Favorite Song: The Percocet & Stripper Joint
Features: Drake
Genius Page

“Tried to make a pop star, and they made a monster”

2015 was Drake’s year, but that surprised absolutely no one. What did surprise was the completely unexpected hot streak Future was on. 2014’s Honest had a few great songs, but it was ultimately a disappointment and seemed to show a decline in Future’s career due to the industry trying to make him a crossover star. Though late 2014’s Monster showed good signs of improvement, no one expected 2015 to bring Beast Mode, 56 Nights, DS2, & What A Time To Be Alive along with a slew of show-stealing guest appearances. DS2 was the centerpiece of Future’s hotstreak and it did not disappoint. Never before had an album about doing drugs, making money, and having sex sounded this pained, bleak, and depressing. Future paints harrowing pictures of addiction and despair disguised under undeniable trap bangers (thanks to 2015’s best producer, Metro Boomin). On this album Future plays the part of an antihero that has drowned all of his problems in codeine and is finally having to face reality. Hopefully Future can find happiness, but hopefully his music stays as good as it was throughout 2015.

Favorite Song: Constantly changing, but for now it’s 6 Man
Features: Lil Wayne, Travi$ Scott, PARTYNEXTDOOR
Genius Page

2015 was Drake’s year. A completely one-sided beef with Meek Mill, collaboration album with Future, OVO Sound Radio, and Hotline Bling notwithstanding, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late was Drake’s biggest W of 2015. It was one of two albums released in 2015 that has gone platinum (Adele’s 25 being the other) and it didn’t even have a clear hit. Every single song on the “mixtape” charted, helping Drake achieve 31 entries on the charts in 2015. Aside from the sales, IYRTITL was a success because of its consistent barebones aesthetic topped with narcissistic raps and nimble flows. With this project being billed simply as a mixtape, it will be interesting to see how good 2016’s Views From The 6 will be. Maybe Drake will finally be able to cement himself with a classic album.

Favorite Song: 3500 ft. Future & 2 Chainz
Features: Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Future, The Weeknd, Young Thug, 2 Chainz, Chief Keef, Juicy J, T.I., Swae Lee, Quavo, Toro y Moi
Genius Page

Somehow Travi$ Scott managed to make one of the best rap albums of 2015 without being a very good rapper. This could easily be explained away by his strength as a producer, but it turns out that he only fully produced one song on Rodeo. So what made this album as good as it was? The
maximalist alt-trap soundscape (crafted by Metro Boomin, Mike Dean, Zaytoven, etc.), incredible features, and his ability to blend into the aforementioned elements smoothly. Travi$ is often criticized for how much his style relies on the styles of others, but with an album as good as Rodeo it’s hard to complain. Hopefully he’ll evolve as an artist and begin to make his own sound, but if he keeps making songs as good as the ones he’s making now I won’t complain if he remains stagnant.

Favorite Song: Warm Enough ft. Noname Gypsy & J. Cole. (Noname Gypsy will almost definitely be near the top of next year’s list if she finally drops Telefone)
Features: Busta Rhymes, Jeremih, Big Sean, J. Cole, Saba, Noname Gypsy, Erykah Badu, B.o.B., Quavo, King Louie, D.R.A.M., Raury, BJ the Chicago Kid, Janelle Monae, Joey Purp, Kyle, Jesse Boykins III, Jamila Woods, Mike Golden, and many others
Genius Page

Just to be clear, this is not a follow-up to Chance The Rappers incredible 2013 mixtape Acid Rap. This album is billed under Donnie Trumpet, and although he appears on every track, it’s not his album either. It truly is the social experiment that the band (comprised of Chance, Donnie, Peter Cottontale, Stix, & Nate Fox) got their name from. This album brought together an unexpectedly large and diverse range of collaborators without any money changing hands and with none of them being listed on iTunes. Speaking of which, this was the first ever free album on iTunes due to Chance’s position as the most powerful independent artist in music. This album included rapping throughout, but it was more of a soul jazz fusion than anything else. Surf was an interesting gathering of 57 artists coming together to make the music they wanted to make, with no regard for what the industry wanted them to make. It’ll be interesting to see what Chance’s third mixtape will hold and whether or not there will be any more Social Experiment albums.

