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.

Best of 2008: Top 25 Albums (Entries 5-1)

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)

Intro: Happy New Year, everyone! I realize I'm a day late with this, so I'll avoid any rambling prose. Here you have it, the final 5 entries in my best albums of 2008. I'll post the overall list without commentary later today so it's easier to analyze the entire thing at once. Let me know what you think! Drop a comment or an email.

5. The Roots: Rising Down (Review)
Critics dismissed The Roots’ latest effort, the politically charged Rising Down, as a so-so album because they were “too angry.” Well damn right they’re angry! The planet has experienced recent events such as the Sean Bell verdict, a historic economic recession, global warming, behind-the-scenes governmental scandals, and much more. Naturally, The Roots had quite a bit to get off their chest on Rising Down, but it worked. Black Thought sounded as spirited and pissed off as ever, delivering some of the strongest individual verses of the year. ?uestlove and the rest of the band’s production was dark, yet crisp and immaculate. Lastly, the impressive slew of guest verses, from Mos Def dropping a show-stealer on “Rising Down” to Common and Wale spitting incredible sixteens on their respective tracks, didn’t water down the album, but helped bolster its scope. Rising Down exhibited The Roots in top-notch form. Key Tracks: “Rising Down ft. Mos Def & Styles P,” “75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction),” “Get Busy ft. Dice Raw & Peedi Peedi,” “The Show ft. Common & Dice Raw,” “Rising Up ft. Wale & Chrisette Michelle”

4. Nas: Untitled
It seemed as if the pomp surrounding the release of Untitled exceeded its actual reception. What got lost among some was the fact that, regardless of the album title, Nas skillfully delivered on a promise to provide his honest, “uncensored,” critique of race in America. Untitled featured Nas at arguably his most focused since his landmark classic debut album, Illmatic. And this time, unlike several of his other albums, the beat selection did not damper the overall quality of the release. “Queens Get The Money” was one of the most breathtaking tracks of 2008. “Hero ft. Keri Hilson” was one of the best singles of the year, and Nas’ third verse on that track couldn’t have been a better assessment of the corporate oversight dominating the logistics of Untitled’s release. “Sly Fox” was a ruthless attack on the biased and questionable practices of Fox News. “Fried Chicken ft. Busta Rhymes” and “Project Roach” were thought-provoking metaphor-fests. But what prevailed over all the individually strong tracks was the fusion of each track to form an uncompromising and complete album. Key Tracks: “Queens Get The Money,” “Hero ft. Keri Hilson,” “Sly Fox,” “Y'all My Niggas”

3. Black Milk: Tronic (Review)
If comparisons to J Dilla’s neo-soul sampling style had held back Black Milk’s ability to individualize himself as a premier modern producer, then Tronic effectively dismissed those appraisals. With Black Milk utilizing a unique combination of live studio instrumentation and sampling, Tronic was easily one of the best, and most originally produced, hip-hop albums of the year. Not to mention Black Milk drastically stepping his rap game up a notch, as well. Other artists beware: Black Milk is paving his own path in hip-hop — but he’s years ahead of the rest of the competition. Key Tracks: “Long Story Short ft. Dwele,” “Losing Out ft. Royce Da 5'9",” “The Matrix ft. Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price, & DJ Premier,” “Try,” “Bond 4 Life ft. Melanie Rutherford”

2. Atmosphere: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (Review)
This album was not as big a change from previous Atmosphere efforts as is commonly put forth. Slug is still telling amazing stories, and Ant is still making amazing beats. Maybe it was the fancy booklet and children’s storybook that came with the CD, or maybe it was the strangely optimistic title. Still, Atmosphere knew exactly what they were doing when crafting Lemons: making an enjoyable, relatable, hip-hop album. No one ever — I mean ever — has rapped better about people whose lives suck than Slug, whether his stories are semi-autobiographical or third-person narratives. His stories blend perfectly when coupled with Ant’s thick and melodic production, this time primarily using instrumentation in place of Ant’s sampling that listeners have grown accustomed to. Lemons, though not an entire reinvention of Atmosphere’s sound, was a great change of pace from the underground hip-hop legends and an album that shone brighter than most in 2008. Key Tracks: “Shoulda Known,” “Puppets,” “Painting,” “Yesterday,” “Guarantees,” “The Waitress,” “In Her Music Box”

1. Q-Tip: The Renaissance
And what a renaissance it was. After listening to this endlessly upon its release, I have yet to develop a real complaint about the album. Q-Tip’s rapping was introspective, reflecting on the rap game, his place in hip-hop history, and his past and present colleagues, especially J Dilla. The production was classic, almost all done by Q-Tip himself, except for the spectacular “Move,” which was brought out of the J Dilla posthumous vaults. Some of the album seemed foreign — Q-Tip being the only rapper on the album, for example — but in the end, this is classic Q-Tip material, reminiscent of his Midnight Marauders days. There really was no other choice for best album of 2008. Key Tracks: “Johnny is Dead,” “Won't Trade,” “Gettin' Up,” “Move,” “Dance On Glass,” “Life Is Better ft. Norah Jones,” “Shaka”

Best Of 2008: Top 25 Albums (Entries 10-6)

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)


Intro: I have little time for additional commentary right now. I'm up north in Two Harbors, MN, at an internet cafe that is closing in about 5 minutes. I'll be back in the cities tomorrow afternoon, and will play some serious catchup in the blog game, and will post the top 5 albums of my best of 2008 list. Stay tuned!

