Every day this week, Hip-Hop Wired and the Wired 25 will be counting down the best of everything from 2012.
Today, Hip-Hop Wired takes on the task of counting down the 25 best albums of 2012. All of the albums here were either released independently or through a major label from January 1st 2012 to December 18th, 2012.
After breaking down the best mixtapes of 2012 yesterday, the albums were a much more meticulous task of evaluating. With quality going above everything, this was not a popularity contest. The good thing about 2012 was the amount of outstanding records that were broken this year.
Our much talked about mid-year Wired 25 list could have had a number of albums take the top spot. At the end of the year, there were two albums that could really stake that claim for the top spot (oh, you know the two).
Check out today’s Wired 25 of The Top 25 Albums of 2012 after the jump.
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Photo: YouTube
25. E-40 – The Block Brochure: 1,2, &3
E-40’s triple album, Welcome To The Soil, was a pleasant surprise in 2012. It showed that you can still teach some old dogs, new tricks. Function to that.
24. LeCrae – Gravity
LeCrae pulled off the seemingly impossible by making Gospel rap that was far from corny and debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200.
23. Smoke Dza and Harry Fraud – Rugby Thompson
The mixture of Harry Fraud’s smooth production and Dza’s hard edged lyrics made for a great combination for the Polo feens.
22. The Weeknd – Trilogy
Re-selling a bunch of tracks that all of your fans got for free? Sounds like another Canadian artist we heard of. Looks like that worked out for both of them.
21. Curren$y – The Stoned Immaculate
Spitta’s work on his own has been well documented and celebrated. Once he got a major label to back him up, it only enhanced his work. Pharrel, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa and more hopped in the muscle car to deliver this gem.
20. 2 Chainz – Based On A T.R.U. Story
Although the album lacks cohesion, there was no denying the amount of certified hit records that Pastor Chainz delivered on his Def Jam debut album. “No Lie,” “Birthday Song,” and now “I’m Different” ruled in 2012.
19. Meek Mill – Dreams And Nightmares
Meek Mill proved that he can make great records without trying to destroy your ear drums on Dreams And Nightmares. He flexed his storytelling ability on “Tony’s Story 2” and “Traumatized” while destroying clubs on “Believe It” and “Amen.”
18. Future – Pluto
Just on style points alone, Future carved out a distinctive niche in 2012. Bringing auto-tune back from the dead, Future swung for the fences on “Tony Montana,” “Same Damn Time,” and “Turn On The Lights,” and connected each time.
17. Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream
Miguel’s second strong album boasted the biggest R&B song of the year in “Adorn” as well as some added edge to the kid with the funny haircut.
16. T.I. – Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head
It took him long enough, but the Kang got his mojo back with Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head. The originator of trap music brought it back where it all started while not straying away from his much publicized trouble, man.
15. Big K.R.I.T. – Live From The Underground
Krizzle’s debut album under Def Jam wasn’t a commercial success, but it doesn’t take away from the album’s quality. The rapper/producer made new fans on joints like “I Got This” and kept true to his original base with songs like “My Sub Pt. 2”
14. El-P – Cancer 4 Cure
The Susan Lucci of this list, C4C barely missed the mid-year list of albums and mixtapes but comes back with a vengeance at the end of the year. Records like “The Full Retard” and “Oh Hail No” make this project stand out of the pack.
13. Game – Jesus Piece
The knock on Game is that if he could just stop wildin’ out in public and let his music do the talking, he’d be in an elite class. Jesus Piece affirmed that as this star-studded album capped off a banner year for the West Coast as a region.
12. G.O.O.D. Music – Cruel Summer
Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz and the rest of the crew dropped this heavily anticipated group album off of the heels of singles like “Mercy,” “Clique” and “New God Flow.” The added touches of Ghostface Killah, R. Kelly, and Raekwon made this a must have even if it isn’t on the same caliber of Mr. West’s solo classics.
11. Lupe Fiasco – Food And Liqour 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1
Lupe Fiasco tells the f***ed up history of your ancestors in this sequel to his debut album. A far departure from LASERS (even though they were recorded at the same time), F&L2 was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich of hard-driven political messages and lyrical exercises over solid instrumentation.
