So many artist dropped new music, and many new artist became very popular. Out of everything that released in 2018, here are my top 10 albums of the year.

10. Tha Carter V – Lil Wayne

This album not only captures the stellar production, amazing lyricism, and wordplay that made all the other “Tha Carter” albums great but also is a fantastic album that has its own unique vibe that is separate from the others. This album is definitely a flash from the past, as the songs sound like they were taken right out of the 90’s because of the beat arrangements and use of keyboard sounds imitating Dr. Dre. This is a very old-school sounding album, which is in no way a flaw. It is the perfect blend of mainstream trap infused rap, and old-school hip-hop. 

Wayne has a traumatic background. At the age of 12, he found his mom’s gun and attempted to kill himself with it, shooting himself in the chest. He dives deep into this subject on the final song on the album titled “Let It All Work Out”,  featuring vocals from UK R&B artist Sampha.

Wayne raps, “I didn’t die, but as I was dying. God came to my side, and we talked about it. He sold me another life, and he made a prophet.”

One of the most popular songs on the album is “Mona Lisa,” featuring veteran rapper Kendrick Lamar. “Mona Lisa” tells the story of a girl cheating on her boyfriend with rappers that have money, like Lamar and Wayne. The lyrical flow of these two is unmatched on its own, but on a song together, it is perfect.

No doubt this album is one of the best of the year.

9. Ye – Kanye West

Kanye West had a very interesting year, still dealing with the death of his mother and being under the influence of many drugs while making this album. He raps about things he said that people thought were stupid, he raps about letting his wife and everyone down, he raps about being worried for his daughter growing up, and much more.

Ye could’ve been much better than it is, but West admitted he rushed the album to meet the date he said it would release. Earlier in 2018, West appeared on TMZ and said some questionable things, which he got a lot of heat for. West said after the TMZ appearance, he deleted all the songs he had in the album and started over. West makes his own beats, and writes his own songs. He is one of the most creative and talented artist in the game.

Ye tells more stories than any other album on this list, yet it only has 7 tracks. In “Yikes”, West raps about drugs, specifically about addiction and intoxication. In “All Mine”, he raps about following your desire even if it means ruining other things in your life. He then goes on to list many celebrities who have been caught cheating on their significant others. Around the same time as this album, Tristan Thompson had been rumoured to be cheating on Khloe Kardashian. Khloe is related to West, as he married her sister, Kim. In “Violent Crimes”, West raps about his fears of his daughter growing up and facing the harsh realities of life. Overall Ye is an amazing album, although it may not have been as good as some of Kanye West’s other projects. 

8. DiCaprio 2 – JID

JID is signed to the Dreamville Record label, which is owned by J.Cole. Cole is also featured on a song with JID.

The album is titled DiCaprio 2 because he is comparing himself to Leonardo DiCaprio, they both are very talented yet like DiCaprio, he is underappreciated for his talents. JID has been compared to Kendrick Lamar many times, and with Lamar being arguably the best rapper in the game, that should be a huge accomplishment for JID.

DiCaprio 2 is filled with features, such as A$AP Ferg, J. Cole, 6Lack, Method Man and many more. One of the best songs on the album is “Off Deez” featuring J. Cole. Off Deez is a lyrical onslaught between J. Cole and his Dreamville Records signee JID. The song, which is produced by ChaseTheMoney, is the second official single from DiCaprio 2.

Another good song on the album is “Tiiied” featuring 6Lack and Ella Mai. On this smooth R&B track, JID and 6LACK rap about being tired (tiiied) of a woman who is being unreasonable in their respective relationships. Ella Mai, however, contradicts these allegations, stating that the problem lies within the man’s own insecurities and inner struggles. DiCaprio 2 is an amazing album and JID never seems to disappoint with anything he releases. I can’t wait to see what JID drops next.

7. Oxnard – Anderson .Paak

Anderson .Paak is a very talented individual, he can sing, rap, and dance, and he has such a cool voice. Oxnard touches on everything that different albums have this year, politics, crimes, and love. Oxnard is Anderson .Paak’s third studio album.

This is his first official release on Aftermath Entertainment, executive-produced by Dr. Dre. The title of the album is an homage to Anderson’s hometown of Oxnard, California. It is also a continuation of the theme of naming his albums after west coast cities, such as 2014’s Venice and 2016’s Malibu.

One of the best songs on Oxnard is “Trippy” featuring J. Cole. “Trippy” marks the first collaboration between Anderson .Paak and J. Cole. The topic of the song is love and intimacy with their respective partners. This theme is touched on in the opening sample, featuring late, great comedian Rodney Dangerfield. “Trippy” is one of my favorite songs of the year. Another really good song is “Brother’s Keeper” featuring Pusha T. Pusha is the best possible feature that .Paak could’ve gotten for this song. The two of them on a song together is near perfection. Oxnard is an amazing album and easily .Paak’s best work.

