'The Infamous' vs. 'Illmatic': Two Visions of Hip-Hop’s Greatest Album Emerge

Mobb Deep’s “The Infamous” and Nas’s “Illmatic” became the center of debate after Pitchfork’s editors and readers named different albums the greatest rap record of all time. 

For decades, arguments over the greatest rap album lived in barbershops, dorm rooms, and late-night debates between fans who knew every lyric by heart. This week, the fight played out on the record.

On Tuesday, Pitchfork’s editors declared Mobb Deep’s “The Infamous” the best rap album of all time. A day later, readers pushed back, voting Nas’s “Illmatic” into the top spot. Two visions of rap history, 24 hours apart — proof that hip-hop’s memory is less a monument than a moving target.

Pitchfork had invited the clash. On Aug. 25, it opened a readers’ poll asking fans to rank the greatest rap albums; thousands responded. When the results were published Wednesday, the comparison to the editorial list was explicit. The result was a cultural referendum: editors celebrated bleak Queensbridge realism; fans rallied behind an album that defined New York lyricism and spoke to generations.

Editors vs. Readers — Top 5

Pitchfork Editors (Tuesday)

1. “The Infamous” — Mobb Deep (1995)
2. “All Eyez on Me” — 2Pac (1996)
3. “400 Degreez” — Juvenile (1998)
4. “Supreme Clientele” — Ghostface Killah (2000)
5. “Illmatic” — Nas (1994)

Full editors’ list

Pitchfork Readers (Wednesday)

1. “Illmatic” — Nas (1994)
2. “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” — Wu-Tang Clan (1993)
3. “To Pimp a Butterfly” — Kendrick Lamar (2015)
4. “good kid, m.A.A.d city” — Kendrick Lamar (2012)
5. “The Marshall Mathers LP” — Eminem (2000)

Full readers’ poll

Flashpoints: Editors’ list snubs Drake, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. Readers surge for Kendrick. Lauryn Hill remains the only woman in the critics’ top 10.

The editorial list leaned toward innovation and grit. Alongside “The Infamous,” the top five included 2Pac’s “All Eyez on Me,” Juvenile’s “400 Degreez,” Ghostface Killah’s “Supreme Clientele,” and “Illmatic” at No. 5. Southern classics and underground landmarks sat shoulder to shoulder with only one woman in the top ten — Lauryn Hill’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”

Fans, by contrast, elevated cultural resonance. Their top rankings were led by “Illmatic,” followed by Wu-Tang Clan’s “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers),” Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” and “good kid, m.A.A.d city,” with Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP” rounding out the top five. The poll showed younger generations pulling recent classics into the same conversation as ’90s staples.

Online, the omissions drew outrage. On Reddit and X, fans blasted the lack of Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Ice Cube, The Roots, and other staples, while questioning why women MCs beyond Lauryn Hill were left off the critics’ top 25.

The divide is revealing. For critics, “The Infamous” represents the pinnacle of craft — cold-blooded imagery and soundscapes that redefined East Coast rap. For fans, “Illmatic” is scripture: a lyrical coming-of-age story that still feels lived, remembered, and quoted 30 years later. Both changed rap; only one can be called the greatest, depending on who’s asked.

Fan Reactions

The lists sparked heated debate across X and Reddit. Some fans called it “wild” that no Jay-Z or Drake albums appeared in the critics’ top 25, while others said the readers’ embrace of Kendrick Lamar proved newer generations are reshaping the canon.

On r/hiphopheads, one thread argued that Lauryn Hill being the only woman in the editors’ top 10 showed how narrow the definition of greatness still is. Another popular post praised Nas’s “Illmatic” topping the readers’ poll: “It’s the one album everyone still quotes, 30 years later.”

What makes this moment remarkable is not who won, but what it says about power. For decades, critical institutions curated hip-hop’s registry. In the streaming era, fans now challenge that authority with votes, playlists, and viral debates. It is less about a fixed canon than a contest — a tug-of-war over memory itself.

And maybe that’s the truest measure of rap’s vitality. A genre born from turntables in the Bronx, raised on battles and bravado, refuses to be frozen. When Mobb Deep and Nas trade the crown in 2025, it isn’t indecision — it’s affirmation. Hip-hop is still alive, still argued over, still ours.

6ix9ine Avoids Prison, Ordered to Home Detention for Palm Beach Mall Attack

Rapper 6ix9ine speaks during a taping of the “One Night with Steiny” podcast, where he addressed stigma and trauma tied to his past cooperation with federal investigators. (Screengrab via YouTube/"One Night with Steiny")

6ix9ine was ordered into home detention Thursday after admitting in federal court that he punched a man during a confrontation at a Florida mall. The Brooklyn rapper — born Daniel Hernandez — told Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, “Me and another individual hit a person, and I was wrong.”

Prosecutors said the Aug. 8 assault in Palm Beach County was sparked when the man taunted him about cooperating with federal investigators in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Rebold warned the court that this was the third time in a year Hernandez had violated supervised release, describing what he called a troubling lack of impulse control.

Judge Engelmayer, who previously sentenced Hernandez to two years in prison in the racketeering case, said repeated violations could soon end leniency. This time, he imposed electronic monitoring and home detention in Florida, making clear that the rapper’s “serial pattern” of violations will weigh heavily in any future hearing.

The sanction follows earlier admissions that cocaine and MDMA were found in Hernandez’s Florida home, as well as past penalties for unauthorized travel and missed drug tests. In November 2024, he spent 45 days in custody after what the judge called a pattern of absconding and defiance.

