If you never heard of DJ Premier…well you got a lot of history to catch up on. Anyway the great Preemo blessed us with his top 20 albums of 2012 thanks to the DJ Premier Blog and Hip Hop N More

Caution: If you’re not a hip hop head, some of these albums you’ve probably never heard of but are worth checking out.

Premier bases his list on:

1) Beats selection
2) Lyrics and content that make sense
3) Flows and wordplay and your voice
4) I don’t care how many records you sold and how much your record was played on commercial radio, I live hip hop culture and I respect my pioneers that allowed me to do hip hop as a career
5) Concepts and overall body of making a full LP including the sequence of how your LP flows is so important when I pop it in my sound system

I still judge listening to music on either a boom box or driving in my ride, no iPods and shit. I stick to tradition of how hip hop was played when it made an impact on my life.

DJ Premier’s Top 20 Albums of 2012

20. Torae – Off The Record
19. Saigon – Greatest Story Never Told Pt. 2: Breads And Circuses
18. Slaughterhouse – Welcome To Our House
17. Skyzoo – A Dream Deferred
16. Masta Ace & MF DOOM – MA_DOOM: Son Of Yvonne
15. Roc Marciano – Reloaded
14. 9th Wonder & Buckshot – The Solution
13. Public Enemy – Most Of My Heroes Still Don’t Appear On No Stamp
12. Vinnie Paz – Gods Of The Serengeti
11. Lil Fame & Termanology – Fizzyology
10. Rick Ross – God Forgives, I Don’t
09. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. city
08. Action Bronson & Alchemist – Rare Chandeliers
07. 9th Wonder & Murs – The Final Adventure
06. Sean Price – Mic Tyson
05. Wu-Block – Wu-Block
04. Showbiz & A.G. – Mugshot Music (Preloaded)
03. Nas – Life Is Good
02. DJ Premier & Bumpy Knuckles – Kolexxxion
01. O.C. & Apollo Brown – Trophies

Honorable Mentioning: Mayhem Lauren “Mandatory Brunch Meetings”, Fresh Vetz “The Tape Effect”, Killer Mike “R.A.P. Music”, Nutso “Behind These Bars”, Craig G. “Ramblings Of An Angry Old Man”, Big Shug “I.M.4Eva”, La Coka Nostra “Masters Of The Dark Arts”, Ice Water (aka WOADAH) “Holy Water”, Bishop Lamont “The Layover”, 1982 “2012″, Apollo Brown & Guilty Simpson “Dice Game”, Large Professor “Professor @ Large”.