10. Mike Mictlan & Lazerbeak: Hand Over Fist
My expectations for the Doomtree collective in 2008 were rather modest. I had variably kept track of updates from individual members of the posse, mainly P.O.S. However, I grossly underestimated the rest of the group’s ability to reliably make above average music. Although multiple Doomtree members released solo albums in 2008, none shined more brightly than the collaboration album between rapper Mike Mictlan and producer Lazerbeak, Hand Over Fist. This is an album of hard-knocking beats and intricate lyricism — a tried but true formula. Some of Mictlan’s rhymes are among the best of the year, as are some of Lazerbeak’s beats. I was able to find few weak spots, and don’t have much to gripe about. Lazerbeak, his real name escapes me at the moment, is also a guitarist for the Plastic Constellations. I have a feeling he plays the guitar himself for a number of these tracks, instead of relying on sampling. If true, that’s pretty cool. Key Tracks: “Hand Over Fist,” “Suicide Jimmy Snuffa,” “Clam Casino,” “Wolf Tickets,” “L.A. Raiders Hat,” “Prizefight”

9. Johnson & Jonson: Johnson & Jonson (Review)
Blu’s “other” album of 2008 was also one of the year’s better releases. Johnson & Johnson pairs the Cali emcee up with mysterious producer Mainframe, a person for whom even a thorough Google search session turns up little information. All I know is that, without exaggeration, Mainframe had one of the best rookie production debuts in recent memory. Johnson & Johnson intro track, a song that can often make or break any album for me, was one of my favorite songs of the year. Mainframe looped a grunge guitar riff, layered in some snyths, a flute (yeah, really), and some ill drums and let Blu do his thing. This album was superior to C.R.A.C. Knuckles’ The Piece Talks because it had more general structure, but was still free-flowing and creative. And while I’m talking about the better tracks of the year, “The Only Way” needs to be included in that discussion as well, in which Blu absolutely raps circles around a repeated vocal sample about the struggles about escaping ghetto life. Key Tracks: “J&J,” “Up All NIte,” “Wow!,” “The Only Way,” “The Oath,” “Hold On John”

8. Doomtree: Doomtree
Minneapolis group Doomtree’s debut full-posse studio album is the crew’s second appearance in the top 10, and rightfully so. Let me explain the group dynamics of Doomtree for those of you that are not quite familiar. They are composed of five rappers and four producers. Usually, between two and three rappers appear on a single track, while either one producer does the beat himself or two producers collaborate on a single track. The rappers all have varying backgrounds: spoken word poetry, hip-hop, punk rock, etc. Basically, everyone in the group has a somewhat unique style, and they somehow had to find a way to bland that all together for a single album. So, for Doomtree to not be in complete disarray could be considered a resounding success. But for the album to be great, which it was, should be attributed more to divine intervention. I have no idea how it worked, but it did. Key Tracks: “Drumsticks,” “The Wren,” “Dots & Dashes,” “Accident,” “Twentyfourseven ft. I Self Devine,” “Pop Gun War”

7. Common Market: Tobacco Road
Many people know of Common Market because its producer, Sabzi, is also in the more popular group Blue Scholars. This may or may not be fair, but regardless of how one discovered Common Market, their 2008 release Tobacco Road should help catapult them to the forefront of the Northwest’s underground hip-hop scene. Rapper Ra Scion is mistakenly underrated sometimes. Perhaps it’s the Freeway-esque beard that, because he’s white, make him look more Amish or pro-wrestler than rapper. Perhaps his slightly more famous beatmaking partner overshadows him. Either way, Ra Scion, with a voice occasionally eerily reminiscent of Talib Kweli, spit some of the year’s most intelligent verses. Still, the lyrics only formulate one-half of the album. Ra Scoin’s counterpart, Sabzi, delivers on his end of the bargain. Tobacco Road is beautifully crafted, with melodic, soothing, and harmonious beats and surefire yet elaborate lyrics, it holds the highly coveted crown for 2008’s most underrated album. Key Tracks: “Trouble Is,” “Winter Takes All,” “Nina Sing ft. Funklove,” “Crucible ft. Geologic,” “Tobacco Road”

