C. pen songs that span the gamut of black life in the ’80s, covering everything from the shoes people wore (“My Adidas”) to the struggles the endured (“Proud to Be Black”). But Raising Hell ‘s reality is that, thanks for the aforementioned songs and tracks like the Aerosmith collab “Walk This Way,” both rap and Run-D.M.C. began to go mainstream. — D.S.

LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out

Nearly 40 years after the 1985 release of his debut album Radio , the ladies still love cool James. And that’s thanks to a canon of seminal albums in the ‘80s and early ‘90s that played a pivotal role in shaping and proving rap’s mainstream appeal. With this — his double-platinum, Marley Marl-produced 1990 fourth studio album — LL knocked aside naysayers who thought prior album Walking With a Panther leaned too pop for the room. Classics like the hard-hitting title track (which nabbed the Grammy for best rap solo performance) and neighborhood romance romp “Around the Way Girl” proved his rap gamesmanship hadn’t lost any of its authenticity. — GAIL MITCHELL

EPMD, Business as Usual

With a catalog full of classics that resoundingly vibrated through the underground in the ’80s and ’90s, EPMD’s third LP (their first release on Def Jam) not only makes this list, but gets the crown as their best work. This opus (and stunning album artwork) was chiefly inspired by anger towards haters and their former label Sleeping Bag Records (“I’m Mad” is the literally the first song on the track list). Erick and Parrish were in fact not making the dollars they felt they deserved, especially with two consecutive gold, critically acclaimed albums in the two years prior to Business as Usual .

Undeterred, EPMD focused. They delivered an adamantium-strong, well-rounded project smothered in underground funk. It is replete with seismic bangers, whimsical concept tales, and outlandish storytelling continuation. Notwithstanding, LL Cool J masterfully assaulted “Rampage” with one of his greatest guest verses and Redman made a brilliantly belligerent debut on “Hardcore.” – SHAHEEM REID

B.G., Chopper City in the Ghetto

Before Lil Wayne became the superstar of Cash Money Records, B.G. was seen as one of the label’s franchise players – and his album Chopper City in the Ghetto was proof of why. His deep, slinky-voiced street tales provided an alluring contrast to Mannie Fresh’s skittering hi-hats and synthetic horns and cymbals, a bouncy late-’90s evolution of the jazz that was such a strong part of their New Orleans heritage. While Geezy was plenty strong on his own, as he says on the album’s second-most-notable song, “Cash Money Is an Army.” But the high point is “Bling Bling,” a song where he and his fellow Hot Boyz compatriots join forces for a glitzy, synth-heavy celebration of jewelry that became a permanent staple of hip-hop lingo. — WILLIAM E. KETCHUM

Three Six Mafia, Mystic Stylez

Three 6 Mafia made history winning an Oscar for their musical contribution to the 2005 Memphis rap drama Hustle & Flow, but any track pulled from 1995’s Mystic Stylez could be the most memorable music cue in a horror classic. The group didn’t invent horrorcore, but fused it with authentic southern rap in a way that is still influencing teenage artists nearly three decades later. Many of the album’s beats (from DJ Paul and Juicy J of course), move with the slow, but undeniable pace of a movie killer stalking their prey, and act as a perfect contrast to the nimble flows — which even led to a brief beef between the group and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. With Memphis currently in the midst of a rap renaissance, the importance of LPs like Mystic Stylez is why Three 6 Mafia’s stamp of approval remains invaluable for the city’s rising talent. — G.R.

Migos, Culture

The beloved Atlanta trio shook up the rap game and became a pop culture phenomenon with its second full-length album Culture. The first of the Culture trilogy, the 13-track set is the most concise showcase of the group’s compelling sonic DNA: a rapid-fire triplet flow that revolutionized cadences in rap music; memorable ad-libs and slang terms that’ve entered the hip-hop lexicon; and classic ATL trap production courtesy of top producers like Zaytoven, DJ Durel and Murda Beatz. Its lead single “Bad and Boujee,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, became an epochal moment in Migos’ career — primarily due to its iconic “Raindrop, drop-top/ Smokin’ on cookie in the hotbox” chorus that spurred internet memes; Donald Glover thanked Migos for making the track while hailing them as “the Bealtes of this generation” at the 2017 Golden Globes. Culture did cement Migos as the one of the most influential acts in rap and transformed the group into a commercially successful act: It earned Migos its first Billboard 200-topping album and first set of Grammy nominations in 2018, for best rap album and best rap performance with “Bad and Boujee,” which also became the group’s first Hot 100 No. 1 smash. Given the group’s tragic ending – Takeoff was killed in 2022, Quavo and Offset reportedly had a falling out and Migos officially disbanded in 2023 – Culture serves as an excellent remembrance of better times. — H.M.

The Pharcyde, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde

Back in the early ’90s when N.W.A was dominating the charts with its brand of visceral gangster rap, there didn’t seem to be much room for anything else. But else where a movement was brewing. A movement that valued novelty over realism and fun over pathos. A leading project of that movement was the Pharcyde’s debut — which is full of, well, bizarre tales, which make you nod your head and laugh out loud. The group went left of what was popping on the radio and made something wholly original. A lot of that can be credited to J-Swift, the eccentric genius producer who helmed the project. It may be trite, but after Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde nothing was the same. — D.S.

Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet

Raucous, unsettling, radically heartening, Fear of a Black Planet is a generation-transcending masterpiece, where P.E. takes us from the revolution war room to the frontlines on the road to Black empowerment. “Welcome To The Terrordome” was so alluringly agitating, Mike Tyson used the P.E. catalog staple as his anthem when he walked to the ring en route to decapitating opponents. Chuck D spoke for all young Blacks who were fighting societal oppression, but who had the rebellious wherewithal to never submit, rapping “I got so much trouble on my mind/ Refuse!/ To Lose!” That inexorable conviction is so omnipresent throughout the LP, especially on the unrelenting “Brothers Gonna Work It Out,” which you can consider the big brother to Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” Meanwhile, “Fight the Power” is the grandson of James Brown’s “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud” as the greatest hip-hop call to arms for the Black community. — S.R.

Ice-T, O.G. Original Gangster

Let’s get the obvious joke out of the way: Yes, the guy most kids know as a cop on the long-running Law & Order: SVU was a gangsta rap pioneer. Not only was he a pioneer, Ice-T made a certifiable classic of the form with his fourth album. Sprawling at 24 tracks, O.G. offered a nuanced take on street life with T questioning a lot of the actions he would go on to brag about. But instead of derailing the party, the contradictions make for a more absorbing listen, lending humanity to a genre many viewed as cold and antisocial. Turns out that’s just want the people wanted as O.G. debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 and wound up going gold, setting a new standard for gangster rap in its wake. — D.S.

The Roots, Things Fall Apart

Year : 1999

For their first few albums together, The Roots were already more than just a novelty act: They were known as the first “hip-hop band,” bringing the jazzy energy of jam sessions to their music and building a reputation for a unique live show. But with Things Fall Apart , they began to forge their artistic identity with more conviction. Named after a seminal novel by renowned African author Chinua Achebe and beginning with a skit that stems from disenchanted jazz musicians in Spike Lee’s Mo Betta Blues , the group wanted to make a statement about their careers and their place in the hip-hop lexicon. Questlove began to integrate the off-kilter hip-hop soul that was perfected by Soulquarian peers like J Dilla, Erykah Badu and D’Angelo, while rappers Black Thought, Malik B and Dice Raw were in a zone — dropping brilliant verses alongside a roster of all-star MCs like Mos Def, Common, a young Beanie Sigel, and Eve, the latter appearing with Badu on the soulful, Grammy-winning love song “You Got Me.” — W.E.K.

The Game, The Documentary

When the West Coast craved a new rap face in the 2000s, The Game gladly accepted, rejuvenating an entire region. With Dr. Dre and 50 Cent on speed dial, The Game leapfrogged his peers on 2005’s The Documentary . Though 50’s songwriting wizardry on “How We Do” and “Hate It Or Love It” gave Game mainstream appeal, it was Chuck Taylor’s grittiness and lyrical finesse on “Dreams,” “Start From Scratch” and “Runnin” that truly solidified his debut album. — CARL LAMARRE

Outkast, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik

It’s sounds boring in 2024, but you can really divide southern rap into two eras: Before Outkast and After Outkast. Before Outkast most thought of southern rap as mostly bass booty anthems and party songs. Sure, there were some outliers, but none made a big enough impact to change the perception. Then came Antwon “Big Boi” Patton and André “Andre 3000” Benjamin. Their debut, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, is a heady album, one that works hard to prove that young black men all around the country are facing the same issues — and that gangstas and playas come in all shapes and sizes. It was revelatory at the time, and is still effective three decades later. All of rap — not just in the south, either — owes a debt of gratitude to Outkast. — D.S.

The D.O.C., No One Can Do It Better

If you’re of a certain age, you may have no idea who The D.O.C. is. Well, he was one of the best rappers to come out of the West Coast, even though he was originally from Texas. He co-founded Death Row records and wrote a gang of hits for N.W.A. He also dropped one of the best albums of the ’80s in No One Can Do It Better . Produced by Dr. Dre, D.O.C.’s debut was filled with expertly tailored funk riffs and drums that could knock a sub from a ’64 loose. Tracks like “Mind Blown,” “The Formula” and “The D.O.C. & The Doctor” showed a nimble MC who reinvigorated Ruthless Records with his classic debut. — D.S.

The Diplomats, Diplomatic Immunity

By the time The Diplomats released their double-disc debut under Roc-A-Fella Records, their name had already been ringing bells in New York City. The group, co-founded by Cam’ron and Jim Jones, was rooted in decades of friendship from growing up together in Harlem, and they’d gone on a historic mixtape run in 2002 where they’d established their own slang, sound and USA-inspired iconography. As a result, Diplomatic Immunity was a fully-formed presentation: Cam, Jim, Juelz and Freaky Zeeky had brilliant chemistry with differing rap styles, Heatmakerz and Just Blaze supplied them with brilliantly triumphant soul samples, and kids around the country were walking around with fitted hats and throwback jerseys three sizes too big. — W.E.K.

