Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums of 2009
Posted on December 29th, 2009 by David Reyneke in Column, tags: blitz the ambassador, diamond district, finale, k-os, Mos Def, P.O.S, raekwon, shafiq husayn, tanya morgan
1- Blitz The Ambassador – Stereotype (Amazon
)
“It would be great if albums like this became the prototype for future Hip Hop releases in taste, quality, and execution.” – Kkon-El
2- Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati (Amazon
)
“[Brooklynati] is their most endearing and focused effort yet, weaving together a creative collection of breezy songs into a concept album that’s as much about a fictional city as it is their collective state-of-mind.” - seandammit
3- Mos Def – The Ecstatic (Amazon
)
“The Ecstatic feels like the album Mos has always wanted and intended to make. It’s experimental and progressive without being too left-field and isolating. It’s hip-hop without being a photocopy of what he’s released in the past. Simply put, it’s Mos being Mos: Equal parts oddball and straight-up dopeness, even with its flaws.” – Andrew Martin
4- P.O.S. – Never Better (Amazon
)
“Likely his greatest album musically and artistically, Never Better excels because P.O.S. is just being himself. Pissed Off Stef.” – Zach Cole
5- Diamond District – In The Ruff (Amazon
)
“On the whole, In The Ruff is well paced with hardly a dull moment. It’s lyrically top-notch and a superior example of what hip-hop can be. D.C.: be proud.” - Zach Cole
6- Brother Ali – Us (Amazon
)
“Us is a 61-minute experience you need to sit down and listen to. You could try doing something else while it plays, but it’s unlikely you’ll be able to focus on anything besides Ali’s words and Ant’s beats.” – Andrew Martin
7- Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II (Amazon
)
“It’s still a little hard to believe that the project has finally seen the light of day, but possibly even more shocking is just how worth the wait it actually is, serving not simply as one of the year’s strongest albums, but also a worthy continuation of its predecessor.” – Charles Mahoney
8- k-os – Yes! (Amazon
)
“…don’t be surprised if you spin this record several times in a row after your first listen. But doesn’t that seem to be the case with every k-os album? Yes!, it does. And with this, he has now solidified himself as one of music’s most consistent artists.” – Andrew Martin
9- Finale – A Pipe Dream & A Promise (Amazon
)
“This fiery emcee has given underground hip-hop heads another reason to embrace the gritty Detroit sound even more with this consistent, hard-hitting, and above all fantastic debut.” – Andrew Martin
10- Shafiq Husayn - Shafiq En A Free Ka (Amazon
)
“Its intent is to make you feel positive and free through sound irregardless of your race, sex and nationality. I am inspired that musical genius such as Shafiq and this album are alive and breathing today.” - Francisco McCurry
Honorable Mention:
Exile – Radio
Sene – ADayLate&ADollarShort
Moka Only – Lowdown Suite 2…The Box
BK-One – Rádio do Canibal
Mr. J. Medeiros – Friends Enemies Apples Apples
Entries (RSS)
Danny! would have been a top 5 if it actually dropped! Very upset about that…
I will say so many of these albums are so good, but in all reality I still was let down by hip hop releases this year. Alright, nobody kill me after saying that. A lot of these albums were great, but I didn’t latch on to a single one of these releases.
Even though Brother Ali is my #1 choice, I don’t mind as long as he’s just in the top 10.
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT OBJEKTIV
I’m loving this list.
Good selections, still a few here I have to really check out (I know, I know… crucify me now lol).
My top 2 as well. Great to see Tanya Morgan get some love.
I’d probably replace a couple of them to include Big Quarters “From The Home Of Brown Babies & White Mothers,” as well as Toki Wright’s “A Different Mirror.”
All that aside – I pretty much am in concurrence with this list.
Of course ya would, Ali!
@Reyn YAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
someone tell me how fashawn’s “boy meets world” isnt on this list??
