Best of 2008: Top 25 Albums (Full List + Observations)

Previous Midwest Broadcast Best of 2008 Posts:
Non-Hip-Hop Albums
Top 15 Mixtapes
Top 25 Albums (Entries 25-21 + Honorable Mentions)
Top 25 Albums (Entries 20-16)
Top 25 Albums (Entries 15-11)
Top 25 Albums (Entries 10-6)
Top 25 Albums (Entries 5-1)

Intro: I figured providing the entire list without album-specific commentary would make it more accessible, so here it is. I provided some observations I made about my list at the end, including comparing mine to HipHopDX's list, and some statistics analyses. This may or may not be the last post in my Best of 2008 series; so I guess you guys win either way you look at it. Either you lazy bums don't have to read so much anymore — heaven forbid — and I can get back to posting other updates, or you get more well-written (?), thought-provoking (...) material from your favorite (!?!?!) hip-hop blogger. As usual, reader comments are encouraged in the c-section below or via email. I'm happy to argue with you.

Midwest Broadcast's Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums of 2008
25. Lil’ Wayne: Tha Cater III
24. C.R.A.C. Knuckles: The Piece Talks (Review)
23. Heltah Skeltah: D.I.R.T. (Da Incredible Rap Team) (Review)
22. Kanser: Future Retro Legacy
21. Fat Ray & Black Milk: The Set Up
20. The Game: L.A.X.
19. Jake One: White Van Music
18. GZA: Pro Tools
17. Atmosphere: Strictly Leakage
16. Murs & 9th Wonder: Sweet Lord
15. Guilty Simpson: Ode To The Ghetto
14. Heiruspecs: Heiruspecs
13. Muja Messiah: Thee Adventures of a B-Boy/D-Boy
12. The Knux: Remind Me In 3 Days...
11. 88-Keys: The Death of Adam
10. Mike Mictlan & Lazerbeak: Hand Over Fist
9. Johnson & Jonson: Johnson & Jonson (Review)
8. Doomtree: Doomtree
7. Common Market: Tobacco Road
6. Elzhi: The Preface (Review)
5. The Roots: Rising Down (Review)
4. Nas: Untitled
3. Black Milk: Tronic (Review)
2. Atmosphere: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (Review)
1. Q-Tip: The Renaissance

Side Notes:
1. I have a personal preference for rapper/producer collaborations — albums on which only one producer handles the beats for every, or nearly every, track on an album. In these cases, there is greater opportunity for a sonic and thematic consistency. Consequently, if those factors are stable throughout an entire album, rappers have more opportunity to maintain an equal level of lyrical continuity. This, in turn, makes albums sound less like mixtape compilations of a rapper’s favorite songs, and more like, well, albums. As you can see, nine out of my top 10 albums of 2008 were entirely or almost entirely produced by a single artist or group. The only exception was Nas’ Untitled. Assessing the overall list, 17 out of the top 25 hip-hop albums of the year followed that aforementioned format. That’s 68%, which I would consider a significant portion. Coincidence? I think not.

2. I Self Devine was featured on three of the albums appearing on my list without even releasing one of his own. Coincidence? Maybe. But make sure you stay on the watch for his 2009 release; it should be coming in mid-summer.

3. Black Milk played some role, either by rapping or producing at least one song, on six of the top 25 albums. Coincidence? I think not — he owned 2008.

4. I compared the HipHopDX Top 25 of 2008 list to my own (obviously mine is more reputable and accurate because, well, I wrote it); there were 12 albums that appeared on both that list and my own. Two albums on their list were featured in my honorable mentions. So, counting those, HipHopDX and I agreed on only 14 out of 25 albums, or 56% of the time, which I would consider relatively low, even considering the unfathomably large number of hip-hop albums released in 2008. Why? I noticed their album includes significantly more mainstream releases than mine. They included nearly all the biggest-selling hip-hop albums of the year (Lil’ Wayne, Kanye West, The Game, Ludacris, T.I.). I only put two of those artists’ albums in my list, and Lil’ Wayne was included somewhat reluctantly/sarcastically. Kanye’s album wasn’t even a hip-hop album, so I can’t comprehend why it was included in their list. While both T.I.’s and Ludacris’ albums were solid commercial rap albums featuring more than a few above average songs, they remained too watered down by radio-friendly singles and industry-influences guest appearances, thus dampering their likelihood of making my list. I also noticed that many of the albums that made my list were not even reviewed by HipHopDX (Muja Messiah, Common Market, Doomtree, Mike Mictlan & Lazerbeak, Kanser, and Heiruspecs, to be specific). On the flipside, their list only included two albums I had not listened to — less than half their total. Does HipHopDX need another freelance album reviewer on their staff? Shit, I’m broke as hell; I’ll do it for nearly nothing! Maybe next year, if their scope is more thorough, their “best of” lists may have a different look.

5. Top 25 albums’ release breakdown by month:

January - 1
March - 3
April - 3
June – 1
July - 4
August - 4
September – 3
October – 4
November - 1
December – 1

I really hope I didn't mess that up, as it would be a bitch to recheck. But who am I kidding, I wouldn't fix the errors anyway.

As you can see, only four albums from the first quarter of the year cracked the top 25 (and the only January album was Atmosphere’s Strictly Leakage, which came out in late December 2007). Things really picked up starting in the hot summer months of July and August. Eight of the top 25 albums (32%) dropped in just those two months. October, July and August were the biggest single months, with four of the top 25 albums being released in each respective month. In October, three albums (Tronic, The Death of Adam, Remind Me in Three Days…) were all released on the same day, October 28, making for the biggest single release day of the year. In the four-month span from July through October (33% of the year), a whopping fifteen of the top 25 albums (60%) were released. What can we take from this analysis? Perhaps not much, but it’s definitely semi-interesting, especially since nothing else is going on at 3:00 AM as I’m writing this.