The subject line speaks for itself. I may regret what I selected as soon as I hit send but that's okay. This isn't supposed to be easy.

THE RULES: Pick your top 10 albums that were RELEASED between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019. This can include never-released before albums and posthumous releases (e.g. Marvin Gaye's "You're The Man," Prince vault releases).  No reissues of previously released material. You can name three (3!) honorary mentions.

Dassit! 

I'm less concerned with what you or other people think is "Classic" or seminal material and more interested in what you wore out

In no particular order:

1. Electric Wire Hustle - This is a borderline cheat. I prefer the first, New Zealand edition (from 2009...) because it features, "I Want You." It's missing from the BBE worldwide version (released in July 2010). I literally got a traffic ticket listening to "Waters." Put me in a trance. 

2. Kelela - Cut 4 Me. Someone on here said she makes make for LA Blipsters or some such, but I'ono care...It was different, something I never heard before. 

3. VanJess - Silk Canvas. Dropped last summer. I didn't play it until this summer. Album of summer 2019. "Easy" may be the most played song on my iPhone from June 'til now. Good Lord.

4. Onra - Long Distance. Played the crap out of this the summer I moved to Harlem. Good memories.

5. Robert Glasper Experiment Recovered - Just for that Me'Shell/Georgia joint alone...Whew! Still processing the recent mixtape but it's very likely it won't make it to my honorable mentions 

6. Jose James - Black Magic 

7. The Internet - Purple Naked Ladies. I don't understand the hate. Some disturbing lyrics from some very young adults but it was jammin' nonetheless.

8. Solange - Seat at the Table - The Grammys are wack, but this album won for a good reason

9. D'Angelo & The Vanguard - Black Messiah 

10. Diamond District - March on Washington. It's hard for me to listen to new hip-hop releases these days but this was a good one.

----
The albums above represent joints I played the shit out of, albums I just let play through without skipping. And the reality is that I'm a music hoarder who will often wait months--years even-- to listen to an album, even if I rushed to buy it the week it came out. ATCQ is one of my favorite hip-hop groups but I ain't really give that album a proper listen YET... Ridiculous, yes, but I'm weird like that. I also do this odd thing where I'll really get into the first half or bottom half of the album, not processing the full album 'til later. 

I'm saving my honorable mentions for late December. Gonna try and give a few albums the proper listen they deserve.

thats hard for me to wrap my head around

I like Purple Naked Ladies...but the band truly grew up on their next albums.

Better songwriting. Better grooves.

Not necessarily but the reality is that I listened to PNL more than any other The Internet album, with Feel Good close behind it. And don't forget about their 4-song bonus EP to go with PNL after the initial release.

I'll rephrase what I was getting out in the OP: what did you really jam to? Not which releases do you think are musically superior? You would think these two things would mirror each other but that does not always happen. In this case, that did not happen but I'ma stick to PNL.

Now, I never gave Ego Death and Hive Mind a proper, thorough listen, which requires repeated listens, and it may not happen before the year is up.

Based on what I have heard from the last three albums, PNL was the most hip-hop oriented release and I guess that appealed to me?

It's like comparing The Foreign Exchange's first album to every album that has come out since their debut. They went in a R&B direction and stayed there, which is fine. I actually listen to more R&B/Soul than hip-hop, which alluded to in my No. 10. The Diamond District's sophomore effort is the only strictly hip-hop joint on my list.

*shrugs*

ED is near-perfect IMO.

PNL has a charm since it's so tentative and demo-esque. It is unformed and scattered but again, that is its charm.

Feel Good found the band solidifying their sound but still meandering.

ED is where it all came together--the experiment tics of PNL, the commitment to groove and feel of FL and a matured understanding of song craft.

"Girl" is one of my favorite songs of the decade, hands down. A high point for both the band and Kaytranada.

10 years is a long time.

Roc Marciano - Marcberg LP (2010)
Emily King - The Seven EP (2011)
Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.a.a.d city (2012)
O.C. - Trophies (2012)
Oddisee - The Beauty In All (2013)
Omar - The Man (2013)
D'Angelo & The Vanguard - Black Messiah (2014)
DJ Harrison - Stashboxxx (2014)
Bilal - In Another Life (2015)
Dornik - Dornik (2015)
The Internet - Ego Death (2015)
Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon (2015)
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly (2015)
NX Worries - Yes Lawd! (2016)
Black Milk & Nat Turner - The Rebellion Sessions (2016)
KING - We Are King (2016)
Zo! - SkyBreak (2016)
AOE - Homecoming (2017)
Ronald Bruner Jr. - Triumph (2017)
Black Milk - Fever (2018)
Phonte - No News Is Good News (2018)

Cheater!

