DJ Booth’s 30 Best Hip-Hop and R&B Albums of the Decade (So Far), Ranked

30 Best Hip-Hop and R&B Albums of the Decade (So Far), Ranked

The 30 best hip-hop and R&B LPs since January 1, 2010.




10. D'Angelo and The Vanguard — Black Messiah



Label: RCA
Release Date: December 15, 2014
3 Standout Selections: "Ain't That Easy," "The Charade," "Another Life"

D’Angelo makes potent music. It hits you all at once but the residue reveals new layers every time. I’ve been unpacking the meanings and music of Black Messiah since it first fell out of the sky at the tail end of 2014. It’s hard to imagine any album hitting the musical thresholds that neo-soul landmarks Brown Sugar and Voodoo did, so D, with assistance from Q-Tip, ?uestlove and Kendra Foster, reached back musically to aim even higher. After being away for fourteen years, he used his redemption to inspire the first steps out of the tunnel. The hardened resilience of “The Charade,” the feet-shuffling rhythms of “Sugah Daddy” and the fleeting joy of “Back To the Future” shined bright in the midst of the height of Black Lives Matter and a rejuvenated soul movement. Never betraying your heart and being whatever leader you can be can carry us into 2018 or 2035. Black Messiah is living proof that you can’t rush greatness. —Cinemasai


9. Anderson .Paak — Malibu



Label: Steel Wool / OBE / Art Club / Empire
Release Date: January 15, 2016
3 Standout Selections: "The Waters," "The Season / Carry Me," "Am I Wrong"

Anderson .Paak’s second studio album began his ascent to hip-hop and R&B’s man of the year in 2016. Malibu is the sun on your face delivered by an old soul with a light heart. Every reach .Paak makes to the past, whether in sonic theme or in narrative, is matched by a leap towards music’s expansive future. .Paak invites us into his deepest tragedies while insulating us in West Coast grooves, establishing himself as the master of catching the vibe and letting it unfurl to the farthest corners of sound. .Paak’s vocals are of the earth—his rapping finds the intersection of swagger and poise, and he does all of this while playing the drums. At its core, Malibu is here to “bring you greetings from the first church of Boom Baptists United Fellowship of Free Nationals.” How can any hip-hop head keep from getting giddy over that lyric? We can’t. Listening to Malibu, it’s clear .Paak was aware his moment was just over the horizon, and he transformed that awareness into something glimmering and timeless. —Donna-Claire Chesman


8. Beyoncé — LEMONADE



Label: Parkwood / Columbia
Release Date: April 23, 2016
3 Standout Selections: "SORRY," "FREEDOM," "FORMATION"

In December 2013, when Beyoncé released her self-titled fifth studio album to uproarious critical acclaim—complete with a music video for each song—it was unimaginable that she’d be able to unseat that victory with a new magnum opus less than three years later. By letting listeners in on the juicy specifics of a marriage previously kept guarded under a veil of perfection—and apparently marred by infidelity—Beyoncé vaulted herself even higher in the hearts of fans and echelons of stardom. At a time when pop music is criticized for its formulaic, uninventive state, LEMONADE proved the power of personal pop, ushering in a mainstream appreciation for intersectional feminism alongside its memorable and emotional hit singles. Upping the ante from a music video album to a full-length film, Queen Bey once again shrugged off the competition seeking her throne, making it clear that her reign is far from over. —Kareem Sheikh


7. Kanye West — Yeezus



Label: Def Jam
Release Date: June 18, 2013
3 Standout Selections: "Black Skinhead," "New Slaves," "Bound 2"

Given his well-documented appreciation of his own work, Kanye West probably views his career as a narrative. It makes sense then that he would co-opt the name of Western civilization’s most impactful messianic figure for this album. College Dropout is his Christmas feast, while Yeezus is his trip through Gethsemane’s garden. It was a turning point, where the tools he used to express himself became just as important as the expression. Say what you will about the way Kanye assaults your eardrums over the course of Yeezus, your favorite artists owe their sound to the mixing on this album. During one of his Pensado’s Place appearances, engineer Mike Dean explains how he and the creative team elevated “loudness” beyond its Dr. Dre 2001 levels. All you need to do is play a mixtape from the mid-2000s immediately after the music of today to verify the Dirty South apostle’s words. On Yeezus, Kanye’s songs were raw streams of consciousness that asked more questions than they answered, yet they were captivating and you wanted to hear him rant. It changed the way we hear music and forced artists to pay even more attention to the sounds they put in records and how high they’re cranked up. —Miguelito


6. Frank Ocean — channel ORANGE



Label: Def Jam
Release Date: July 10, 2012
3 Standout Selections: "Thinkin Bout You," "Super Rich Kids," "Pyramids"

Frank Ocean’s debut album is made up of a collection of eloquent short stories. He has a gift for curating universes with nameless characters who only live for the sake of conveying a thought or exploring an emotion. These moments are sculpted with careful precision and graphic detail. His voice is strong, pleasant, but it is the mighty pen that gives Frank his radiant charm. Being able to sing of the very rich and the crack addicts, of Egyptian queens and ambitious pilots, gives him a range that few contemporary R&B artists are able to reach. Love and longing for love are subjects men have explored since learning to sing, but Ocean uses a movie director's eye and a poet’s pen to make clichés and traditional tropes shine with needed sheen. channel ORANGE was a fresh coat of paint for R&B during a period of stagnancy; a ray of hope from a new, promising voice who believed in the art of storytelling. —Yoh


5. Chance The Rapper — Acid Rap



Label: Self-Released
Release Date: April 30, 2013
3 Standout Selections: "Good a$s Intro," "Pusha Man / Paranoia," "Cocoa Butter Kisses"

