Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums of 2019

Hundreds of mainstream hip-hop albums are released every single year. Some of these years have a higher concentration of greatness than others. The year 2018 jumps out as a particularly great year, whether it was the Summer of Kanye 7 packs, “This is America,” or Jay-Z and Beyonce dropping a joint album, hip-hop thrived. Then we got 2019 and in comparison the year kind of flopped. Last year did not have the same luster. The emergence of DaBaby was an absolute gem, and we finally got the next Schoolboy Q album. The year 2019 may not have been as stellar as the year prior, but chopping every release down to only 10 entries is an exercise that physically pained me; but we got there. 

Before we get into this list, the death of Juice Wrld remains fresh in all of our minds. A kid not two weeks older than myself passed away of a drug overdose in an attempt to dispose of drugs that federal agents were expecting to find after his plane landed. The loss of this supreme talent is nothing short of heartbreaking. As a fellow kid from Chicago this death hit me quite literally close to home. His presence in the music world will be sorely missed. Rest In Power Jarad Anthony Higgins. 

Number 10: Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse Soundtrack - Various Artists

 Movie soundtracks can be hard to get right. One sure-fire way to go about this is to do what Guardians of the Galaxy did and compile a playlist of a dozen classic songs that perfectly match the tone of your movie. That is significantly harder to execute then it seems, but it is also much easier then what this album does. This is an album where no artist appears on two different tracks, yet maintains some semblance of cohesion. “Whats Up, Danger,” “Start a Riot,” and “Elevate,” are all certified bangers with fantastic, base and drum heavy production that never fails to get the blood pumping. “Hide” and “Invincible” are genuinely heartfelt songs continually inspiring emotions on each repeat listen. Vince Staples made a song that I will forever associate with this movie and vice versa. Front to back this is a fun and crisp listening experience at only 41 minutes. If you have not given this album a listen or, God forbid, you have not seen this movie, change that. Immediately.

Number 9: Injury Reserve - Injury Reserve

Come for the bangers, stay for the surprisingly well thought out story-telling tracks about becoming famous and dealing with trying to maintain what made you you while staring in the face of millions of dollars. The album starts with a run of songs that repeatedly punches you in the face and leaves you asking for more. From "Koruna & Lime" through "Jailbreak the Tesla" there is not a single down moment. Every song belongs on a workout or hyped up playlist. While the album doesn't keep that intensity up, there are highlights throughout this incredibly tight 38 minute album. "Wax On" featuring Freddie Gibbs is easily one of my favorite tracks of the year, more on Freddie in a later entry. To be perfectly honest, the closing track is a little weak and "Best Spot in the House" is attempting to do something it just kind of misses on. Otherwise this album is thoroughly enjoyable, well written, and immaculately produced. Injury Reserve made me a fan of them through this album, and I will continue to look forward to future releases from the Arizona rap group. 

Number 8: Malibu Ken - Malibu Ken

The second entry in a row with an eponymous album title and frankly, this album is wild. The cover art is disgusting in the best way possible. The production by TOBACCO on this project so perfectly fits the way Aesop Rock flows. The beats are futuristic and in your face at times, spacey and wide open at others. Aesop Rock is as crisp and out there as ever. If The Impossible Kid is Aesop Rock’s peak, then this is just down the hill a few feet on the other side. By no means is Aesop over the hill mind you, but you get the point I am trying to convey. “Corn Maze” quickly lets you know the kind of experience you are in for, and just two tracks later “Save Our Ship” smacks you over the face with its drum heavy beat and Aesop’s brilliant flow and rhyme scheme that, while not entirely new, is as fantastically clean and brisk. The album is nearly all highlights. My personal favorite is “Churro” which has a very clear lyrical content to not-so-secretly layered and wacky for me to get into here, but if you have not, places at least give that track a listen. I will never not laugh when Aesop raps, “...sometimes a cat’ll eat a bird, Sometimes a bird’ll eat a cat like its a fuckin’ churro.” 

Number 7: Revenge of the Dreamers - Dreamville 

To finish off the ten-to-seven sandwich we have our second compilation album. This album is eighteen tracks and over one hour of music, and yet it never gets old. The album has so much variety from track to track. It can lead to it not feeling like a cohesive project at times, but that is more than overshadowed by quality that each of these tracks possesses. There are dozens of artists on this album that all came together to make music they would want to listen to, and because of that, we want to listen as well. “LamboTruck” is a ridiculous track about Cozz and REASON trying to figure out how they can really get the bag and deciding that, while they are too loyal to rob their own guys, REASON has no problem robbing J. Cole and Cozz has no affinities for Top Dawg. “Self Love” is an excellent R&B style track about exactly what it sounds like, and is executed flawlessly. “Sacrifices” closes the album out and we get maybe the most emotionally potent verse we have ever gotten from J. Cole. From top to bottom this album is just an enjoyable album to listen to. Talented artists collaborating to make music they love. What more could you ask for?

Number 6: CrasH Talk - ScHoolboy Q

Top Dawg Entertainment refuses to satisfy the dire, junky-like need people have for their music. CrasH Talk is ScHoolboy Q’s follow-up to the 2016 album the Blank Face LP. It may seem weird to see this album so high up on this list, as critical consensus was mixed to middling. However, I love this album. “Numb Numb Juice” is a certified classic ScHoolboy banger. It was the first single off the album and it properly built hype. I understand the criticisms of the album. “CHopstix” and “Drunk” are a little too poppy and stereotypical, of the fourteen tracks, at least three of them are relatively forgettable, and you know what? I don’t care. “Floating” is a perfect track for 21 Savage to be guesting on. “Dangerous” is an absolutely brilliant use of Kid Cudi and his impeccable sense of what makes a great hook. “Lies” has a Ty Dolla $ign feature and what more do I need to say there? Oh, YG is also on that track. I am unapologetically in love with this album. 

