BEST ALBUMS OF 2010

I’ve seen a lot of lists recapping the flood of releases in 2010 and attempting to rank them would be next to impossible for me, but I have assembled a list of 2010 Albums that you should have bought and if you haven’t, you need to get them right away. Some most notable omissions from my list are albums that had huge buzz and sold big numbers; Kanye West, Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Eminem. Kanye dropped one of the most imaginative albums easily, but when I tried to roll it in my mixes I found that I really didn’t have a use for much of the album. It’s dope to listen to while you clean house, but too far out there for any practical use. If you haven’t kept up with any of my reviews or comments over the year; Drake over-saturated the market in 2010 and had me absolutely hating his voice. His album may have done well, but I didn’t think it was that great. He should focus on singing and abandon rap or at least stay the hell out my ear for 4-6 months. Nicki Minaj had a huge amount of buzz and even had me rooting for her as this generation’s Slick Rick, but her album is horrible except for one song (Did It On Em). Eminem can’t seem to do shit without including whining about problems he brought on himself. Listening to an addict cry about the pain and problems addiction brought him just isn’t entertaining to me. Diddy-Dirty Money dropped their “Last Train To Paris” album with a grip of noise and an astounding list of people touting its greatness, but I am not on that list in the least. I would pick Keri Hilson’s album over that Diddy-Dirty Money album. Feel free to fire away with your comments and tell me I’m an idiot, but these were the best albums of 2010 (in alphabetical order by artist name):

BIG BOI “SIR LUCIOUS LEFT FOOT THE SON OF CHICO DUSTY”
BUN-B “TRILL O.G”
JEREMIH “ALL ABOUT YOU”
KEITH SWEAT “RIDIN SOLO”
LLOYD BANKS “H.F.M. 2”
MARQUES HOUSTON “MATTRESS MUSIC”
NE-YO “LIBRA SCALES”
SHEEK LOUCH “DONNIE G: DON GORILLA”
SLIM THUG “THAT THUGGA SHOW”
TANK “NOW OR NEVER”
T.I. “NO MERCY”
TREY SONGZ “PASSION, PAIN, & PLEASURE”
YELAWOLF “TRUNK MUZIK 0-60”

Yes, I heard the albums from Rick Ross, the Roots, Ghostface Killah, DJ Premier, Brother Lynch Hung, B.o.B., Shad, Cannibus…but didn’t think they were better than any of those listed above. Some artists dropped what they called ‘mixtapes’ that were actually more like full albums minus all the typical work put into the press, publicity, marketing, promotion of a full album. Without including any of the mixtapes I dropped with artists in 2010 I would highly recommend these: Noah Jones “Cinematic”, J Cole “Friday Night Lights”, Tum Tum “Purp KoBain”, Wiz Khalifa “Kush and Orange Juice”, Big Sean “Finally Famous 3”, and Na'tee “Guess Who’s Coming 2 Dinner”.

SHEEK LOUCH "DONNIE G: DON GORILLA"

Sheek Louch jumps his Donnie G: Don Gorilla album off with the absolutely perfect beginning with “Once again back is the rhyme animal”, a sample from Public Enemy. I’m not normally a fan of intro’s but the Intro to the album is dope and rolls right into the energy of “Get It Poppin”. Sheek Louch has an aggressive vocal delivery with a hint of anger that is convincing. Leaving that clip of naked beat at the end of the song is going to cost him a grip of remixes though. “Club Jam” is dope and one of my favorites of the album. You will definitely hear me flex this in my mixes. “Out of the Ghetto” leans way too much on the synth and it buries the flavor of the entire track. The hook is fly though. “Make Some Noise” has that super old school snare/clap that makes the song feel dated, but Sheek’s wordplay is bananas. I wonder how many people recognize the sample from Prince in this record or if Prince himself hears it? I’m a fan of Sheek Louch, but this song is way too long at over 4 minutes. “Blood and Tears” is out of place or at least sounds like it should have been on somebody else’s album with Sheek appearing as a feature. Finally we get to “Nite Falls” which I’ve been talking about for a minute now. I can’t put my finger on what it is about this record that makes me just keep it spinning on replay, but its dope. “Party After Two” is definitely another favorite and bringing Jeremih on board to sing the hooks was absolute genius. Easily another highlight from the album. I had mixed feelings about “Ol Skool” right up until the point that Bun-B slides in and rides the beat like he’s literally swanging lane to lane. Once Bun-B lets it go Sheek comes in even stronger with his cadence and wordplay and I am then finally convinced we have another highlight of the album. “Picture Phone” I promise will be in my mixes across every medium I spin. This is one of my favorites of the album easy. Then “Dinner Guest” pops in and has me in a trance while I turn it up louder with each bar until my speakers are finally rattling. “Dinner Guest” is so gully…so grimy…so gutter…probably my favorite from the entire album. “Ready for War” is okay, but anything following “Dinner Guest” is going to struggle to compare. “Clip Up” is highlighted by the contrasting voices of Sheek Louch and Styles P and closes out the album on a definite high note. Once again, another absolutely dope album dropped this fourth quarter…ending 2010 with a flurry of real Hip-Hop.