If you are sticking to hip-hop may I suggest The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It would be interesting to dissect some of the same themes of TPAB but from a female perspective in the late 90s. The albums over all theme of love is displayed on each track. Women are often overlooked in this genre yet Ms. Hill gave us so much with her solo debut. Her work with the fugees and her later release mtv unplugged really allowed us to see her grow as an artist and a human.