10. Ab Soul – controlSYSTEM
Soul-Oh finally got to eat with his independent album, controlSYSTEM. Backed heavily by his TDE crew including the late Alori Joh, the “black lip bastard” stood out on records like “Empathy,” “Illuminate” and “Soulo Ho3.”
9. Wiz Khalifa – O.N.I.F.C.
Although his solo debut made a killing on Billboard, Wiz Khalifa wasn’t satisfied artistically. In his sophomore effort, the Taylor Gang general took the wheel and delivered on O.N.I.F.C. With standout records with Pharrell, Cam’Ron, Juicy J and his wife-to-be Amber Rose; we all felt like we were in first class.
8. Rick Ross – God Forgives, I Don’t
Ricky Rozay’s well orchestrated 2012 was centered around his magnum opus, God Forgives, I Don’t. The cinematic fifth studio album from Ross solidified himself as a major player in the music business. With records like the sensual “Diced Pineapples” to the incredible “3 Kings,” and “Sixteen,” the Bawse stood tall and entered the A-List of Hip-Hop stars.
7. Big Boi – Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors
No Andre? No problem. General Patton flawlessly seamed together the Outkast album we all wanted without the actual duo. “In The A” is a down south anthem in the making while “She Said Ok” manages to be, as ‘Twan puts it “freaky, yet classy.” We would call this album a surprise, but when has Big Boi ever disappointed? We thought so.
6. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
Blah blah blah bravery. Blah blah blah courage. Blah blah blah Tumblr, we get it. We know the entire back story of this album from Frank Ocean. The bottom line is that this album is a cohesive, beautiful, and heartfelt R&B album with an edge made for the late 80s/90s babies. From the Playstation One introduction to the Dragon Ball Z-inspired “Pink Matter,” with Andre 3000; Frank knocked this out the park. Now bring home a Grammy, kid.
5. Roc Marciano – Reloaded
Remember when rappers rapped, and rapped real good? Roc Marci remembers. On Reloaded, his no nonsense approach to his music is on full display as he takes on most of the production duties himself with help from Q-Tip and The Alchemist. Features are light and it helps elevate the appreciation of Marci’s lyricism.
4. Schoolboy Q – Habits And Contradictions
Released damn near an entire calendar year ago, “the real Puff Daddy’s” Habits and Contradictions still holds up. One of the rare times where an indie kid breaks out a legit radio single (“Hands On The Wheel” ft. ASAP Rocky) out of a cohesive body of work is always something to marvel at. Other than that, “Blessed,” “Grooveline Pt. 1,” and the hilariously titled “Druggys With H**s” again were the standouts and set a standard for TDE in their breakout 2012.
3. Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
The criminally underrated Killer Mike educates and entertains in his latest effort, R.A.P. Music. The controversial ‘Reagan” opened eyes to a lot of B.S. that the government feeds us and the messed up conception of what “wealth” is. On that one song along, you will be hooked. The rest is gravy.
1B. Nas – Life Is Good
What else can be said about this album that hasn’t already been said? Always at his best when he is being brutally honest, Nas reclaimed his legendary form before this album dropped with memorable guest appearances on Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled’s albums. As soon as “No Introduction” came on when the first track started, you knew that you were about to encounter something amazing. Followed up with the gritty “Loco-Motive” and “A Queens Story,” Nas showed flashes of Illmatic greatness. His most personal tracks including “Daughters,” “Bye Baby,” and “Stay” were examples of looking in to Mr. Jones soul. Tracks like “The Don,” and “Summer On Smash” had the rapper at his boastful best. It is hard to find fault in this album. Unskippable, flawless Hip-Hop.
1A. Kendrick Lamar – good kid/m.A.A.d. city
It’s one thing to have an album that you won’t skip tracks on , but good kid/m.A.A.d. city is an album you literally cannot skip a track on. The album literally will not make sense to you if you listen out of order. Appropriately named A Short Film By Kendrick Lamar, this album is a movie; not in the cheesy DJ Khaled sense. There are characters (Sherane, Mom, Pops,) a plot, a rising action, a climax, falling action and a resolution. Even the song’s single “Swimming Pools” takes on an entirely different meaning once heard in succession with the rest of the songs. Kendrick Lamar pulled off the rare action of a universally renowned debut album. He joined Nas, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G. and more that have delivered flawless solo debut albums. With all that said, never let K.Dot borrow your car. Trust us.