MC Lyte, Lyte as a Rock

As one of the genre’s pioneering foremothers, Queens, NY-bred rapper MC Lyte – born Lana Michele Moorer – helped kick down the door for female MCs to stand toe-to-toe with their male counterparts. The diminutive dynamo released her critically acclaimed debut album, an Audio Two production, at the age of 18. On what’s been touted as the first full album by a female rapper as a solo artist, the husky-voiced Lyte fearlessly tackled socially conscious and personal matters such as infidelity (“Paper Thin”), drug addiction (“I Cram to Understand U [Sam]”) and beat-stealing (“10% Dis”) — alongside the symbolic title track — through deft rhymes that still resonate. — G.M.

Missy Elliott, Miss E... So Addictive

Few artists have been able to merge the worlds of hip-hop and R&B as inventively as Missy Elliott, and her third album arguably sees her at the peak of her creative powers. She and Timbaland had already been hot since 20 years ago by then — and they teamed up to co-produce one of the spaciest, quirkiest batches of beats you’ll ever hear, which Missy takes on with stunning versatility. She demands men hold their own in the bedroom on “One Minute Man,” delivers a sincere, romantic ballad with “Take Away,” and provides the club an eternal staple in “Get Ur Freak On.” Futuristic production, limber flows and velvety vocals: Missy Elliott has it all, and there’s never been anyone in hip-hop like her. — W.E.K.

Roddy Ricch, Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial

A string of successful singles, like 2018’s “Die Young” and 2019’s “Ballin’” with Mustard, and a co-sign from West Coast heavyweight Nipsey Hussle set up Compton MC Roddy Ricch for his debut album Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial . His melodic approach and acoustic-driven hip-hop production add a smooth coating to his gritty rags-to-riches tale — but lines like “‘Cause I ain’t sure why my dawg had to make the news reel/ Got promethazine in my eyes, I’m cryin’ purple tears” on the “Intro” prove a Rolex can’t be a Band-Aid for life’s real problems. Its fourth single, “The Box,” morphed into a monster smash, with a swelling orchestral intro, squeaky “ eee err ” ad-libs and thunderous reverse 808s underlying Ricch’s shape-shifting vocal delivery. Please Excuse Me earned Roddy his first Billboard 200-topping album as well as his first Hot 100 No. 1 with “The Box,” which spent 11 weeks at the top, snagged three 2021 Grammy nominations (including song of the year) and was certified diamond by the RIAA. — H.M.

Travis $cott, Astroworld

Named after the defunct Six Flags AstroWorld in Travis Scott’s Houston hometown, Astroworld invites listeners into Scott’s custom-built world of pandemonium. His wildly entertaining fusion of psychedelic and trap music makes for Scott’s finest production, inciting his trademark mosh pits with the LP’s mind-boggling main attraction, the Drake-assisted “Sicko Mode,” and levitating to a state of euphoria with the help of Stevie Wonder’s dizzying harmonica riffs, James Blake’s ghastly moans and Kid Cudi’s stirring hums on “Stop Trying to Be God,” or Tame Impala’s kaleidoscopic instrumentals and The Weeknd’s ethereal falsetto on “Skeletons.” Astroworld remains Scott’s strongest project in his discography as well as his most decorated: The 17-song set earned the rapper his second Billboard 200-topping album and first best rap album nomination at the 2019 Grammys, where “Sicko Mode” — which became Scott’s first Hot 100 No. 1 and first diamond-certified song — was also nominated for best rap song and best rap performance. — H.M.

Madvillain, Madvillainy

Madlib and MF Doom’s respective legacies as underground rap pillars would still exist if their 2004 joint LP Madvillainy didn’t exist, but would lack a crystallizing release that has come to be a seminal gateway record for any fans looking to explore rap’s more idiosyncratic realms. It’s a true superhero showdown, with Doom reeling off some of his most lyrically dense-yet-quotable bars atop Madlib’s collaged beats (“Mad plays the bass like the race card” remains one of the greatest mid-track producer shoutouts ever). Songs like “Meat Grinder” and “Figaro” are off-kilter, but menacing, like a Yorgos Lanthimos movie, while “Raid” and “America’s Most Blunted” honor East and West Coast rap without compromising the essential askewness of Madlib and Doom. — G.R.

8Ball & MJG, Coming Out Hard

Thanks to Yo Gotti, GloRilla, and Moneybag Yo, Memphis rap has been in the mainstream spotlight for the past half decade. But long before CMG became a dominant force, Suave House and its premier duo, 8Ball & MJG, put Memphis rap on the map. The duo’s debut album is soulful tour of the city known as the birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll. However, instead of taking listeners to Graceland, they show rap fans the illicit underbelly of the city, where pimps reign supreme and pushers move weight like it’s legal. Over production that mixes blues, soul and funk into a wonderfully dank concoction, the two MCs play off each other — 8Ball’s chill, luxurious flow and MJG’s spitfire approach — to bring to life a side of Memphis most had never seen before. — D.S.

Cypress Hill, Cypress Hill

Sometimes Cypress Hill’s discography can be unfairly flattened to just their frat party classics (“Insane in the Brain,” “Hits From the Bong”), but listening to any of their first four records in full cements why the group remains a uniquely revered part of L.A.’s storied rap history. In some ways, their buck-wild approach to collaborative rap made them an answer to Beastie Boys or Wu-Tang Clan, but they also provided a bridge from the early days of gangsta rap into a new phase of West Coast rap, one that could be vivid and violent, but also playful (“Hole in the Head,” “How I Could Just Kill a Man”). — G.R.

XXXTentacion, 17

17 is XXXTENTACION’s rage, chaos, depression, trauma and love meshed into an artistic fastball of troubled meditations with a still-kinetic energy. The poignant 22-minute LP leaves listeners with X’s bleeding heart. His genre-blending debut cuts deep and shows off an impressive artistic range, using guitars and icy piano keys as a canvas to display his raw DIY style. 17 even struck a chord with Kendrick Lamar, who instructed fans on Twitter to listen to the album if they “feel anything. Raw thoughts.” (The Compton legend later followed that by revealing he was on his fifth listen of the profound project.) X – born Jahseh Onfroy – would be tragically murdered just over a year later. — MICHAEL SAPONARA

Chief Keef, Finally Rich

Year : 2012

At just 16 years old, Chief Keef became the face of Chicago’s drill scene. Sosa blossomed as a rose from the concrete, growing up on the city’s vicious South Side. Keef’s syrupy rhymes mixed with Young Chop’s thumping beats proved the rapper and producer to be a lethal Shaq & Kobe combo on the MC’s major label debut Finally Rich — which, with enduring anthems like “Hate Bein’ Sober,” “I Don’t Like” and “Love Sosa,” would go on to define an often-misunderstood movement. Somehow still only in his 20s, Keef and his signature studio album are still routinely cited as influences by burgeoning artists from all across the hip-hop landscape to this day. — M.S.

Redman, Muddy Waters

Year : 1996

The closest thing New Jersey rap has had to a superhero was Treach, the lead rapper from Naughty By Nature. But the Garden State does have a resident dark horse comic book character in Redman, the North Jersey anti-hero who’s as funny as he is ill with it. After his harrowing second album, 1994’s Dare Iz a Darkside , Redman and Erick Sermon built a more playful and slightly more radio-friendly sound for 1996’s Muddy Waters without sacrificing the gritty dark comedy that made Red a fan favorite. Light on features but heavy on skits — maybe a bit too heavy? — the album shows Redman at the height of his powers, rapping his ass off about any and everything that popped into his head, and set the stage for what would be his most commercially successful album two years later. — D.S.

Tyler, the Creator, Call Me if You Get Lost

Year : 2021

Tyler, the Creator finally got a Gangsta Grillz mixtape 11 years after tweeting he wanted one “SO F–KING BAD.” With his jet-setting alter ego Sir Tyler Baudelaire taking the controls, Call Me If You Get Lost plays like the atmospheric soundtrack of an international flight’s first class, with dizzying jazz flute melodies on the Lil Wayne-featuring “HOT WIND BLOWS” and a nearly 10-minute shimmering synth-pop-turned-reggae fantasy on the Brent Faiyaz and Fana Hues-assisted “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE.” But at the same time, he upholds DJ Drama’s heralded hip-hop tradition with the braggadocious, Gravediggaz-sampling single “LUMBERJACK” and brutally honest “MANIFESTO” (featuring Domo Genesis). Tyler continues to push the boundaries of his own music, making CMIYGL his most profound work — as well as his second Billboard 200 No. 1 album, and second to win the best rap album Grammy. — H.M.

Lil Uzi Vert, Love Is Rage 2

Year : 2017

Rap and rock have a storied history together, and Uzi flipped that relationship on its head with his star-making debut studio album, Luv Is Rage 2 . Combining swaggering energy with songs that contemplate the darkest depths of suicidal ideation and depression, Uzi expertly captures the through lines between the seemingly disparate emotions of love and rage. Across the album’s 20 tracks, Uzi tries on myriad sounds, all held together by the way he commands top-level production from the esteemed likes of Metro Boomin, Pharrell Williams and Pi’erre Bourne. The album’s refusal to settle in a predictable pocket is indicative of Uzi’s rap generation – a group of restless rock stars always on the search for something new, a theme that courses through his post-breakup paeans on Luv Is Rage 2 . — KYLE DENIS

Mos Def, Black on Both Sides

Now known as Yasiin Bey, the Brooklyn rapper has never been one to mince words. As its title implies, his debut solo album finds an unapologetic Bey addressing socio-political issues involving the environment and white appropriation of Black culture (“New World Water,” “Rock N Roll”), meditating on life (“Umi Says”) and navigating romance (“Ms. Fat Booty”). Bey’s ability to shift between rapping and singing, his calm-yet-affirmative voice, vivid and insightful storytelling nestled against laidback soul-jazz sonics — accented by live instrumentation and skillful samples of songs by Aretha Franklin, Fela Kuti, Broadway’s Gershwins and more — are among the reasons why this 1999 album was so impactful, and remains an essential hip-hop primer. — G.M.

Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday

Year : 2010

While her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty established Nicki Minaj as one of rap’s exciting newcomers, she proved she was here to stay the following year with official debut album Pink Friday . She proudly proclaims “I’m the Best” on the LP’s opener, and proceeds to dethrone Queen Bee (aka Lil’ Kim) as her volatile alter ego Roman Zolanski on the next track “Roman’s Revenge,” with Eminem assisting as Slim Shady. But while she makes the case for why who rules rap shouldn’t be limited to one’s sex, Minaj also doesn’t limit herself to the rap genre: She flaunts her mainstream pop sensibilities on tracks like the deluxe cut-turned-infectious smash “Super Bass”; reveals her vulnerable side and R&B vocals on “Right Thru Me”; and taps willl.i.am for the electropop, Buggles-sampling single “Check It Out.”

But on the celebratory single “Moment 4 Life,” she and her Young Money labelmate Drake pause to relish in the reality of becoming successful rappers after yearning for their time to come – and Minaj deservedly earned her moment with this album. Pink Friday became Minaj’s first Billboard 200 No. 1 album, while “Super Bass” earned the rapper her first Hot 100 top 10 hit as a lead artist (and became the highest-charting rap hit by a solo female act since Missy Elliott’s “Work It” a decade earlier) as well as her first diamond-certified single. Pink Friday also earned a best rap album nod at the 2012 Grammys, where Minaj was also up for best new artist and best rap performance for “Moment for Life.” — H.M.

The Throne (Ye & Jay-Z), Watch the Throne

Year : 2011

Although both members of The Throne – Kanye “Ye” West & Jay-Z – have fallen victim to different black holes in the universe of rap capitalism, their culture-shifting joint LP captured the two hip-hop titans before that monster consumed them. A record that unabashedly revels in its own opulence, Watch the Throne mines classic soul samples and combines ruminations on Black wealth that are simultaneously inspirational and haunting. After all, there’s no way to wax poetic about wealth without also addressing the chaos and mania that comes with it. “N—as in Paris” might be the eternal party starter, but “Welcome to the Jungle” and the Frank Ocean-assisted “Made In America” are where the album’s gravity truly lies. — K.D.

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III

Year : 2008

Lil Wayne has a permanent spot on the Mixtape Mount Rushmore, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know his way around a proper studio album either. For the third installment of his iconic Carter series, Tunechi fully leaned into the vivacious commerciality of late 2000s mainstream hip-hop without sacrificing the nimble flows and hilarious wordplay that make his mixtapes so arresting. From the sweet R&B-laced hook of “Mrs. Officer” to the irresistible pop appeal of his Billboard Hot 100-topping “Lollipop,” Tha Carter III wasn’t just a blockbuster, it was also a flawless blueprint for what can be achieved at the height of rap-pop stardom. — K.D.

Cam'Ron, Come Home With Me

Year : 2002

The Harlem rapper, who hustled out of the limelight for most of his career, finally found success when he decided to rebrand and rebuild. With his Diplomats crew in tow, Cam’ron began releasing a torrent of music, which mixed the street luxury and glamour made popular by Roc-A-Fella’s then-recent releases with his own get-it-how-you-live griminess. The most perspicuous example of which was his first solo album, released in partnership with Roc-A-Fella: Come Home With Me had the glittering soul samples popular at the time in the form of “Hey Ma” and “Oh Boy,” as well as the stark realism for which this former Child of the Corn was best known.

Standouts like the title track saw Killa Cam spitting bars as sharp as a blade hidden in his gums, while Juelz Santana and Jim Jones foreshadow what the future held for the Harlem collective. And, as an acknowledgment of how good the album is, the King of New York himself Jay-Z gets in on the action, going back and forth with Cam on the Just Blaze-produced “Welcome to New York City.” Was Jay passing the baton or was Cam taking it? Either way, after Come Home With Me, there was a new king in town — D.S.

T.I., Trap Muzik

Year : 2003

“This ain’t no album, this ain’t no game, this a trap,” T.I. fiercely declares on the opening bars of Trap Muzik ’s title track. After his 2001 debut I’m Serious fell flat, Tip made a proper national introduction with his ’03 sophomore set, an album T.I. insists invented a genre. DJ Toomp’s husky string melodies provide the backing for dope boy anthems like “24’s” and “Look What I Got,” which welcome America to life in the trap. Meanwhile, David Banner’s spiritual production on “Rubber Band Man” should be taught in schools, as Tip’s braggadocious rhymes and southern drawl lent him more commercial appeal than his former label originally thought. Just don’t get it twisted: T.I. isn’t here to glamorize the struggle, but to provide inspiration and information on his means for survival running around Bankhead. — M.S.

Warren G, Regulate... G Funk Era

All hail the grand underdog. In 1994, Warren G. delivered the blockbuster album we never knew we wanted, but always needed — particularly Def Jam records, who was raised out of a slump with the album’s sales of over five million.

Slept on by his brother Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, Warren was not signed to Death Row like his 213 group members Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg. It ended up being a blessing in disguise: Undeterred, but with a chip on his shoulder, Warren laid on the floor on his sister’s apartment for months, concocting his signature, laid-back, euphoric soundscapes. He got his big break as a producer via 2Pac’s declarative “Definition of a Thug N—a” and Mista Grimm’s funk smothered “Indo Smoke.” Warren was so hot as a boardsman, he secured his own record deal.

Warren’s coup de grace came as he culled a magnum opus in Regulate… G Funk Era , filled with blissful, soul-uplifting West Coast rhythms that penetrated speakers worldwide. “This DJ” has been lauded for generations, and “Regulate” was so smooth and permeating, it quickly became one of the biggest rap singles ever. — S.R.

A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders

Year : 1993

A seminal harbinger of hip-hop’s ‘90s golden era, Tribe’s third album is a key representative of the Native Tongues movement. The 1993 release picks up where 1991’s Low End Theory left off, continuing Tribe’s innovative genre-bridging of jazz, bebop, R&B/soul, funk and other elements. That, coupled with members Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and the late Phife Dawg’s on-point mix of socially conscious and amusing storytelling helped prove there was more to hip-hop than just gangsta rap. Nabbing the top spot on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 8 on the Billboard 200, the platinum-certified Midnight yielded classic singles like the chill anthem “Electric Relaxation,” “Award Tour” (featuring De La Soul’s late Trugoy the Dove) and “Oh My God” with Busta Rhymes. — G.M.

DJ Quik, Rhythm-al-ism

Year : 1998

If Dr. Dre’s 2001 was the ‘90s West Coast rap record that heralded the arrival of the future, DJ Quik’s Rhythm-al-ism was the most fitting send off to nearly two decades of paradigm-shifting L.A. rap. The MC and producer gave G-funk a Viking funeral, incorporating R&B classics from Prince, SWV and Curtis Mayfield with his own cascading flows for an album that embraced a more tender side of Quik — even while also encompassing the X-rated romp “Medley for a ‘V,’” the reggae-based reefer ode “Bombudd II,” and the standout slice-of-life cut “You’z a Ganxsta,” On the latter track’s third verse, Quik implores rappers to consider the power of their music and lyrics, advising, “You see you can say the things that can help us all ball/ Or you can say things that make it bad for us all/ Fix the problem the only way is come to the source/ Don’t be a Trojan Horse help us change the course.” — G.R.

UGK, Ridin’ Dirty

When UGK finally had its overdue moment in the mainstream sun with 2007’s Underground Kingz, it only made sense that the double LP would include an entire track dedicated to their 1996 breakthrough, Ridin’ Dirty. Facing the cumbersome task of building a national profile from a region considered a hip-hop afterthought besides Geto Boys, the group persevered through label drama and significant personal loss to make a generational rap album.

“One Day,” with its poignant Isley Brothers sample and moving lyrics, ranks among rap’s most moving tributes to lost loved ones — particularly since the Houston area scene UGK came from has dealt with so much death, from DJ Screw to Big Hawk to Pimp C. Tracks like “Diamonds & Wood” and “F–k My Car” perfected the funky bravado of great southern hip-hop, thanks to velvety beats from N.O. Joe and Pimp himself. Houston wouldn’t have its big moment on the national stage for nearly a decade, but there’s no way that would have been possible without the enduring legacy of Ridin’ Dirty. — G.R.

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter II

Year : 2005

Tha Carter II set the stage for Lil Wayne to enter the highest peak of his career in the mid-2000s. The New Orleans legend strayed from his usual array of Mannie Fresh beats for a more diversified palette, and boasted a different level of maturity growing up in front of the world’s eyes as a 23-year-old entering adulthood. “Fireman” spread like wildfire, as Limewire files were transferred to millions of iPods, and “Hustler Musik” showcased a layered and introspective Wayne fans had never seen before. With a first week that doubled the sales of its predecessor, C2 planted the seeds for Wayne’s ascension to commercial titan status, via one of the most successful album series of any rap era. — M.S.

J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive

Year : 2014

Sometimes, going home can spark inspiration. That was the case for J. Cole when he stitched together his third album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive . Sitting atop his childhood house on the cover, Cole blows out his own candles on the autobiographical “January 28” while wittily ruminating on his pubescent days in “Wet Dreamz.” The project reaches its crescendo when he offloads his concert-starter “No Role Modelz,” paying homage to the late James Avery. And when Cole isn’t in his militant bag, he’s a guiding light for the oppressed on the indelible gem “Love Yourz.” — C.L.

Nipsey Hussle, Victory Lap

Year : 2018

After releasing over a dozen mixtapes and experiencing years of delays, Nipsey Hussle solidified his position as a West Coast hero with Victory Lap , his first official full-length album – and sadly, his last project before his tragic murder in 2019 . Laser beam synths, bumping basslines and soaring female background vocals underscore the Crenshaw native’s journey, from a Rollin’ 60s Crip who once strived to become a millionaire drug dealer (per his explanation about “Million While You Young”) to a community activist and entrepreneur with dreams he was turning into reality (“Billion-dollar project, ‘bout to crack the cement/ So what if our investments had become strategic?” he raps on “Blue Laces 2”).

