Rap Albums You Never Told Your Parents You Listened to as a Kid

For over 40 years, hip-hop has been known for its socially-conscious lyrics, party vibes and real-life commentary about the streets. But the genre also has its raunchy and sexually explicit side.

Since rap is geared toward the no holds barred attitude and reckless abandon of the youth, the tweens and teens are not only pushing the next generation of superstars to the top of the charts, but also setting the trends for what's hot in the streets and tweets. This means parents can have a difficult time trying to filter what their kids are listening to it. Since the mid-1990s, rappers have been criticized by parents and law enforcement alike over their crude and lewd lyrics.

Miami rap group 2 Live Crew is a perfect example of rap facing parental backlash. Their 1989 debut album, As Nasty They Wanna Be, was banned in Florida due to the group's pornographic lyrics. Out on the West Coast, N.W.A's 1988 debut album, Straight Outta Compton, made them a target by the FBI for songs like "Fuck Tha Police" and "Gangsta and Gangsta."

But that hasn't stopped rappers from pushing their free speech to the edge. Artists like The Geto Boys and Three 6 Mafia kept it hardcore and raw on their albums. And we can't leave out Eminem. The Detroit rhymer has been offending parents ever since his 2000 masterpiece The Marshall Mathers LP.

Currently, rappers like Cupcakke are not afraid to express their sexuality in their music. Her 2018 album Ephorize will certainly make some parents' faces blush after listening to her sex-filled songs. Meanwhile, Tyler, The Creator's 2011 project Goblin had him banned in the United Kingdom due to the parliament deeming his lyrics homophobic and violent.

Whether you were a kid 20 years ago or a kid just five years past, there's a common theme: the youth is always bumping whatever's hot in hip-hop at the moment. And with that, parents just don't understand when it comes to explicit rap music. XXL highlights Albums You Never Told Your Parents You Listened to as a Kid below.

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