You saw the mixtape of the year post by Nas, so I thought I would do my top albums of the year.
10. Rick Ross: Teflon Don - I never really been a big Rick Ross fan but this album changed my view of him. As its his best album I would say. A lot of features though on the album I think he had 11 or 12 on there. Should of cut down on the guest spots I reckon. You could say alot of his song are about the same subject?
Best Songs: "Free Mason", "Live Fast, Die Young", "Im Not A Star".
9. Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday - This album has had mixed reviews since it came out by people. Well I enjoy the album and you cant say Nicki has not blown up this year. Some jumping on features, number one hits and turning in to the mainstream artist. She has not used being on Young Money to her success. Most people recognized her on Kanye song "Monster" there she had the best verse. The album its self alot of decent tracks features from Eminem, Kanye West, Drake, Rihanna. When Nicki spitting on a track its normally dope I would say which does best on the track with Ye on the album. Some of the production I was not keen on I would say. Best Songs - "Moment 4 Live", "Blazin", "Fly".
8 . T.I: No Mercy - This album only came out a couple of weeks ago but we been waiting for it for some time. As T.I was in prison for some parts of last year and this year it delayed the album. Originally was going to be called "King Uncaged" but name got changed and T.I said in an interview he has over 100 songs for the album. Not his best album I would say but it was very consistent with each song. Could argue maybe to many features but it showed T.I best music. Powerful lyrics in the songs and some nice production also.
Best Songs: "Welcome To The World", "Thats All She Wrote", "Castle Walls".
7. Drake: Thank Me Later - This was Drake debut album who had alot of success from his past mixtapes what got him signed to Young Money. Last year he was up for grammys and much more and he did not even have an album out. So back to this album Drake shows his talent rapping and singing in parts no auto-tune. I thought there was some tracks which stood out abit more than others. I feel Drake wanted the album to be a bit different but did not happen. As before the album came out I saw he wanted to get Eminem and Dr Dre on a song which did not happen. All good features on the album and Drake stays with his normal producers which is dope. When the album came out people were going crazy over it. Best Songs - "Light Up", "Thank Me Now", "Over".
6. Big Boi: Sir Lucious Left Foot The Son Of Chico Dusty - This is Big Boi from duo group Outkast and its his first solo album. Some might argue this should be higher on the list. The album has been in the making for a few years. Were still waiting for Andre 3000 solo album also. One of the top southern album of the year without doubt. A few features on the album but all work on the album. All of the songs are solid you wont want to skip any when your listening to the album. His lyricism is great I feel and the beats all link in with his raps. Also one song was produced by Andre 3000 on the album. Album done well in the charts as well.
Best Songs: "Shutterbugg", "Be Still", "You Aint No DJ".
5. KiD CuDi: Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager - Getting in to top five now, this album came out the over month and it impressed me alot. Cudi first album I really like and I knew I was going to like this. I been waiting for this album for a while but has not disappointed me. Same vibe to his first album I would say. The way Cudi raps no one else does I would say. His own style. The album had great production Emile produced a lot of the tracks who im a big fan of his beats. All the production was excellencent and beats suit Kid Cudi alot. Not to many features which is good as more solo Cudi tracks. I dont know if this album is on the same level as his first album but still better than most albums this year. This album got me in to underground artist Cage who features on the album.
Best Tracks - "Dont Play This Song", ""Ashin' Kusher", "Mojo So Dope"
4. B.o.B: B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray - Seems like this album came out ages ago now when it was April I think. Been a fan of Bobby Ray since his mixtapes. This album is hip-hop but it can fit in to other genre kind of. Very solid album all tracks are great. Is he bringing southern rap back? Next Andre maybe? He is signed to T.I label also. The intro of the album is "Done Let Me Fall" great way to start the album. Great features on the album Lupe Fiasco, Eminem, Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae, Hayley Williams, T.I. Still feel this album is underrated and he produces a lot of the tracks himself. All the beats suit B.o.B I would say, its unique how they suit him.
Best Songs - "Airplanes Part 2", "Past My Shades", "Ghost in the Machine".
3. Nas & Damian Marley: Distant Relatives - Without a doubt one of the best albums this year. Great idea for these two to work on an album together. Nas had not put out an album since 2008 before this. They were looking on this album for about a year or maybe a bit longer before it came out. So you could say it was a long time in the making. Who would of thought hip-hop and reggae would work well together like it did? All of Damian Marley vocals and verses were great and same with Nas verses. No bad songs on the album. With Damian producing most of the album also which was good to see. Lil Wayne had a feature on the album which he had one of his best verses of the year on. Album was really done for Africa and to say we are all distant relatives in a way. So the song and album have messages behide them. Showed Nas is still one of the best hip-hop artist out there after hearing the album. Would love to see another album from them.
Best Songs - "As We Enter", "My Generation", "Dispear"
2. Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - This was Kanye West comeback album as some people said. After the Taylor Swift thing Kanye went away for some time and this was his come back to the spot light. You could also say his come back to hip-hop as his fourth album 808s was not that hip-hop really. This album is a production master piece in my eyes every single song is produced to great ability. Nothing short of what I expected from a great producer which is Kanye West. The tracks themselfs were great some stood out more than others I would say. Alot of features some suit the song but needed more solo Ye rapping I wanted to see. So many classic tracks on the album as well. One song was autotune which I did not like that much. You can tell the album took along time to make getting all the artists parts and that. It lived up to what people thought of it I must say. Now cant wait for the joint album of Jay-Z and Kanye next year.
Best Songs - "All Of The Lights", "Blame Game", "Dark Fantasy".
1. Eminem: Reocvery - This is album of the year for me for so many reasons it was number one for so many weeks, Eminem up for 10 grammys and its some of Eminem best work. Reminds me of his early albums abit. Every single track is great and there our messages in the song. Em worked with different producers on the album Boi-1da, DJ Khalil, Just Blaze, Havoc, Alex Da Kid, Emile which suited Em well. Still had producers like Dre and Mr Porter as well on the album. All four features on the songs killed there parts like Lil Wayne in No Love etc. His lyrics are back to his best and the flow is incredible. He is back on top of hip-hop no one is on his level at moment. The song for Proof is one of the best I have heard in a long time. You can see Eminem has put so much work in to this album. I could talk about this album all day.
Best Songs - "You're Never Over","No Love", "Going Through Changes".
There been many great albums this year and this was hard to make. It might even change in next few weeks or so it depends. Could of even done a top 20 post. As there out other albums like Lloyd Banks Hunger For More 2, The Roots How I Got Over, Black Milk Album Of The Year, Reflection Eternal Revolutions Per Minute and more.
Eminem he drop relapse early this year in May and it showed he was back. I think Eminem has show what he can do and even with this long time out of the game he can still do it. Relapse was Em sixth album and it was a classic. He made some great songs on the album the likes of Old Times Sake, Beautiful, 3 AM. I think as Eminem jsut said he putting a album out near the end of year but its Relapse again with 7 new songs. So he re doing it and showing people his new tracks. I think this is good as Relapse 2 will be out next year. I had to put Em up there on this list as his album was great, he done great things this year and he is dope overall.
Well everyone knows what Jayz done this year. I think his latest album Blueprint 3 was dope as. One of the best albums of the year or the best I think. He has made some great tracks this year and done massive things in hiphop this year. I dont need to say much about Jay Z as your all know what he done. It might have been his year as he done so well?
