Average Rating: 3.21 Rating Variance: 0.98 Objectivity Score: 92% (Very Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name5.0 classic50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin'A Tribe Called Quest The Low End TheoryBob Dylan Blood on the TracksCurtis Mayfield CurtisCurtis Mayfield SuperflyDavid Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From MarsDavid Bowie Hunky DoryDe La Soul De La Soul Is Dead Dr. Dre The ChronicElliott Smith Either/OrGhostface Killah Supreme ClienteleGoodie Mob Soul FoodGZA Liquid SwordsIsaac Hayes Hot Buttered SoulMobb Deep The InfamousNas IllmaticNeil Young After the Gold RushNeutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the SeaOutKast AqueminiOutKast ATLiensPrince Purple RainPrince 1999Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us BackRadiohead Kid ARadiohead OK ComputerRaekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Scarface The DiarySimon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled WaterSnoop Dogg DoggystyleSpoon Ga Ga Ga Ga GaYou got no fear of the underdog. That's why you will not survive.The Notorious B.I.G. Ready to DieThe Smiths The Queen Is DeadThe Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground & NicoUGK Ridin' DirtyWaka Flocka Flame Flockaveli4.5 superb8Ball and MJG In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1At the Drive-In Relationship of CommandCam'ron Purple HazeClipse We Got It 4 Cheap Volume 1Cream Disraeli GearsCream Wheels of FireDe La Soul Buhloone MindstateDe La Soul 3 Feet High and RisingDevin The Dude Just Tryin' Ta LiveDio Holy DiverDon Trip & Starlito Step BrothersElectric Wizard DopethroneElliott Smith Roman CandleEminem The Slim Shady LPFrank Ocean channel ORANGEFuture PlutoTop two albums of the year with Kendrick Lamar. This is a brilliant piece of Future doing as he does, gargling Listerine through an auto tune and singing about walking with butterflies as the great blogger Andrew Noz once said. Completely underrated.Iron And Wine Our Endless Numbered DaysKanye West Late RegistrationLil Wayne Dedication 2Lil Wayne The DedicationThe Title track alone merits 3.5 stars, even if the rest of the tracks are garbage. Most of this mixtape is Wayne at his absolute best, so obviously the rest of the tracks are not garbage.Magnolia Electric Co Magnolia Electric CoMF DOOM Operation: DoomsdayModest Mouse The Lonesome Crowded WestNick Drake Pink MoonNick Drake Bryter LayterNico Chelsea GirlOkkervil River Black Sheep BoyOkkervil River Down the River of Golden DreamsOkkervil River Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You SeeOutKast SouthernplayalisticadillacmuzikRed House Painters Red House PaintersRick James Come Get It!Slayer South of HeavenSongs: Ohia Didn't It RainSufjan Stevens IllinoisSufjan Stevens Carrie and LowellThe Dismemberment Plan Emergency & IThe Flaming Lips The Soft BulletinThe Magnetic Fields 69 Love SongsThe Microphones The Glow Pt. 2The Mountain Goats Get LonelyThe Mountain Goats TallahasseeThe Smiths The Sound of The SmithsUGK UGK (Underground Kingz)UGK Dirty MoneyVince Staples Summertime '06Finally - a great hip hop album in 2015 THAT FUCKING SLAPS.Z-Ro Let the Truth Be Told4.0 excellentAtlas Sound LogosAZ Doe or DieB.B. King One Kind FavorBig Boi Sir Lucious Left FootBig Daddy Kane Long Live The KaneBig K.R.I.T. K.R.I.T Wuz HereBlu and Exile Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell ThemFor all the acclaim laid on the feet of the last Blu & Exile album, I thought that album was saved by Exile's production. Blu was a fine rapper in terms of technicality and skill, but truly couldn't stand out in a line up in terms of voice, styles, or energy. But Blu finds himself somewhat on Give Me My Flowers, and it shows. This feels like a Blu record - it's messy, at points it has an improvised feel, but still feels like conscious rap, and that everyman feeling that Blu attempted on his other albums actually works here. Blu won't ever be a top 10 rapper, probably not even top 50, but he's finally made a record that shows his strengths in a digestible way. Hopefully other media-hyped Illmatic 2 rappers like Fashawn or Elzhi do something similar soon. And obviously every beat bangs, thanks to Exile.Bob Dylan DesireBrand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside MeBright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's MorningBuilt to Spill Perfect from Now OnCam'ron Come Home With MeChance the Rapper Acid RapSome of these sound offs are so bad bro it's hard to even comprehend. You can not like the album but "an internet rapper with a good flow" and beginning your sound-off with "While other rappers try to innovate" is basically an admission you didn't even listen to the album.Chief Keef Back From The DeadClipse Lord Willin'Clipse Hell Hath No FuryClipse We Got It 4 Cheap Volume 2Common ResurrectionCormega The RealnessDanny Brown The HybridDanny Brown Atrocity ExhibitionOld was a god damn mess - this is fucking great. And it's not just