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Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums of 2014

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Over the year, we’ve compiled a list of what we here at #TheWCS believe were the Top 10 Best Hip-Hop albums of 2014 based on just overall greatness. You don’t have to agree, but feel free to leave a comment with your own personal list. We tried to keep the list as hiphop/rap based as possible so we might have omitted some indie artists you thought might have been deserving. Feel free to check out our list below separated by  overall awesomeness.


#1. Cilvia Demo- Isiah Rashad

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What a way to start a rap career. The balance of lyricism, content, delivery and overall “playability” of Cilvia Demo makes this album one of the most complete projects this year. Coming from a fairly new artist in TDE’s Isaiah Rashad, we were completely taken back by the underlying message of the album which you couldn’t miss even amidst the variety of beats and catchy hooks. Rashad is going to have a hard time following up on this one, but lets hope the team over at Top Dawg Entertainment keep doing what they do best.

 

 

 


 

#2. YG- My Krazy Life

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One of the years most anticipated projects in My Krazy Life did something we hadn’t seen since Good Kidd M.a.d.d City. It told us a story we actually WANTED to listen to. Only YG could make robbing and stealing your grandmothers money somewhat appealing. YG did something great with My Krazy Life and that is actually tell us something. We had gotten used to YG in the club, YG in the hood, and YG riding around with the homies, but with this album YG told us the same narrative, but in a much more mature and authentic tone. We were almost surprised the label let him say as much as he did.

 

 

 


 

#3. J Cole – 2014 Forest Hill Dr

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Now J. Cole has been under various amounts of scrutiny for being a “boring rapper”, not putting out music, not getting features and a whole lot of other somewhat dumb stuff. 2014 Forest Hill Drive made sure you didn’t box Cole in. He got some fresh hard hitting beats, stayed true to his roots with the content and delivery, and stuck to his formula of just doing whatever is comfortable. With very little promotion and no singles or club bangers, Cole took the unconventional route to a very welcoming and well received project.

 

 


 

#4. ScHoolboy Q –  Oxymoron

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Without a doubt, this had to be one of the the most anticipated project of 2014. While listeners were anxious to hear Kendrick’s album, the fever and hype behind Schoolboy Q’s Oxymoron was unparalleled. Schoolboy Q concerts were the best thing since sliced bread. We wanted to get hype with Gangsta, and What They Want, nod our heads with Man of The Year and Break The Bank and then chill with our lady friends while listening to Studio. Schoolboy Q brought together so many different aspects on this project and we were all thoroughly “ScHooled”.

 

 

 


 

#5. Jeezy – Seen It All

 

Now I can speak for most hiphop listeners when I say that, we were not readily prepared for this album to be as good as it was. Now Jeezy fans will rush to remind us of the good ole Snowman days, but even they can’t argue that WE DIDN’T THINK JEEZY WAS THIS GOOD. Seen It All is a good album. Hands down. Production was top-notch and who can argue with an adlib as great as “THAT’S RIIIIGGGHT”. God Bless Black Metaphor and Childish Major.

 

 

 

 


 

#6. Logic – Under Pressure

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And cue the savior of hiphop’s hope in white rappers. Logic is by far the most complete artist who actually has something relevant to say and can say it without getting that “conscious rapper” tag that’s often associated with being socially aware of stuff. Logic is hiphop’s new kid on the block (you know the kid whose kinda been around the neighborhood for a while but never really came out to play) and Under Pressure is just another reason why you should take him and his rhyming skills very seriously.

 

 

 

 

 


 

#7. Childish Gambino – Because The Internet

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Technically this dropped in 2013, but f**k the semantics. This was one of the absolute best projects of 2014. Childish Gambino makes being a “corny” rapper/actor seem so freaking cool and a Grammy nomination doesn’t hurt at all. This album set Gambino apart in terms of his content, lyrics and song creation. The whole “Because The Internet” idea is just great and Gambino’s ability to produce an articulate thought into an album is remarkable. Complete with a mini-movie attached, and hits like “Telegraph Ave” and “Pink Toes” you can’t argue with Mr. Glover’s creative prowess.

