Boogie Down Productions – By All Means Necessary
1988 ~ Jive Records
By now it’s almost difficult to decide which is more iconic; the image of KRS-One peering outside a window with gun in hand, or the Malcolm X picture which is the actual inspiration of this album. The title is also a play on the Malcolm X quote “By any means necessary”. The cover and title is a little misleading as KRS actually toned down the violence that dominated BDP’s first album Criminal Minded after the death of DJ Scott LaRock. This is the album where KRS-One started going by his “The Teacher” moniker and began spitting conscious Rap. All that aside, this cover remains one of the most iconic images in all of Hip-Hop, so it has to be on a list featured on the most iconic Hip-Hop site on the web.