6 Hip-Hop Acts Who Have Dropped Live Albums

On Wednesday, Jan. 27, North Carolina rapper, J. Cole, surprised fans when he took to Facebook to announce the unexpected release of a live version of his 2014 Forest Hills Drive album. The original project, released on Dec. 9, 2014, became J.Cole's best-selling hip-hop album to date and inspired him to release a live album version for his fans to enjoy for now, until the release of new music.

With the recently released live album from Cole, the North Carolina rapper joins a small list of hip-hop acts who in the past have released live albums. From Jay Z to The Roots to 2Pac, some of rap's most elite names have given fans and listeners a musical experience of a concert performance in form of a tape, CD or MP3. Cole, who became just the sixth hip-hop act to drop a live album, provided fans with a reasoning behind the release of the live recording LP, “History turned into an album. Forest Hills Drive Live available. What a year. Hip hop deserves a live album.” The 13-track live album released under Roc Nation, is available on iTunes now and features a number songs off 2014 Forrest Hills Drive and a few from previous Cole albums.

While live albums are more common to see from genres like Rock, Pop, Electronic, Jazz and Classical music, today XXL rounds up all of the llive hip-hop albums that have been released in the past. Check out the list after the jump.

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