Number 5: GINGER - BROCKHAMPTON

What a return to form for the group after one of the most tumultuous things a group like this could go through. If you don’t know what happened just look up “BROCKHAMPTON and Amir.” What’s important is that BROCKHAMPTON released an album in 2018 called Iridescence. Something was missing from this project. It felt like they were trying to make another SATURATION when they were no longer that group. With their 2019 release, GINGER, BROCKHAMPTON embraced the new group they have become. The bangers we love them for are still there. “BOY BYE” is a fantastic, thumpy, Merlin driven track; and “ST. PERCY” is the type of song that would slide effortlessly into SATURATION III, the best of the SATURATIONs. What this album did was embrace the emotional side of the group that we had never fully seen, particularly since all the stuff with Amir had gone down. Anthony Fantano said it best in the opening of his review, “The boys are depressed.” Honestly, that’s okay though. They had been through some real emotional trauma as a group, and making this kind of album where every member, even the producers, were able to get all that out had to be cathartic. We have officially hit the point in the list where albums would be in the top five to seven albums of any year. This is a truly fantastic album that will always inspire emotion, while providing a great workout track here and there. 

Number 4: Bandana - Freddie Gibbs and Madlib

They are back. They are back and we sorely missed them. We had to wait five years between albums made by these two. Piñata was far too good for us to have to wait so long to get a new album. Legendary producer Madlib does his thing on this album. Between him and The Alchemist I am genuinely not sure who makes the better beats for Freddie. Rumor has it Freddie and Alchemist have been in the lab so maybe we will get that answer later this year. As for Bandana, this album is Freddie being Freddie in the best way possible. His flows are aggressively steady. The lyrics are cool without trying to be. This album doesn’t quite hit the peaks some people may have wanted, but if you are going to tell me hearing Freddie have Killer Mike and Pusha T on the same track was not the highlight of your month musically, you are lying. “Palmolive,” “Crime Pays” and “Education” are some of my favorite hip-hop tracks of the last twelve months. This album is quintessential cool. I am so glad it exists. 

Number 3: Kirk - DaBaby

DaBaby broke into the mainstream with his absolute banger “Suge.” Unfortunately, people like myself were being dumb and refusing to give DaBaby the credit he deserved, partly due to his name. Then my best friend insisted I listen to Kirk. I was floored. DaBaby is not just a trap rapper talking about drugs and women to make some quick cash. With “INTRO” we immediately get a great view as to who the man behind DaBaby is. Jonathan Lyndale Kirk is a writer, and what he did on the first track and “GOSPEL” gives a glimpse into the layers of the man. That is not the main attraction. Those things elevate the album. What makes the album is the songs like “BOP,” “VIBEZ” and “RAW SHIT.” These are the trap bangers you originally came to the album to hear, and they deliver in spades. 

Number 2: Zuu - Denzel Curry

How did we get to a place where the most consistently great artist in hip-hop right now is Denzel Curry? We got here by Denzel regularly choosing to work with great producers that know how to cater beats to the immense rapping and writing talent. Denzel Curry is on a hot streak like none we have seen. Zuu is not necessarily the culmination, but it is an absolutely brilliant album from start to finish. It is twelve songs and only twenty-nine minutes. The first six tracks of this album are actually perfect. They are a ten out of ten. There is not a single criticism I can make. “RICKY,” “SPEEDBOAT” and “BIRDZ FEAT. RICK ROSS” will be in rotation and on a workout playlist for years to come. The gravely synth on “BIRDZ” will forever get me hyped as soon as it comes in. I have no idea why Rick Ross works on this track but he does perfectly. The back half of this album only suffers from not being the front half. Nothing there other then maybe “YOO” or “BLACKLAND 66.6” will be in rotation long term. The beats are still brilliant, and Denzel is absolutely on top of his game throughout the entire album.

Number 1: The Lost Boy - YBN Cordae

Before he dropped the YBN, Cordae gave us his debut commercial album, and short of Illmatic, 36 Chambers and The Slim Shady LP, debut albums do not get better than this. Cordae shows us exactly what it is to be a boy growing up. This album is a coming of age story in the form of a hip-hop album. The album’s intro track has this beautiful piano melody that over the course of twenty seconds is layered with horns and drums and woodwinds. This acts as not only the intro to the album, but the intro to who Cordae is. There are multiple tracks that groove and bang throughout. These are songs like “RNP” and Have Mercy.” These tracks are wonderful and easy to keep on repeat, but the real gems here are the introspective tracks about family and dealing with the positives and negatives of family expectations and toxic relationships that can arise from them. Tracks like “Bad Idea,” Thanksgiving” and “Family Matters” are so hard hitting on a deep emotional level. Anyone that has a deep love for, yet complicated relationship with family will feel these on a spiritual level. For someone so young to be able to so viscerally tap into these emotions is unbelievable. I cannot say enough good things about this album. No matter how I tried to rank these albums, this one kept floating towards the top, and there is not a thing anyone can say to make me change my mind. Congratulations Cordae, this guy thinks your album was the best of 2019. Let’s hope we get more from him soon. 

DISCLAIMER: I am one man, I cannot listen to every album that comes out every year. Also, this list is my opinion, and I did not like “Igor” or “Feet of Clay.” I do not like the stylings of Earl Sweatshirt and calling what Tyler, the Creator did just a hip-hop album seems like it does not even begin to encompass what Tyler did on that album. It also just was not my cup of tea, though I do recognize the greatness involved in making that work of musical artistry. So with that, let’s get into the list.