May 13, 2015

Take Care 3.5
The Heist and MCHG 4

 

May 13, 2015

In my recycle bin

 

May 13, 2015

EDITORIALS

2 hours ago

The 25 Most Important Albums Of The Decade So Far
These 25 Albums have showed their glaring importance in different ways, culminating in their defining of the decade so far.

by DX Staff

• 16

The album is the still the magnum opus of anyone’s career. It’s a stop in time, a signpost along a dirt road of art or the paper chase or whatever reason you’re in the game. It is your moment in the Hip Hop sun; the moment you finally get to have the floor in the rumbling, jubilant mess hall of your genre. Create something great, and the people will love you for it, usually. Make something not so great and you may get skewered to high heaven, especially if your art is considered derivative or nonsensical.

The ‘10s have been an amazing time in Hip Hop and rap music. The youth culture has gotten both more commercial and more private as virtual communities fill in the gaps between Internet culture and real life ones, and the music has followed suit, becoming both more personal and more sprawling and more referential.

So whether it’s Beyonce dropping an album completely out of the blue or Jay Z selling a million records before his album officially spilled out into the streets, the music business has changed almost as dramatically as the artists making the tunes. And while some albums are culturally important, others are artistically and entrepreneurially so. Still, others changed the shape of the genre’s entire sound.

*This list is in no particular order.






Kendrick Lamar - To p---- A Butterfly
Release Date: March 15, 2015

DX Rating: 5.0

There was lots of anticipation and questions for Kendrick Lamar’s follow-up to his groundbreaking sophomore album good kid, m.A.A.d city. Was the TDE star going to go commercial or be affected by his controversial Grammy loss? Then there was the polarizing single “i,” released at the end of 2014. Even artists as big as Pharrell with knowledge of K. Dot’s future release called bits and pieces “unapologetically black.” Of course, the lead up to what would be called To p---- A Butterfly would only add to the hype starting with the extremely aggressive “The Blacker The Berry,” reveal of the now iconic cover art of his homies in front of the White House and tracklist. By the time the release date was surprisingly moved up to a Sunday night in late March, all Hip Hop could do was stand and watch. The end result was an album that mixed Black Nationalist themes with production d--- near scoping the entire history of urban music. Like DX Editor-in-ChiefJustin Hunte said, "To p---- A Butterfly" is ambitious in its attempt to inspire a generation to change the world for the better and poignant enough to actually do so.”








Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Release Date: November 22, 2015

DX Rating: 4.5

The Taylor Swift incident stained the mercurial Mr. West in a wet suit of shame as artists and pundits decreed him the worst human in the history of humans for his interruption of Swift at the MTV Music Awards. In his defense, the Henny (and maybeAmber Rose) made him do it. Well, that and the idea that he actually takes awards seriously, which in itself is bizarre. After a few forced non-apologies and months of laying low the emcee emerged with an album that was an artistic achievement. So much went into the making of this record (the famous Hawaiian studio sessions, the flying out of classic and up-and-coming artists and producers to the island etc.) but it was the mythos he created around himself that pushes this album into the rap canon. Once again he switched his entire aesthetic, crafting a back handed apology in “Runaway” and skewering SNL for poking fun at the artist on “Power” during his time away. Every other song was a careful exposition of pop/rap sensibilities (the dominant form of rap during the 2000s) and it culminated in an overly serious rehash of “Who Will Survive In America.” The answer was Mr. West.








Drake - Take Care
Release Date: November 15, 2011

DX Rating: 3.5

2010 saw the release of Drake’s YMCMB debut Thank Me Later. For many, the project was seen as a total disappointment considering the hype built around it. Regardless, the Toronto native managed to go platinum his first go-around. For his follow-up release a year later, Drizzy devised an album in Take Care that proved exactly why he’s one of Hip Hop’s greatest. Alongside huge radio hits like “Headlines” and “HYFR,” the 19-track album was an artistic statement full of pure emotion. Doing something that would later become a late-career trademark, there are some early star turning guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd. It was Drake cohesively embracing his status, demons and aspirations while then spitting (or singing) some of the best bars of his career. Take Care was his most personal, honest.








Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Heist
Release Date: October 9, 2012

DX Rating: 4.0

One of the most controversial rap albums of the decade, The Heist turned Macklemore & Ryan Lewis from niche independent Hip Hop mainstays to pop superstars. For better or worse, the album bucked trends most didn’t like about mainstream rap anyway. The “poppin tags” montra felt played out after “Thrift Shop” and blatant homophobia came off as honestly lame after “Same Love.” Then there was the anthemic “Can’t Hold Us” that became the theme song to every rom-com and commercial of the past few years. Yes, The Heist swiping the 2014 Grammys away from Kendrick Lamar’s superior Good Kid Maad City was an atrocity but, taking away from how good The Heist isn’t exactly fair either.








