How terrible is it that I think Will Smith got jobbed for 1988? Yes, he's commercial and tame but nobody had a bigger impact on rap that year than DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. The dude pushed rap into a place never seen before (some say for the worse, and an argument could be made...) and you couldn't get away from that album if you tried. No honorable mention even in the article? The sound wasn't hardcore and it it rarely took itself seriously but the influence of that album still exits today.