@PJ Fashawn’s joint was a great album, and certainly one of the best of the year, but just fell short of the top ten…
*hi-five to Andrew & Objektiv*
where is KRS One & Buckshot, La Coka Nostra, Blaq Poet (Blaq Print album), Sha Stimuli, Large Proffessor, Tech N9ne ???
The inherent limitations of lists, music defies attempts at categorization. But I do respect your opinions, Big Up Pot Holes 2010!!!
G – Large Pro’s joint was technically released this year, but has been in circulation for years, and therefore wasn’t really considered for this particular list. As for the others some were good (Tech N9ne, KRS & Buckshot) Sha Stimuli was pretty decent, LCN was alright, and I personally just thought that Blaq Poet’s joint was not at all up to par. Those are all very respectable artists though, just didn’t make the cut this year.
1. Obba Supa – To: AM – Free: AM
U.K. Label: Project: Mooncircle
2. CYNE – Water for Mars
3. Q-Tip – Kamaal the Abstract
4. Brother Ali – Us
5. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
6. Felt – Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez
7. Souls of Mischief – Montezuma’s Revenge
8. Large Professor – The LP
9. Fashawn – Boy Meets World
10. P.O.S. – Never Better
nice list….definite quality releases on it, no matter the order
Figured it’d be wise of me to check out Blitz and K-os’s album before i give my opinion on your list. Definitely filled with musical heat and for the most part it’s a good list, but i’m troubled with the fact that you didn’t list Skyzoo’s Salvation, Thaione Davis – Still Hear, or Blame One – Days Chasing Days and even Fashawn’s joint. At the very least they should’ve been Honorable mentions. That Exile was dang near below average and that Sene was forgettable aside from a few tracks. I’m sure u listened to that Skyzoo and that Fashawn, but if u haven’t listened to that Thaione Davis or Blame One…make moves on that cuz those are both well crafted albums.
Not that anyone asked, but I really didn’t enjoy the Blitz LP after one listen. In fact, of the top 10 here, I only revisited 4 LPs.
Gotta give props to my NorCal homies Souls of Mischief for Montezuma’s Revenge, I think that was damn near my favorite release of the year, along with Brooklynati and (gasp!) RELAPSE! YES. Relapse was DOPE
I agree, Fashawn could have taken a spot on this list…
“Brooklynati” –everything else is second to this one !
Check Diamond District – In the Ruff out…its my #1
overall a pretty good list, gotta check up a little bit more on that blitz surprised u guys gave him the nod over the tanya morgan record, liked what i’ve heard though. agree with others that fashawn’s shit should have been on here that kid is somethin special, that joint ecology alone showed how dope he is to me personally. jw is there gonna be a top 10 albums of the decade list? have a good new year guys keep up the good work.
Damn man, this is a real dope list. 2009 was a great year for hip hop! we actually made a list of our own for the top 10 albums of the year:
we also made one for the top mixtapes of 09:
and a list for who we thought had the best year of 2009:
we would appreciate it if you checked it out and left some comments. tell us what you think!
Can’t believe Boy Meets World didn’t make the cut. Disappointing…
BEST OF THE DECADE
1. Reflection Eternal – Train Of Thought 2000
2. Dead Prez – Lets Get Free 2000
3. Cormega – The Realness 2000
4. Shyne – Shyne 2000
5. Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury 2006
6. Common – Be 2005
7. Kanye West – College Dropout 2004
8. G-Dep – Child Of The Ghetto 2001
9. Clipse -Lord Willin’ 2002
10. Masta Ace – Long Hot Summer 2005
11. Big L – The Big Picture 2000
good list. Werd on the The Ecstatic (1), Diamond District (3) and En A Free Ka (2). i didnt get around to giving Brooklynati and US real listens. since this is a hip hop only list OB4CL II is a def good choice, i just haven’t lisatened to it in months. Im just not a fan of POS or K-oS, dont bother tyring to convert me. Finale’s album just didn’t hit me, his rap style kind of annoys me. Ill check for that Blitz now
Trife Diesel – better late than never
and best uk album tactical thinking – too broke to go solo
Overall its a pretty good list. Mos Def’s – “The Ecstatic” is still my #1 album for 2009. Great to see “Brooklynati”, “In The Ruff” & “Yes!” near the top, all three were really dope LP’s that deserve the praise. Great comeback album by Raekwon, with “OBFCLII”
While I like Shafiq Husayn from Sa-Ra Creative Partners, his album is more alternative than straight hip-hop by definition. Also if we’re going that route Mayer Hawthorne would take top honors in 2009 with “A Strange Arrangement” in my opinion.