a return to form, it's a step forward. It improves on the ideas behind XXX, shows off his rapping ability better, sonically dark and cohesive. Deerhunter Halcyon DigestDevin The Dude Waitin' to InhaleDJ Quik The Book of DavidDr. Yen Lo Days With Dr. Yen LoEarl Sweatshirt EARLEarl Sweatshirt DorisEarl Sweatshirt I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go OutsideEarl Sweatshirt SolaceElliott Smith Figure 8Elliott Smith Elliott SmithEPMD Strictly BusinessFuture Honest...rFuture came up with the Migos Flow. Migos just bent the flow, made it more technical. If you want to get into it, Migos swiped it from Future.Future Future Presents F.B.G: The MovieG-Side The One...CohesiveGhostface Killah FishscaleGhostface Killah The Pretty Toney AlbumGil Scott-Heron Pieces of a ManGucci Mane The Burrprint: The Movie 3-DIron And Wine The Creek Drank the CradleJason Molina Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me GoJay-Z and Kanye West Watch the ThroneJeezy The InspirationJuicy J Rubba Band Business 2Kendrick Lamar Section.80Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d cityKendrick Lamar To Pimp a ButterflyKendrick Lamar DAMN.I appreciate this approach over a bloated concept album, actually.Kevin Gates The Luca Brasi StoryKiller Mike I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind IILa Dispute Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair Lil Wayne Tha Carter IILil Wayne Da Drought 3Lord Finesse The AwakeningLou Reed TransformerMigos Young Rich NiggasMinus the Bear Planet of IceMobb Deep Hell on EarthModest Mouse The Moon & AntarcticaModest Mouse Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour TricksModest Mouse Building Nothing Out of SomethingModest Mouse This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think AboutMount Eerie Lost WisdomNeutral Milk Hotel On Avery IslandOkkervil River The Stage NamesOzzy Osbourne Blizzard of OzzPaul Simon Paul SimonProdigy Return of the MacRaekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt IIRed House Painters Ocean BeachRoc Marciano MarcbergRoc Marciano ReloadedDelves more into his atmosphere, takes a lot of listens to taste the lines, but once you get into it, the imagery gets stronger and stronger.Scarface The FixScarface The Last Of A Dying BreedScHoolboy Q Habits and ContradictionsShy Glizzy Law 2Slayer Reign in BloodSparklehorse It's a Wonderful LifeStalley Lincoln Way Nights (Intelligent Trunk Music)Starlito Insomnia AddictStarlito Fried TurkeyStarlito Mental WarfareSufjan Stevens MichiganSufjan Stevens The Age of AdzSun Kil Moon Ghosts of the Great HighwaySun Kil Moon AprilSun Kil Moon Admiral Fell PromisesSun Kil Moon BenjiT.I. KingTarkio OmnibusThe Antlers HospiceThe Decemberists PicaresqueThe Decemberists The Crane WifeThe Fall of Troy DoppelgangerThe Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink RobotsThe Magnetic Fields HolidayThe Magnetic Fields iThe Mountain Goats Heretic PrideThree 6 Mafia Most Known UnknownTownes Van Zandt Townes Van ZandtTyler, the Creator BastardVince Staples Shyne Coldchain Vol. 2Vince Staples Hell Can WaitTHIS is how you are supposed to do conscious rap. Vince Staples has grown immensely as an artist over the years. He's been a good rapper for a long time, but until his last mixtape, he was a good rapper in a vacuum - he had no idea how to write a hook or structure a song. Now, with this, we get the unstoppable combination, along with way better beats than any TDE record, just being honest (Future voice). Wilco Yankee Hotel FoxtrotWiz Khalifa Kush & Orange JuiceYG My Krazy LifeYoung Thug 1017 ThugZ-Ro The Life of Joseph W. McVey3.5 great50 Cent Power of the DollarA Tribe Called Quest People's Instinctive Travels & The Paths of RhythmAb-Soul Control SystemAndrew Bird I Want to See Pulaski at NightASAP Rocky Live.Love.A$AP.Despite A$AP Rocky's obvious follies, this record is quite good from top to bottom. Credit that to the legion of internet producers like Clams Casino that give this album life. And for all of A$AP flaws, his inability to connect beyond bland clich?s and penchant for brand names, he's charismatic and has energy, which really works in this mixtape format. "Trilla" is the best song that hack A$AP Nast (of "trillmatic" fame, one of the worst songs ever recorded) will ever be a part of.Beanie Sigel The B. ComingBeanie Sigel The TruthBeyonce BeyonceBig Tymers I Got That WorkBlack Milk TronicBrand New Deja EntenduBusta Rhymes The ComingBusta Rhymes When Disaster Strikes...Chief Keef Finally RichCommon BeCommon Like Water for ChocolateCommon Nobody's SmilingCurrensy Pilot Talk IIDaniel Johnston Welcome to My WorldDanny Brown XXXDavid Bowie Space OddityDeath Cab for Cutie TransatlanticismDinosaur Jr. BeyondDomo Genesis Rolling PapersDr. Dre 2001Elvis Perkins Ash WednesdayEminem The Marshall Mathers LPFleet Foxes Sun GiantFreeway Free At LastFreeway Philadelphia FreewayFuture Astronaut StatusFuture Streetz CallingFuture 56 NightsFuture DS2Future rarely, if ever, disappoints (the aimless rage of Monster was as close to a fumble as he's had so far), and this record is no exception. Future engages with the listener emotionally like no one else. And after a period of experimentation with the limits of autotune and vocal gurgles, has seemed to hit his stride in terms of writing. But for all of that, Dirty Sprite 2 bogs down towards the end as predictable, treading a lot of the same ground the great 56 Nights covered. It's a great record, make no mistake, but it doesn't match the heights of Pluto and Honest, which makes it something of a disappointment.G-Side IslandGrizzly Bear Yellow HouseGrizzly Bear VeckatimestGrizzly Bear ShieldsGucci Mane The State vs. Radric DavisGucci Mane Trap BackGucci Mane Trap GodHORSE the band R. BorlaxIron And Wine The Shepherd's DogJay-Z The BlueprintJay-Z The Black AlbumJay-Z Reasonable DoubtJeezy Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101Jeezy The RecessionJeezy Trap Or Die 2: ReloadedJudas Priest PainkillerJuicy J Hustle Till I DieJustin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSoundsKa The Night's GambitKanye West The College DropoutKanye West GraduationKanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted FantasyKendrick Lamar Overly DedicatedKevin Gates Stranger Than FictionKiller Mike Pl3dgeKiller Mike Bang X3Killer Mike I Pledge Allegiance to the GrindKool G Rap 4, 5, 6Mac DeMarco 2Mac DeMarco Salad DaysMac Miller Watching Movies With The Sound OffMeek Mill DreamchasersMetallica ...And Justice for AllMethod Man TicalMount Eerie DawnMount Eerie Clear MoonMr. Bungle CaliforniaThe lyrics make no sense but it doesn't even matter because the music makes even less sense. But it's almost so little sense that you suddenly start realizing nuances that do make sense. It's fascinating. And I can't stop doing the bop ba ba haaaahs in "Sweet Charity".Mt. Egypt PerspectivesNico The Marble IndexOkkervil River The Stand InsOkkervil River AwayOl' Dirty Bastard Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty VersionPeeWee Longway Running Round The LobbyProdigy The Bumpy Johnson AlbumProject Pat Mista Don't Play: Everythang's WorkinPusha T King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The PreludeRae Sremmurd SremmLifeDefinitely not a perfect album, but it is a definitive party rap album of 2015. Rae Sremmurd, any weakness they have in traditional rap writing, make up for with energy, song ideas, flow, and "swag". And it doesn't hurt that the album, from bottom to top, bangs, thanks to an array of raps best producers at the top of their game. Some flaws obviously, as Sremmurd fall into many of the rap album tropes, but beyond that this is my summer album.Rae Sremmurd SremmLife 2Red House Painters Down Colorful HillRed House Painters Songs for a Blue GuitarRedman Muddy WatersRedman Dare Iz A DarksideRedman Doc's Da Name 2000Songs: Ohia The LionessSoulja Boy SupremeSpoon Gimme FictionStarlito Cold TurkeySun Kil Moon Among the LeavesT.I. Trap MuzikT.I. Fuck Da City UpThe Dodos VisiterThe Microphones It Was Hot, We Stayed In The WaterThe Microphones Song IslandsThe Notorious B.I.G. Life After DeathThe Roots Rising DownTyler, the Creator GoblinUgly Casanova Sharpen Your TeethVic Mensa INNANETAPEWilco A Ghost Is BornWilco SummerteethWiz Khalifa Flight SchoolYo Gotti Live From the KitchenYoung Thug I Came From Nothing 3Young Thug I Came From Nothing 2Young Thug Barter 6Young Thug I'm UpYoung Thug Slime Season 3Z-Ro Crack3.0 good50 Cent The MassacreAmerica AmericaAndrew Bird Armchair ApocryphaBig Boi Vicious Lies and Dangerous RumorsBig Daddy Kane It's A Big Daddy ThingBig K.R.I.T. ReturnOf4evaBig K.R.I.T. 4Eva N A DayBig L Lifestylez ov da Poor & DangerousBig Sean Hall of FameBig Sean Dark Sky ParadiseBig Sean I Decided.Black Star Black StarBoth rappers at their best and it's... marginally better than the average rap album. Solid production throughout, strong song ideas, and is well rounded as an album release. But Mos Def and Talib Kweli both have their weaknesses on display here: There have been few, if any, occurrences where Talib Kweli did not utterly trample over the beat with his flow. Mos Def, whose flow and writing is both more musical and more compact than Kweli's, values his singing voice more than he probably should. Overall, it's a cohesive album with not too much in name of highlights.Blu and Exile Below the HeavensBon Iver For Emma, Forever AgoBon Iver Blood BankBon Iver Bon Iver, Bon IverBoosie Badazz Touch Down 2 Cause HellBoosie is one of the great rappers of our generation - forceful yet graceful, an aggressive snarl that conveys so much, and most importantly, he's getting better and better. Better at writing, as he's starting to develop a political angle, and amazing at emotion. It's no secret that he's never had a very good cohesive album, but that's never bothered me when he had a great palate for regional producers. Unfortunately, in Touch Down 2 Cause Hell, he takes every rap cliche and makes some Rap Album. He tries his hardest to make it worthwhile, the first five tracks or so are great and the last two (particularly "I'm Sorry") are some of the best stuff he's done, but a large chunk of the album is mediocre or worse and it all sounds like Boosie trying to conform to the world around him, when he spent so many years trying to make the world conform to him. What a shame.Built to Spill The Normal YearsChamillionaire The Sound of RevengeChance the Rapper 10 DayInconsistent, wishy washy, and (once again) Soundcloud beats, but Chance shows an amazing amount of promise on this release and a lot of energy.Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His FriendsCurrensy Pilot TalkCurrensy The Stoned ImmaculateDeath Cab for Cutie Narrow StairsDeerhunter CryptogramsDeerhunter MicrocastleDigable Planets Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)Dinosaur Jr. FarmDisturbed Ten Thousand FistsDrake Take CareDrake Nothing Was the SameElliott Smith XOElzhi The PrefaceErykah Badu New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the AnkhFather John Misty Pure ComedyMeh - I found this pretentious but also much more engaging than Josh Tillman's other work as Father John Misty.Fetty Wap Fetty WapFetty Wap is an American treasure and his album is actually kinda good. It's immature, it's sloppy, but Fetty got them hits, got them songs. Don't even need them verses!Fleet Foxes Fleet FoxesFleet Foxes Helplessness BluesFrank Ocean BlondeFreddie Gibbs Baby Face KillaGhostface Killah IronmanGhostface Killah Bulletproof WalletsGucci Mane Back to the Trap HouseGucci Mane Trap God 2Guilty Simpson Ode to the GhettoGZA Pro ToolsThis lightyears ahead of GZA's last two turds, but behind Liquid Swords a good deal. Also see: The beginning of Ka, who has developed quite a solo career despite a mediocre start here.Heatmiser Mic City SonsJay-Z American GangsterJesu/Sun Kil Moon 30 Seconds to the Decline of Planet EarthBetter than the last one of these by a decent margin. The last one had one highlight ("Fragile"), this has a few. Please don't listen to the Michael Jackson song though, it's kind of embarrassing.John Maus We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of OurselvesJuelz Santana From Me To UJuicy J Rubba Band BusinessJustin Timberlake The 20/20 ExperienceKanye West 808s and HeartbreakKanye West YeezusKaty Perry One of the BoysKeith Murray The Most Beautifullest Thing In This WorldKevin Gates By Any MeansKiller Mike R.A.P. MusicKurt Vile Wakin on a Pretty DazeKurt Vile b'lieve i'm goin' down...Lil Wayne Tha Carter IIIMac DeMarco Another OneMac Miller GO:OD AMMark Kozelek FinallyMark Kozelek and Desertshore Mark Kozelek and DesertshoreMost Sun Kil Moon records seem deeply entrenched in Mark Kozelek's head, both lyrically and musically. In Kozelek's works with Desertshore, we very much get the same lyrical approach, but the biggest surprise of this release is that the music sounds so... ordinary. Oddly enough, it works very well on a couple of songs - "Mariette", complemented by sunny soft jazz guitars is a surprisingly good compliment to Kozelek's vocals, "Hey You Bastards I'm Still Here" is deeply moving and relatable in a way only a Kozelek song. The rest of the album has its moments, but unfortunately falls flat and ordinary, with Kozelek almost falling into the music rather than standing out from it.Meek Mill Dreams and NightmaresMegadeth United AbominationsMethod Man 4:21... The Day AfterMF DOOM MM.. FoodMirah Advisory CommitteeThe name of the album seems - a bit suspect, considering Phil Elverum had a big hand in this. Mobb Deep Murda MuzikModest Mouse Good News for People Who Love Bad NewsMuse Origin of SymmetryNas It Was WrittenNeil Young HarvestOkkervil River The Silver GymnasiumAt least "Down Down the Deep River" fucking jams.Paul Wall The Peoples ChampPort O'Brien The Wind And The SwellProject Pat Real Recognize RealProject Pat Layin' Da Smack DownPuff Daddy Last Train to ParisRandom Axe Random AxeRed House Painters Red House Painters IISean Price Monkey BarzSean Price Jesus Price SupastarShy Glizzy LAW 3: Now or NeverSlim Thug Already PlatinumSnoop Dogg Tha DoggfatherSongs: Ohia Songs: OhiaSpoon TransferenceSpoon They Want My SoulStalley Savage Journey To The American DreamStephen Malkmus and the Jicks Mirror TrafficStevens/Dessner/Muhly/McAlister PlanetariumSufjan Stevens Seven SwansSun Kil Moon Universal ThemesSun Kil Moon Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys of BloodMakes Universal Themes sound downright normal and small. Take that to mean what you want it to mean. "I Love Portugal" rocks. "Lone Star" is not good. Other songs vary in quality. Life happens on this album. The Alchemist Russian RouletteFairly directionless, and most of the rapping is subpar, but a couple of tracks are good enough to raise the rating quite a bit. That Roc Marciano track in particular is quite good.The Decemberists The Hazards of LoveThe Shins Chutes Too NarrowThe Tallest Man on Earth Shallow GraveTrinidad