I almost put a Bilal joint in my top 10 and I just might put one in my runner-up list but I couldn't decide between A Love Surreal and In Another Life.

Why do you prefer your selection over the other? I vaguely remember some shade from a OKP about "Back to Love." LOL

Bilal is one of my favorites but I didn't listen to his last two albums like one would think, not like his debut and LFS. I guess it's because he's always collaborating? I'm always getting bits and pieces of him here and there. I dunno.

Airtight's Revenge (2010) sure as hell wouldn't be on my list, though it's eligible. Glad it dropped when it dropped, but looking back, that is my least favorite album by him. I still like it, tho.

Now, what happened to Love for Sale is one of the greatest crimes committed by a record label. I'm still hopeful for a proper release.

//end mini rant

>The albums above represent joints I played the shit out of,
>albums I just let play through without skipping. And the
>reality is that I'm a music hoarder who will often wait
>months--years even-- to listen to an album, even if I rushed
>to buy it the week it came out. ATCQ is one of my favorite
>hip-hop groups but I ain't really give that album a proper
>listen YET... Ridiculous, yes, but I'm weird like that. I also
>do this odd thing where I'll really get into the first half or
>bottom half of the album, not processing the full album 'til
>later. 

I relate to this listening patterns issue, mainly the waiting to long to get around to listen to something new I got. This applies to other things for me too.

A decade is a nice stretch of time, but my problem with these lists (a year, a month) is not just recency bias but just not knowing when anything came out anymore compared to when I've been listening to it.

trying to remember all 10 years and which albums actually came out within that span? trying to not mixup which songs from artists came out on specific albums (the roots and shakes)? trying to account for recent bias? im gonna do as you said.

in order of release year:
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)
this was about all i played that year. i have listened to it less the last couple of years but only because im listening to more new music. this one will stay with me.

The Roots - How I Got Over
i think if im honest its really their three albums this decade that have stuck with me but i am singling this one out as i remember it the most. their music kind of ran the 2010s for me when i think back on it.

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
another one that i pretty much listened to over and over for a year. its definitely cooled off as of late but i cant over look how much i played the whole album when it was new.

Lupe Fiasco - Tetsuo & Youth
kind of feels unfair to say anything about it. i feel i couldnt do justice with my words to how good this album is. theres like 3 tracks on it that i played more than any other tracks this decade.

Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
as i mentioned, this is kind of like the roots. in their case i heard sound & color first then got boys & girls and the songs for both have just stuck with me since. possibly boys & girls should be here instead but i cant call it.

A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
this bumped de la. as huge of a fan i am of de la it is clear that tribes album is better. it keeps getting better and better. i still dont comprehend how it is so timely.

Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
this is the kendrick album that stuck with me the most. i had listened to section 80 and madd kid before tpab. i liked all three of those. for some reason damn just hit the most with me. kind of made me really think theres hope for new artists. before this album i was mostly just checking for releases from artists i already knew and loved.

Royce Da 5' 9" - Book of Ryan
simply an amazing album. this is definitely staying as one of my favorites of all time. i listened to it the most out of any album last year. any time i come back to it it sounds better.

Choosey & Exile - Black Beans
this is kind of my book of ryan for 2019. i just love this album. the whole sound of it is my ideal. i dont see myself getting tired of it.

KOTA the Friend - FOTO
i had to include this one, its right below black beans for me. probably even really. this is a sound that i didnt know i liked until i heard this album. definitely see this one sticking with me.

honorable mentions (no particular order):
Red Hot Chili Peppers - I’m with You
i definitely listened to this album a lot. i know i didnt like it as much as the above albums but when it came out it was one of the few new albums i was listening to.

Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
see above.

Binary Star - LightYearsApart
this was hard to bump down. i probably listened to these as much as book of ryan. i really wanted to include this in the top 10.

Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne
another one that was hard to bump down. i basically chose MBDTF over this one. they were both in heavy rotation.

