1997 in hip-hop

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This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 1997.

LL Cool J released Phenomenon , his seventh album in 1997, which earned an RIAA platinum certification.

Released albums

Release Date	Artist	Album	Notes
January 14	Various Artists	Rhyme & Reason: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack	Debuted at no. 16 on the Billboard 200 Certified Gold
January 28	Camp Lo	Uptown Saturday Night
	Various Artists	West Coast Bad Boyz II	Debuted at no. 16 on the Billboard 200 Certified Gold
February 4	Kool Keith	Sex Style
	C-Bo	One Life 2 Live
February 11	Frankie Cutlass	Politics & Bullshit
	Funkmaster Flex	The Mix Tape, Vol. II	Debuted at no. 19 on the Billboard 200 Certified Gold
February 18	Luniz	Bootlegs & B-Sides
	TRU	Tru 2 da Game	Debuted at no. 8 on the Billboard 200 Certified 2 x Platinum
March 4	Soul Assassins	The Soul Assassins, Chapter I	Debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200
March 11	Ghetto Mafia	Straight from the Dec
	Scarface	The Untouchable	Debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Certified Platinum
March 25	The Notorious B.I.G.	Life After Death	Debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Certified Diamond
	Warren G	Take a Look Over Your Shoulder	Debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 Certified Gold
	Tracey Lee	Many Facez
April 8	3X Crazy	Stackin' Chips
	Big Mike	Still Serious
	Crime Boss	Conflicts & Confusion
	Us3	Broadway & 52nd
April 15	Artifacts	That's Them	Debuted at no. 134 on the Billboard 200
April 22	Ill Al Skratch	Keep It Movin'
May 6	Steady Mobb'n	Pre-Meditated Drama
May 13	Juvenile	Solja Rags
May 20	Boot Camp Clik	For the People
	KRS-One	I Got Next	Debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 Certified Gold
	Various Artists	I'm Bout It	Debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200
June	Esham	Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987
June 1	Down Ta Erf	Down Ta Erf
June 3	Wu-Tang Clan	Wu-Tang Forever	Debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Certified 4 x Platinum
	Jungle Brothers	Raw Deluxe
	World-famous Beat Junkies	The World Famous Beat Junkies Volume 1
	Teflon	My Will
June 10	Mike Ladd	Easy Listening 4 Armageddon
June 15	Cru	Da Dirty 30
June 17	Capone-N-Noreaga	The War Report	Debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard 200
	Lil' Keke	Don't Mess wit Texas
	The Lost Boyz	Love, Peace & Nappiness
	Boogiemonsters	God Sound
June 24	The Beatnuts	Stone Crazy
	Craig Mack	Operation: Get Down
	Insane Clown Posse	The Great Milenko
	Twista	Adrenaline Rush	Debuted at No. 77 on the Billboard 200 Certified Gold
	Mia X	Unlady Like
	The Lady of Rage	Necessary Roughness
	Wyclef Jean	Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival	Debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 Certified 2 x Platinum
July 1	B.G.	It's All on U, Vol. 1
	Ghetto Twiinz	In That Water
July 11	Slum Village	Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1)
July 13	Chubb Rock	The Mind
July 15	DJ Pooh	Bad Newz Travels Fast
	Missy Elliott	Supa Dupa Fly	Debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 Certified Platinum
July 22	Company Flow	Funcrusher Plus
	Puff Daddy & the Family	No Way Out	Debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Certified 7 x Platinum
July 29	Bone Thugs-n-Harmony	The Art of War	Debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Certified 4 x Platinum
	D-Shot	Six Figures
	Rampage	Scout's Honor... By Way of Blood
	Trick Daddy	Based On A True Story
August 5	Atmosphere	Overcast!
	Killarmy	Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars
	Mr. Serv-On	Life Insurance
	Various Artists	How to Be a Player
August 12	Hed PE	Hed PE
August 19	O.C.	Jewelz
	Royal Flush	Ghetto Millionaire
August 26	Coolio	My Soul	Debuted at No. 39 on the Billboard 200 Certified Platinum
	Diamond D	Hatred, Passions and Infidelity
	Latryx	The Album
	The Mossie	Have Heart Have Money
	Tha Alkaholiks	Likwidation
September 2	Master P	Ghetto D	Debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Certified 3 x Platinum
September 16	Gravediggaz	The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel	Debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 Certified Platinum
	Mack 10	Based on a True Story	Debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 Certified Gold
	Busta Rhymes	When Disaster Strikes...	Debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 Certified Platinum
September 23	EPMD	Back in Business	Debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 Certified Gold
	MC Breed	Flatline
	Mood	Doom
	Organized Konfusion	The Equinox
	The X-Ecutioners	X-Pressions
	No I.D.	Accept Your Own and Be Yourself (The Black Album)
September 30	Common	One Day It'll All Make Sense	Debuted at No. 61 on the Billboard 200
	RBL Posse	An Eye for an Eye	Debuted at No. 70 at the Billboard 200
October 14	Kinfusion	Da Unhatched Breed
	Jurassic 5	Jurassic 5
	LL Cool J	Phenomenon	Debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 Certified Platinum
	Rawkus Records	Soundbombing
October 21	The Firm	The Album
	Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz	Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album
	Salt-n-Pepa	Brand New
October 28	Hot Boys	Get It How U Live!
	Mase	Harlem World
	Natas	Multikillionaire: The Devil's Contract
	Psycho Realm	The Psycho Realm
	Spice 1	The Black Bossalini
November 4	Jay-Z	In My Lifetime, Vol. 1	Debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 Certified Platinum
	Jedi Mind Tricks	The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness
	Mic Geronimo	Vendetta
	Rakim	The 18th Letter	Certified Gold
	Three 6 Mafia	Chapter 2: World Domination
November 10	MC Lyte	Badder Than B-Fore
November 11	B.G.	It's All on U, Vol. 2
	Luniz	Lunitik Muzik''	Certified Gold
	Luke	Changin' the Game
	MC Eiht	Last Man Standing
	Mystikal	Unpredictable	Debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 Certified Platinum
	Timbaland & Magoo	Welcome to Our World
November 18	5th Ward Boyz	Usual Suspects
	Del the Funky Homosapien	Future Development
	MJG	No More Glory
November 25	DFC	The Whole World's Rotten
	Will Smith	Big Willie Style
	2Pac	R U Still Down? (Remember Me)	Debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 Certified 4 x Platinum
December 10	Eminem	Slim Shady EP
December 16	Ice Cube	Featuring...Ice Cube
	Queen Pen	My Melody	Debuted at No. 78 on the Billboard 200
December 23	Eightball & MJG	Lyrics of a Pimp