James Don't Be S.A.F.E.Tweedy SukieraeViktor Vaughn Vaudeville VillainWilco Being ThereWilco Sky Blue SkyWu-Block Wu-BlockYoung Thug JEFFERYYoung Thug BEAUTIFUL THUGGER GIRLSOf course everybody gon' love Thugger when he goes mediocre.r"I do not fuck with America" - Young ThugZ-Ro I'm Still Livin2.5 average50 Cent Curtis50 Cent Before I Self DestructASAP Rocky At.Long.Last.A$APASAP Rocky still has impeccable taste, as parts of this album would sound absolutely amazing in the hands of a truly great rapper. That rapper is not ASAP Rocky. ASAP Rocky still is the Blue Steel of Hip Hop - Constantly putting out the same old thing as something DIFFERENT and NEW. Bleh. Better than his last one though, by a good margin.Atlas Sound ParallaxBig K.R.I.T. Live From The UndergroundCam'ron Killa SeasonCam'ron Crime PaysChamillionaire Ultimate VictoryClipse Exclusive Audio FootageCommon The Dreamer/The BelieverD'Angelo Black MessiahDeerhunter MonomaniaEminem The Eminem ShowEminem RelapseFashawn Boy Meets WorldFather John Misty Fear FunFather John Misty I Love You, HoneybearFuture MonsterOf course Sputnik likes Sleepwalking Future more than Breaking the Universe in Half Future.Future Beast ModeFuture EVOLGhostface Killah The Big Doe RehabGucci Mane Everybody LookingILOVEMAKONNEN ILOVEMAKONNENOn paper I should like ILOVEMAKONNEN, the first truly post-Lil B rapper to make it big, and I am a fan of both some of his more experimental material ("Sneaky Lady" is on some Rap Game Billy Joel ish) and some of his more normal stuff (who doesn't love "I Don't Sell Molly"? Ish bangs), but there is too much inconsistency, and ILOVEMAKONNEN sometimes gets the beats right, but most of the time he falls into soundcloud level thinness and he's not nearly the guy to do heavy lifting to make it worth listening. Makonnen is sloppy and writes poorly, but he makes up for it for his concepts, his weird voice, and his positivity. Hopefully he can put out some oddball rap sanga masterpiece, until then we have to dig through all of his material to find a dozen or so songs worth it. ILOVEMAKONNEN Drink More Water 5J. Cole 2014 Forest Hills DriveJ. Cole is the most average rapper on the planet. He's not bad, he's very appealing in a way most rap is, but beyond that he doesn't do anything particularly well. This is his best album - Cole albums are usually exercises of finding ways to create a generic rap albums that attempt to act like time machines (something that greatly appeals to his audience, who seem to like not very special rappers if they reject the premise that music changes), and while this one isn't fundamentally different, it seems to actually try to find out who J. Cole is. Unfortunately, J. Cole still can't tell a story without using every other character as a prop or tell any story, can't paint a picture beyond imaging himself as the "Fredrick Douglas of rhetoric" (in a song that is otherwise very good that is not on this album). He just kind of raps. But at least he sounds more comfortable about the kind of album he wants to make.Jay-Z Kingdom ComeJeezy Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz AmbitionJeru the Damaja The Sun Rises in the EastLil Wayne No CeilingsMethod Man Tical 2000: Judgement DayMF DOOM Born Like ThisMigos No Label IIMike Jones Who Is Mike Jones?Modest Mouse We Were Dead Before the Ship Even SankMos Def Black on Both SidesMos Def The EcstaticNicki Minaj Pink FridayNicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – The Re-UpOFWGKTA The OF Tape Vol. 2OJ Da Juiceman The Otha Side of the TrapOkkervil River I Am Very FarOl' Dirty Bastard Nigga PleasePaul Simon GracelandPrince Planet EarthProdigy H.N.I.C.Pusha T My Name Is My NameReflection Eternal Train of ThoughtRick Ross Teflon DonRun the Jewels Run the JewelsRun the Jewels Run the Jewels 2ScHoolboy Q OxymoronSchoolboy Q made a rap album. It sounds like just some rap album. Move along, folks. Shabazz Palaces Black UpShy Glizzy Young JefeSpoon Hot ThoughtsSun Kil Moon Tiny CitiesI hated this album on first listen, and it's grown on me since, but there are still a lot of problems on this album. While he re-makes "Trucker's Atlas" into a managable, somber song which is a nice touch, for every "Trucker's Atlas", there's at least one "Ocean Breathes Salty" where there's a complete mis-match between the tone of the song and the lyrics sung, to the point where it's jarring to listen to. The best re-inventions on this include: "Space Travel is Boring", "Neverending Math Equation", and "Exit Does Not Exist". T.I. Trouble Man: Heavy Is the HeadHeavy is the Head is far from great... but its a start. He improves massively on his last album, and its only slightly worse than his last mixtape. Considering everything this album could've been (though "Guns and Roses" is a disaster), it's a surprise there are as many as good songs on this as there are. Hopefully its a sign of good things for T.I., a turning around of his career.Tame Impala InnerspeakerThe Game The DocumentaryThe Shins