Last week, two more classic Hip Hop albums were added to the National Recording Registry; Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter The Wu-Tang(36 Chambers) and A Tribe Called Quest’s 1991 Low End Theory. It’s the first entry from the Staten island collective, but it’s the second album for the Queens crew to hit the Congress.
The two LPs join a 2022 inductee class, including Bonnie Raitt’s Nick Of Time album, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and Alicia Keys’ Songs In A Minor.
Tribe’s fourth member, Jarobi White, left the group before the album was finished to pursue culinary arts. At the same time, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and the late Phife Dawg completed the album on the Jive/Zomba Records imprint. The album has been certified platinum following a coveted 5-mic rating from The Source Magazine.
Wu-Tang’s 1993 debut introduced the nine-member crew of RZA, GZA, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. The Loud Records debut followed a solo outing from GZA (as The Genius) at the top of the decade and an EP from RZA (as Prince Rakeem). The album was subsequently certified triple platinum. This album arrived the same day as Tribe’s third LP, Midnight Marauders.
The complete list of Hip-Hop works and the year they were selected to be inducted:
Nas’ Illmatic (2020)
Dr. Dre’s The Chronic (2019)
JAY-Z’s The Blueprint (2018)
Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell (2017)
N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton (2016)
Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (2014)
Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” (2011)
De La Soul’s 3 Feet High And Rising (2010)
Tupac’s “Dear Mama” (2009)
Public Enemy’s Fear Of A Black Planet (2004)
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message” (2002)