Throughout the set, Nipsey drops breadcrumbs about how to get your bread up, like he’s teaching financial literacy courses in the hood. And he also has the turn-up tracks on deck, with the YG-assisted, Jeezy-inspired “Last Time That I Checc’d” calling for cruising down the L.A. streets, while “Grinding All My Life” will have you going up in the club or walking out to the ring as if you’re Jonathan Majors in Creed III . Victory Lap – which earned the Eritrean American MC his first Grammy nomination in 2019 for best rap album – immortalizes Nip’s legendary hustle, while also aspiring others to cultivate their own. — H.M.

Nas, It Was Written

What was once considered a misstep when it was first released has aged like fine wine over the decades since. It Was Written was Nasty Nas losing the camouflage and hoodies in favor of Versace silks and tailored suits, as he turned into his mafiaso rap persona Escobar on his much-anticipated sophomore set. This angered purists — and even sparked a subliminal war with Biggie — but under the glossy exterior of the lead single “If I Ruled the World” featuring Lauryn Hill, laid an underbelly of lyrics wrapped in blood money. If Illmatic was his Goodfellas , then It Was Written was his Casino . — ANGEL DIAZ

GZA, Liquid Swords

Year : 1995

When you talk about solo Wu projects, this project should be mentioned in the same sentence with Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and Supreme Clientele . The RZA’s production and the GZA’s lyrics took what C uban Linx did and made it darker, serving up a gothic tale of blood being spilled in the name of honor, while introducing the classic samurai movie Shogun Assassin to a new generation with its spooky skits and samples. The title track opener, starting off with Daigoro’s narration of him explaining his father’s past and the time a rival clan murdered his mother, remains still bone-chilling nearly 30 years later. — A.D.

OutKast, Stankonia

Year : 2000

Each of OutKast’s first three albums has its own case as a classic, but their senior effort Stankonia forged the image that most people have in their heads when they imagine the Atlanta rap duo: boundlessly creative, with sonic influences that weave between funk, soul and psychedelic rock, and raps that were both personal and sociopolitical. “Ms. Jackson” tenderly chronicles babymamadrama, while “Gasoline Dreams” starkly compares white wealth to unjust prison sentences for Black people. “B.o.B” showcases two of the only rappers on earth who could handle such a frenetic 155 BPM instrumental, and “So Fresh So Clean” slows things down for a funky dedication to flyness. OutKast was both dominating radio and moving in a way that seemed to completely ignore it – the industry had no choice but to follow their lead. — W.E.K.

Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly

Year : 2015

Through his amalgamation of P-Funk, neo-soul, jazz and rap, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly stands as hip-hop’s greatest epic poem. A glorious odyssey through Kung Fu Kenny’s very own season of Black Lives Matter-era maturation, TPAB houses the roots of his eternal internal battle between his understanding of himself and the world’s perception of him as Messiah-esque activist. Those sentiments would fully crystalize nearly a decade later on Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022), but in their inception on TPAB , Lamar parses his relationship with Christianity, the advantages and pitfalls on Pan-Africanism, and the interconnected modes of oppression wielded against Black people in America with incredible nuance and disarming charm. — K.D.

Drake, Nothing Was the Same

Year : 2013

After winning his first Grammy in 2013 for best rap album with Take Care, Drake revealed the title of his third studio album, Nothing Was the Same — telling MTV that it wasn’t “some straight rap album.” On his junior set, Drake challenges what it means to be one of the best rappers alive by further refining his technique of rapping and singing, balancing menacing and meditative bars and polishing his and Noah “40” Shebib’s brooding production.

The album’s two Hot 100 top 10 hits – “Started From the Bottom” and “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” with OVO duo Majid Jordan – couldn’t be more different: The former is an underdog anthem about Drizzy’s ability to make it against all odds over a chilling piano loop and crisp shakers, while the latter is a dreamy synth-pop smash about finding The One that Drizzy imagined would be a timeless wedding song. His versatility as a hitmaker while throwing away the notions of a conventional hit made Drake untouchable (“Heavy airplay all day with no chorus,” he exclaims on the six-minute, Whitney Houston-sampling opener “Tuscan Leather”). Nothing Was the Same notched Drake another Billboard 200-topping album that also received a best rap album nod at the 2014 Grammys, while “Started From the Bottom” was nominated for best rap song and best rap performance. — H.M.

Just when you thought Jordan and Pippen were Chicago’s lone superstar duo, Common and Kanye entered the conversation when the former released his 2005 album, Be . Clocking in at 42 minutes, West laid down the foundation, serving as the project’s executive producer, allowing Common to glide through some of his best beats. The title track signaled what would come, as the Windy City MC cycled through his emotions on the Albert Jones “Mother Nature” sample with aplomb. That same faith and ambition bled through tracks like “The Food,” “The Corner” and “They Say,” where Common showed why Chicago had its gorgeous moments beyond the city’s war scars. — C.L.

Queen Latifah, All Hail the Queen

Year : 1989

Dana Owens was just 19 when she began forging her indelible imprint as Queen Latifah. Her statuesque presence, African-inspired attire and crowning headwear commanded attention from the gate. But any doubt as to what the New Jersey native could do musically was erased by her 1989 debut album, whose 12 tracks she either wrote or co-wrote. Its genre-crossing fusion of hip-hop, reggae, house and jazz coupled with Latifah’s passionate, empowering flow yielded classics such as the female anthem and top five Hot Rap Songs hit “Ladies First” with Monie Love. Spitting lyrics like “Some think that we can’t flow/ Stereotypes, they got to go,” the rapper/singer — now an award-winning actress and savvy business entrepreneur — has since inspired a host of women, both behind the mic and in executive suites. — G.M.

Rick Ross, Teflon Don

Teflon Don was Rozay’s bulletproof masterwork. A concise project with 11 tracks, the set was unmistakably triumphant, brimming with high-octane production and luxury raps laid out by the self-proclaimed rap boss. A gumbo drenched with flavorful tracks, TD boasted club-rattling anthems, including “BMF” and “I’m Not a Star,” flexing Ross’ radio-making prowess. And when paired with heavyweight MCs like Jay-Z (“Free Mason”), Jadakiss (“Maybach Music III”), and Kanye West (“Live Fast, Die Young”), Rozay held his own, captivating fans with his gruff raps. — C.L.

Lil Kim, Hardcore

Before Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, there was Lil Kim. And with the 1996 arrival of her debut album, the Junior M.A.F.I.A. alum immediately put everyone — especially male rappers — on notice: Women can be sexually empowered too. Between her sexy outfits and poised flow, Queen Bee upended the status quo with explicit, scintillating lyrics that brought a new dynamic to the feminist movement and to hip-hop itself. “They ain’t hit s–t ’til they stuck they tongue in this/ I ain’t with that frontin’ s–t/ I got my own Benz, I got my own ends,” she raps on “Not Tonight.” That hit, as well as fellow game-shifting smashes “No Time” and “Crush on You (Remix),” best demonstrate why the double-platinum-certified Hard Core still stands as an essential chapter in hip-hop history. — G.M.

Big Punisher, Capital Punishment

You know you’re nice when a guest appearance makes your debut album one of the most anticipated releases in rap history. That’s what happened when Big Punisher lost his mind on the Beatnuts’ 1997 New York classic “Off the Books.” The Puerto Rican rapper hailing from the Bronx quickly justified the hype and then some with Capital Punishment . His breakout single “Still Not a Player” remains a party anthem and once went viral because Chef Bobby Flay was recorded dancing to it. While Latinos were always involved in hip-hop in some form or another, it was Pun who repped the hardest, as the first solo Latin rapper to go platinum. — A.D.

Clipse, Lord Willin'

Clipse’s classic single “Grindin” took over lunch tables all over the country with The Neptunes’ sparse, percussive instrumental. But with their major-label debut LP Lord Willin’, brothers Pusha T and Malice proved that they were worthy signees of Pharrell and Chad Hugo. The two Virginia siblings had a shelved late-’90s album in their rearview mirror, and they displayed a polished chemistry that outpaced the expectations of a studio debut. The contrast between Pusha’s brash, sinister cockiness and Malice’s contemplative remorsefulness made for arguably the best coke rap duo since Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, and The Neptunes laced them with heat every step of the way. — W.E.K.

Boogie Down Productions, Criminal Minded

Year : 1987

KRS-One and fellow BDP founding member, the late DJ Scott La Rock, were on the album cover literally draped in bullets and sitting at a table that was plastered with a full arsenal. However, when you heard about 9mms going bang on the Criminal Minded LP, it wasn’t gangsterism they were going for (although N.W.A will tell you they were inspired by BDP) — they were illustrating to the world what the modern-day revolutionaries looked and sounded like.

KRS and P.E.’s Chuck D were the most import voices in hip-hop in the 1980s. Both MCs’ luminous rhymes were fueled by righteous indignation. KRS wanted to uplift the Black and hip-hop communities AND elevate himself as a heralded, elite MC. The Blastmaster ensured that the “Boogie Down” Bronx got props as the birthplace of the culture, spawning the anthemic dis record/blockbuster hometown theme, “South Bronx” (sparking an historic rivalry with Queens’ MC Shan). KRS followed up with arguably the greatest dis record ever, “The Bridge Is Over.” The aforementioned records and the title track stand out as the most momentous on Criminal Minded , however, there were no flaws throughout the tracklist. — S.R.

Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique

The Beastie Boys’ 1986 debut established them as a frenetic force for good in hip-hop, but 1989’s Paul’s Boutique is what established their model of musically adventurous yet gleefully juvenile rap music that endures even after the group disbanded following MCA’s 2014 death. Paul’s Boutique is revered for its tapestry of samples, lifting everything from the Eagles to The Sugarhill Gang, with blips of global instrumentation and references aplenty. The LP is the sort of rich musical and pop cultural tapestry that needed a “66 and ⅔” book , not just the usual “33 and ⅓.” But it’s also a damn good rap record, hinging on the inimitable chemistry of MCA, Ad Rock and Mike D, punctuating the end of the ‘80s with the decade’s meticulously traded-off flows, while also ushering in the future of the artform. — G.R.