Oh, Inverted WorldThe Smashing Pumpkins ZeitgeistTyler, the Creator WolfTyler, the Creator Cherry BombUnknown Mortal Orchestra Unknown Mortal OrchestraUnknown Mortal Orchestra IIWaka Flocka Flame Triple F LifeWale Attention DeficitYoung Buck Buck the World2.0 poor2 Chainz Based On a T.R.U. StoryAction Bronson Rare ChandeliersAnimal Collective Merriweather Post PavilionAriel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Before TodayASAP Rocky LONG.LIVE.A$APAZ Pieces of a ManBig Sean Finally Famous: The AlbumBon Iver 22, A MillionBun B Trill O.G.Chance the Rapper Coloring BookSumming up this release: Meandering, tired, bored guests and SoundCloud beats. It's almost as if he listened to Life of Pablo and wanted to follow the model: this release has a similar lifelessness and total forget-ability. The only thing that saves it is that Chance raps like he's alive while Kanye, who has clearly angered his ghost-writers beyond belief, does not. How disappointing.Clipse Til the Casket DropsCommon Finding ForeverDanny Brown OldLet's be real - the first half is pretty good, but nothing that wasn't already done better or more interestingly in Danny Brown's underrated The Hybrid or XXX. The second half is completely trash, trying to go in that dubstep direction doesn't suit him at all. People referring to this album as Trap rap have not heard "Lincoln Continental", one of Brown's best songs.De La Soul Stakes Is HighDeerhunter Fading FrontierDesiigner New Englishfuck man we know Kanye's true colors every time he signs a Travis Scott or a Desiigner - dude's a fucking thief.Devin The Dude One For The Roadbruh please stop listening to Curren$y you're better than this bruhDom Kennedy From the Westside with Love, IIDrake Thank Me LaterDrake If You're Reading This It's Too LateDrake and Future What a Time to Be AliveFather Who's Gonna Get Fucked First?Freddie Gibbs and Madlib PinataI guess I appreciate what Madlib and Freddie Gibbs are trying to do - add two out of character companions together. But what I thought would be at least a semi-decent album turned out to be a dull dull experience. Great underground hip hop lives or die by the thump, and Madlib very rarely gets it correct inspite of his obvious skills with finding interesting samples and cutting them in inventive ways. Freddie Gibbs is strong enough as a traditional rap writer but very rarely exceeds workingman quality. The combination of the two is a record that, I can obviously see why other people like, but it's so dull to me.Ghostface Killah Apollo KidsGucci Mane Mr. DavisI like Gucci getting the kind of success his work has always deserved, but if we're being honest everything he puts out now is *kanyeshrug*. It's so incredibly safe beyond belief. Despite claims of Gucci releasing this records after just days of recording, they sound rehearsed in a way that Gucci albums and tapes never used to sound - like doing anything even a bit off the wall will cause his audience to vanish. Nothing on this is as bad as 90% of The Appeal, but nothings even as good as that albums highlight "Weirdo", a track that at that time felt like a retread but in this new context shows a stunning contrast between how inventive he was on his worst day compared to how stale his work is today. I continue to hope for the best from Gucci - I just won't cop any of the new stuff.GZA Beneath the SurfaceJ. Cole Cole World: The Sideline StoryJ. Cole Born SinnerJ. Cole 4 Your Eyez OnlyJeezy Trap Or Die 3All there is all that's there on this disappointing but not surprising record. Jeru the Damaja Wrath of the MathJesu/Sun Kil Moon Jesu/Sun Kil Moon"Fragile" is miles away the best song on this album, but even that falls flat as a tribute to the fallen Chris Squire when compared to Kozelek's own cover of Yes's "Onward". The rest of this is pretty much a mess - for a kind of promising premise, it sounds more like a retread of Kozelek's own collaboration with Jimmy Lazelle (Perils from the Sea) than any sort of fusion of Jesu and Sun Kil Moon. Juicy J Stay TrippyKid Cudi Man on the Moon: The End of DayKid Cudi Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. RagerKurupt StreetlightsLupe Fiasco Food & LiquorMigos Rich Nigga TimelineThe promise of Young Rich Niggas looks further and further in the rearview mirror with another release that contains two or three hits and 20 tracks that go nowhere. It's like, after the game jacked the Migos flow, Migos became content, and as a result, this release and YRN 2 were both stagnant creatively. Migos Yung Rich NationThe intial energy in the metaphorical room has been sucked out completely now that Migos have been basically mimicked by the industry, and it really shows. Is "Versace" really comparable to "Piped Up"? In any way? Sad to see potential go to waste like this.Migos Culturebad and boujee being a number 1 hit despite being a super below average track by Migos is just another example of how awful meme culture is. After beginning their careers a fan and a defender, I