The Year 2015 in Review
Author: Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania

Good grief, 2014 now truly looks like the stinking pile of rubbish it genuinely was. This past year ROCKED THE S#%T. I mean look at the list below. I had to CUT IT DOWN to FORTY albums.

All in all, it's been an PHENOMENAL year for hip hop - classics, near-misses, bucketloads of brilliant material and more choice that you could shake a stick at. Something for everyone, but the quality level was superb too. I'm expecting 2016 to be markedly quieter, so that people can actually just catch on all the dope shit.

It's not about loving every single album on this list - it's about appreciating the diversity of the genre, and trying to understand just how so many polished albums can appeal to so many fans, new or old.

You know these annoying memes people post about 1995 and how many "classic" LP's there were that year? Well, 2015 is better, I reckon. This is the best 12 months of rap since 2006, for sure. And so, 2015 gets a 9.0 out of 10 from me (and that's the highest rating in all my years at RapReviews!).

Peace and have a great 2016!
Jesal

TOP 40 OF THE YEAR

40) Casey Veggies - "Live & Grow"
39) Fetty Wap - "Fetty Wap"
38) Cannibal Ox - "Blade of the Ronin"
37) Big Grams - "Big Grams"
36) MGK - "General Admission"
35) Jeezy - "Church In These Streets"
34) Jadakiss - "Top 5 Dead or Alive"
33) Skyzoo - "Music For My Friends"
32) Tyler, The Creator - "Cherry Bomb"
31) Heems - "Eat, Pray, Thug"
30) Action Bronson - "Mr. Wonderful"
29) Wale - "The Album About Nothing"
28) A$AP Rocky - "At. Long. Last. A$AP"
27) Ghostface Killah - "Twelve Reasons To Die II"
26) Mac Miller - "GO:OD AM"
25) Logic - "The Incredible True Story"
24) Gunplay - "Living Legend"
23) Drake & Future - "What a Time to Be Alive"
22) Blackalicious - "Imani Vol. 1"
21) Big Sean - "Dark Sky Paradise"
20) Currensy - "Pilot Talk III"
19) Jay Rock - "90059"
18) Freddie Gibbs - "Shadow of a Doubt"
17) Earl Sweatshirt - "I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside"
16) Future - "DS2"
15) Guilty Simpson - "Detroit's Son"
14) Pusha T - "King Push - Darkest Before The Dawn: The Prelude"
13) Scarface - "Deeply Rooted"
12) Defcee - "Damn Near Grown"
11) Dr. Yen Lo - "Days With Dr. Yen Lo"

10) Dr. Dre - "Compton"

Not gonna lie, I bumped large portions of this album a helluva lot. We finally received his final album, and it was a tie-in to the film (which I massively enjoyed and took liberal grains of salt with). There are some joints in here that rival any of his other album cuts (e.g. "Animals"). All you can ask, really.

9) Fashawn - "The Ecology"

This was a very enjoyable album to listen to, one that has a relatable MC over some excellent beats. Fashawn's dream came true when he signed to Nas' Mass Appeal label, and "The Ecology" is a promising result.

8) Joey Bada$$ - "B4.DA.$$"

The initial impact was lost on me, and I wondered if people weren't just going well over the top in their praise. However, one night I woke up at about 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. So I put this joint on, lying in bed and soaking it up. I span it twice in a row and suddenly the darkness made light of it all.

7) Drake - "If You're Reading This It's Too Late"

I genuinely feel conflicted about including this joint that took Drake in such new and interesting directions. Now we know just how much outside influence was involved, it reframes almost every word and concept. But if you can look past it, there's clear quality on offer (whoever wrote it).

6) Rae Sremmurd - "SremmLife"

Some hate may flow my way for ranking this so high, but the genre we love is a multi-faceted one that appeals on so many different levels. There is nothing illegitimate about club anthems, and these boys delivered an album that I bumped all January long. Fun is allowed.

5) Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - "Surf"

This was, in all but name, a Chance the Rapper joint. What's funny is that "Acid Rap" (his universally acclaimed mixtape) never really grabbed me. Like yeah, I knew it was clearly good/great, but something didn't connect. That's not to say I like "Surf" more or less, just that it's different and what I needed at the time. The diversity of this year has been immense thanks to projects like this.

4) Vince Staples - "Summertime '06"

It seems fitting that - in my opinion - the last classic year in hip hop was 2006, and along comes a young chap (who wasn't even a teenager at that point) with an ode (of sorts) to that era. Staples does well to make you understand his point of view exceptionally well, and the production is deliciously dark. This took a while for me to appreciate, but yeah, it's the real deal Holyfield.

3) Lupe Fiasco - "Tetsuo & Youth"

It was worth the wait for Lupe fans. T&Y was incredibly dense, but extremely rewarding. It's not the ultimate Fiasco album - I'd argue that at some point within the next 3 years, he's going to deliver something that brings all of his talents together (just a hunch) - but it's the start of a true comeback. It's difficult to describe this album to someone that hasn't heard it before, but then that's the artist that he's become. You just need to experience it yourself. Oh, and expect a deluge of new musicÉ The dam has burst.

2) The Game - "The Documentary 2 & 2.5"

Look, I'm as shocked as you are. I wasn't expecting this. There was the vaguest of hints after his scene-stealing cameo on "Compton" but nothing to suggest he'd drop such an incredible double album THAT NOBODY SEEMS TO BE TALKING ABOUT. Well, my hip hop head friends in real life are all pretty much unanimously anointing it as brilliant, but it's almost as if there are pop-up filters on the internet. Ain't NOBODY gonna tell me there are 40 albums released this year better than this shit. I'd argue that Game's history is acting as baggage, plus no singles from this to get it into the mainstreamÉ But I'm also not sure he is all that bothered - he's delivered an album that shines, even under the microscope. He'll be able to look back on this with no regrets. It's also the first time I've ever heard that actual history of Bloods and Crips broken down so cohesively, but clearly not many people seem to notice. If you're reading this, it's not too late - listen to this album properly. Give it a chance.

1) Kendrick Lamar - "To Pimp a Butterfly"

Look, the initial deifying was always going to happen. The inevitable backlash, too. The gazillion thinkpieces about whether or not it was morally right to write thinkpieces about TPAB. Christ, it's exhaustingÉ So tune out from all that noise. Enough time has passed to revisit it with a fresh pair of ears - this is clearly one of the most colossal albums in the history of hip hop. It has done more to drag the genre forward than a thousand other major labels by Fuck Knows Who and Remember Them combined. Kendrick said he expects it to be taught at college one day - take the hint that he's not particularly concerned about whether you find it "listenable" or not. This shit is important. Daring. Ambitious. Cohesive. It's black music for black people, and will go down as something truly remarkable 50 years from now (when everything has been censored to non-existence). Kids will pass this shit around on the downlow because their grandmother kept a copy hidden from the Thought Police. It will change minds and expose those who didn't know, or who thought they knew, to Lamar's truth. It's OK to have a universal nomination for "Album of the Year" - sometimes, albums are just THAT good.

Originally posted: December 29, 2015
source: RapReviews.com