Agreed with @frank_bE re: Finale & P.O.S., not my cup of tea either.
I still don’t get the praise towards “Us” by Brother Ali. He can definitely rap because I’ve heard him on other songs before, but the beats, the gospel tone of the LP didn’t move me. Based on the perfect rating it received on here (still surprising), I just don’t hear it the same way.
Other albums I really dug that I would put down as honorable mentions for 2009;
DOOM – Born Like This
Rick Ross – Deeper Than Rap
Clipse – Til The Casket Drops
Jay-Z – Blueprint III
Skyzoo – The Salvation
Fashawn – Boy Meets World
Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon: The End Of Day
I do find it somewhat surprising that not many mainstream albums got any real consideration (excluding Mos Def)* or honorable mention? I won’t defend Snoop or Eminem’s album because frankly I don’t think I can provide a great argument for either. At the same time, I don’t think all the mainstream releases in 2009 were all that bad, definitely not better than the indie releases but not all bad.
peace.
The Clipse and Jay-Z albums just were not very good. And it has nothing to do with them being mainstream or not, it’s all a matter of content. The same goes for KiD CuDi’s album, which was also uneven and flimsy. Sure, all three of those albums had some great tracks, but there were also tons of filler.
I don’t think I would feel right big-upping a record with tracks like “Off That”, “Venus vs. Mars”, “Reminder”, “Young Forever”, and “Hate”. Those all felt recycled, rehashed, over-done, etc…
I thought the DOOM was compiled like trash. Very poor quality, with only a few good songs. Rick Ross had good production but the lyrics and content were god awful and filled with ignorance. Clipse had 2-3 good singles and the rest was a serious let down. Jay-Z had way too many duds. Skyzoo had great production, maybe worth an honorable mention, but he sounds exactly the same on every single song. Fashawn, I agree could have been somewhere on the list. Kid CuDi I liked a lot, but not on a top 10 list…
I really have to disagree with you on the mainstream comment. I think it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not it was mainstream. Maybe if we did a top 10 singles, there would be mainstream songs on there, but no mainstream album really put together a cohesive album like some of these indies did…
Anyone that doesn’t dig that P.O.S. needs to go back and give that another spin. It could very well be my favorite album. But outside of me, the production was straight up phenomenal, and the raps were extremely intelligent, forward thinking and moving. No one was touching on relevant government and social issues like he was in his album.
I also thought that Raekwon shouldn’t even be on this list. He used the same damn formula of raps and production that he has used on every one of his songs prior. It was a good hip-hop album, but did he really do anything special? I am looking for some forward steps, I’m tired of albums that stay within a comfort zone. Let’s push things forward…
I think the key to a good album in 2009-2010 is to be saying something new, to be relevant to the times, to be innovative. Not to be ignorant, not to have played out concepts, none of that. And that is what this list reflects.
Co-sign with Reyn, except I still really did enjoy OB4CL2.
And this is where Dave really got it right:
“I really have to disagree with you on the mainstream comment. I think it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not it was mainstream. Maybe if we did a top 10 singles, there would be mainstream songs on there, but no mainstream album really put together a cohesive album like some of these indies did…”
My list, by the way:
1 – Brother Ali – Us
2 – Mos Def – The Ecstatic
3 – Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati
4 – Finale – A Pipe Dream & A Promise
5 – Diamond District – In The Ruff
6 – k-os – Yes!
7 – P.O.S. – Never Better
8 – Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Part II
9 – BK-One with Benzilla – Radio Do Canibal
10 – Blitz The Ambassador – Stereotype