Lets Talk Rap

Eternal Atake – Lil Uzi Vert
1. Rating: 10/10
2. Most Popular: P2
3. Favorite: Silly Watch
  1. Analysis: Finally after years of disputes with his label, a brief retirement, ensuing singles announcing a comeback, and just general wait, Uzi released his long-awaited Eternal Atake, and to most fans, it didn’t disappoint. He decided to split the album into 3 different “moods” with the additional 2 tracks at the end being previously dropped singles. The first 6 songs are done by his persona “Baby Pluto” and give off a more drill/aggressive rager type vibe while he raps about the cliche rapper things, money/cars drugs, etc. His second personality begins with the track I’m Sorry. This personality name is Renji, and this site is much more somber, soft, and slower vibes in general. He raps about his exes, their unloyalty, and how he feels he has always been on his own. Finally with the track Urgency, having the only feature, the artist Syd formerly of Odd Future, he goes to his main Uzi personality which is a culmination of his two previous selves. He raps about how he has bettered himself and makes some references to he has moved on from his exes. This also was Uzis’s most successful album with every single one of the songs landing on Billboard’s top 100 list.
Wunna (Deluxe) – Gunna
1. Rating: 10/10
2. Most Popular: Dollaz On My Head ft. Young Thug
3. Favorite: Relentless feat. Lil Uzi Vert
  1. Analysis: A year after dropping his largely disappointing “drip or drown 2” Gunna makes a huge comeback with his melodic flows on Wunna. The version I prefer was the Deluxe, which featured a few more tracks that I liked a little better. While the beats vary throughout the album, Gunna still flows on the beat like he’s floating. His silky smooth vocals make this album great to listen to pretty much anytime, working out, working on schoolwork, or driving around with friends. The features on this album are also who’s who of the top of the Rap game. His biggest song from this album Dollaz On My Head featuring the rapper who inspired him most, Young Thug.
Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World 2 – Lil Uzi Vert
1. Rating: 9.2/10
2. Most Popular: Myron
3. Favorite: Yessirskii feat. 21 Savage
  1. Analysis: This album really cemented the fact that this would be Uzi’s year, with him peaking with over 20 songs on billboard top 100 after this release. While it was technically listed as the deluxe for Eternal Atake, Uzi gave it its own title as well as being an additional 14 songs. This album was nearly perfect with only one song I would consider a skip. This is where many of the leaks of his album would finally release, including the famed “Kobe” with a feature from famed Chicago drill artist Chief Keef, releasing under the title “Bean” and leaked “Supreme” being released as “Myron”.
Emergency Tsunami – NAV
1. Rating: 9.2/10
2. Most Popular: Don’t Need Friends ft. Lil Baby
3. Favorite: Vehement Socks
  1. Analysis: While most in the Hip Hop community continues to slander NAV for his “basic” rhymes and beat, I still appreciate his music. His voice reminds me of Gunna plenty albeit slightly less deep. He floats on this album, with every song being unique in its style and beat.
Circles – Mac Miller
1. Rating: 9.1./10
2. Most Popular: Good News
3. Favorite: Everybody
  1. Analysis: In his first post-humorous album, his team shows just how great Mac Miler could have been and painted the picture of what his road was looking at. Mac has been in the scene since about 2010 when he started with a much more hip-hop style, however, this album as well as his previous “swimming” shows a style leaning more towards an indie/pop/RnB hybrid. This album is unique in every sense of the word, with beats ranging from upbeat on songs such as Blue World or the somberness of the opener Circles.
Heaven Or Hell – Don Toliver
1. Rating: 9.1/10
2. Most Popular: After Party
3. Favorite: Had Enough ft. Quavo & Offset
  1. Analysis: In his debut studio album, a co-sign from one of the biggest artists in the game Travis Scott, as well as signing to his label Cactus Jack, Don Toliver had high expectations. And he exceeded every single one. This album is as close to a perfect album as you can be. With wildly popular TikTok songs such as After Party and No Idea, and prominent features such as 2/3rd of the huge Migos trio featuring on his hit Had Enough, and even including leaks such as Cardigan, there’s something for everyone on Heaven or Hell. Even his one song close to a skip, Candy, isn’t terrible, though just not my style. I have big expectations for Toliver’s future.
Whole Lotta Red – Playboi Carti
1. Rating: 9.1/10
2. Most Popular: Slay3r
3. Favorite: Slay3r
