Top 10 Hip Hop Albums of 2018
Eventful Year of Music
Throughout the year of 2018 I had the feeling of it being an underwhelming year, no projects stood out like the previous years. Then the month of may kickstarted the rapid explosion of releases all the way towards the end of the year. Looking back, 2018 has turned out to be a very solid year full of interesting music for listeners to digest.
Kanye bombarded the public with 5 albums produced by himself in the month of May. Artists such A$AP Rocky, Earl Sweatshirt, and Jay Rock all decided to drop projects. Overall there has been plenty of music in the year of 2018.
Albums listed below are strictly in my opinion and by the shear amount of times that I decided to replay the album.
Feel free to check out the music on the links
10.Drake — Scorpion
2018 was a turbulent year for Drake as he got himself caught up in a beef with Pusha T towards the end of the album roll-out. The public image of being a deadbeat dad coming from the beef did not help this album at all. Negative reviews poured as there was no direct response to Pusha T’s diss.
Drake’s ascension to the global pop-star means that his albums are less focused on being a cohesive project but rather having a goal to churn out hits and that is exactly what ‘Scorpion’ did. ‘God’s Plan’, ‘In My Feelings’, and ‘Nonstop’ are songs that are probably overplayed by now. The duds in this album are mostly Drake trying a sound that is outside of his range and it honestly doesn’t work. For the most part Drake makes songs that sound good and you can’t argue with that.
09. Vince Staples — FM!
‘FM!’ is a continuation of Vince’s strong run of releases in the past few years especially when at times his internet persona is taking away the shine of his music.
Vince Staples utilizes a fun summer radio concept throughout the album, but the underlying irony is the gory and depressing lyrics about people in Long Beach,California. ‘FM!’ proves to be lean and creative. S/o to Tyga and Earl Sweatshirts features.
08. Shoreline Mafia — TrapAtlantic
Technically not an official album by Shoreline Mafia, as it is released under the member Rob Viscious.
The first half of this album ended being replayed so many times that I could not ignore them on this list. Shoreline Mafia’s music is simply hedonistic trap rap about partying, drugs, and sex. If you don’t like the content steer clear.
07. Jay Rock — Redemption
Also under the lyrical content of gangsta rap. Jay Rock offers a more mature perspective of that life.
Using a more trendy and catchy sound compared to ‘90059’, Jay Rock seems to be more introspective on a personal level after the motorcycle accident that became the theme of this album — Redemption. Although there are cuts on the album blatantly asking more radio play, however the execution is well done.
‘Redemption’ could be considered as another run of the mil rap album, but his execution of having a proper balance of fun and introspection proves to be a great listen top to bottom.
06. A$AP Rocky — Testing
Music aside, the album rollout of ‘Testing’ has to be the most creative in awhile. Most of the music videos of his songs are simply sublime. It definitely helps experiencing the music with Rocky’s music videos (‘Praise The Lord’ ,‘Fukk Sleep’ etc)
The sampling of sound-bytes in this album makes the production interesting to listen to albeit hard to get into on the first listen. Lyrically this is definitely not A$AP Rocky’s best, but you honestly cannot find anyone in the industry that sounds like him currently.
To my surprise this album has received a wave of negative reviews. I have to say that ‘Testing’ is one of my most played albums of the year.
05. Denzel Curry — TA13OO
Another very creative album as it was marketed by Denzel as to be listened in three acts: Light, Grey, and Dark.
The vibe of the album certainly echoes a progression from light to darkness as songs become more and more violent; starting with ‘taboo’ to ending with ‘black metal terrorist’, the song titles alone are quite evident of the progression throughout the album.
In my opinion whole concept of ‘TA13OO’ comes off as a bit angsty. While I understand the intent of ‘Clout Cobain’, the idea of “the industry is controlling artists” really turns me off.
His high energy bangers remain the largest component when it comes to replay value. ‘Supersaiyan Superman’ and ‘Vengeance’ are some of the songs that I keep on replaying but never get tired of.
04. Freddie Gibbs,Curren$y, The Alchemist — Fetti
Among all The Alchemist produced albums in 2018, ‘Fetti’ in my opinion has the best beats. Freddie Gibbs stands out among all the rappers that rapped on an Alchemist produced beat this year as the most versatile rapper.
To sum it up, ‘Fetti’ is an album showcasing veteran artists rapping on a legendary producers’ beats. The variance of delivery showcased on this album is what makes it so re-playable.
03. Travis Scott — Astroworld
When the conversation is about variance of deliveries, Travis Scott can never be left out of the conversation.
2018 was simply Travis Scott’s year. He has ascended into the top tier of hip hop artists as he has dominated the charts after the release of ‘Astroworld’. Travis Scott has mastered the perfect balance of artistic cohesion and commercial appeal.
Front to back of ‘Astroworld’, all elements of the Travis Scott sound is to be heard. The best way to describe this album is it is a combination of ‘Rodeo’’s experimentation and ‘Birds in the Trap sing Mcknight’’s pop sensibilities. It is not hard to say that Travis Scott and his production team have crafted the perfect mainstream hip hop album.
02. Saba — Care For Me
Saba has crafted the most emotional album of the year. Storytelling is what made ‘Care For Me’ so touching and raw. The production is quite minimal but that just makes the experience more heartfelt.
‘PROM/KING’ almost made me tear up. Everyone needs to listen to this. Following the narrative of his perspective of his prom experience as it is abruptly ended by the death of his cousin.
When music hits you emotionally, you just know it.
01. Pusha T — Daytona
The irony of having Drake at no.10 and Pusha T at no.1.
‘Daytona’ kickstarted the trend of having lean albums contrary to having a bloated project full of filler. Pusha T and Kanye West delivered flawlessly with a filler-free seven tracks. The seamless transitions between tracks makes this such an easy listen.
‘Daytona’ is pretty straight forward: godly production from Kanye West and luxurious coke rap from Pusha T.
Here are some of the honorable mentions, all great albums but some were simply not played as much as my top 10
Honorable Mentions:
Noname — Room 25
Earl Sweatshirt — Some Rap Songs
Nipsey Hussle — Victory Lap
Black Thought — Streams of Thought, Vol 1 & Vol 2
