20 Albums Turning 20

These albums are turning two decades old. Wow.

The 20/20 Experience - 1996 was a colossal year in music. After all, it was the year we lost Tupac, but it was also a year that saw a lot of iconic releases. Let’s go down memory lane and check out 20 albums turning 20 this year. — Jon Reyes(Photos from left: Jim Hughes/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images, SGranitz/WireImage,Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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The 20/20 Experience - 1996 was a colossal year in music. After all, it was the year we lost Tupac, but it was also a year that saw a lot of iconic releases. Let’s go down memory lane and check out 20 albums turning 20 this year. — Jon Reyes(Photos from left: Jim Hughes/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images, SGranitz/WireImage,Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Toni Braxton, Secrets - Toni’s sophomore release was an epic move for the singer. “Unbreak My Heart” was a massive record, but more importantly the project solidified her voice in R&B with hits like “You’re Making Me High” and “I Don’t Want To.”(Photo: Arista Records)

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Toni Braxton, Secrets - Toni’s sophomore release was an epic move for the singer. “Unbreak My Heart” was a massive record, but more importantly the project solidified her voice in R&B with hits like “You’re Making Me High” and “I Don’t Want To.”(Photo: Arista Records)

Busta Rhymes, The Coming - Brooklyn-born star Busta Rhymes represented Long Island strong with Leaders of The New School in the early '90s, but later proved he was Brooklyn's own on his solo debut, The Coming. The rambunctious effort met BK's lyrical standards, while featuring a diverse sonic arrangement that spawned hits like "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check" and "It's a Party."  (Photo: Flipmode Entertainment)

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Busta Rhymes, The Coming - Busta’s solo intro to the music world was just a peek into his amazingly demented appeal. Just peep his debut video for "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check."(Photo: Flipmode Entertainment)

Ginuwine, Ginuwine...the Bachelor - This debut by Elgin Lumpkin was a definite highlight of R&B that year. Plus, his video for “Pony,” in which he strips on a stage, was so legendary that Channing Tatum swagger jacked it and so did Tatum's wife.(Photo: 550 Music)

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Ginuwine, Ginuwine...the Bachelor - This debut by Elgin Lumpkin was a definite highlight of R&B that year. Plus, his video for “Pony,” in which he strips on a stage, was so legendary that Channing Tatum swagger jacked it and so did Tatum's wife.(Photo: 550 Music)

Jay Z – Reasonable Doubt (1996) - We all know that Reasonable Doubt was the debut album of Jigga but it's also the first album cover Mannion shot, too. Taking an initial gamble with each other, the photographic memories continued with In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life, Vol. 3... Life and Times of Shawn Carter, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, The Blueprint and The Black Album.(Photo: Roc A Fella Records)

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Jay Z, Reasonable Doubt - It’s been a crazy 20 years for Hov and this album marks the beginning of it all.(Photo: Priority Records)

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One in a Million is released. - The album was a seminal moment for Aaliyah’s musical career, proving that she could change things up from her debut project. The change-up worked. Title track “One in a Million” topped the charts for two whole months.(Photo: Blackground/Atlantic Records)

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Aaliyah, One in a Million - Baby Girl’s sophomore album was a complete step up from her R. Kelly-assisted debut. Timbaland and Missy Elliott provided the singer with an amazing canvas to prove her star power. We wouldn’t see another complete project from Aaliyah until five years later, right around the time we lost her.(Photo: Atlantic Records)

It Was Written - Illmatic might have been a classic debut but It Was Written, delivered in 1996, was Nas' first commercially successful album. The project was made popular by the pop-friendly singles "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)," featuring Lauryn Hill and the "Street Dreams" remix with R. Kelly. (Photo: Columbia)

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Nas, It Was Written - Nothing ruled that summer more than “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)” featuring Lauryn Hill. Nas’s follow-up to Illmatic was a massive hit, outselling his iconic debut by 2.5 million.(Photo: Columbia Records)

Maxwell, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite - Backed by behind-the-scenes greats like producer-singer Leon Ware, guitarist Wah-Wah Watson and Sade multi-instrumentalist-producer Stuart Matthewson, Maxwell's ridiculously debonair 1995 debut is neo-soul at its sexiest.  (Photo: Courtesy Columbia Records) 

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Maxwell, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite - This record helped pioneer of the neo-soul movement, starting the prior year with D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar. Maxwell cut an amazing debut album that introduced a new wave of classics like this one.(Photo: Columbia Records)

Fugees - “How Many Mics?”, The Score (1996) - An intro that would introduce the world at large to an incredibly skillful group where in one track manages to reference Frederick Douglass, Tommy Mottola, Stanley Kubrick, Nation of Islam, and more while outstandingly flexing intellectual muscle at a time when hip hop was shedding blood and losing constituents.  Honorable mention goes to the "Chinese Restaurant Skit," where a restaurant owner is getting trolled by patrons asking for no onions in their rice, as the owner becomes infuriated and attacks Kung-Fu style, but not before shouting "But like Burger King, have it your way!"(Photo: Ruffhouse Records, Columbia Records)

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The Fugees, The Score - The Fugees second album was an instant classic and a better look of things to come from Lauryn Hill. The massive success of the group couldn’t deter the member’s own dreams of solo stardom. The Score would be the group’s last studio album.(Photo: Ruffhouse Records, Columbia Records)

112, 112 - These Georgians were Bad Boy royalty, becoming the second R&B act to be signed to legendary label. Hard to believe this jam is 20!(Photo: Big Beat Records)

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112, 112 - These Georgians were Bad Boy royalty, becoming the second R&B act to be signed to legendary label. Hard to believe this jam is 20!(Photo: Big Beat Records)

