2016 Albums
My music section is going to be a fluid process for a bit as I figure out the best way to streamline it. I have decided that posting my iTunes current rotation playlist isn’t exactly the best way to do things, as I’m adding new albums to it every single week. My current idea is to list the albums I listened to each year – starting with 2016 – and give brief ratings to anything I got a good feel for and posting a more in depth review for an Album Of The Moment every few weeks. This page will be under construction for a little while.
Edit: I will have a brief summary for the albums with ratings soon. Albums without a rating just means I either haven’t listened to it enough or I don’t really know how I feel about it.
Music Rating Scale:
9 – Potential Classic
8 – Essential Listening
7 – Highly Enjoyable
6 – Recommended
5 – Decent
4 – Lackluster
3 – Crap
2 – Pathetic
1 – Torture Material
January
Anderson.Paak – Malibu – 6.5 – Dude’s voice has become ubiquitious in the hip-hop world and this album was an early favorite.
Rihanna – ANTI – 6 – An album that surprised me; most of the songs are good on here.
Sia – This Is Acting – 6 – Another surprising album; this one is crafted from songs Sia wrote that other pop artists rejected and it sounds like hit after hit after hit.
February
Statik KXNG – Statik KXNG – 6 – Crooked I teams up with noted producer Statik Selektah for this ten track album that features a lot of good rapping over solid production.
Kanye West – The Life Of Pablo – 6.5 – I like this album more than Yeezus and the 808 album, but less than all his other work. There’s some great songs on here (“Famous,” “FML,” “Wolves”).
BJ The Chicago Kid – In My Mind – 6.5 – I haven’t listened to this from start to finish yet but I keep adding songs to my Best Of 2016 playlist (“Shine,” “The New Cupid,” “Church”). I suspect if I ever give it a full listen it will be amongst my favorite of the year.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I’ve Made
March
Bas – Too High To Riot – 6.5
Flatbush Zombies – 3001: A Laced Odyssey – 6
Dvsn – Sept. 5th – 6.5 – 10 songs on this album and half of them are hits. “With Me” and “In + Out” are JAMS.
Noname – Telefone
Kamaiyah – A Good Night In The Ghetto – 5.5
Alkaline – New Level Unlocked
Kendrick Lamar – untitled unmastered – 7
April
Musiq Soulchild – Life On Earth
Royce da 5’9″ – Layers – 3.5 – There are 15 songs on this album; I gave three of them more than 2 stars (out of 5). “Tabernacle” and “Wait” are dope but the rest of the album is garbage. Royce has top 20 all-time talent, but his inconsistency is maddening.
TWENTY88 – TWENTY88
Weezer – The White Album
Drake – Views
DJ Quik – Rosecrans EP – 5.5 – Pretty surprising this dude is releasing solid music in 2016, but at least half of this 6 track EP is good and the rest is decent.
Aesop Rock – The Impossible Kid
May
James Blake – The Colour In Anything
Kaytranada – 99.9%
Foesum – What Legends Are Made Of
Car Seat Headrest – Teens Of Denial
Chance The Rapper – Coloring Book – 7.5
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
June
Vic Mensa – There’s A Lot Going On EP – 7
Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Getaway
YG – Still Brazy
Marian Hill – ACT ONE
Desiigner – New English – 2.5 – Game says it best: “hit you with lame one liners/ everybody soundin’ the same, like Future and Desiigner.” I tried to give this a chance, but I couldn’t do it.
July
Logic – Bobby Tarantino
Blood Orange – Freetown Sound
Snoop Dogg – Coolaid – 3 – This rating is a bit unfair as I haven’t listened to most of the album. I’ve actually liked Snoop’s most recent releases a lot – Bush and 7 Days Of Funk – but I didn’t like a single song I heard on this.
ScHoolboy Q – Blank Face LP – 9 – My frontrunner for Album Of The Year, every song on this album is good to great with the exception of one. Half the album could make my Best Of 2016 playlist.
DJ Khaled – Major Key
Warm Brew – Diagnosis EP – 7.5
Lil Uzi Vert – The Perfect LUV Tape
August
Frank Ocean – Blonde – 7
Vince Staples – Prima Donna EP
De La Soul – and the Anonymous Nobody…
Atmosphere – Fishing Blues
Mick Jenkins – The Healing Component
September
Isaiah Rashad – The Sun’s Tirade – 7.5
Travis Scott – Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight – 7
Mac Miller – The Divine Feminine
Tory Lanez – I Told You
Bambu – Prey For The Devil – Changing my mind on this one a re-evaluating.
Usher – Hard II Love
Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition
Bon Iver – 22, A Million
Solange – A Seat At The Table
October
Francis And The Lights – Farewell, Starlite! – 7.5
Bubba Sparxxx – Bubba Mathis EP – 5.5
T.I. – U.S. Or Else EP
Apollo Brown & Skyzoo – The Easy Truth – 6
Green Day – Revolution Radio
2 Chainz – COLLEGROVE
D.R.A.M. – Big Baby D.R.A.M. – 6 – This album is a mixture of rap and R&B that starts off a bit slow, but picks up in the middle and finishes solidly. D.R.A.M. is at his best when he’s making playful songs (“Cash Machine,” “Cute,” “Broccoli”).
NxWorries – Yes Lawd!
November
Joe Budden – Rage & The Machine
Dame D.O.L.L.A. – The Letter O
Alicia Keys – Here – 7
Common – Black America Again – 7
The Chainsmokers – Collage EP
A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here… Thanks 4 Your Service
KXNG Crooked – Good vs Evil
Bruno Mars – 24K Magic
Metallica – Hardwired… To Self-Destruct
E-40 – The D-Boy Diary
The Weeknd – Starboy
Duke Evers – Velvet Hips
LE$ – Olde English
December
Childish Gambino – “Awaken, My Love”
John Legend – Darkness and Light
J. Cole – 4 Your Eyez Only
Ab Soul – Do What Thou Wilt.
The Bat Cave 