Big K.R.I.T. - Cadillactica
Release Date: November 10, 2014

DX Rating: 4.5

For some, Big K.R.I.T.’s Live From The Underground lacked the country bounce that made his mixtapes ranging from K.R.I.T. Wuz Here to 4eva Na Day some of the best mixtapes of the modern era. The biggest issue came in the form of sample clearances that nearly crippled his Def Jam debut. For his follow-up Cadillactica, Krizzle made two important moves: allowed outside producers to help mold several tracks and doubled down on the southern introspection. The soulfulness is more evident on the Raphael Saadiq assisted “Soul Food” and “Angle.” That doesn’t mean thatCadillactica lacked any trunk rattling bangers however thanks to like tracks “My Sub Pt.3 (Big b---)” and “Mo Better Cool” featuring Devin The Dude, Big Sant and Bun B. There was a time where many started to doubt K.R.I.T.’s proclamation of “King of The South.” Cadillactica was just the album needed to further his claim.








Jay Z - Magna Carta...Holy Grail
Release Date: July 4, 2013

DX Rating: 4.0

Regardless of how Hip Hop fans felt about the actual body of work itself, Magna Carta...Holy Grail was Jay Z pulling the most daring business move of his career. Well, that was before Tidal but that’s not the point here ladies and gentlemen. Magna Carta...Holy Grail started Hov’s #newrules plan of changing the industry by making a lucrative deal with Samsung which ended with the project going platinum before the album’s physical release. Not only did King Roc Nation manage to convince the RIAA to change their rules in album sales calculation but, influenced a new way of distributing music in a time where music listeners weren’t buying much music anymore. On its own merit,Magna Carta...Holy Grail isn’t Hov’s best album but thankfully never reaches the lows of Kingdom Come.








Ab-Soul - Control System
Release Dates: May 11, 2012

DX Rating: 4.5

Control System was a voice from the underground. Ab played Ellison’s Invisible Man surrounded by shame, light and the terrors of living. Arguably TDE’s most talented emcee, Control Systemwas Soulo striking out on his own, cutting ties with any previously contrived sound. As such, he created a third-eyed template for those too alone and too hyper-aware. Making a lane for a sound no one even realized was there. Then there was “Book Of Soul,” which is arguably the best rap love song of all time: “Stick to the plan / I’ll meet you at our spot / If reincarnation is true and we don’t get too lost / Even if you forget me and everything you left behind I never lied / I love you in a place where there’s no space and time.”








The Roots - Undun
Release Date: December 2, 2011

DX Rating: 5.0

Many were skeptical when The Roots signed over to Def Jamduring The Carter Administration. Those fears were put to bed by the time Game Theory, Rising Down and How I Got Over made it to shelves. For the most daring album of the group’s nearly two decade long career, Undun was a conceptual album centered on fictional character Redford Stevens, a man whose tragic story is told vividly in under 40 minutes. There are moments of sheer brilliance from the hopeless thump of “The OtherSide” featuringBilal and associate of The Roots Greg p--- along with musical drum vs. piano epic “Will To Power (3rd Movement).” Undun was further proof that major label acceptance didn’t mean artistic compromise, even for veterans.








Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
Release Date: June 26, 2013

DX Rating: 4.0

Before Run The Jewels, both Killer Mike and El-P collaborated for something that would become a breakout moment for two artists at crossroads within their careers, R.A.P. Music. The a-ha moment the following year came in fashioning themselves an actual group in the form of Run The Jewels. El-P’s production grew even more evolved while Killer Mike’s rhyming became even more chaotic and accurate. There’s a reason why the album received 2013’s Album Of The Year. Most importantly, the album set the stage for their eventual move to Nas headed Mass Appeal brand and the Run The Jewels 2. Managing to eclipse the greatness of its predecessor, the album became the moment where El-P and Killer Mike became important figures within Hip Hop past their minor backgrounds. El P’s production was chaotic as ever. Meanwhile, Killer Mike transitioned from street preacher to civil rights spokesperson.








Watch The Throne - Watch The Throne
Release Date: August 8, 2011

DX Rating: 4.0

There wasn’t a collaborative album more hyped than Watch The Throne in 2011. By that time, Kanye West created his magnum opus My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the previous year and Jay Z was comfortable being the corporate statesman of Hip Hop. Together, both created a luxury rap album with pro-black undertones. Yes, two of the most powerful figures within the culture linked together Voltron style to provide the world with modern classics such as “Otis” and “n----s In Paris.” Watch The Throne was a nuclear bomb of an event and all everyone could do is marvel at the spectacle.








Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
Release Date: October 22, 2012

DX Rating: 4.5

If To p---- A Butterfly was Kendrick Lamar at his current artistic peek, then good kid, m.A.A.d city played an important role in establishing the Compton native as Hip Hop’s perceived savior. So much so, in fact, that many compared it to one particular debut from a young Nas. A narrative relating to a day in the life of Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city articulated the ideologies of a man growing up around chaos while attempting to maintain sanity and morality. That means dealing with peer pressure (“Art Of Peer Pressure”), alcohol abuse (“Swimming Pools”), g--- violence (“Sing About Me/ Dying Of Thirst) and good old aspirational spitting (“Backseat Freestyle”). Providing a phenomenal backing soundtrack included producers ranging fromHit-Boi to Pharrell; each setting the perfect mood for whatever was in the TDE emcee’s head. In an era where radio singles and southern bounce ruled rap’s commercial viability, Lamar (with some assistance from Dr. Dre) helps formulate a major label release that touched mainstream and core Hip Hop heads alike. Most importantly, he did it without alienating either side