now turn the tables and just am grossed out by all the insincere "lololol they're hilarious" people who bump Migos to make fun of it. And after every rapper imitated the style and flow, Migos seemed to prove either their talents were limited or they made an active career choice to maintain a certain level of medocrity. Either that or Offset is just the worst rapper in history and has proven to be a severe drag on the balancing act that Quavo and Takeoff had on the only good Migos mixtape.Mobb Deep Blood MoneyMy Morning Jacket Evil UrgesNas STILLmaticNas Hip Hop Is DeadNeil Young On the BeachPanic! at the Disco Pretty. Odd.Prince MusicologyRaekwon Shaolin vs. Wu-TangRedman Red Gone Wild: Thee AlbumReflection Eternal Revolutions Per MinuteRick Ross God Forgives, I Don'tRome Fortune Beautiful Pimp IIRZA RZA as Bobby Digital in StereoStalley OhioT.I. T.I. vs. T.I.P.T.I. Paper TrailT.I. No MercyTame Impala LonerismThe Flaming Lips EmbryonicThe Weeknd StarboyUGK UGK 4 LifeViktor Vaughn (VV:2) Venomous VillainWiz Khalifa O.N.I.F.C.The beats are light years ahead of his last album, which alone makes it the better album. But here is the main issue: the rapping might have gotten WORSE. Khalifa's formerly dexterousness flowing has now shifted into a stale delivery that has a hallow punch to it, thus ruining the entire appeal to him as a rapper. Luckily for him, his debut was a disaster that ALSO didn't know the entire appeal of Khalifa as a rapper, so its okay. Stick to this guys mixtapes and you'll be okay.Yo Gotti I Am1.5 very poor2 Chainz B.O.A.T.S. II #METIME50 Cent Animal Ambition50 Cent is a great rapper, but c'mon, really? This album? Why?Ab-Soul These Days...Holy fuck how did Ab Soul actually make a worse record than Schoolboy Q (the most underrated and easily the worst member of TDE, respectively)?Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Mature ThemesAzealia Banks Broke With Expensive TasteIf her whole persona weren't so awful this would probably be a 2. For all of her talk, there is just nothing going on on this album or anything else.Busta Rhymes The Big BangElzhi ElmaticOnly two people should be allowed to re-imagine Illmatic - AZ and Cormega. Neither of these people are on this record.French Montana Excuse My FrenchI'll preface my sound-off by saying this - French Montana is a very underrated rapper. Montana is a master of the slow flow - he can say a lot with very little, particularly when he's in the mood. He's also strong with hooks, has a voice that stands out, and a decent ear for beats (at least before this album he did). He sounds particularly good over dusty drum samples or chipmunk soul. Sadly, French Montana is also particularly craven - and on Mac and Cheese 3, he made a mixtape that fell into every modern rap cliche and then some, borrowing from all the artists people want to hear. For all of his positives, he's a positively sloppy rapper - which absolutely hinders his ability on southern beats, where his attempts to sound like Chief Keef or Ross falls flat. This makes most of the album unlistenable. But the worst part of it isn't just French's craveness - it's also the general lack of caring. From the producers, to the guests, to French himself, the caring wasn't in the product, and when we hear it we all feel it. This is a DJ Khaled album with only 3 less Rick Ross features. French has enough great songs to fill an album (perhaps someday he will do an album with Harry Fraud that will finally put all of his strengths to good use), none of them make this album. R.I.P. Chinx DrugzGucci Mane The Appeal: Georgia's Most WantedIggy Azalea The New ClassicHer producers serve her up some pretty bumping tunes, but it doesn't matter because Iggy Azalea is a hack who says nothing of substance in rote, already trambled on ways for however long this god forsaken album is, and the worst part is, she's boring. She obviously wants to sell Nicki Minaj records but Nicki Minaj, even at her obvious worst, seems animated and energetic, as any great rapper (or in her case, Disney Princess) should be.Jay-Z The Blueprint 3Jay-Z Magna Carta... Holy GrailKanye West The Life of PabloFor the amount of effort he is putting behind changing this thing, this album is shockingly insipid and uninspired in every aspect and every facet. Everything feels out of place, the writing is even worse than Yeezus, and some where on this album a top ten hit by The Artist currently known as a Future imitator just appears out of nowhere. The two highlights, "Real Friends" and "No More Parties in L.A.", feel like they belong as scraps off of My Dark Twisted Fantasy, not on this thing. Dj Quik had a point.Leonard Cohen Various Positionsi can't respect it when dude make the worst version of his own song.Lupe Fiasco LasersMuse The ResistanceNas NastradamusNas UntitledRick Ross MastermindRick Ross Hood BillionaireYou thought God Forgives I Don't was an uninspired piece of dogshit, oh you haven't seen nothing yet! Rozay has never been a hip