Highest-charting singles

Hip hop singles which charted in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100

Title	Artist	Peak position
"Can't Nobody Hold Me Down"	P. Diddy feat. Mase	1
"I'll Be Missing You"	P. Diddy feat. Faith Evans & 112
"Hypnotize"	The Notorious B.I.G.
"Mo Money Mo Problems"	The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy & Mase
"It's All About the Benjamins"	P. Diddy feat. Lil' Kim, The Lox & The Notorious B.I.G.	2
"Look into My Eyes"	Bone Thugs-n-Harmony	4
"Feel So Good"	Mase	5
"Dangerous"	Busta Rhymes	9
"C U When U Get There"	Coolio featuring 40 Thevz	12
"Smile"	Scarface featuring 2Pac & Johnny P.
"Ghetto Love"	Da Brat ft. T-Boz
"Up Jumps da Boogie"	Timbaland & Magoo featuring Aaliyah & Missy Elliott
"I Shot The Sheriff"	Warren G	20
"Street Dreams"	Nas	22
"I Miss My Homies"	Master P ft. Silkk the Shocker, Pimp C & Sons of Funk	25
"Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See"	Busta Rhymes	27
"If I Could Teach the World"	Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
"What They Do"	The Roots	34
"Smokin' Me Out"	Warren G ft. Ronald Isley	35
"ATLiens"	OutKast
"Backyard Boogie"	Mack 10	38
"Gangstas Make the World Go Round"	Westside Connection	40

Highest first-week sales

List of top ten albums with the highest first-week home market sales

Number	Album	Artist	1st-week sales	1st-week position	Genre
1	Life After Death	The Notorious B.I.G.	690,000	1	East Coast Hip Hop
2	Wu-Tang Forever	Wu-Tang Clan	612,000	1	East Coast Hip Hop
3	No Way Out	Puff Daddy & the Bad Boy Family	561,000	1	East Coast Hip Hop
4	R U Still Down? (Remember Me)	2Pac	549,000	2	West Coast Hip Hop
5	The Art Of War	Bone Thugs-n-Harmony	394,000	1	Midwest Hip Hop
6	Harlem World	Mase	270,000	1	East Coast Hip Hop
7	Ghetto D	Master P	260,000	1	Southern Hip Hop
8	Tru 2 da Game	TRU	200,000	8	Southern hip hop
9	The Untouchable	Scarface	169,000	1	Southern hip hop
10	When Disaster Strikes...	Busta Rhymes	165,000	3

See also

• Last article: 1996 in hip hop music
• Next article: 1998 in hip hop music