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Tupac Shakur, All Eyez on Me - The double disc was the last album to be released by the rapper while he was alive. He would be murdered seven months after its release. The album is a bona fide classic with 10,000,000 records being sold.(Photo: Death Row Records)

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Tupac Shakur, All Eyez on Me - The double disc was the last album to be released by the rapper while he was alive. He would be murdered seven months after its release. The album is a bona fide classic with 10,000,000 records being sold.(Photo: Death Row Records)

SWV, New Beginning - The sophomore effort by Sisters With Voices wasn't just the return of the group but also served as an introduction for The Neptunes, the production team that consisted of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. Damn, that's a long time we've had with Skateboard P.(Photo: RCA Records)

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SWV, New Beginning - The sophomore effort by Sisters With Voices wasn't just the return of the group but also served as an introduction for The Neptunes, the production team that consisted of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. Damn, that's a long time we've had with Skateboard P.(Photo: RCA Records)

Outkast, ATLiens - The ATL players shed their party personas on this album and began conceptualizing with futuristic undertones, yet remained true to the South. The group would continue to do that well into their fourth album. ATLiens outsold their debut by a million copies. Fresh.(Photo: LaFace Records)

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Outkast, ATLiens - The ATL players shed their party personas on this album and began conceptualizing with futuristic undertones, yet remained true to the South. The group would continue to do that well into their fourth album. ATLiens outsold their debut by a million copies. Fresh.(Photo: LaFace Records)

Prince, Emancipation - This album was Prince’s way of sticking it to the man. This was his first album off his original label, Warner Bros., which he had been vocal about wanting to leave. With Emancipation, we also got a glimpse into Prince’s personal life. In it, he dedicated a song to his child that would tragically pass away from a rare skull disease. “Sex in the Summer” even features the unborn child’s heartbeat.(Photo: NPG Records)

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Prince, Emancipation - This album was Prince’s way of sticking it to the man. This was his first album off his original label, Warner Bros., which he had been vocal about wanting to leave. With Emancipation, we also got a glimpse into Prince’s personal life. In it, he dedicated a song to his child that would tragically pass away from a rare skull disease. “Sex in the Summer” even features the unborn child’s heartbeat.(Photo: NPG Records)

Dropping Them Jaws - Bursting into the rap game in 1996 with an edge and braggadocio that mirrored most male rappers at the time, Lil' Kim made a huge statement with the racy cover for her debut album, Hard Core.   (Photo: Atlantic Records)   

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Lil’ Kim, Hard Core - This game changer is legendary. Kim introducing herself to the world with lyrics owning her sexuality was something that’s leaked into hip hop 20 years later. Can we look back? Check it out!(Photo: Big Beat Records)

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Redman, Muddy Waters - Redman was three albums deep at this point and he had yet to deliver Doc’s da Name 2000. We got “Whateva Man” to hold us off until then.(Photo: Def Jam Recordings)

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Redman, Muddy Waters - Redman was three albums deep at this point and he had yet to deliver Doc’s da Name 2000. We got “Whateva Man” to hold us off until then.(Photo: Def Jam Recordings)

"Stakes Is High" - The landscape of rap music shifted from the time De La Soul debuted to 1996, when they released the aptly titled Stakes Is High. The title track is in many ways an indictment on those changes within the music as well as in society. (Photo: Courtesy of Tommy Boy Records)

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De La Soul, Stakes Is High - With this gem, Mos Def and Common were introduced to a wider audience with their features. The hip hop group began to fall off in the sales arena, but still continued to make critically embraced albums.(Photo: Tommy Boy Records)

Whitney Houston, The Preacher’s Wife Soundtrack - This would be Whitney’s last soundtrack. With soundtracks for the Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale already under her belt, this one featured the singer almost in its entirety. She was in her element with gospel-tinged and inspired records that were hard to forget.(Photo: Arista Records)

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Whitney Houston, The Preacher’s Wife Soundtrack - This would be Whitney’s last soundtrack. With soundtracks for the Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale already under her belt, this one featured the singer almost in its entirety. She was in her element with gospel-tinged and inspired records that were hard to forget.(Photo: Arista Records)

A Tribe Called Quest, Beats, Rhymes and Life - The hip hop crew took their fourth album as an opportunity to go darker. With two Grammy nominations, the album was very well received.(Photo: JIVE Records)

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A Tribe Called Quest, Beats, Rhymes and Life - The hip hop crew took their fourth album as an opportunity to go darker. With two Grammy nominations, the album was very well received.(Photo: JIVE Records)

Snoop Dogg, Tha Doggfather - Snoop’s post-acquittal album wasn’t without some controversy. For starters, the rapper’s wish to work with Dr. Dre, like on his first album, was denied by Suge Knight due to Dre leaving Death Row.(Photo: Death Row Records)

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Snoop Dogg, Tha Doggfather - Snoop’s post-acquittal album wasn’t without some controversy. For starters, the rapper’s wish to work with Dr. Dre, like on his first album, was denied by Suge Knight due to Dre leaving Death Row.(Photo: Death Row Records)

Makaveli, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory  - Makaveli was a Tupac Shakur alter-ego that the rapper was starting to ease his way into. The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory would be the first posthumous release for the rapper. Not even two months after his death had passed when Suge Knight rushed the release, originally slated for March of the following year. The album was just as well received as his previous release that same year.(Photo: Death Row Records)

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Makaveli, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory - Makaveli was a Tupac Shakur alter-ego that the rapper was starting to ease his way into. The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory would be the first posthumous release for the rapper. Not even two months after his death had passed when Suge Knight rushed the release, originally slated for March of the following year. The album was just as well received as his previous release that same year.(Photo: Death Row Records)