De La Soul - and the Anonymous Nobody...
if i had an accurate count of how often i played albums this one would be over the tribe album but i think it was due to blind loyalty. ive been playing tribes album more as of late.

k-os - Can't Fly Without Gravity
i played this one a lot when it came out. i was hungry for some k-os music and this delivered for me. i still have a lot of songs from it in rotation. it was hard to bump it down.

i had to go through wikipedia to see what albums came out each year. some albums were missing so there might some that i completely forgot about but after going through all the years i narrowed it down to 48 albums that i know were in constant rotation in the 2010s before i picked the above. im actually trying to go back through releases in the 2010s right now so i can listen to some i may have missed but i think i wont be able to get through all of it how i want to lol. i was hoping to make a comprehensive playlist of all the songs i love that came out in 2010s. might be done with it by 2050.

i need to add album of the year by black milk and elzhis lead poison to the honorable mentions. black milk was another artist that was a constant for me in the 2010s. album of the year is probably the one i wore out the most from him. i was stuck on lead poison for a good year.

>i need to add album of the year by black milk and elzhis lead
>poison to the honorable mentions. black milk was another
>artist that was a constant for me in the 2010s. album of the
>year is probably the one i wore out the most from him. i was
>stuck on lead poison for a good year.

Good call.

AOTY is very dope, but I think my Black Milk submission would be Fever or No Poison No Paradise.

i just listened to it more than those two. no poison was close but yeah im pretty sure i listened to aoty more.

lead poison i was probably listening to once a week for almost a year. it really connected with me.

>i just listened to it more than those two. no poison was
>close but yeah im pretty sure i listened to aoty more.
>


you picked the 'wrong' BM album by any means, I apologize if it came off that way.

I more so meant that those other two would be on my list before AOTY. It would be hard for me to pick between Fever and NPNP though.


>lead poison i was probably listening to once a week for almost
>a year. it really connected with me


I agree. It has become a go-to cold weather album for me too. I think the fumble on the release/Go-Fund me or whatever happened unnecessarily distracted from an incredible album.

>Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)
>this was about all i played that year. i have listened to it
>less the last couple of years but only because im listening to
>more new music. this one will stay with me.

I almost put this on my list but then I realized they I didn't play it enough. And I like Part One better, which was eligible.

>The Roots - How I Got Over
I am so behind on The Roots discography it's embarrassing. Once they became a house band and switched their lineup, I fell behind.

>A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your
>Service
This is near the top of my list of albums to finish digesting before the year is up.

>i had to go through wikipedia to see what albums came out each
>year. some albums were missing so there might some that i
>completely forgot about but after going through all the years
>i narrowed it down to 48 albums that i know were in constant
>rotation in the 2010s before i picked the above. im actually
>trying to go back through releases in the 2010s right now so i
>can listen to some i may have missed but i think i wont be
>able to get through all of it how i want to lol. i was hoping
>to make a comprehensive playlist of all the songs i love that
>came out in 2010s. might be done with it by 2050.

Haha. Yes, it took me a minute to come up with my selections. I waited a few days and did some research before I posted.

>>Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)
>>this was about all i played that year. i have listened to it
>>less the last couple of years but only because im listening
>to
>>more new music. this one will stay with me.
>
>I almost put this on my list but then I realized they I didn't
>play it enough. And I like Part One better, which was
>eligible.
im really not sure which one i prefer. during the first year after pt 2 was released i would say pt 1. now? its too close to call.

>
>>The Roots - How I Got Over
>I am so behind on The Roots discography it's embarrassing.
>Once they became a house band and switched their lineup, I
>fell behind.
i think they get a lot of flack for not letting thought just rhyme over some boom bap during this period. if you just listen to the albums for what they are and not what you want them to be i find it hard to complain about them.

theyve made some really great music in this period that im just barely appreciating for what it is. even though i kept listening to it and enjoying it up to this point i kind of took it for granted.

>
>>A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It from Here... Thank You 4
>Your
>>Service
>This is near the top of my list of albums to finish digesting
>before the year is up.
i feel like im barely digging into this one even though i have had it on repeat since it came out. it stands with their best work.

>
>>i had to go through wikipedia to see what albums came out
>each
>>year. some albums were missing so there might some that i
>>completely forgot about but after going through all the
>years
>>i narrowed it down to 48 albums that i know were in constant
>>rotation in the 2010s before i picked the above. im actually
>>trying to go back through releases in the 2010s right now so
>i
>>can listen to some i may have missed but i think i wont be
>>able to get through all of it how i want to lol. i was
>hoping
>>to make a comprehensive playlist of all the songs i love
>that
>>came out in 2010s. might be done with it by 2050.
>
>Haha. Yes, it took me a minute to come up with my selections.
>I waited a few days and did some research before I posted.
so glad i have a job that "lets" me spend so much time listening to music and making spreadsheets to keep track of it lol