  1. Analysis: After 2 agonizing years waiting for artist Playboi Cartis 3rd studio, he finally dropped it on December 25th, when the hype for it reached an all-time high. Executive Produced by 2020 Presidential Candidate Kanye Omari West, people were mostly split on this album. It debuts at number one on the billboard 100 charts, obvious largely because of his hype. The final months leading up to this album was a picture-perfect marketing ploy as well, with Carti teasing songs, as well as leaking the Kanye producer credit to large hip-hop name, DJ Akademics. It also launched another artist’s career in the process, Mario Judah, who used his platform to say what all Carti and Hip-Hop fans were thinking: DROP THE ALBUM. Using the hype from this Mario claimed if he did not post it by December 11th he would be “dropping it for him” and he did just that dropping his “Whole Lotta Red” around that time, with each song garnering over a million views and the single Bih Yah from it blowing up on the famed app TikTok. There was even controversy on the release day and day after, as his ex-lover, Iggy Azalea revealed that he was not present on their babies first Christmas, was cheating on her throughout the pregnancy process, how he wasn’t even there for his child’s birth and hasn’t even signed the birth certificate. This brought up a familiar topic in the music world, do you separate the artist as a person, from his music? In my case, I did, and I appreciate this experimental, not typical rap album from Carti.
My Turn – Lil Baby
1. Rating: 9.0/10
2. Most Popular: Woah
3. Favorite: Catch The Sun
  1. Analysis: This album took some time to grow on me, as did Lil Baby as an artist but I quickly learned that he sounds similar to Gunna, but with more hard-hitting beats, and harder more sophisticated flows. Plenty of the songs on there could be viewed as “aux-worthy”
Detroit 2 – Big Sean
1. Rating: 8.8/10
2. Most Popular: Wolves Ft. Post Malone
3. Favorite: Friday Night Cypher ft. Tee Grizzley, Kash Doll, Payroll Giovanni, Cash Kidd, 42 Dugg, Boldly James, Drego, Sada Baby, Royce Da 5’9”, Eminem
  1. Analysis: As with Eternal Atake, Big Sean released his Detroit two with the intention of it having different themes, albeit the songs were not in a string and were more chopped up and re-released into EPs with their fitting songs. They featured a “Wellness” portion with my favorite of those being the hit ZTFO where Big Sean encourages you to zen/calm down. His second “theme” was Blessings, with my personal favorite being “Why Would I Stop?” a hard-hitting, slightly basic, song where Big Sean flexes how he believes he is on top of his game right now. 3rd would be the Healing theme, which features his biggest song from the album featuring the Hitmaker, Post Malone. His final “theme” was Spirit, which is littered with features, and has my personal favorite song, Friday Nigh Cypher which is a who’s who of the Detroit rap game right now, including Eminem, an artist who in my opinion has vastly fallen off yet still does his part with his freestyle on this song. The album also tells the story of Detroit legends with interludes/stories from Dave Chappelle, Erykah Badu, and Stevie Wonder. This started off as my choice for Album Of The Year and in terms of story-telling and raw production, this would still be my choice. While albums such as EA, Wunna, and Heaven or Hell have bigger reaches and are my personal favorites, Detroit 2 is the best spectacle.
I’m Gone – Iann Dior
1. Rating: 8.8/10
2. Most Popular: Prospect ft. Lil Baby
3. Favorite: Good Day
  1. Analysis: The final album is also the shortest, with his 3rd project, Iann releases (at the time) some of his best work. Now, most of the work has been passed by his huge, astronomical, massive hit Mood with artist 24kGoldn, at the time of this release it was his best work. It was an accurate portrayal of how versatile Iann is, with a pop hit in Party Girl, a hard-hitting trap-type song in Prospect with a smooth Asian beat, and a summer-driving hit in Good Day, Iann rarely let down on this album, although he still receives plenty of slander with the indication that his an “Industry Plant” meaning he was given all the tools to be successful from a Label, who also did all of the promotion, with Iann doing likely little of the work himself. Again bringing up, separate the music from the Artist?
Honorable Mentions –
1. Good Intentions – NAV
  1. Rating: 8.8/10
  2. Most Popular: Turks ft. Gunna and Travis Scott
  3. Favorite: She Hurtin
2. Baby Pluto x Pluto – Lil Uzi Vert x Future
  1. Rating: 8.7/10
  2. Most Popular: Drankin n Smokin
  3. Favorite: Marni On Me
3. Limbo (Deluxe) – Amine
  1. Rating: 8.5/10
  2. Most Popular: Mrs. Clean
  3. Favorite: Zack & Cody ft. Valee

Top 10 Albums of 2020

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