Let’s
face it; 2014 was a crappy year for hip-hop. We should’ve seen it coming from
2013 when six of the genre’s artists dropped great albums, there had to be a
balance, so this year suffered, but that didn’t mean nothing great got dropped,
just not in large quantity.
1.)RUN THE
JEWELS 2- RUN THE JEWELS
Poor
Jack White, he almost had album of the year till the duo of Killer Mike and producer/rapper
El-P collectively known as Run The Jewels decided to “bang this bitch the fuck
out!” That’s pretty much the first thing you hear on the record that saved
rap’s 4th quarter this year. There’s no throwaway on this sophomore
album which was dropped for free, before retail sale (then again, everything is
dropped for free in the age of download). There’s also no clear effort at a radio
single, making this album the most uncompromising rap album since Pusha T’s My Name Is My Name last year.
2.) LAZARETTO-
JACK WHITE
You
can never call Jack White dull from his personal life to his music. White
finally makes the album fans wanted, this is definitely better than his solo
debut Blunderbuss, which was okay,
but it was easy to see why he lost Rock Album of the year at the 2014 Grammys
to his bitter rivals, The Black Keys: they made the better album. Not this time
round. There’s a bit of every influence on his sophomore from hip hop (listen
to him brag on the title track or the production on I Think I Found The Culprit, reminiscent of Jay Z’s Empire State Of Mind beat) to Rock to
Bluegrass to Country. It’s classic White, infusing everything in one Rock
record.
3.) MY KRAZY
LIFE- Y.G
People
forget Y.G dropped his classic debut (yeah I said classic) this year, because
it was so early in the game (March), but possibly no other hip hop album this
year had catchy top 10 singles, like My
Nigga and Who Do You Love. The
only other person churning out that much top10 rap hits was Kid Ink.
4.) TRIGGA- TREY
SONGZ
Trey’s
best album since Ready and I know,
because I didn’t listen to the albums in between, lol. Forget the critics who
bashed Trey’s lyrics for being over-sexualized. The album is great. At its
worst it’s Trey sticking to what works for him, but if it ain’t broke… That
said, I’ll admit that the best 3 songs on the album, which are offered as
bonuses are probably the best as Trey departs from his six-pack-sex-idol
formula to try something more fully clothed.
5.) CILVIA DEMO-
ISAIAH RASHAD
The
EP of the year from TDE’s latest upstart, Rashad’s Cilvia will not appeal to everyone, especially people who don’t
listen to hip hop beyond the gloss. The EP is devoid of any glitter and proves
once again that TDE (home to Kendrick Lamar) isn’t interested in pushing its
artist towards a commercial audience.
6.) AYO- WIZKID
Wizkid
doesn’t disappoint on his sophomore album, despite releasing enough material
between this and his last effort to have had this be his 3rd album. Ayo is well produced and even South
African powerhouse Uhuru, show up behind the boards on a couple of tracks.
7.) TURN BLUE-
THE BLACK KEYS
I
love The Black Keys and Turn Blue has
made the list of many end-of-year lists, but its songs just weren’t stuck in my
head like their last effort. I was hoping they would go toe to toe with rival
Jack White again for next year’s best Rock Album Grammy, but then White got put
in the Alternative category. So basically, they have no real competition this
time!
8.) 2014 FOREST
HILLS DRIVE- J.COLE
This
late entry from J. Cole makes the list as probably the rapper’s most personal
album to date. I’ll avoid saying “best”, but the consensus seems to be that it
is.
9.) BLACK
MESSIAH- D’ANGELO & AND THE VANGUARD
Another
late entry, D’Angelo makes up for his 15 year musical drought with his 3rd
album. Hopefully he keeps his clothes on for any videos this time. Songs like,
“The Charade” and “Prayer” confirm to you why people make so much noise about
D.
LINES OF THE YEAR
Most vicious
line of the year:
I came with your girlfriend/ …And we came in a Porsche/- Wizkid. HARSH,
especially if you’re the insecure boyfriend!
Most powerful
line of the year:
All we wanted was a chance to talk/ ‘Stead we only got our lives (drawn) in
chalk/- D’Angelo, The Charade off Black
Messiah. Trust D’Angelo to come in last minute and deliver the most powerful
line in music this year, coming aptly after the killings of seemingly innocent
Black men at the hands of White police officers.
SONGS OF THE YEAR
1.
Loyal ft. Lil’
Wayne & Tyga- Chris Brown. Brown’s ability to deliver anthem after
anthem about the opposite sex is quite loyal. The last time he did this big was
with Deuces, which also become a
massive national anthem.
2.
Happy- Pharrell. In
my years of putting these lists together, I’ve never had a song make the list
two years in a row, till now. Happy
was on my list last year and manages to sneak up again this time in a much
higher position.
3.
I’m Not The Only
One/Stay With Me-
Sam Smith. Two for the price of one, Smith’s two biggest hit battle for third
place.
Most
overlooked songs of the year:
1.)
Classic by MKTO
2.)
Black by The Dream
Most
infectious song of the year not by Pharrell: Don’t Tell Em (every single
version) by Jeremih.
Anthem
of the year not by Pharell: We Dem Boyz by Wiz Khalifa.
Most
Rihanna sound-alike song of the year: Chandelier by Sia.
Comeback
record of the year:
Bad Belle ft. Moti Cakes by M.I. Sure, he never left but after a four year
drought, M.I returns with a song I actually like!
BEST NEW ARTISTS OF THE YEAR
Iggy
Azaelia:
The great White hope. Iggy has definitely proven to be a star in her own right,
regardless of gender… or race.
August
Alsina:
I’m not exactly sold on the young man here, but so far there are no missteps to
prove his many fans otherwise.
Isaiah
Rashad:
Rashad may not be a star year, but he isn’t exactly dangling at the bottom of
the pit.
Runtown: Runtown is
definitely Naija’s rookie of the year, with a great guest verse on Wizzy Pro’s Emergency and not to mention his own
number of hits. Not bad for a first-timer.
Sia: Sia isn’t
exactly a new artist per se. She’s been in the background writing some of your
favourite songs and in some instances singing the hooks or the background. This
year she finally became visible showing up in of all places an Eminem video for
Guts Over Fear, still refusing to
bask in her own spotlight!
BOSS OF THE YEAR: Nas for his
Mass Appeal records which released Run The Jewels 2 with no seemingly forced
compromise.
DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE YEAR
AB-SOUL’S THESE DAYS: For a rapper as
talented as Ab-Soul and a TDE member at that, it’s hard to know who to blame
for this. While Soul’s skills are intact, I can’t tell if it was his need to
have his album released in the wake of his label mates putting out projects or
whether Soul dropped the ball on being Soul. The album has its moments, but except
for a few songs, it doesn’t hit you quite like Control System where tracks are definitely on repeat whether for
the whole song or just to catch that one line again! I have to say his lovelorn
single, Closure definitely showed a
different side of him that I liked, even if it might have come off as an
attempt to reach for a much larger audience. The second half of Just Have Fun, which we might as well
call the title track should’ve been a song on its own with more verses and a
video. Who’s advising Soul?! And stop giving Kendrick Lamar interludes on your
album even if you were all over Section
80!
