Brand Nubian's first album came out when I was a senior in high school. However, their lead MC Grand Puba Maxwell was in a group called Masters of Ceremony before that. They had a song called "Sexy" that was pretty decent. Must have come out in 1987 or maybe 1986.
Back to Brand Nubian, their debut album came out in 1990 and got 5 mics in The Source. They were kinda afrocentric and their rhymes were flavored with Nation of Islam teachings. This was around the time when afrocentric lyrics were popular and groups like Poor Righteous Teachers, Lakim Shabazz, King Sun and X Clan were getting played on BET and MTV. There's no modern equivalent to those kind of groups.
So anyway, after their debut album, Grand Puba left the group and went solo. He released an album in 1992 that was basically a dud. But the other 3 members Sadat X, Lord Jamar and DJ Alamo released a second and third album in 1992 and 1994 without Grand Puba. Grand Puba released another album in 1995. Sadat X released a solo album in 1996. Then all 4 reunited in 1998 for their 4th album called Foundation which is heavily slept on. Finally, Lord Jamar released a solo LP in 2006. If you are interested in checking them out, I'll give you some songs to check out;
1. All For One - 1990
2. Wake Up - 1990
3. Step To The Rear - 1990
4. Who Can Get Busy Like This Man- 1990
5. Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down - 1992
6. Love Me Or Leave Me Alone - 1992
7. Whats the 411 (Mary J Blige feat Grand Puba) - 1992
8. Word is Bond - 1994
9. Hold On - 1994
10. I Like It (Grand Puba solo) - 1995
11. The Lump Lump Remix (Sadat X feat Lord Jamar and Grand Puba) - 1996
12. A Child Is Born - 1997
13. The Return - 1998
14. Sincerely - 1998
15. Probable Cause - 1998
16. Back Up Off The Wall (feat Loon) - 1998
17. Deep Space (Lord Jamar feat RZA)- 2006
18. The Sun (Lord Jamar solo) - 2006
19. The Corner, The Streets (Lord Jamar feat Grand Puba) - 2006