September 29, 1998
La Face
3xLP
By their third album, the legendary Atlantan dup had already played the roles of pimps, players, poets and ATLiens. With Aquemini, they adopted a standardized new identity: bona fide legends. Even after two decades, Aquemini remains the bar for rappers-who-want-to-be-artists. Rapping (or producing, album/world building) has rarely sounded so grand, urgent, and accomplished — before or since.