1989 in hip-hop

This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip-hop for the year 1989.

The Cactus Album by 3rd Bass is considered a critically acclaimed record that earned an RIAA gold certification.

Released albums

Release Date [1]	Artist	Album
January 1	The Fat Boys	On and On
January 23	Tone Lōc	Lōc-ed After Dark
January 31	Kwamé	Kwamé the Boy Genius: Featuring a New Beginning
February 6	De La Soul	3 Feet High and Rising
February 7	2 Live Crew	As Nasty as They Wanna Be
February 20	MC Twist & The Def Squad	Comin' Thru Like Warriors
February 22	Gigolo Tony	Ain't It Good To Ya
March 12	Geto Boys	Grip It! On That Other Level
March 14	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	Road to the Riches
April 25	Oaktown's 357	Wild & Loose
May 5	King Sun	XL
May 14	S. F. C.	Listen Up
May 16	Nice & Smooth	Nice & Smooth
	Special Ed	Youngest in Charge
May 23	Chill Rob G	Ride the Rhythm
May 30	Kool Moe Dee	Knowledge Is King
June 6	Gang Starr	No More Mr. Nice Guy
June 9	LL Cool J	Walking with a Panther
June 12	Heavy D & The Boyz	Big Tyme
June 19	Breeze	The Young Son Of No One
July	Antoinette	Who's the Boss?
July 4	Boogie Down Productions	Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop
July 13	The D.O.C.	No One Can Do It Better
July 25	Beastie Boys	Paul's Boutique
	EPMD	Unfinished Business
July 27	Schoolly D	Am I Black Enough for You?
August 8	Cool C	I Gotta Habit
August 16	Tuff Crew	Back to Wreck Shop
August 29	Mellow Man Ace	Escape from Havana
	Doctor Ice	The Mic Stalker
September 5	Young MC	Stone Cold Rhymin'
September 19	Big Daddy Kane	It's a Big Daddy Thing
September 27	Donald D	Notorious
October 3	MC Lyte	Eyes on This
October 10	Biz Markie	The Biz Never Sleeps
	Ice-T	The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say!
October 17	Sir Mix-a-Lot	Seminar
October 20	Roxanne Shanté	Bad Sister
October 24	Craig G	The Kingpin
October 31	DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince	And in This Corner...
	Freddie Foxxx	Freddie Foxxx Is Here
November 7	Jungle Brothers	Done by the Forces of Nature
	Queen Latifah	All Hail the Queen
November 14	3rd Bass	The Cactus Album
	Def Jef	Just a Poet with Soul
November 17	Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock	The Incredible Base
December 5	The New Style	Independent Leaders
December 21	Willie D	Controversy
Unknown	Blackmale	Let It Swing
Unknown	D-Boy Rodriguez	Plantin' a Seed
Unknown	Esham	Boomin' Words from Hell
Unknown	Dismasters	And Then Some
Unknown	A.P.G. Crew	On the Rise
Unknown	Divine Styler	Word Power
Unknown	Hot Day	It's My Day
Unknown	Stezo	Crazy Noise
Unknown	Tone Def Crew	Grand Def Audio
Unknown	Maestro Fresh Wes	Symphony in Effect
Unknown	Michael Peace	Vigilante of Hope
Unknown	The Jaz	Word to the Jaz
Unknown	The Chosen Ones	Enter the Lord
Unknown	Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five	Piano
Unknown	LA Dream Team	Back to Black
Unknown	Jesse West	No Prisoners
Unknown	Ms. Melodie	Diva
Unknown	Nu-Sounds	Mackin'
Unknown	DJ Chuck Chillout & Kool Chip	Masters of Rhythm
Unknown	Priority One	Total Chaos
Unknown	Positively Black	Positively Black
Unknown	Sly & Robbie	Silent Assassin
Unknown	Louie Louie	Deadlier Than Ever
Unknown	Magnetic Force	12-52-365
Unknown	Tony M.F. Rock	Let Me Take You To The Rockhouse
Unknown	Jay Love	Get Into It
Unknown	The W.I.S.E. Guys	eF yoU eN Kay E
Unknown	UTFO	Doin' It
Unknown	T La Rock	On a Warpath
Unknown	Chubb Rock with Howie Tee	And the Winner Is...
Unknown	Just-Ice	The Desolate One
Unknown	Black, Rock and Ron	Stop the World
Unknown	DJ Magic Mike	DJ Magic Mike & The Royal Posse
Unknown	Kings Of Pressure	Slang Teacher
Unknown	Vicious Beat Posse	Legalized Dope
Unknown	Mac Dre	Young Black Brotha
Unknown	Redhead Kingpin and the F.B.I.	A Shade of Red
Unknown	Success-n-Effect	In the Hood
Unknown	various artists	Mr. Magic's Rap Attack Volume 5

Highest-charting singles

Hip hop singles from any year which charted in the 1989 Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 ^[2]

Song	Artist	Project	Peak position
"Wild Thing"	Tone Lōc	Lōc-ed After Dark	2
"Funky Cold Medina"	Tone Lōc	Lōc-ed After Dark	3
"Buffalo Stance"	Neneh Cherry	Raw Like Sushi	3
"Bust A Move"	Young MC	Stone Cold Rhymin'	7
"Pump Up the Jam"	Technotronic	Pump Up the Jam: The Album	7
"I'm That Type of Guy"	LL Cool J	Walking with a Panther	15
"Me So Horny"	2 Live Crew	As Nasty As They Wanna Be	26
"Me, Myself & I"	De La Soul	3 Feet High and Rising	34
"Hey Ladies"	Beastie Boys	Paul's Boutique	36

See also

• Last article: 1988 in hip hop music
• Next article: 1990 in hip hop music

References

1. "The Top 75 Hip-Hop Albums of 1989".
2. "The Hot 100 Chart". Billboard .