2019 was another great year for music. With new beefs, new artists and continued success by hit-makers, we the fans were gifted yet again. No, we didn’t get a Drake or Kendrick Lamar album. But, we did get some of the best debuts we have seen in a while. The end of the decade in music did have its flaws, and maybe it didn’t live up to past years. However, it was still another solid year in the industry. To celebrate, I’ll take a look back at the seven albums that I thought stood out in 2019. You may be asking why 7 and not 10. Well, as I mentioned before, this wasn’t the best, compared to others. When looking back, I only saw seven albums that captivated me more than others. Let’s dive into what I think are the 7 best hip-hop albums of 2019.
Revenge of the Dreamers III – Dreamville
I start off this list with one of the best hip-hop groups that rap has to offer. This album showed the talents of more than just the artists spitting the bars, but it also showed the producers creating the hits as well. The 18-song masterpiece included 34 artists (nine Dreamville), 27 producers, 10 sleepless nights, 124 songs thrown away, and 257.65 GB of music. This album showcased the talent of artists that don’t get the proper spotlight that they deserve.
The pressure was especially on for this album because it was the group spearheaded by J. Cole, who’s regarded by some as the best rapper on earth. This album had everything you could want, as Dreamville, as a collective, managed to impress the masses. Standout verses included DaBaby’s closing verse on the opening track, “Under the Sun,” and J.Cole’s closing verse on the closing track, “Sacrifices”. We’ve all seen what the sport of rap can do to people in terms of anger and hate. However, even in 2019, hate is not a thing with Dreamville. This album showed how artists can all co-exist while “getting theirs”. The actual music isn’t the only reason why this album is one of the albums of the year. Rather, it introduced some pretty good artists to the mainstream landscape.
Favorite Songs: “Under The Sun”, “Down Bad”, “Sunset”, “MIDDLE CHILD”, and “Sacrifices“.
Over It – Summer Walker
If we’re discussing artists who ran the R&B landscape in 2019, Summer Walker is one of them. This entire album, from top to bottom, was one of the best of the year. The replay value comes second to none, and even I find myself listening often despite it being three months since release. Summer captivates listeners with her vulnerability with her audience.
The best artists are the ones who aren’t afraid to expose themselves in their music. Summer did this throughout the entire album. For the older listeners, this album gives you 90’s R&B nostalgia when it was at its peak. Summer also manages to fit well with every artist she collaborated with. Bryson Tiller, Usher, 6LACK, PARTYNEXTDOOR, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Jhene Aiko, and Drake all compliment Summer big time. Each feature showcases the flexibility of the artist while working with some of the top artists in the game today.
For the girl going through tons of emotions, whether it’s because of love or not, this album is for you. Hearing Summer sing over the sounds of a strumming guitar is just beautiful. The album explores a wide variety of emotion with every single track. That includes heartbreak, love, womanhood, anger, frustration and temptation. These emotions combine to form this 10/10 album. Summer manages to be emotional, transparent, and above all, real, with her audience. There’s nothing negative to say about what this album has brought to the table in terms of its artistry, lyrics, and overall feel.
Favorite Songs: “Body”, “Come Thru”, “Fun Girl”, “Just Might”, “Off Of You”, and “I’ll Kill You”.
The Lost Boy – YBN Cordae
YBN Cordae made his presence felt in what is one of my personal favorites from 2019. Beyond being an XXL Freshman, I didn’t know who YBN Cordae was prior to the release of this album. I was surely missing out. Maturity is key with these young rappers, and YBN Cordae dropped a debut album so mature that it’s evident he’s going to be in this game for a long time. He uses his honest and truthful songwriting to tell his story about his past as, “The Lost Boy”. This lyrically-driven album addresses the demons that Cordae encountered in his past as well as those he’s fighting today. All of that, as depicted in the album, creates a story of a brighter future.
Somehow, the XXL Freshman was able to enlist some top rappers for features that ended up enhancing Cordae’s overall delivery. In “RNP” with Anderson .Paak, Cordae perfectly bounces off Anderson’s rapping to create the best song on the entire album. Being with a polished and experience veteran such as Anderson made Cordae that much better.
If there’s any criticism about the album you can say that the features overshadowed most of the individual tracks. The way each song connects with one another to create a story about that little lost boy was something that made it one of the best of the year. You can say the album was a test of whether or not YBN Cordae will last in the rap game. If you haven’t caught on already, Cordae passed with more than flying colors. This was, without a doubt, one of the best debut albums of 2019 in all genres.
Favorite Songs: “Bad Idea”, “RNP”, “Broke as Fuck”, “Way Back Home”, “Family Matters”, and “We Gon Make It”.
So Much Fun – Young Thug
It’s only right that the most influential rapper of the decade drops one of his best projects yet. When I heard that J. Cole was going to be an executive producer on the project, that only heightened my expectations. In what people call his most focused album ever, Thugger managed to channel his wildest eccentricities. He’s been in the game for a while, but this album seemed to deliver a newer, fresher version of the trap legend. Throughout the project, Young Thug doesn’t fail to remind us of the influence he had on these new school rappers. While allowing Lil Baby, Gunna, Lil Duke, Lil Uzi Vert, and Lil Keed to spit feature verses on the album, Thugger reminds them, and us, that he’s the mentor. He’s one of modern trap’s founding fathers, and this album showed that.
