THE TOP 10 HIP HOP ALBUMS OF 2019
Honorable Mentions:
- Post Traumatic Slave Disorder by Lucky Seven
- I’m Him by Kevin Gates
- 86 Witness by Small Professor
- The Return by Sampa the Great
- Born 2 Rap by The Game (his final album!)
10. Chase by Aaron May. A brilliant debut.
9. Practice Makes Paper by E-40. You know how they sometimes give Oscars to actors who didn’t give their best performance, but who were criminally overlooked in earlier years? Well, I still feel guilty about last year’s Gift of Gab, so I’m recognizing this year’s overstuffed sequel. It’s still got plenty of sarcasm and hard-ass stories, it’s still a great record, and it’s got features by the likes of Scarface, Method Man, Tee Grizzley, and many others.
8. Hiding Places by Billy Woods. Unpredictable, brilliantly lyrical, highly unusual: One of the most dense rap albums of the year, full of bars you’ve never heard before and you’ll never see coming.
7. Fever by Megan Thee Stallion. I haven’t heard a woman rap this hard—and this well–since Jean Grey first came on the scene.
6. Trying to Find My Next Thrill by Cousin Stizz. It’s a little deeper, but otherwise exactly what you’d expect from one of the best rappers to emerge this decade.
5. Diaspora by GoldLink. The eagerly awaited album from the D.C. rapper did not disappoint.
4. Psychodrama by Dave. Yes, a British rapper made my list this year. His honesty and transparency brought us an album with the genuine emotion of Eminem’s early work, but replaced the adolescent rage with the wisdom of a seasoned performer.
3. Brandon Banks by Maxo Kream. It’s just undeniably great.
2. Baby on Baby and Kirk by DaBaby. The funny, charismatic North Carolina rapper’s debut was followed by a misdemeanor weapons conviction after he killed a man in self-defense. Then he dropped a more serious, autobiographical album that was just as good as his first. DaBaby is having quite a year.
1. Bandana by Freddie Gibbs and Madlib. This may be the best album by both of these hip hop titans—and that is truly saying something.
