2001 in hip-hop
This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip-hop for the year 2001.
Highest-charting singles
| Song | Artist | Project | Peak position |
| "Ms. Jackson" | OutKast | Stankonia | 1 |
| "Ride Wit Me" | Nelly featuring City Spud | Country Grammar | 3 |
| "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" | Jay-Z | The Blueprint | 8 |
| "E.I." | Nelly | Country Grammar | 15 |
| "Girls, Girls, Girls" | Jay-Z | The Blueprint | 17 |
| "I'm a Thug" | Trick Daddy | Thugs Are Us | 17 |
| "Purple Pills" | D12 | Devil's Night | 19 |
| "#1" | Nelly | Nellyville | 22 |
| "Music" | Erick Sermon featuring Marvin Gaye | Music | 22 |
| "Area Codes" | Ludacris featuring Nate Dogg | Word of Mouf | 24 |
| "Can't Deny It" | Fabolous featuring Nate Dogg | Ghetto Fabolous | 25 |
| "Oochie Wally" | Nas & Bravehearts | Nas & Ill Will Records Presents QB's Finest | 26 |
| "So Fresh, So Clean" | OutKast | Stankonia | 31 |
Highest first-week sales
| Number | Album | Artist | 1st-week sales | 1st-week position |
| 1 | The Great Depression | DMX | 439,000 | 1 |
| 2 | Until The End of Time | 2Pac | 427,000 | 1 |
| 3 | The Blueprint | Jay-Z | 420,000 | 1 |
| 4 | Devil's Night | D12 | 372,000 | 1 |
| 5 | Pain Is Love | Ja Rule | 361,000 | 1 |
| 6 | Stillmatic | Nas | 342,000 | 8 |
| 7 | Doggy Bag | Lil' Bow Wow | 320,000 | 11 |
| 8 | Word of Mouf | Ludacris | 281,000 | 3 |
| 9 | Miss E...So Addictive | Missy Elliott | 250,000 | 2 |
| 10 | Project English | Juvenile | 213,000 | 2 |
All critically reviewed albums ranked (Metacritic)
| Number | Artist | Album | Average score | Number of reviews | Reference |
| 1 | Aesop Rock | Labor Days | 92 | 5 reviews | |
| 2 | Missy Elliott | Miss E... So Addictive | 89 | 16 reviews | |
| 3 | Jay-Z | The Blueprint | 88 | 12 reviews | |
| 4 | The Coup | Party Music | 85 | 11 reviews | |
| 5 | De La Soul | AOI: Bionix | 77 | 15 reviews | |
| 6 | Busta Rhymes | Genesis | 77 | 8 reviews | |
| 7 | Gorillaz | Gorillaz | 71 | 18 reviews | |
| 8 | Dilated Peoples | Expansion Team | 71 | 12 reviews | |
| 9 | Eve | Scorpion | 70 | 12 reviews | |
| 10 | Nas | Stillmatic | 69 | 12 reviews | |
| 11 | Wu-Tang Clan | Iron Flag | 69 | 12 reviews | |
| 12 | KRS-One | The Sneak Attack | 69 | 8 reviews | |
| 13 | Stereo MC's | Deep Down & Dirty | 68 | 13 reviews | |
| 14 | Mystikal | Tarantula | 68 | 7 reviews | |
| 15 | Ludacris | Word of Mouf | 67 | 8 reviews | |
| 16 | RZA | Digital Bullet | 67 | 8 reviews | |
| 17 | Tha Liks | X.O. Experience | 65 | 10 reviews | |
| 18 | Arsonists | Date of Birth | 63 | 7 reviews | |
| 19 | Silkk The Shocker | My World, My Way | 63 | 6 reviews | |
| 20 | DMX | The Great Depression | 62 | 10 reviews | |
| 21 | Sisqó | Return of Dragon | 61 | 9 reviews | |
| 22 | Ja Rule | Pain Is Love | 59 | 10 reviews | |
| 23 | Redman | Malpractice | 59 | 8 reviews | |
| 24 | D12 | Devil's Night | 58 | 11 reviews | |
| 25 | 2Pac | Until the End of Time | 51 | 8 reviews | |
| 26 | Run-DMC | Crown Royal | 43 | 17 reviews | |
| 27 | Master P | Game Face | 40 | 4 reviews |