Even with the project being 19 songs, it doesn’t have you questioning when is it going to end. You can interpret this album in many different ways by the end of it. Is he reminding us that he’s one of the greatest hip-hop artists of the decade? Is he taking a victory lap after solidifying himself as one of the greatest? Maybe this is just a reminder that, although there’s a lot that he’s done, there’s still a long way to go. Regardless, this album is trap at its finest with the master enlisting his disciples to deliver another fantastic album. A legend delivers yet again in what was a successful attempt to highlight the greatness of Young Thug.
Favorite Songs: “Just How It Is”, “Hot”, “Surf”, “Light It Up” “What’s the Move”, “Mannequin Challenge”, and “The London”.
Psychodrama – Dave
For most of you, you’re asking who this artist is and why this album is on the list. Let me be the first to tell you that this album was beautiful. Dave is an artist hailing from England. He may be formally recognized as one of the British artists that found themselves collaborating with Drake. That’s not what this about, though. This is about the captivating album he dropped earlier this year, “Psychodrama”.
The album serves as a mysterious, unvarnished, and raw project that exposes all listeners to who Dave is as an artist. Coming from the United Kingdom, one may not be very familiar with his works. But, after listening to this album, you can’t help but become a fan. The thing that stands out on this album is how many risks the 21-year-old takes. Looking at music as a whole, we often aren’t patient. We’re always in a rush to fast forward to the next song, creating a difficulty for artists to keep us satisfied.
Dave throws that mantra out the window with an over-compelling masterpiece of a track titled “Lesley”, which to me, makes for one of the best songs of the year. The album explores a variety of dark emotions, caused by everything from his brother’s jail sentence for murder to a girl named Lesley. Throughout the album, he’s begging for the pain to stop, and it creates the most underrated album of 2019. His flow is amazing, the production is top-notch, and Dave straight delivered with his writing. If you were to tell me that this was the album of the year, would I really argue?
Favorite Songs: “Psycho”, “Location”, “Disaster”, and “Lesley”.
Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial – Roddy Ricch
I can admit, I’m not huge on these new school rappers. If there’s anyone that changed my opinion on that this year, it’s Roddy Ricch. The newcomer from Compton is one of the artists who I can see blowing up over the next decade. His musicality and musicianship separates him from almost all new rappers. To cap off his breakout year, he dropped a fantastic album titled “Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial”.
This album serves as a coming out for Roddy Ricch in a sense. He tells us that he wasn’t supposed to be here. His motivational flex bars served as a message that he’s arrived, and that he’s here to stay. Using the piano in his opening track, Ricch managed to grab the listeners’ attention. Maybe it was cliche to use the “I came from struggle and now I’m here” card. Once again though, you can’t help but appreciate the grind. With this album, Ricch showed he’s better than most of the new rappers admired today. Throughout the project, he raps and sings over guitars and pianos, showcasing his versatility. Above all, he shows different sides of himself in regards to his rapping.
First he discusses his come-up, then you hear him rapping over a boiling teapot. Then, after collaborations with Gunna and DJ Mustard, he goes on to sing over the piano while ending the album in yet another one of the best songs of the year. The way that Ricch harmonizes and works with that choir is something to marvel at. This album is everything you can want out of an artist. It’s almost as if he’s a hybrid of some of the best artists today. What an album and what a debut for Roddy Ricch.
Favorite Songs: “Intro”, “Start Wit Me”, “Perfect Time”, “Peta”, “Bacc Seat”, “Tip Toe”, and “War Baby”.
Hollywood’s Bleeding – Post Malone
How was I going to have this list without one of the world’s biggest hit-makers. Despite being one of the biggest artists that the industry has, we should not shy away from the fact that he dropped another top album. Post Malone’s style is fresh and unique. You won’t find it anywhere else, and he showed that again with this album. Some call it pop, I call it hip-hop.
The album combines rock, R&B, and pop. As odd as it sounds, it’s true. Post Malone incorporates different styles and genres in order to get us to understand the dark emotions that always comes with his music. The collaborations pile up on this 17-track album, creating more hits than any album on this list. Meek Mill, Future, DaBaby, SZA, Lil Baby, Young Thug, and Swae Lee all link up with “Posty” to create hit after hit. What other artist do you know that would get Travis Scott and Ozzy Osbourne on the same track? Only so few.
It’s up to your discretion whether you like albums that tell a whole story or those that just have good music. If it’s the former, this album probably isn’t for you. This album just has great music entirely. What makes it special is that, even with the large track list and number of collaborations, Post Malone never loses track of himself while taking risks. He throws jabs at Los Angeles while talking about love and the enemies in his old home. This album is just art.
Favorite Songs: “Enemies”, “A Thousand Bad Times”, “Die For Me”, “On The Road”, “Staring At The Sun”, “Sunflower”, “Goodbyes”, and “Wow”.
So what if we didn’t get albums from Drake, Lil Uzi, Kendrick Lamar, and others? 2019 was solid, and it was a fitting end to this decade in music. Music (especially hop-hop) blew up like never before. And, with the emergence of these new school (and high school) rappers, anything seems possible. What a year and decade in music. What was your favorite album of 2019? Let me know.
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