 

 


 

#8. Big K.R.I.T – Cadillactica

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If there is anything you can ever say about Big K.R.I.T, it’s that no matter if it’s a mixtape, album, a track or a feature, you know exactly what you’re getting with the Southern emcee. That might sound limiting to some but if you really love Pizza Hut, you wouldn’t really care what else was out there. That’s kinda what listening to Big KRIT is like. Standouts include King of The South, Do You Love Me, Pay Attention and Soul Food. Cadillactica was just another reminder to Big K.R.I.T fans that nothing much has changed and sometimes that’s a good thing.

 

 

 


 

 

#9. Freddie Gibbs & MadLib- Piñata
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Probably one of the more surprising selections of our end of the year collections comes from the collaboration album Piñata from Freddie Gibbs and MadLib. This is what we call a “front-to-back” style of album because you can literally play it just like that. Smooth, almost jazz-like cuts produced by MadLib go well over that tough and rough Gibbs flow. Thanks to the duo, we now know the underground is alive and well.

 

 

 


 

 

#10. PartyNextDoor – PartyNextDoor 2

We’re going to say it. We’re going to say what every one was thinking. PartyNextDoor is like if the Weeknd would’ve kept making music for people who like having sex and not for people who like doing questionable amounts of drugs. The self-titled album was such a good reminder that R&B still exists. There’s the August Alsinas, Trey Songzs, and Chris Browns of the world, then there are the normal rappers who sing (Drake, Childish Gambino, Vic Mensa, etc…), and then there’s PND. This album is just a little hint at what I think we have coming next. Spring is coming and we all remember whose dropping…..

 

 

 

 

 


 

Honorable Mentions:

Bas- Last Winter

This was another blow out of the water performance from a fairly new face. The usual equation is to get a chart topping single, THEN make people anticipate your album. With Bas we got lucky and were gifted with one of the years best performances in Last Winter. J Cole’s newest signee did wonders to impress fans who were reluctant to hear “another J. Cole”. Last Winter was a complete project and helped solidify the Dreamville camp as one of the best teams in hiphop.

Wiz Khalifa- Blacc Hollywood

Alright Wiz. You were almost an Honorable Mention. Not because this is a year of somewhat weak albums, but because honestly we expected a little bit more. The album was fairly top heavy with records like “We Dem Boyz” and “KK”, both of which are more like anthems, rather than they are good songs. Other than that the album is fairly well…boring. We got somewhat hype with a Curren$y feature, only to be…I won’t say disappointed but….let’s just leave it at “ehhhh”. It’s as if there are two Wiz Khalifa’s and right now the mixtape one is winning.

SZA – Z

The First Lady of TDE certainly had a lot to accomplish being the only female on arguably the best hiphop group around and she certainly showed her skills on Z. Now the tape isn’t a full description of what SZA can do vocally and lyrically, but all we wanted was a taste of why she got that deal and Z delivered just enough soulfulness to not have us questioning Punch and his genius-ness. Expect more from SZA in 2015.

These Days- Ab-Soul

We all wanted to like These Days. We wanted to enjoy it. We wanted it to have those Ab-Soul lines that made us think twice and then again and then RapGenuis the hell out of everything. It didn’t. The album was almost so Ab-Soulish, that we simply couldn’t understand it. We wanted a hot single we could play over and over, but Stigmata wasn’t it. Now the album did have some good records in Sapiosexual, Nevermind That and Feelin Us, but lacked the balance of Ab-Soul enlightenment and radio commercialism, that we are soooo very found of.

Future – Honest

Now Future could’ve made our list based solely on production, but we don’t think Future had the ability to maintain his hype. Not that it gets annoying to hear a Future verse over a Future hook over a Future chorus but….well it does. The album was good don’t get us wrong, but it lacked the change up or feature presentation we wanted so badly. With a feature heavy artist like Future, the album struggles to maintain some sort of solid identity.

Asher Roth – Retrohash

A wonderfully put together album that lacked the substantial replay value like some of Roth’s competitors. With Asher being in that ever changing independent vs mainstream artist arena, RetroHash was something to be proud of from a lyrical standpoint. With Macklemore being the current king of the conscious white rappers, Asher may need to put in some overtime to win back some of the fans his peers may have accidentally pushed away.

Luke James- Luke James

A smooth end of the year push by Luke James solidified his self-titled project as one of the more memorable projects of the 2014 season. The intricate production combined with James’s Frank Ocean-like vocals leans towards a new age De’Angelo feel that we all are excited to hear more of. Hopefully a strong tour season coupled with some radio friendly hits and Luke James could certainly make a splash in 2015.


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