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The year 2000 was a crossroads moment for hip hop. The genre had fully conquered mainstream radio, but the streets were still hungry for substance. Eminem was arguably the biggest name in music, period. The Marshalls Mathers LP dropped in May and sold nearly a million copies in its first week. Dr. Dre's 2001 was still riding high from its late 1999 release, cementing the G-Funk revival and launching Eminem's career. Jay-Z dropped The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, planting his flag as New York's king and expanding the Roc-A-Fella empire. Meanwhile, Nas was rebuilding his legacy and DMX was a force. He dropped two number one albums in '98 and '99 and was everywhere. In October, OutKast released Stankonia, widely considered one of the greatest hip hop albums ever. Blending funk, punk and rap in way nobody had heard before. 2000 was the moment hip hop realized it didn't just belong to the culture, it was the culture.