6. Elzhi: The Preface (Review)
A lot can be said of Black Milk’s production on The Preface (he crafted beats for 14 of the 16 tracks), but in all reality, his work for Fat Ray and his solo project were superior efforts. The production on The Preface was still great — Black Milk’s usual ear-splitting snare hits and quick choppy loops are plentiful here — but this album was Elzhi’s lyrical showcase. For anyone who has followed Elzhi’s career, this project was a long time in the making. Elzhi is no stranger to the rap game, but with his first solo album, he needed to craft a record that accurately displays his unmatched knack for rhyming. In fact, on The Preface, Elzhi may at times get too carried away, overcompensating by making his rhyme schemes and delivery unnecessarily complex. Yet if the album’s biggest drawback is the fact that Elzhi is too good at rapping, then little concern should be expressed regarding the quality of The Preface. Elzhi has a lyrical gift that he is not shy about demonstrating, and The Preface accurately affirmed his status as one of rap’s best lyricists. Key Tracks: “Intro (The Preface),” “Motown 25 ft. Royce Da 5’9”,” “Brag Swag,” “The Leak ft. Ayah,” “Hands Up,” “Growing Up ft. AB”

Best Of 2008: Non-Hip-Hop Albums

As the year comes to a close, I'll be bringing you a series of "Best Of 2008" lists. Thus far, I'm planning on putting out lists for best mixtapes, songs, rappers, producers, and the top 25 albums of the year. If you have any other ideas you'd like to see, hit up the comment section or send me some electronic mail.

As for this first list, I figured I should at least mention some of my favorite non-hip-hop albums of the year. I have not been able to listen to some albums that I would have liked to yet, so this list may not be entirely comprehensive. I'll be more thorough, and provide more elaboration with all the hip-hop related posts to follow. Commentary was provided for albums that I had something to mention at the moment. But if I didn't write something about an album, it does not mean I liked it any less than the others. So without further adieu, here are my favorite non-hip-hop albums of 2008, in no particular order.

• Al Green: Lay It Down

He's still got it, ladies and gentleman. One of my favorite singers ever outperformed most of today's more youthful crooners in dropping another splendid soul record. This has been in steady rotation since the summertime. ?uestlove also executive produced Lay It Down, so that's pretty cool too.

• TV On The Radio: Dear Science
• Raphael Siddiq: The Way I See It
  

Another terrific soul record. The Way I See It did a great job recreating that Motown sound, and Siddiq's smooth vocals topped it all off. And the "Oh Girl (Remix)" featuring Jay-Z was icing on the cake.

• Portishead: Third
• Gnarls Barkley: The Odd Couple
  

Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse easily could have just hit the studio and banged out some cookie-cutter replica of St. Elsewhere. But they chose not to — and still were successful. I definitely regret not going to the Gnarls Barkley concert at the Minnesota State Fair last summer.

• Foreign Exchange: Leave It All Behind
  

I'll admit I was pretty pissed when I discovered that Phonte was not going to rap on Leave It All Behind. Their last album, Connected, was a near-classic that too often gets overlooked, and it worked because Phonte's typically intricate wordplay was even more on point than usual. Leave It All Behind ended up with something like one verse from Tigallo, and singing admittedly isn't his strong point, but the album was still pretty damn good. Nicolay took the reigns with this project, and his beats are perfect to chill out and vibe to.

• Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
  

This is some great pop music. These songs are fucking catchy. Let's hope they don't suffer from that dreadful sophomore slump that has ruined many an album in the past.

• The Black Keys: Attack and Release

This is some grimey blues rock. Danger Mouse executive produced this album, too, and did a good job. I saw these guys live in September or October earlier this year, and they were great. They were in the lineup at this SoCo Music Experience, wedged right in between GZA and The Roots, and fucking killed it. It's hard to describe how good they are live, but The Black Keys are only two dudes, and they make some drums and guitar sound like a 5-person rock band. Amazing show.

• The Hold Steady: Stay Positive

I really like the song "Sequestered in Memphis." There is also this cool bonus song at the end of this album where the lead singer references some Twin Cities landmarks — four of the five band members lived in Minneapolis at one point. I think on one of their older albums they have this song that is completely about various drug-buying hotspots all over the Twin Cities metro area.

• The Raconteurs: Consolers Of The Lonely
  

Jack White is one of the best muscians doing it right now. I love pretty much everything he does, unless it's a song that Meg White sings.

• DJ/Rupture: Uproot
• The Walkmen: You & Me
• Kanye West: 808s and Heartbreak
  

This is last on the list because I thought long and hard — that's what she said? — about including this album on the list. I really didn't want to put it on, but I suppose Kanye might actually be as good as he says he is if he releases an all autotuned-singing album, and it didn't suck balls. That alone earns him a place on my list.

Questions? Suggestions? Comments? Feel free to post/critique/criticize in the comments section or drop me an email.