Favorite Song: How Much A Dollar Cost?
Features: Snoop Dogg, Rapsody, Pharrell, James Fauntleroy, George Clinton, Bilal, Anna Wise, Thundercat , Ron Isley
Genius Page

Seemingly everywhere but on this list, this album was ranked as the best album of 2015. Sometimes I find myself agreeing with that statement, but I think that of every album in the top 5 (which is why any of them could be interchanged) and at the time of making this list it ended up as number 5. Kendrick could have followed up the modern classic good kid, m.a.a.d city with a formulaic album or a simple victory lap, but instead he chose to veer completely off the expected course to bring a jazz, funk, and soul based hip-hop album that is, in the words of Pharrell, “unapologetically black.” This album is both political and introspective, with Kendrick wanting to fight both the racial problems in America and his inner demons.

Favorite Song: All Your Fault ft. Kanye West
Features: Kanye West, Drake, Lil Wayne, Jhene Aiko, Chris Brown, Ty Dolla $ign, John Legend, E-40, Ariana Grande, & PARTYNEXTDOOR
Genius Page

With Dark Sky Paradise, Big Sean overcame his growing pains and became a more fully formed artist. Though he still brings his signature ad-libs, lighthearted wit, and borderline cringe-worthy wordplay at times, these elements are an afterthought to Sean’s more mature style and more developed rapping style. With DSP, Big Sean makes the case that he should be taken seriously as a rapper and does so quite well. It will be interesting to see where Sean goes from here and, if this album is any indication, it looks like it may be towards greatness.

Favorite Song: Untouchable
Features: Kanye West, A$AP Rocky, The-Dream, Beanie Sigel, Kehlani, Ab-Liva, Jill Scott
Genius Page

Just after being announced as the new president of G.O.O.D. Music, Pusha T came with a follow up to 2013’s incredible My Name Is My Name. Darkest Before Dawn is a continuation of the menacing coke rap that fans have grown to love since Push’s days in Clipse. The album includes ruthless jabs at Lil Wayne, Cash Money Records, and anyone that seems right in the moment. Despite only being a prelude to the real King Push, this album provides a cohesive and dark reflection through the eyes of a former drug kingpin that has made it out of the game. If this is the prelude, King Push is sure to be one of the best albums of 2016.

Favorite Song: Royalty ft. Future & Big Sean
Features: Future, Big Sean, Juicy J, Twista, YG, Migos, Ty Dolla $ign, Jhené Aiko, J.Cole
Genius Page

Three years after the mixtape Late Nights With Jeremih, Def Jam finally allowed Jeremih to drop its sequel. Despite the botched release, the album did not disappoint. Jeremih delivered a nearly flawless R&B album that focused itself on its namesake late nights. This album lives in a world of after parties, late night club appearances, and
hotel rooms full of mysterious women. The only noticeable flaws this album has are the inclusion of the extremely stale 2014 hit “Don’t Tell Em” and the feature on Planes, which would have easily been my favorite song on the album, but someone decided it was a good idea to remove a quality verse from fellow Chicagoan Chance The Rapper and replace it with a completely trash verse by J. Cole. Luckily a “remix” with Chance dropped soon after, this time with additional production help from Donnie Trumpet & Lido. Despite a couple flaws, this album was well worth the wait and was easily the best R&B release of 2015.

Favorite Song: Four Pink Walls
Features: N/A
Genius Page

Though her debut album Know-It-All also dropped in 2015, this 5 song EP (which ended up as the first 5 sons on the album) served as a perfect introduction to the young star and did not fall victim to some of the flaws of the full length album. Instead, this album provided a great glimpse into the minds of many of today’s youth. Alessia is a self proclaimed “anti-social pessimist” that is more interested in hanging out with her friends than going to parties, yet is also happy and nostalgic at times without seeming disingenuous . The album is extremely pop oriented without at any point coming off as overly polished or impersonal. Alessia Cara was quickly thrust into stardom, and her debut album shows some inevitable problems that come with the transition from unknown to famous, but coming back to this EP reminds listeners why that transition is being made.