>>The Roots - How I Got Over
>I am so behind on The Roots discography it's embarrassing.
>Once they became a house band and switched their lineup, I
>fell behind.


well lemme just add that my side gig as a tv guy doesn't effect how we create albums.
and as far as lineup is concerned me/riq/mal/poyser have been the anchor of every roots album since IH, so the personel shouldn't be a factor in how our art is received.

normally I don't knit pick comments on OKP. but I am eyebrow raising a lil something when I think I'm seeing

"the idea of the roots" vs "the actual roots"

I mean yeah who but me compartmentalizes his favs (Stevie: 72-80, Prince 79-88, PE 87-91) so I "get it"

what im saying is I'd rather you getting off the train had something more specific like "these sets of songs were engineered crappy"/"I dug blah blah blah"

than just: once they became America's house band I lost interest.

I personally thought we made some of our boldest musical statements once Fallon came aboard simply because we didn't have to play the "please give us a hit single god so we can feed our kids" game.

just me I guess.

oh well

Hiatus Kayote - Choose Your Weapon
K. - TPAB
Paak - Malibu
Alice Smith - She
TVOTR - Nine Types of Light
Kamasi - The Epic
LD - Ritual Union
Lupe - Drogas Wave
Jamie XX - In Colour
Thievery - Culture of Fear

in no particular order

Kendrick- TPAB
D'Angelo- Black Messiah
Big KRIT- Return of 4eva
Anderson Paak- Malibu
Sault- 5
Big Boi- Sir Lucious Left foot..
Kanye- MBDTF
Childish- Redbone
Radiohead- King of Limbs
Frank Ocean- Nostalgia Ultra
King- We are King
Internet- Feels Good
Lupe- T&Y
Bilal- In another Life

- Beyonce (self titled)

This is pretty much the B album I always wanted. Raw, sexy, kinda ridiculous and a good mix of the pop/R&B/Hip-Hop lines she always walks. You know the album is good when the remixes and alternate versions actually sound worse.

- Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

There's about 13 different genres on this, is a story all the way thru.....but still sounds great individually and sounds futuristic today. This is one of my favorite albums ever, and anytime people ask for a recommendation it's one I got to. I'm glad that Janelle got more notoriety today, but v sad she never finishes the story.

- Jay Som - Everybody Works

Sometimes albums just kinda hit you even tho you weren't even looking for anything new or anything like it...that what happened here. I found Som on a random cruise through Stereogum where a song was their song of the week....and the shit that stuck instantly. She puts on a good show too, somehow even sounding intimate in a festival setting.

- Big Boi - Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors

I remember when this album got announced, and a lot of the lesson was worried because they didn't wanna hear Big with Phantogram or Little Dragon....shit turned out great because it still ended up sounding DF-like. Saying "Thom Pettie that ho!" was in the vocab for months after this came out.

- Chvrches - Every Open Eye

So the first record (The Bones of What You Believe) was some synth/a little mean/a little sweet...but it had some ideas that didn't form well. This one they stitched it all together and it came out great. It comes loud and dreamy out the gate and never really lulls until the very end.

- St Vincent - Strange Mercy

I originally bought this only because I wanted something new and I liked how she sounded on the Kid Cudi hook for MANIAC. Little did I know Annie is a fucking guitar god and relentlessly honest. She also has one of the best live shows I've ever seen outside of hip-hop.

- Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror

This record is how I realized that I love REALLY FUCKING LOUD guitars. It's so full of evil.....but like evil with a wink, so not actually evil at all. I know Treats is the album that gets the attention but Reign of Terror actually has songs to back up the crazy sounds.

- RL Grime - Nova

The last 3 years, I've began to listen to more Electronic music...but I'm usually wanting the stuff that's somewhere between pop, weird and all-out EDM festival music. RL really just puts all three in a blender and makes it all good to me. Even people I really don't listen to at all like 24hrs and Joji sound better that usual....but the tracks without vocals are the real gems IMO

- Skyzoo - Music for my Friends

Sky always would dabble in the jazzy sounds....but this one is where he went all in and I'm glad he did. Making the first single a song where he describes the wrong type of doors without telling you he's wrong (because he didn't know the right term) on Suicide Doors was genius to me. The darts he throws are crazy high all throughout the record.