Juvenile, 400 Degreez

Yeah : 1998

“Cash Money Records taking over for the ’99 and the 2000!” Has there been a more prophetic intro in all of hip-hop history? From the bounce-rooted contemporary Negro spiritual that is “Back That Azz Up” to “Ha” — whose Jay-Z-assisted remix is a key inflection point in the relationship between Southern and East Coast rap – 400 Degreez is an undeniable classic. With tracks that nod to hip-hop’s party-rocking history to lyrics that subtly address the inescapable confines of certain circumstances, 400 Degreez is the best of what can happen when a regional sound hits the national stage. — K.D.

Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele

“I don’t give a f—k if you don’t know what I’m talking about — this is art. When you go see a painting on the wall and it looks bugged out because you don’t know what the f—k he thinking, because he ain’t got no benches, no trees there, it’s just a splash. The n—a that did know what the f—k it is.” That’s a famous Ghostface quote from RZA’s book, “The Wu-Tang Manual,” and best encapsulates anything I can think of writing about Supreme Clientele . Ghost’s abstract bars were made out to be nonsensical, and yet they still manage to be eternally quotable. Only a person that studied under Bruce Lee has that ability. Or maybe it’s because Ghost’s rhymes are made of garlic? We’ll never know. — A.D.

Jay-Z, The Black Album

At this point, we know Mr. Carter will never really retire, but that was a real possibility leading up to the release of The Black Album – one of several classics the Brooklyn legend has dropped over the years. Had Jay-Z actually retired, he would have left the rap game at the peak of his powers: With The Black Album , Jigga paired some of his slickest bars and most introspective lyrics with production that complemented the range of his songwriting. Timbaland’s sauntering “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” beat is an infinite earworm, while Just Blaze’s hair-raising “Public Service Announcement” instrumental still blows out any speaker in a ten-mile radius. As both a commercial knockout and a testament to Jay’s ability to curate and craft quality albums, The Black Album is a hip-hop monument. — K.D.

Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City

One the defining hip-hop albums of the 2010s, Kendrick Lamar’s seismic good kid, m.A.A.d. City freaks the blueprints of the genre’s best autobiographical LPs with harrowing recollections of the Pulitzer Prize-winning actor’s life in Compton, through the lens of a storyteller who drifts between subject and observer. Effortlessly oscillating between a gripping nonlinear narrative and an enviable collection of radio anthems — “Swimming Pools,” “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” and “Backseat Freestyle,” among them – K.Dot’s major label debut heralded the arrival of one of music’s most important voices. We’re over a decade removed from Lamar’s infamous Grammy shutout, but if there was ever an album that didn’t need that institution’s validation, it’s good kid . — K.D.

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, E. 1999 Eternal

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony were one early signees to Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records, and they brought a new style of the gangsta rap that their mentor had popularized with N.W.A. The group paired the Midwestern-specific double-time flows with harmonic melodies, adding dimension to both their vengeful street raps on songs like “Mo’murda” and to their anguished, grief-stricken songs like their classic Hot 100-topper “Tha Crossroads.” The latter was originally an ode to a fallen friend, Wallace “Wally” Baird III, and it became one of hip-hop’s most iconic songs of mourning when a remix was made after Eazy’s death. Hip-hop chronicles the cycle of inner-city violence better than any other genre, and E. 1999 Eternal makes that agony as palpable as any album ever recorded. — W.E.K.

Future, DS2

After pulling off an impeccable three-peat with his storied 2014-2015 mixtape run, the table was set for Future to demolish the entire rap circuit. Dirty Sprite 2 was Future’s tour de force, as the superstar assumed the antagonist role and scoffed at everything mainstream rap wanted him to be. With Atlanta’s elite backing him on the production side (Metro Boomin, Southside, and Zaytoven), Future’s self-assurance was top-tier as he reclaimed his power on “Slave Master” while proving why he’s a hall-of-fame edgelord on “Real Sistas.” Pick any track at random, and Atlanta’s trap king will show you why he’s a habitual line stepper, who revels in f–king your bitch in some Gucci flip-flops. — C.L.

Gang Starr, Hard to Earn

Year : 1992

Though neither hailed from New York, it’s impossible to imagine the city’s rap scene without the contributions of Gang Starr, the duo of DJ Premier and Guru who reeled off four sensational LPs in five years, capped by 1994’s Hard to Earn. The album is a graduate thesis in turntablism from Premier, with expert scratching and sampling, and a showcase for the underrated lyricism of Guru, who brought a contemporary cool that often belied the imaginative (and frequently hilarious) lyrics he put to songs like “Blowin’ Up the Spot” and “Suckas Need Bodyguards.” Gang Starr never quite recaptured their form from Hard to Earn, but that hardly matters when you make an album that is impossible to omit from the story of East Coast rap — and that sets its DJ up for a career as one of the most sought-after producers in music, period. — G.R.

Makaveli, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory

When 2Pac’s posthumous The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory dropped, hip-hop was deep in the seven stages of grief following his tragic murder. So when an album surfaced that saw him taking on the name of the legendary political philosopher who (according to some) faked his own death before taking out his enemies, it was all many people needed to let their imaginations run wild. Reportedly recorded over a seven-day span, the album found Pac vindictive and confrontational, reflecting the tumult of his final months. The haunting “Hail Mary” seethes with revenge, “Me and My Girlfriend” finds him inseparable from his gun, and “To Live and Die In LA” celebrates the highs and lows of his city one last time. The Don Killuminati plays less like a swan song, and more like the final battle cry from one of rap’s most polarizing warriors. — W.E.K.

Young Jeezy, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101

Jeezy rumbled through the mixtape circuit to become “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper.” Cooking in the trap could only last so long as his long-overdue Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 major label debut finally arrived via Def Jam in ‘05. Jeezy’s raspy street tales and hustler ambitions hit heavier than many of his snake oil salesmen peers cosplaying Trapper of the Year. Even mainstream America wrapped its arms around Jeezy, as the Atlanta native notched his first top five hit on the Hot 100 with some help from Akon on “Soul Survivor.” TM101 gave the south an instant classic, while Jeezy, T.I, and Gucci Mane formed a big three of trap pioneers keeping the spotlight on the ATL through the 2000s. — M.S.

LL Cool J, Radio

Year : 1985

At its very fabric, Radio and its quasi-title track (“I Can’t Live Without My Radio”) is about the genuine love a youngster has of rap music — the high its artist gets from hearing his favorite rappers’ music blast out of his boombox speakers at near-deafening levels, and the sense of urgency he has to be heard and held in the same regard of his b-boy heroes.

Radio didn’t just embodied the spirit of hip-hop as it was growing in the mid 1980s, it was an integral building block of rap’s foundation. LL Cool J broke ground as rap’s first teen superstar and an instant pillar of the culture with a debut that ushered a new era of emboldened MCs. While the quality level on the LP is high, especially with Rick Rubin’s head-banging tracks fueling LL’s aggressive tone and bar barrages. The hip-hop superstar would put out bigger and deffer albums as his legendary career continued, but his first offering’s success and influence was the most critical vehicle in driving rap to the top early in the Golden Age. — S.R.

Big Daddy Kane, It's a Big Daddy Thing

At just 19 years old, Big Daddy Kane was the rap world Thanos, collecting all the hip-hop infinity stones to become the prototypical rhyming superstar. Stone 1, he was an MC’s MC: a myriad of flows, magnetic vocal tone, lyrically astounding — he was as witty as he was deadly with the punchlines, always articulate and never compromising intellectual integrity. Stone 2, he had The Look: BDK was just as alluring to the females as LL Cool J (he even bagged Madonna), but so fashionably forward, fly and uber-cool, men started biting his trendsetting styles (which Jay-Z referenced on Vol. 3 ‘s “Do It Again”).

Stone 3, he was an ultimate showman: Kane, the late great DJ Mister Cee, and backup dancers Scoob and Scrap Lover massacred every stage and video set when they performed. And Stone 4, he had classic works: The Brooklyn Czar’s 1988 debut Long Live The Kane and especially its 1989 follow-up It’s a Big Daddy Thang propelled him into rap’s upper echelon. With a diverse array of hits, hardcore street joints and songs for the ladies, he was a clinician for the Black community — also able to seamlessly dive into addressing the societal atrocities affecting his people. — S.R.

Scarface, The Fix

Scarface was already a southern rap legend by the time of his seventh album. The franchise player of J. Prince’s Rap-A-Lot Records dropped classics as both a solo artist and as frontman of Geto Boys. But after becoming the president of Def Jam South in 2000, he created an album that showcased his no-frills street soliloquies with new sounds. He added production by Kanye West, Nottz and The Neptunes to supplement beats from longtime collaborators like Mike Dean, and teamed up with rap stars like Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel and Nas. The soul samples gave his sound a new East Coast-friendly coat of paint, but gems like the nostalgic, reminiscent “My Block” and the heartless street tales of “In Cold Blood,” prove it’s still the same stoic, profound Brad Jordan that fans had long grown to love. — W.E.K.

Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt

Bowing onto the scene in 1996 via his own Roc-A-Fella Records imprint, Jay’Z’s 14-track full-length introduction made a lasting impression, thanks to its skillful production (including DJ Premier, Clark Kent), mafioso rap themes integrating the former drug dealer’s own street hustling experiences, insightful and witty rhymes about life and material dreams — and of course, Jay-Z’s keen freestyle prowess. In other words, this newcomer was the real deal. Highlights from the critically beloved debut, whom many fans (and even Jay-Z himself) have declared his best, include “Can’t Knock the Hustle” with Mary J. Blige, “Brooklyn’s Finest” with Notorious B.I.G. and “Ain’t No N—a” with Foxy Brown. — G.M.

Drake, Take Care

Shortly after Drake toppled expectations with his 2010 debut album, Thank Me Later , a gust of fury overtook his spirit. The chatter consumed him: “Oh, he had too many features. What happened to the So Far Gone version of Drake?”

On 2011’s Take Care , Drizzy silenced critics and sculpted his version of SFG on steroids. Imbued with nostalgia mirroring his 2009 classic, Drake enlisted his one-time ally, The Weeknd, to capture the feeling of SFG. The pair’s chemistry gleamed on songs like “Over My Dead Body,” “Crew Love,” and “The Ride.” And while Abel’s secret sauce unlocked a new level in Drake, the OVO general’s penchant for hitmaking remained his calling card. Songs like “Headlines,” “Started From the Bottom,” and “Make Me Proud” showcased Drizzy’s marksmanship, and why he was undisputed when chasing the hits. — C.L.

Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP

Looking back on The Marshall Mathers LP , Eminem admitted in 2017 that he’s “forever chasing” the album with whatever he’s creating next. “That was the height of what I could do,” he told Vulture of what he feels is his magnum opus. Slim Shady’s flagrant poetry resonated with rebellious kids across the country, tapping into their adolescence angst while they flipped the bird to their teachers and pressed play on Em’s CD (He sold 1.7 million copies of TMMLP in the first week). The electro-funk helmed by Dr. Dre behind Em’s pop-culture-attacking rhymes on “The Real Slim Shady” attracted him hoards of new fans, while jarring references to O.J. Simpson’s alleged murder weapon and the 1999 Columbine school shooting led to Eminem’s album being brought to the Senate floor. Nearly 25 years later, perhaps the most longstanding legacy from TMMLP came with Eminem coining the now-overused term “Stan” in his still-spellbinding seven-minute horror-drama of that title, detailing a relationship with a deranged, overzealous fan. — M.S.

Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy

Cardi B had already lived several lives before she became a rapper: She was a stripper. She was an Instagram star. She was a reality TV personality on Love & Hip Hop New York . But with her debut album Invasion of Privacy , Cardi discovered her true calling, and claimed the rap game as her own. The explosive “Get Up 10” begins her rags-to-riches story, checking critics at the door with don’t-f—k-with-me declarations liked “I’ma put a Louboutin where her neck at.” That’s not even her best red-bottom heels reference, as “bloody shoes” from her breakout smash “Bodak Yellow” became pop canon. Cardi unapologetically reveals and revels in every side to her, honoring her Latin heritage with the bilingual banger “I Like It” (with Bad Bunny and J Balvin) and breaking down her walls on the vulnerable single “Be Careful” – resulting in one of the best rap debut albums in recent history.

And its accolades endorse why it’s one for the books: Invasion of Privacy debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making Cardi the fifth female rapper to top the chart. It became the top female rap album of the 2010s, according to the Billboard 200 Decade-End chart, and came out victorious in a stacked best rap album category at the 2019 Grammys. She became the first female artist to have every song from an album certified platinum or higher by the RIAA, while her Hot 100 No. 1s “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It” were both certified diamond. — H.M.

Mobb Deep, The Infamous

Havoc and Prodigy remain grossly underappreciated by the average rap fan and critic. The duo out of Queens crafted a mid-’90s masterpiece with The Infamous that still sets the bar when it comes to hardcore rap music. “Survival of the Fittest” and “Shook Ones, Pt. II” remain two of the hardest records ever recorded; they might as well be categorized under heavy metal on the genre list. Havoc’s ability to flip samples both popular and obscure should be taught in music theory classes, while his partner in crime Bandana P’s lyrics are just as grim as Edgar Allen Poe’s. The Infamous is a pair of brass knuckles in sonic form. — A.D.

Ye (Kanye West), The College Dropout

Year : 2004

Kanye knew he was the best long before he ever released an album. His puffy ego and unflinching resolve were the guardrails to his creativity, and when the time came to show and prove, he did just that with his 2004 debut album, College Dropout . Armed with unabashed lyrics on subjects ranging from working night shifts at The Gap (“Spaceship”) to his mother combatting racism (“Never Let Me Down”), Kanye refused to sugarcoat anything on album No. 1. Though he was Roc-A-Fella’s unofficial diamond in the rough, he also shined bright when standing alongside some of rap’s fiercest rhymers in Mos Def, Common, Ludacris and Jay-Z — showcasing why he was a viable threat both in and out of the booth. — C.L.

Wu-Tang Clan, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

It’s hard to overstate the importance of 36 Chambers, the 1993 Wu-Tang Clan debut that helped kick off a golden age of New York rap, and remains in the zeitgeist 30 years later. Its influence is one thing, but the LP remains preposterously good, a masterful showcase of young RZA’s gritty-yet-refined production style and an immediately symbiotic relationship on the microphone from the Clan’s nine members. 36 Chambers remains the gold standard for large group records, from the menacing thump of “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F–k Wit” to the incisive and autobiographical “C.R.E.A.M.” The album doesn’t just sit at the center of the Venn diagram for the hardcore East Coast sound, Kung Fu as a rapper muse, and great all-time group records — it’s among the best in each individual circle. — G.R.

Fugees, The Score

Rap was in a state of flux in 1996. Gangsta rap appeared to be losing a bit of steam from its early 90s heyday and new rappers with different takes on the Black American experience were taking root and sprouting into legit superstars. The Fugees, a New Jersey-based trio, helped lead the charge. After a 1994 debut album that showed promise but ultimately missed the mark, the group’s follow-up was nothing short of a revelation. Richly and expertly rapped and produced, The Score is as heady as it is accessible, with the group creating a gorgeous blend of hip-hop, reggae, soul and R&B, while touching on everything from romantic relationship drama to Black liberation. Singles like “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not” showed that the kids from New Jeru had grown into seriously thoughtful songwriters and producers who could craft hits with the best of them. Even the covers on the album were incredible. All told, Lauryn Hill, Pras Michel, and Wyclef Jean made an undeniable classic with The Score . It’s just a shame the charge ended here. — D.S.

The Notorious B.I.G., Ready to Die

Year : 1994

The stakes were high with Notorious B.I.G.’s debut album Ready To Die : The rapper was ready to leave behind years of drug dealing, his mother was battling breast cancer, and his girlfriend was pregnant with their first child. But Christopher Wallace was up to the task: he wrote ruthless hood dramas and delivered them with both menace and charm, whichever was the right fit for the variety of speaker rattlers and smooth samples steered by Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs. And no hip-hop song embodies the American Dream like “Juicy,” a rags-to-riches tale that sweetly flips a sample by 80s soul group Mtume. Biggie was a star in no time. — W.E.K.

Ye (Kanye West), Graduation

Year : 2007

Coming off The College Dropout and Late Registration , Ye wanted to complete his education-themed trilogy by pushing the boundaries of his soulful sound to stadium-level. Laboring through 75 mixes before calling in Timbaland from the bullpen to get the drums properly kicking led to a Hot 100 No. 1 with “Stronger.” Meanwhile, the ego-driven “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” gave West a timeless, catalog-defining anthem. Graduation even took down 50 Cent in a sales battle and essentially killed the jersey-wearing era of rap in the process, sending the G-Unit mogul into another phase of his career. — M.S.

Dr. Dre, 2001

Seven years after his monumental solo debut The Chronic , Dr. Dre put the sophomore jinx to bed with 2001 . Earlier that year, he helped introduce Eminem to the world with The Slim Shady LP , but his two releases as label boss prior to that — Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath and The Firm: The Album — were considered flops. So, when he dropped lead single “Still D.R.E.,” those piano keys hit like a lowrider bouncing on the concrete and cemented his Aftermath era as one for the history books. Naming this project 2001 and dropping it in 1999 showed just how futuristic Dre’s ear was at the time, and it’s doubtful that there’s been a better-engineered album since. — A.D.

DMX, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot

Blending hip-hop’s storied horrorcore aesthetics with visceral, vulnerable tales of revenge, deferred dreams, crime and betrayal, DMX’s scorching debut LP – his first of five consecutive Billboard 200 chart-toppers – is the stuff of legend. Tentpole singles like “Ruff Ryders Anthem” and “Get At Me Dog” continue to light up even the youngest New York functions, but it’s biting deep cuts like “Prayer” and “Let Me Fly” that best showcase X’s penchant for passing the sometimes-oppositional aspects of his everyday life and the life his spirit yearns for. A foundational addition to the lexicon of narrative-driven hip-hop LPs, few albums remain as hot as Hell. — K.D.

Missy Elliott, Supa Dupa Fly

Year : 1997

One of the most auspicious debuts in hip-hop history came when Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott burst on the scene in 1997. Songwriter Elliott’s fun and insightful female perspective on life, romance, dreams and respect — plus her smooth gear-shifts between rapping, singing and vocal vamping, laid against producer Timbaland’s futuristic yet organic fusion of hip-hop, R&B and electronic beats — was a seismic break away from the overt sexuality and socially conscious themes of the day. After factoring in left-of-center samples including Ann Peeples on the classic first single “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” and its game-changing video — who can forget Elliott’s innovative trash bag suit? — Supa Dupa Fly (released on Elliott’s own label, no less) cemented her rep as a super-duper visionary and full-throttle creative force both on and off the stage. — G.M.

Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

Year : 1988

From the group moniker and logo to the album title and artwork — and, of course, the actual content — everything about this project was a robust eye-opener, and a warning that a needed revolution (socially and music) was coming.

The rap renegades put power, poetry and prophecy in their angst, unleashing a magnificent manifesto of disruption. Nothing in hip-hop every sounded like this: Black CNN over boom bap. It was only their second album, however P.E. sculpted such a declarative call to arms for the Black community that they became known as rap’s most important voices. Every Chuck D rhyme was intentional, intellectual and insightful, amplified by his imperial voice and emboldened by the beautiful bluster of The Bomb Squad’s (P.E. in house producers) beats. Meanwhile, Flavor Flav’s always-hype energy was the perfect X factor, bringing needed humor and neighborhood relatability, and upping the sense of urgency throughout. — S.R.

N.W.A, Straight Outta Compton

“You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge,” Eazy-E boasts in the first sentence heard on Straight Outta Compton, before N.W.A peels back the realities that inner-city kids faced across the country in the ‘80s. Hip-hop would never be the same, as the Compton crew’s debut ushered in a new era of commercialized gangsta rap. The music industry didn’t know how to wrap its arms around drug-dealing anthems like “Dopeman” or the blunt rebelliousness of “F**k Tha Police” — which had the F.B.I. at their doorstep — but the group’s impact could not be denied, and certain themes still reverberate through American society to this day. At its core, hip-hop has always been a voice for the voiceless. — M.S.