Hernandez addressed some of these issues in a recent appearance on the podcast " One Night with Steiny." He said taunts about being a “snitch” still feel like threats, insisting, “Putting me in jail is not going to teach me a lesson.” He spoke about the trauma of being kidnapped by former associates and argued that Latino rappers face narrower lanes in hip-hop: “When you’re Spanish, there’s no space for you in the rap game.”

 

The rapper’s legal turmoil comes against the backdrop of a once-blazing career. His 2017 breakout “Gummo” became a viral hit. “FEFE,” with Nicki Minaj, reached No. 3 on the Hot 100, and his 2018 album "Dummy Boy" bowed at No. 2 despite an early leak. But the racketeering plea and testimony against Nine Trey members recast him from chart star to lightning rod.

Hernandez also recently mourned the death of Ariela “La Langosta,” a Dominican influencer close to his circle, calling her a “tremendous woman” and “queen of New York.” The loss underscored the turbulence of a life lived partly in courtrooms and partly online.

For now, home detention keeps him out of prison. But with his record of repeat violations, the question is no longer whether 6ix9ine can top charts again — it’s whether he can keep his freedom long enough to try.

6ix9ine: Highs and Lows

Career Highs 2017: Breakout with “Gummo,” a viral hit that launched him to national attention 2018: “FEFE” with Nicki Minaj peaks at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 2018: Dummy Boy debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 2020: Post-prison single “Gooba” sets a first-day YouTube record for a rap debut

Legal Lows 2015: Pleads guilty to use of a child in a sexual performance; sentenced to probation 2018: Arrested in racketeering conspiracy with Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods 2019: Testifies against gang members; sentenced to two years in prison 2023–2024: Supervised-release violations: drug possession, missed tests, unauthorized travel Aug. 2025: Admits assault at Florida mall; ordered to home detention with ankle monitor

His chart success and courtroom trouble have risen in parallel — each new hit matched by another legal fight.

Jury Clears Metro Boomin of Civil Sexual Battery Claims in Los Angeles

Metro Boomin, born Leland T. Wayne, is pictured in a promotional portrait. A Los Angeles jury on Sept. 25, 2025, found the producer not liable in a civil sexual assault case stemming from allegations dating to 2016. 

Metro Boomin, the Atlanta superproducer whose fingerprints are on some of the biggest records of the last decade, walked out of a Los Angeles federal courthouse today after a jury found him not liable in a civil lawsuit that accused him of rape.

The verdict, delivered after two weeks of testimony, rejected claims by plaintiff Vanessa LeMaistre that he assaulted her in 2016, a case that put one of hip-hop’s most in-demand producers under a legal spotlight he never expected to face.

“I’m blessed. I’m relieved,” the 32-year-old producer, born Leland T. Wayne, told reporters outside the courthouse. “I never thought I would ever have to do anything like that. I’m just relieved. It’s a burden lifted off my back.” His remarks came minutes after jurors cleared him of four civil counts, ending a case that began when LeMaistre filed suit in October 2024.

“I’m blessed. I’m relieved,” Metro Boomin tells Rolling Stone after jury finds him not liable at civil sexual assault trial

“It’s a burden lifted off my back" pic.twitter.com/XJXZwyA3MF

— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) September 25, 2025

In her complaint, LeMaistre alleged she blacked out after consuming Xanax and alcohol provided by Wayne during a recording session, and later awoke in a Southern California hotel room as he raped her. She testified that she drifted in and out of consciousness during the incident. Wayne, who took the stand in his own defense, flatly denied the account. Asked whether he ever assaulted her, he told jurors, “Absolutely not,” adding there was “no way in the world” he did what she claimed. He said their past encounters had been consensual and that he had not seen LeMaistre “in, like, a decade” until she filed the lawsuit.

The trial unfolded with the kind of twists rarely seen in federal court. Jurors were shown handwritten notes LeMaistre created during a 2024 ayahuasca ceremony in Peru, pages she titled Plan Ayahuasca Gave Me. In them, she wrote about her intention to “blow the whistle on Metro Boomin” and listed a damages figure between $3.4 million and $3.7 million. Defense attorney Justin H. Sanders called the case “preposterous” and told jurors, “This whole lawsuit was born out of a drug den in Peru. In the jungle.” Judge R. Gary Klausner struck part of LeMaistre’s testimony about the hallucinogenic brew, ruling that any evidence about its effects required expert testimony. “You are going to have to call an expert in that area, counsel,” the judge told her lawyer during the trial.

How many tracks does Metro Boomin have on Young Thug's new album?

"I've been so focused on this, man, I'm not even sure," Metro says after a federal jury in Los Angeles cleared him of four claims alleging he sexually assaulted a woman in 2016. pic.twitter.com/qNJovwleKk

— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) September 25, 2025

Questions of credibility were constant. LeMaistre faced cross-examination over her efforts to amend Planned Parenthood medical records from 2016, which initially reflected that she had not reported an assault. She testified she was not trying to falsify the record but wanted it to “reflect what I know is true.” The defense cast it as an attempt to strengthen her claim, while the judge allowed the jury to weigh it for themselves.

In the end, the panel of five men and three women sided with Wayne. One juror explained the decision bluntly afterward: “The evidence wasn’t there. A lot of it was just testimony or talking about it. There was no substantial ‘This is what happened.’ There were no dates recollected correctly.” For Wayne, the verdict offered relief and the chance to return to his career without the shadow of liability, though he acknowledged outside court the weight of having lived under the allegations. 

For LeMaistre, the fight may continue. Her attorney, Michael J. Willemin, said after the decision, “Though the legal system is often stacked against survivors, our client showed unwavering fortitude. We believe that the verdict will ultimately be overturned on appeal.”