Acid Rap is the best introduction to Chance The Rapper, a mixtape that showcases all sides of what makes him special. The quirky flows, the mixture of gospel and live instrumentation, but mostly, a rapper who wanted to prove his talents before the world. Chance's best rapping is present, with heartfelt lyrical acrobatics present on every single song. You don’t just hear Chance, you feel him in your bones—the kind of music that cuts you with the sharpness of a scalpel. He didn’t just set the bar that all his future projects will be judged under, but for all future rappers—Acid Rap is the benchmark of greatness from a genius not yet recognized. Coloring Book may have made Chance a star, but Acid Rap is the project that made him an underground king. —Yoh


4. Kendrick Lamar — To Pimp a Butterfly



Label: Top Dawg / Aftermath / Interscope
Release Date: March 15, 2015
3 Standout Selections: "u," "Alright," "How Much a Dollar Cost"

Kendrick walked listeners through Compton with a penmanship worthy of a New York Times bestseller on his debut album. It was an instant classic in an era of few timeless debuts, but he couldn’t repeat what was already deemed a masterpiece. So he dug deeper, expanded his perspective, and broadened his artistic palette. He sought out jazz, funk, soul and more for the sound of his journey through the hell of temptation, fought against Lucy’s promises, met Jesus—who appeared as a panhandling drunk—and spoke to Tupac in search of answers he couldn’t find among the living. To Pimp a Butterfly is Kendrick’s most daring work, an album that examines his soul while walking through the world that surrounds him. A black man in the throes of success while in the mouth of a dragon―the entire album plays like an odyssey of understanding what Kendrick Lamar wants: a little pleasure and a lot of peace. Another masterpiece from the good kid. —Yoh


3. Frank Ocean — Blonde



Label: Boys Don't Cry
Release Date: August 20, 2016
3 Standout Selections: "Self Control," "Nights," "Seigfried"

Meeting expectations for a follow-up to the universal acclaim of channel ORANGE after a suspense-building hiatus of four years would have been impossible. The fact that he exploded through those expectations was just Frank Ocean being Frank Ocean. In a grand return befitting of his unpredictable nature, Frank gave Def Jam two middle fingers in a bait-and-switch that left them with a very good visual album on the way to independently releasing the best album of his career. With Blonde, R&B's great storytelling hope embraced his own story, one afflicted with existential questions of s3xuality, race, acceptance, and identity on the road to self-discovery. In a Blonde world, genre lines are blurred, percussion is dispensable, and conventional song structure cedes to ideas and textures that combust and regenerate into new worlds. Every new listen reveals new layers and bleeds new emotions. "I ain't on no schedule," Frank reminds on "Futura Free." As long as his returns are this grand, we don't mind waiting. —Brendan Varan


2. Kendrick Lamar — good kid, m.A.A.d city



Label: Top Dawg / Aftermath / Interscope
Release Date: October 22, 2012
3 Standout Selections: "Money Trees," "m.A.A.d city," "Sing About Me / I'm Dying of Thirst"

Revisiting good kid, m.A.A.d. city in light of Kendrick’s later work puts it in a more nuanced context. Compton’s emcee is sharp at noting the way he relates to things around him, whether people, institutions, or the competing parts of his psyche. GKMC, in retrospect, is his story about the complexities of relating to the objects and people directly in front of him. As a good kid he wants to earn praise from his audience post-mortem (“Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”), express admiration for his hometown (“Compton”), and eliminate the negativity swirling around him (“bi#ch, Don’t kill My Vibe”). Knowing what we know about his later albums, the hopeful tone of GKMC is muted since the future brings more complex struggles. It’s necessary, though, to relate properly to others in peer pressure, s3xual indulgence (“Sherane”), or irrational hate (“m.A.A.D city”). There’s no path outlined, no recipe like the one for proper action in Southern California, just solidarity with someone further in life. —Miguelito


1. Kanye West — My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy



Label: Roc-A-Fella / Def Jam
Release Date: November 22, 2010
3 Standout Selections: "POWER," "Devil in a New Dress," "Runaway"

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the greatest album from the greatest artist of this generation—in what plain, sane reality is it not number one? A sweeping masterpiece full of manic highs (“POWER”), heartbreaking lows (“Blame Game”) and self-reflection that fractured even the biggest of egos (“Runaway”), MBTDF was Kanye West reaching the top of the mountain (literally) of his brilliant artistry and boundless ambition. The juxtaposition of red-blooded raps and resplendent production felt like swigging Hennessy and fu#king a pr0n star in the Sacré-Cœur.

MBDTF is more than just an album, though—it’s music, theater and stage rolled into a tale of self-inflicted tragedy-turned-self-powered triumph. After becoming the abomination of Obama’s nation at the 2009 MTV VMAs (we all know he was right, but he was kind of a “jackass” about it), Mr. West holed up in Hawaii with his musical heroes and peers alike—JAY-Z and Justin Vernon, Pete Rock and Pusha T, RZA and Rick Ross—“had time alone with [his] own thoughts” and rose from the ashes of public hatred and personal heartbreak like the Phoenix in his Runaway film.

From the Rosewood movement and G.O.O.D. Fridays releases to a table-top concert at Twitter HQ and his stunning performance at the 2010 MTV VMAs—a setting so perfect for his comeback you swear the whole thing was part of his master plan—My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was a defining moment not only for Kanye West but for this decade in pop culture. Only one man should have all that power. —Andy James

↪ https://djbooth.net/featu .. -decade-ranked

-4