De La Soul, 3 Feet High and Rising

When De La Soul’s first six albums became available on streaming and digital platforms in 2023, longtime and next-gen fans finally got the change to relive (or hear for the first time) why the group’s iconic debut 3 Feet High and Rising marked such a momentous release in 1989. Frequently referenced as the forefathers of jazz rap and alternative hip-hop, the group — consisting of high school friends Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer, the late David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur and Vincent “Maseo” Mason — immediately gained rapt attention for their free-spirited vibe (referred to by the group as the “D.A.I.S.Y Age” standing for Da Inner Sound, Y’all), savvy samples (whose clearances helped delay the trio’s digital arrival) and positive-yet-off-center lyrics and topics. The album’s innovative and unconventional mix of doo-wop, psychedelic rock and other music styles, found on gems such as “Me Myself and I,” “The Magic Number” and “Say No Go,” laid the foundation for the recording’s Grammy Hall of Fame induction this year. — G.M.

Ice Cube, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted

Year : 1990

AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted put Cube at the focal point of rap as the world became beholden to the next level of street knowledge. The album found Cube as a conscientious observer who was also active in the hood’s frontlines. He was a gangsta and the homie from up the block. He admonished the sellouts in the Black community and the rap community. He was an unapologetically Black, street-embedded MC that championed non-mainstream hip-hop to be held in the highest regards.

And then there was the drama surrounding the LP, which only added on to the anticipation. Cube left N.W.A., where he established himself as a West Coast stalwart and made a groundbreaking pivot. He temporarily resided in New York, aligned himself with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and P.E.s producers The Bomb Squad and got their cinematic chaos soundscapes. When the smoke cleared, it didn’t matter what coast you were from, Cube was in everyone’s conversation as the new King of Rap. — S.R.

Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.

Kendrick Lamar’s storytellings superpower and expansive sonic arrangements culminated with what some consider his best album. On DAMN ., he waxes poetic about racism, religion, the political, the personal and more, all with the precision of a martial artist (hence his alter ego, Kung Fu Kenny).

In the middle of the 14-track set, Lamar examines his bilateral internal struggles regarding two of the seven deadly sins: He struggles with his “PRIDE.” in the psychedelic, acoustic guitar-driven track Steve Lacy notably co-produced on his iPhone GarageBand app — yet the next track, the high-octane Hot 100 No. 1 hit “HUMBLE.,” is highly arrogant. Jazz/hip-hop outfit BADBADNOTGOOD (and saxophonist Kamasi Washington, who contributed to To Pimp a Butterfly ) help create an uneasy groove for “LUST.,” where Dot unpacks his unquenchable desire for sex… but it’s followed up by the tender Zacari-assisted ballad “LOVE.” “DUCKWORTH.,” the final track (titled after the rapper’s government surname), tells the unbelievably true story of how TDE CEO Top Dawg robbed the KFC where Lamar’s father, Ducky, worked. Ducky’s generosity compelled Top Dawg to spare his life, and two decades later, Top Dawg signed Ducky’s son to his label. The layers of Lamar’s life are so ineffably deep that his ability to find the words to dexterously dive into them make DAMN. that much more monumental.

It became Lamar’s third Billboard 200 No. 1 album and second best rap album Grammy win. And while conservative Fox News pundit Geraldo Rivera disputed that “hip-hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism” while referencing Lamar’s “Alright” performance atop a vandalized cop car at the 2018 BET Awards – a line the artist samples on “DNA.” – DAMN. made Dot the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize , for the album’s “affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.” — H.M.

Ye (Kanye West), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Facing backlash from the 2009 MTV VMAs Taylor Swift incident, Kanye West fled to a creative safe haven in Hawaii. West set up camp, surrounded by the picturesque oceanside with a phalanx of talented collaborators (ranging from Rihanna to Elton John and Bon Iver), to deliver his opulent magnum opus. Typical of Ye albums, Dark Fantasy brought out the best in others, as Nicki Minaj, Pusha T, and Rick Ross delivered career-defining guest verses across the maximalist 68-minute LP. Yeezy’s avant-garde production set a standard for high art in hip-hop that hasn’t been matched in the 14 years since its release. — M.S.

A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory

Year : 1991

This album came out in 1991 and its existence still barely makes sense. You want to know where Ye got his whole style from? Look no further: Q-Tip mastered the art of the rapper/producer combination and Phife Dawg proved himself as one of the game’s top lyricists. The beats helped make jazz samples popular in the early ‘90s, and the subject matter was the antithesis of the gangsta rap that was quickly becoming popular at the time, thanks to N.W.A and Kool G Rap. The video for posse cut “Scenario” proved to be ahead of its time, with its use of computer graphics predicting how we consume music today. The song also made Busta Rhymes a star and had everyone randomly roaring like a dungeon dragon. — A.D.

Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

Arguably the best of the bunch when it comes to solo Wu-Tang projects, the Chef Raekwon’s debut album sounds like a razor blade cutting rocks of crack on fine china. He and his co-star Ghostface Killah solidified themselves as stars as they told intricate street tales with the flair of a John Woo gunfight. In fact, Woo’s classic 1989 action flick The Killer was sampled throughout, and the director was so honored he cleared the samples free of charge . How real is that? This album also popularized the trend of rapper’s using crime lord aliases, with the song “Wu Gambinos” being the catalyst, and also put the game onto Cristal. Striving for perfection, indeed. — A.D.

50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin'

After blazing through the mixtape circuit with 50 Cent Is the Future and Guess Who’s Back in 2002, 50 Cent signed with Eminem and Dr. Dre to orchestrate the biggest heist in hip-hop. A bruising MC with a callous disregard for human life, 50 looked to take advantage of his pain by trampling the competition with bloodthirsty raps and boundless intensity. With Em and Dre in his corner, he devised his magnum opus, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ , a piercing portrayal of his road to glory after being shot nine times. Though “In Da Club” was his robust entry point into superstardom, songs like “Many Men,” “If I Can’t” and his ruthless headshot to Ja Rule and Murder Inc. on “Backdown” enshrined him in the annals of rap history. — C.L.

Slick Rick, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick

Year : 1988

It’s apropos that the Godfather of gloriously gaudy jewelry would have such an embarrassment of gems on his first album. The Great Adventures of Slick Rick is so extraordinary, in fact, that its narrator became known as one of the GOATs chiefly off of this LP alone. The crème de la crème of hip-hop storytellers, including Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Nas, Biggie, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, have all heralded Slick Rick the Ruler as the Grand Wizard of weaving visually vivid narratives on wax (Rick brought changing voices to play different characters on song to the forefront).

With his distinct British accent gliding on every track, Rick was as precise as he was unpredictable. He brazenly addressed toxic women and his trust issues on one track, then provided a theme for hopelessly romantic adolescents on another. There was an entire song of flirty banter between a man and woman (where Rick plays both parts) over a slice of pizza — and elsewhere, K.I.T.T. from “Knight Rider” comes along for the ride. — S.R.

Jay-Z, The Blueprint

Year : 2001

With hopes of fortifying his legacy as the God MC, Jay-Z angled his way to the top by piecing together his 2001 masterwork, The Blueprint . Having a young Kanye West, Just Blaze and Bink! at his disposal allowed Hov to unleash in ways we never saw before: From defiling Nas’ legacy on “Takeover” to assuming the emperor’s chair on “The Ruler’s Back,” Hov was unruly and uncaged. Though a bold and cheeky Jay was always entertaining, he truly charmed the audience when he slid on heartfelt tracks like “Never Change” and “Heart of the City.” The pinnacle of his emotional depth came on “Song Cry,” when he penned a Pulitzer-caliber narrative about betrayal, deceit and shortcomings in a relationship. — C.L.

Eric B. & Rakim, Paid in Full

Year : 1987

There is rap before the true and living god MC, and there is rap after him. The booth was like the burning bush on Mount Sinai, and Rakim was Moses — stepping out of it with the 10 Rap Commandments, and giving us the Good Word via 1987’s timeless Paid in Full . We can’t front on Eric B’s genius either: His stripped-down beats accentuated Rakim Allah’s lyrics, and he was one of the first rap producers to sample James Brown’s music, leading to a lawsuit , but also opening the door for other beatmakers to sample the Godfather of Soul. You’d be hard pressed to find an older rapper who doesn’t have this album near the top of their Best Rap Albums list. — A.D.

Snoop Doggy Dogg, Doggystyle

Year : 1993

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Hip-Hop’s most potent, pioneering production visionary and his protégé, limitless in charisma, rhyme flows and barking bars. They are our culture’s Quincy Jones and Mike Jack. Better yet, our culture’s Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro.

Album aside, Doggstyle’s visuals (those videos deserved Oscars!) and the circumstances around the album felt more like spellbinding, award-winning cinema than music. With murder charges looming over him, Snoop was America’s Most Wanted by lawmen — and, more importantly, by the fans. The LP’ s 806,000 first-week sales were the most for any new artist in any genre, signaling that G-Funk and gangsta rap had not just taken over, but would forever change hip-hop and pop culture.

Snoop’s seamless delivery (still the smoothest ever for any MC) and Dre’s diabolically magnetic production seemed culled together by the sonic Gods, making for an enthralling masterpiece of monster hits with skits, intros and outros tying it all together. Not one skip worthy moment on the LP. — S.R.

2Pac, All Eyez on Me

Year : 1996

Out on bail amid all of the chaos that surrounded him, 2Pac delivered the ultimate Death Row double-album with All Eyez On Me . Pac unleashed his pent-up frustration and combined it with slivers of paranoia and braggadocio for a profound body of work that most closely mirrors the raw-persona rap with which most fans identify the West Coast legend. Dr. Dre and DJ Quik’s involvement on the production and mixing side helped steer Pac’s mercurial nature and keep him coloring in the lines for an era-defining album — which generations down the line can press play on and learn exactly who Tupac Shakur, the polarizing rap superstar, really was. — M.S.

The Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death

Just when you thought the Brooklyn wunderkind couldn’t outdo his debut album, Ready to Die , Biggie did the impossible twice. Life After Death isn’t just a quintessential rap project; it’s the apex of double albums. Biggie soared into rarified air when he loaded the clip for his unfortunate swan song, blessing us with over 20 tracks. His affinity for greenbacks was apparent on the Jay-Z-assisted “I Love The Dough,” while “Goin’ Back to Cali” forebode his untimely demise. Even though Biggie’s core told him time was running out, like a boss, he reminded us why his mafioso flow would live on forever, as proven in “Hypnotize” and “Notorious Thugs.” — C.L.

Outkast, Aquemeni

From the lengthy cultural shadow of “Rosa Parks” to the timeless horn riffs in “SpottieOttieDopaliscious,” OutKast’s Aquemini is a cornerstone of Southern rap and one of the most formidable works to come out of hip-hop’s 50-year history. In doubling down on their regional idiosyncrasies, Big Boi and 3 Stacks craft a nuanced love letter to the vast expanse of Black music, from P-funk and gospel to country and soul. There’s an Afrofuturist through-line that grounds the album as it traverses both the spiritual and the secular: Big Boi’s odes to ATL strip clubs live harmoniously alongside André’s ruminations on the ways humans have pillaged and philandered the Earth. Equal parts nostalgic and inventive, Aquemini finds hip-hop’s greatest duo functioning at the height of their joint powers. — K.D.

Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Nearly 30 years after bowing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1998, Ms. Hill’s seminal debut — and only solo studio album — still endures as one of hip-hop’s most influential musical feats. Its melodious mélange of R&B, neo-soul, hip-hop, gospel, pop and reggae provided the perfect accompaniment to the Fugees linchpin’s emotive vocals, raps and searingly honest perspectives on life’s and love’s ups and downs, motherhood and God. The 16-track project is a treasure trove of hits and fan faves, including “Doo Wop (That Thing),” “Ex-Factor,” “Everything Is Everything,” “Nothing Even Matters” (with D’Angelo) and even its hidden-track cover of Frankie Valli’s pop classic “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” Hill’s phenomenal introduction as a solo artist led to her winning five awards at the 1999 Grammys, including album of the year for Miseducation (the first hip-hop album to take home the top honors), and was also certified diamond in 2021 and inducted this year into the Grammy Hall of Fame. — G.M.

Dr. Dre, The Chronic

Year : 1992

This album changed everything. It was Dre’s comeback after falling out with Eazy-E and Ruthless Records, launching his new label Death Row Records and introduced the world to Snoop Doggy Dogg. The Chronic was the Doctor perfecting the G-Funk sound that he helped cultivate as a member of N.W.A, and which would later go on to become the sound of the West Coast. It’s tough to pick standouts on an album you can let rock from front to back, but Snoop’s star turn on “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” and the Eazy-E and Luke diss track “F—k Wit Dre Day” were staples on the charts (and, with their unforgettable accompanying visuals, on music video stations like MTV and The Box). Despite its blue subject matter, The Chronic was instrumental in pushing rap to the mainstream and ensuring it stayed there. You know rap music has come a long way when an album named after a slang term for cannabis is in the National Recording Registry. — A.D.

Nas, Illmatic

What is left to say about Nasir Jones’ debut album? The standard-bearer of ’90s rap, Illmatic is the album that changed the way rap albums were made. Everything about it changed the game. The album cover made rappers rethink what they wanted fans to see before they even heard a bar. Instead of working with one producer like most MCs of the time, Nas and Large Professor decided to build an all-star team that included New York luminaries DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Q-Tip. And despite them all bringing their unique talents, every beat on the album manages to feel a part of a whole. Nothing feels superfluous or out of place. From Primo’s rugged boom bap to Tip’s modern jazz reinterpretation, it all works and flows beautifully.

Then there’s the rapping: Picking up where the God MC Rakim left off, Nasty Nas hopped on two tracks that made the game stop and pay attention. The Queensbridge native then crafted a lean and tight LP that brought listeners to his project hallways and perfectly displayed his immense breadth of talent. Whether rapping about lost homies or waxing philosophical about his future, Nas was really “as ill as a convict who kills for phone time.” Nas spits as if the bars are just flowing through him. Every song features memorable lines that have gone on to inspire generations to come. Just ask Jay-Z, who took one of those hot lines to make a dope song.

Illmatic is one of the rare albums that works as a time capsule and a promise for the future. You can go back and listen to what state-of-the-art rap sounded like back in ‘94. But you’ll also hear everything hip-hop can be: a genre that allows for constant evolution and the ability to share your world with the world. — D.S.

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Antithesis Definition & Examples in Speech and Literature • 7ESL
Antithesis: Meaning, Definition and Examples
Antithesis Definition & Examples in Speech and Literature • 7ESL
Antithesis, Meaning, Definition and Examples
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Antithesis
Antithesis - Definition and Examples
Antithesis
Examples and Definition of Antithesis as a Literary Device
Antithesis Definition & Meaning
The meaning of ANTITHESIS is the direct opposite. How to use antithesis in a sentence. Did you know?
Antithesis
Antithesis is a rhetorical device that brings out the contrast in the statement. It contains two ideas in the phrase that are complete opposites of each other. They are used to strengthen an argument and make it easier for the listener or reader to remember. Antithesis is also used to make the reader feel a certain way.
antithesis
The meaning of antithesis. Definition of antithesis. Best online English dictionaries for children, with kid-friendly definitions, integrated thesaurus for kids, images, and animations. Spanish and Chinese language support available
Antithesis Examples, Definition and Worksheets
Antithesis is a literary device designed to highlight the difference/s of two irreconcilable opposites. Structurally, the contrasting ideas (be it concepts, words, phrases or sentences) are placed in sharp juxtaposition and sustained tension, i.e. observing correct grammar and parallelism, in order to achieve the ultimate contrasting effect.
Antithesis: Definition and Examples
Antithesis: Definition and Examples | LiteraryTerms.net
What is Antithesis? Definition, Examples of Antitheses in Writing
An antithesis is just that—an "anti" "thesis.". An antithesis is used in writing to express ideas that seem contradictory. An antithesis uses parallel structure of two ideas to communicate this contradiction. Example of Antithesis: "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." -Muhammad Ali. This example of antithesis is a famous ...
What Is Antithesis, and How Do You Use It in Writing?
What Is Antithesis, and How Do You Use It in Writing?
Antithesis Examples and Definition
Antithesis is the use of contrasting concepts, words, or sentences within parallel grammatical structures. This combination of a balanced structure with opposite ideas serves to highlight the contrast between them. For example, the following famous Muhammad Ali quote is an example of antithesis: "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.".
Antithesis
Antithesis - Wikipedia ... Antithesis
How to Use Antithesis in Your Writing: Definition and Examples of
How to Use Antithesis in Your Writing: Definition and ...
ANTITHESIS Definition & Meaning
Antithesis definition: opposition; contrast. See examples of ANTITHESIS used in a sentence.
Antithesis Definition & Examples in Speech and Literature
Examples of Antithesis in Speech. There will be many occasions when you are likely to hear antithesis during everyday conversations. We will now take a look at some examples of sentences in which antithesis is present. Give all men your ear, but few men your voice. Love is an ideal thing but marriage is a real thing.
Antithesis: Meaning, Definition and Examples
Antithesis: Meaning, Definition and Examples
Antithesis
An antithesis is the complete opposite of something. Though the counterculture was strong in America in 1968, voters elected Richard Nixon, the antithesis of a hippie. ... games for kids. Spanish-English dictionary, translator, and learning. Diccionario inglés-español, traductor y sitio de aprendizaje. Fast and accurate language certification ...
Antithesis
An antithesis is defined as something which is the explicit opposite of something else. A common example of antithesis in everyday life are the concepts of speaking versus listening. One is the ...
ANTITHESIS
ANTITHESIS definition: 1. the exact opposite: 2. a difference or opposition between two things: 3. the exact opposite: . Learn more.
ANTITHESIS
ANTITHESIS meaning: 1. the exact opposite: 2. a difference or opposition between two things: 3. the exact opposite: . Learn more.
Definition and Examples of Antithesis in Rhetoric
Antithesis is a rhetorical term for the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses. Plural: antitheses. Adjective: antithetical. In grammatical terms, antithetical statements are parallel structures. "A perfectly formed antithesis," says Jeanne Fahnestock, combines " isocolon, parison, and perhaps, in an inflected ...
antithesis noun
Definition of antithesis noun in Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
thesis
Definition of thesis. Best online English dictionaries for children, with kid-friendly definitions, integrated thesaurus for kids, images, and animations. Spanish and Chinese language support available ... followed by antithesis and resolved in synthesis. definition 4: the accented part of a musical measure; downbeat.
ANTITHESIS definition and meaning
4 meanings: 1. the exact opposite 2. contrast or opposition 3. rhetoric the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, phrases, or.... Click for more definitions.
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Antithesis Definition

How to Pronounce Antithesis

Antithesis and Parallelism

Antithesis Without Parallelism

Antithesis vs. Related Terms

Antithesis vs. Juxtaposition

Antithesis vs. Oxymoron

Antithesis vs. Foil

Antithesis Examples

Antithesis in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities

Antithesis in John Milton's Paradise Lost

Antithesis in William Shakespeare's Othello

Antithesis in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Antithesis in T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets"

Antithesis in Green Lantern's Oath

Antithesis in Speeches

Antithesis in Patrick Henry's Speech to the Second Virginia Convention, 1775

Antithesis in Martin Luther King Jr.'s Oberlin Commencement Address

Antithesis in Songs

Antithesis in "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash (1981)

Antithesis in "My Girl" by the Temptations (1965)

Why Do Writers Use Antithesis?

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Definition of Antithesis

Example 1: Hamlet (William Shakespeare)

Example 2: Paradise Lost (John Milton)

Example 3: Fire and Ice (Robert Frost)

Example 4: The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

Function of Antithesis

Definition of antithesis

Examples of antithesis in a Sentence

Word History

Dictionary Entries Near antithesis

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What is Antithesis?

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Why do writers use Antithesis?

Difference between Antithesis and Juxtaposition:

Difference between Antithesis and Oxymoron:

Difference between Antithesis and Foil:

Antithesis and Parallelism:

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Definition of Antithesis

Antithesis vs. irony vs. juxtaposition

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