2003 in hip-hop

This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip-hop for the year 2003.

Events

January

On January 24, Brazilian rapper Sabotage was murdered in São Paulo

May

On May 19, Camoflauge was murdered in Savannah, Georgia

October

On October 24, Half a Mill committed suicide in Brooklyn, New York City

November

On November 26, Soulja Slim was murdered in Gentilly, New Orleans

All critically reviewed albums ranked (Metacritic)

Number	Artist	Album	Average score	Number of reviews	Reference
1	Dizzee Rascal	Boy in da Corner	92	28 reviews
2	Outkast	Speakerboxxx/The Love Below	91	26 reviews
3	Jay-Z	The Black Album	84	19 reviews
4	Bubba Sparxxx	Deliverance	82	17 reviews
5	Soul Position	8 Million Stories	82	8 reviews
6	Missy Elliott	This Is Not a Test!	79	21 reviews
7	Nappy Roots	Wooden Leather	79	9 reviews
8	FannyPack	So Stylistic	78	16 reviews
9	Northern State	Dying in Stereo	77	17 reviews
10	Sole	Selling Live Water	77	9 reviews
11	Ludacris	Chicken & Beer	75	10 reviews
12	The Majesticons	Beauty Party	75	9 reviews
13	Aesop Rock	Bazooka Tooth	74	16 reviews
14	Freeway	Philadelphia Freeway	74	7 reviews
15	50 Cent	Get Rich or Die Tryin'	73	19 reviews
16	Beans	Tomorrow Right Now	73	14 reviews
17	Obie Trice	Cheers	73	12 reviews
18	Atmosphere	Seven's Travels	72	14 reviews
19	Gold Chains	Young Miss America	72	12 reviews
20	Ugly Duckling	Taste The Secret	72	8 reviews
21	Michael Franti & Spearhead	Everyone Deserves Music	71	4 reviews
22	Gang Starr	The Ownerz	70	17 reviews
23	Why?	Oaklandazulasylum	70	8 reviews
24	Mr. Cheeks	Back Again!	67	4 reviews
25	Black Eyed Peas	Elephunk	66	15 reviews
26	Aceyalone	Love & Hate	66	9 reviews
27	Prince Paul	Politics of the Business	65	15 reviews
28	Lil Kim	La Bella Mafia	65	11 reviews
29	G-Unit	Beg for Mercy	62	11 reviews
30	RZA	Birth of a Prince	62	11 reviews
31	Wyclef Jean	The Preacher's Son	61	6 reviews
32	DMX	Grand Champ	58	12 reviews
33	Fabolous	Street Dreams	51	13 reviews
34	Ja Rule	Blood in My Eye	45	8 reviews