The 5 Best Hip-Hop Albums Of 2014

Tahitia Allante

10 years ago

Cadillactica- Big K.R.I.T.

People started to wonder about Big K.R.I.T. after his excellent run of mixtapes and upsetting debut album. Although Cadillactica is not a huge chart topper, it is more of a personal triumph and quickly became one of the most recognized rap albums this year.

Oxymoron-Schoolboy Q

2014 was TDE’s year. The record label released a total of four albums from their artists like Ab-Soul, SZA, and Schoolboy Q. The one that stood out the most was Schoolboy Q’s “Oxymoron” and it fuels the most fire. Full of hypnotic beats, gritty verses, and reminisce of dark pasts, the album display’s Q’s transition from Hoover street drug dealer to great dad and rap star.

Broke With Expensive Taste- Azealia Banks

Since her 2012 hit “212” Harlem-rapper Azealia Banks has been involved in Twitter beefs and label issues she finally dropped her music debut album “Broke With Expensive Taste” independently. The new Harlem “It” girl is known for combining culture, electronic music, and traditional rap flow. Not only is “Broke With Expensive Taste” is one of 2014’s most loved albums, it shows Banks’ creativity, which has not been seen in a female rapper since Missy Elliot’s debut “Supa Dupa Fly.”

PRhyme-PRhyme

Excellence is what is expected when one of the best producers DJ Premier and one of the best lyricists in the game Royce Da 5’9 unite and create something quite legendary in the hip hop world. Royce’s gritty voice over samples from other artists like Jay Z, Method Man, and Eric B. & Rakim is enough to stop any rap fan in their tracks and make them listen. Also, look out for the guest verses from Jay Electronica, Mac Miller, and Slaughterhouse.

1.2014 Forest Hills Drive- J. Cole

Roc Nation’s J. Cole surprised everyone with a complete new third studio album. Without any features and no promotion Cole provided on of hip-hop best gems of the year. Stripping his music to just dope beats and raw lyrics, “2014 Forest Hill Drive” is aggressive yet honest, even when he’s reminiscing about his adolescence, the low standards of women today, politics, or the loss of authenticity in Hip-Hop.