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Back in the day, if you were an aspiring rapper and wanted to get a deal, there was no internet to post your entire discography of songs recorded on your laptop to.  You had to have a demo tape.

Complex Magazine went through some of the demos their writers have acquired over the years and put together an impressive and fascinating list of the 30 greatest hip-hop demo tapes of all time.  The list includes demos by  relatively obscure MCs like J Rock to legends like Eminem, Biggie & Jay-Z.

The list is as follows:

30. J Rock (1990)

29. DMX (1991)

28. Artifacts (1993)

27. Last Emperor (1997)

26. UGK (1990)

25. E.S.P. (aka Tha Alkaholiks) (1991)

24. Big L (1991-92)

23. Show & A.G. (1990-91)

22. Mudbones (featuring Cage) (1992)

21. Brand Nubian (1989-90)

20. Casual (1992)

19. O.C. (1993)

18. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (late ’80s)

17. Ras Kass (1995)

16. DJ Shadow (1991)

15. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth (1989)

14. Cypress Hill (1990)

13. Eminem (1988-92)

12. Hurricane G (1991)

11. Lord Finesse (1989)

10. 213 (Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg) (1991)

9. Jay-Z (1995)

8. Wu-Tang Clan (1991-92)

7. Simply Too Positive (aka Organized Konfusion) (1990)

6. Poetical Prophets (aka Mobb Deep) (1991)

5. Souls of Mischief (1992)

4. Common (1991)

3. Public Enemy (1985)

2. Nas (1991)

1. The Notorious B.I.G. (1991)

If you wanna know what your favorite rappers sounded like when they were just starting out, head over to Complex.com and listen in amazement!

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