Top 10 Rap Albums of 2015 - Part 1

Top 10 rap albums is almost guaranteed to make some people start swinging. I once saw two men almost come to blows in a barbershop about if Jadakiss is top 5 or not. Now imagine that passion when it comes to albums. Well, here's a list of my 10 favorite albums of the year, therefore they are the best but I invite you to leave your list in the comments. Just don't send a bunch of angry tweets.

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly:

Was there ever a more divisive album? I admit I hated the album at first because people kept acting like it was the greatest thing ever. White guys were writing about how it was the most important album to black culture and I wasn't feeling all of the sudden so called Jazz experts who can't pronounce Satchmo and only know John Coltrane. The people who swore they listen to funk every day but didn't know Bootsy Collins. Then time passed and people were complaining it didn't have any real bangers and there started to be think pieces about how the album was "too black" for white people to enjoy. I grew to love it once the hype had settled down. You can read my analysis and check out Luke James full Review.



 Action Bronson - Mr. Wonderful:

"Should white people even be allowed to rap," is a question Iggy Azalea had a lot of people asking. Luckily Action Bronson rolled through with some good food and music. It's a shame a lot of people will probably only remember this album for Ghostface making veiled threats at Teddy Pendergrass plays in the background. Ghost wanted Action Bronson to have a good summer. With all that aside it really was a dope album. You can play the whole album through without any skips and it really gives the album a sense of progression. In fact the whole album flows through almost as if it were a stage play with tales of love, violence and drugs in a stylistic wrapping. Once again you should check out Luke James full review of the album.



Vince Staples - Summertime '06

If I didn't put this album on the list I would have hurt Vince's feelings. Why would I want to hurt Vince's feelings? If you follow Vince on Twitter or have seen any of his interviews you know he's an extreamly funny guy. It's also clear he's a really smart guy. Then you forget he is a legitimate gang member. Summertime '06 manages to bring all of that together in one package without out any of the jokes. The thing about the album is Vince knows he's wrong for gangbanging but he addresses the problem because there can't be a solution until people take an objective look at the problem and Vince provides that inner look. It's an album about the power of fear. Take a look at Luke James full review.



Rae Sremmurd - SremmLife

Just like rap needs deep lyrics and critical examination of social issues and culture it needs party music. Party music has always been a big part of hip hop and 2015 is no different. You can't write off two guys who freestyle for 20 minutes straight. It's also filled with observations of the current events such as the song "Up Like Trump," which takes a critical look at Donald Trumps surge in the polls. Okay, that's a lie but it's good music that puts you in a good mood. You can't deny that this is awesome. Even if it's not your usual kind of music, you should five it a listen because you might be moderately surprised. I've been linking to Luke James reviews and I will here too, but he's still wrong on this one. Here's the full review.



Wale - The Album About Nothing

Wale is always taking L's just for living and I refuse to give him another L for no reason. It's like they're attracted to him. He eats alphabet cereal and only gets Ls and often his Ls make no sense. I refuse to give Wale an L for making a solid and consistent album. Additionally Wale succeeds in making an album that addresses personal issues like depression without crying about women wearing less and going out more. It's a good album but it's dark and seems as if the entire thing is about nothing but bad experiences and this is his attempt to clear it all out before moving on with his life. The only issue is there are certain part where he tries too hard to follow trends. You can check out Luke James full review of the album.

You can view Part 2 right now. Here's a spoiler alert, Kid Cudi and Travis Scott aren't on it.

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
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