hop innovator - mostly using his loud bark to brag violently about how much cash he's got or his loud bark to brag somberly about how much cash he's got. His voice is perhaps the biggest waste of potential in hip hop history - and this album and his other albums are proof. Formulaic, predictable, unemotional, and full of filler - and even more uninspired than ever before! Rick Ross is Birdman without The Big Tymers legacy - worthless.The Firm (USA) The AlbumTravis Scott Days Before RodeoWell, at least Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan rule.Wale The Album About NothingWhat a nightmare of a career this guy has had - Attention Deficit was the GOOD ALBUM of his career. Now we have this monstrosity - a self-indulgent mess that attempts to act like a concept album but really just allows Wale to smugly wander through rap and sneer at the opposition without making a compelling song or making his audience feel a thing, and good old Jerry Seinfeld gives him the thumbs up. Yuck.Wiz Khalifa Rolling Papers1.0 awfulChildish Gambino CampChildish Gambino phrases every line like a comedy actor. Makes sense, since he is. He should stick to acting, because it brings an unnatural feeling to the music that none of the themes connect and it makes it all sound hack. Terrible.Common Universal Mind ControlDeath Grips The Money StoreEminem EncoreEminem RecoveryEminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2Eminem RevivalTwo words: shit sandwich. More words? only the shitty aspects of his last two pretty shitty albums. Even more words? I'm now deeply nostalgic for all of Encore. Flobots Fight with ToolsKid Cudi Speedin' Bullet 2 Heavenliterally just listened to Nirvana for the first time and decided to record a Nirvana record. Cudi records usually are devoid of talent and taste, but at least usually people around him fix it so that he sounds even kind of ok. This record shows Cudi's brain is completely empty.Lil Ugly Mane Mista Thug IsolationPutrid, unoriginal, southern rap for people who don't like southern rap but do like following the latest blog trend. Listen to all of the great records that have emotion that this record clearly wants to be, instead of the empty, soulless experience this album is.Lil Wayne Tha Carter IVFor someone who is an actual Wayne fan, this album is an atrocity. All of the trying and the effort in his music has left a while ago. and now its mundane punchlines that go nowhere, beats that go nowhere, and songs that, you guessed it, go nowhere. What a bad album, from a guy who, back in the day, put out some great material (even classic I'd argue, if you go to the first two Dedication mixtapes and Da Drought up to 3.)Lil Yachty Lil BoatRappers tend to learn the wrong things from their predecessors - Wayne was good because he brought energy to his verses, not because he used a ton of similes. Jay-Z was good because he created great hit songs and made great rapping sound easy, not because he doesn't write. Now we finally have the post-Lil B era of hip hop - rappers aren't learning that he was great because he rapped from his heart and made unique sounds, they are learning they don't have to try any more at even the basics. Lil Yachty makes ILoveMakonnen sound like a Hall of Fame type artist. I mean, Original? listen to more rap music dudes.Metallica St. AngerNeil Young Landing on WaterPeople on the Street may be the worst song I've ever heard. Wow.Ozzy Osbourne Black RainPost Malone August 26thPost Malone StoneyRedman Redman Presents...ReggieRZA Digi SnacksTravis Scott RodeoTravis Scott is the wackest rapper of the 2010s. Totally Milli Vanilli. The pioneer of the kewl sound segment of the Kanye West production palate. The problem? There's no Mike Dean to make it all make sense. Doesn't use talents of others in any coherent way like his boss does. You have kewl sounds, rappers conflicting with one another, and Travis Scott sucking all the energy out of the room with his one to zero dimesionial verses. Wackest non-Lil Dicky Rapper of the 2010s.Various Artists (Hip Hop) Eminem Presents: The Re-UpWaka Flocka Flame I Can’t Rap, Vol. 1We all know Waka can't rap. That was never his problem. At his best, Waka's inability to rap merely showed how pretentious the idea that rappers being able to rap is: Flockaveli is a classic hip hop album because it deconstructed that idea, while banging in your speakers and grabbing you by your shoulders and shaking you like any hip hop album should. He made Flockaveli a great album by sheer force: Flocka no longer has that force. And honestly, the title is inaccurate because he's getting better at writing: he's more focused, more humorous, and he's working on his traditional rap flows. But even that's subpar, and when you combine all of the rap radio hits that he raps over and does absolutely nothing with, you get a subpar rapper making a subpar karaoke album. subpar karaoke comes out everyday, b.Young Buck 10 Bodies
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