- Little Dragon - Ritual Union

This album has pretty much been summer for me every year since it came out. I don't know how LD can make songs sound happy and at the same time really sad at the same time. In interviews they say they are a Dance group first....but sometimes I don't even know if I really should dance to it you know? The tour for Ritual Union was the most diverse crowd I've ever been a part of for a non-festival show. It was music nerds, dancers, gyspy-types and all different races and colors moving in unison, it felt like I found my tribe at that show...and every Little Dragon show I've seen since has felt like that.

Honorable Mentions:

- Joe Budden - Mood Musik 4: For Better or Worse

Once Joe got out of the drugs but ignored his drama was magic.

- Tinashe - Aquarius

When she sounds weird and sexy she's at her best.....even if it doesn't make her any money.

- Wale - The Album About Nothing

The fact that people sleep on Wale sucks.....the face that Wale lets it get to him is worse tho.

1. Tribe Called Quest - We Got it From Here....
2. Prhyme
3. Phonte - Charity Starts at Home
4. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid MAAD City
5. The Internet - Ego Death
6. Big KRIT - 4EvaNaDay
7. Tuxedo
8. Nas - Life Is Good
9. Lupe Fiasco - Tetsuo and Youth
10. Fabolous - Soul Tape 2

I find it hard to put new albums in lists like this until some time has passed, but Little Brother and Skyzoo/Pete Rock both will have an argument.

Oneohtrix Point Never: Replica
The Books: The Way Out
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Skeleton Tree
A Tribe Called Quest: TYFYSWGIFH
Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp A Butterfly
Mo Kolours: Self-Titled
Shabazz Palaces: Black Up
Anarkea: Black Helicopters
King Krule: 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
Serengeti and Polyphonic: Terradactyl

Roc Marci - Rosebudd’s Revenge
B - self titled
Jay - 4:44
Watch the Throne - self titled
Kendrick - good kid, maad city
Kendrick - TPAB
Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra
Frank Ocean - Blonde
The Weeknd - House of Balloons
Anderson .Paak - Malibu
Badu - NuAmerykah 2
D’Angelo - Black Messiah
Dream Wife - self titled
YOD - self titled
Griselda - Griselda Ghost
Benny - Tana Talk 3
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana
Ye - MBDTF
Ross - Teflon Don
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Jeremiah Jae - Bad Jokes (if not familiar with JJ, he’s got an extensive catalog of raps & beats. I think this is a great project to start with. I actually haven’t checked up on him in a few years, he’s probably put out a ton of shit I’ve missed.)
Future - 56 Nights
Bon Iver - 22, A Million
Rocky - Live Love ASAP


Edit - I forgot the Tribe album.

1. D'Angelo, Black Messiah
2. Kaytranda, 99.9%
3. Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid mAAd City/To Pimp a Butterfly (tie)
4. inc., No World
5. Jessie Ware, Devotion
6. The Internet, Ego Death
7. The Weekend, House of Balloons
8. Solange, A Seat at the Table
9. Toro y Moi, Anything in Return
10. Khruangbin, Con Tondo El Mundo

*The following albums NARROWLY missed the top ten:
Frank Ocean, Channel Orange
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah, Pt 2: Return of the Ankh
Flying Lotus, Cosmogramma to You're Dead!
Robert Glasper Experiment, Black Radio
Gibbs/Madlib, Pinata
Anderson .Paak, Malibu/Nxworries, Yes Lawd! (tie)
Kelela, Cut 4 Me
Jose James, Blackmagic
Dam Funk, Invite the Light

Sampha "Process"
Solange "A Seat at the Table"
Kamasi Washington "The Epic"
Jamila Woods "Legacy! Legacy!"
D'Angelo & the Vanguard "Black Messiah"
Lupe Fiasco "Tetsuo & Youth"
Kendrick Lamar "To Pimp a Butterfly"
Youssoupha "Polaroid Experience"
Tyler the Creator "Flower Boy"
Rihanna "Anti"

Not Ranked:

* Kendrick Lamar - 'To Pimp a Butterfly'
* Roc Marciano - 'Reloaded'
* Curren$y & Alchemist - 'Covert Coup'
* Willie Evans Jr. - 'Introducin'
* Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - 'Piñata'
* Solange - 'A Seat at the Table'
* Anderson .Paak - 'Malibu'
* D'Angelo - 'Black Messiah'
* The Internet - 'Ego Death'
* Nas - 'Life is Good'

---

Honorable Mentions:

* Hiatus Kaiyote - 'Choose Your Weapon'
* Apollo Brown & Guilty Simpson - 'Dice Game'
* Frank Ocean - 'Channel Orange'



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