6. CARE FOR ME – Saba

How do you deal with death? There are many different answers to that question. Saba deals with it in the only way he knows how, music. Care For Me is the memory of John Walt, Saba’s cousin and fellow rapper. Walt was stabbed to death in Chicago in early 2017 after getting into an argument on a train.

I only recently discovered Saba and Care For Me, but after listening to it for a few weeks it is easily a top 10 album of the year. Saba is probably the least known artist on this list, yet one of the most talented, especially for his young age. Most of the rappers his age are promoting drugs and violence, but since Saba grew up around those things he knows how bad they can be.

His cousin was murdered and his uncle spent most of his life in prison due to drug charges. He details those things in his song “LIFE”, which is arguably the best song on the album.

“Momma mixed the vodka with the Sprite. They killed my cousin with a pocket knife. While my uncle on the phone. He was gone for more than half my life. He got out a year and then he died. I was honor roll, talking to my father on the phone. Left the city when I was just four,” raps Saba.

After dropping Care For Me, Saba has been dropping singles almost weekly as he works on his next project, which has potential to be the album of the year in 2019.

5. Testing – A$AP Rocky

A$AP Rocky is one of the most talented yet underrated rappers in the game. He released his 3rd studio album Testing this year. Testing was a bit of a let down compared to Rocky’s first two albums, but anything he puts out is a masterpiece. Compared to himself it was a let down, but compared to others it is still a top 5 album of the year.

Testing is the only album on this list that doesn’t actually tell a story. The only song that does is “Changes”, which tells the story of Rocky losing a girl he loved and people all around him finding happiness while he isn’t moving anywhere in his life.

“Look, I got a text from this girl I used to see. Sayin’ that she chose this other guy with whom she wanna be with” Rocky raps.

Rocky brings in many different artist for Testing, such as Frank Ocean, Skepta, Kodak Black, Juicy J and many more. Although it doesn’t really tell a story, Testing is full of songs with beats that make you want to dance and lyrics that really make you think. A few of my favorite songs of 2018 came out of Testing. It’s an album full of really good songs.

4. TA13OO – Denzel Curry

In 2016, Denzel Curry released his breakout song “Ultimate”, it became popular when it was used in a water bottle flipping video, and it became a huge trend. After the trend fell off, so did Curry in a way. Curry still isn’t a very well known artist, but he makes music better than a lot of the rappers in the game. Curry came out of nowhere when he dropped TA13OO, or Taboo. After this release, Curry could be argued to be one of the best in the game.

The album is split into three sections, light, grey, and dark. Across the three sections of TA13OO, Denzel explores topics including the presidential election, fame, hatred, paranoia, revenge, love, the current state of music and personal tales of his own near death experiences. Curry is a very talented artist lyric wise and he has incredible potential. TA13OO is no doubt a top 5 album of the year.

3. ASTROWORLD – Travis Scott

Two years ago, Travis Scott released Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, which was mediocre at best. This August, Scott released his third studio album ASTROWORLD. Everyone’s expectations were pretty high, since he had two years to work on it. Not only did Scott meet everyone’s expectations, he truly exceeded them.

The album is titled after Six Flags Astroworld, a popular Houston amusement park. The park was demolished in 2005. Leading up to the announcement of the album’s release date, gold inflatable Travis Scott heads popped up in various locations, including Amoeba Music in Los Angeles, Minute Maid Park in Houston (home to the Houston Astros), and on top of the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.

The most popular song on the album is “SICKO MODE” featuring Drake, Big Hawk, and Swae Lee, although Lee never appeared in the music video. SICKO MODE refers to Scott and Drake’s work ethic, showing they’re a cut above the competition by going into “sicko” or “beast” mode. Astroworld was by far Scott’s best work and i’m not sure how he will top this with his next album.

2. KIDS SEE GHOST – Kanye West and Kid Cudi

One week after releasing Ye, Kanye West teamed up with Kid Cudi to drop KIDS SEE GHOST, and it was a masterpiece.

Kids See Ghost is the first collaborative album between friends and rappers, Kanye West and Kid Cudi. The album came out June 8, 2018. It is the third album in a series of five albums executively produced by Kanye, following Pusha-T’s DAYTONA and Kanye’s solo album Ye. It was succeeded by Nas‘ NASIR and Teyana Taylor’s K.T.S.E.

My favorite song on the album is “Cudi Montage”. West uses this song to describe the cycle of violence created by a gang mentality, the far reaching damage it causes, and that being freed from the loop requires a higher power.

“Everybody want world peace. ‘Til your niece get shot in the dome-piece. Then you go and buy your own piece. Hopin’ it’ll help you find your own peace” West raps.

He is explaining the cycle of violence the goes on in the world. “Dome-piece” means your head, whereas the “piece” is referring to a gun. West is saying in serious settings, even peaceful might people go buy their own gun to defend themselves and their families or even enact their revenge.

Kids See Ghost would’ve been the album of the year if it wasn’t for J. Cole.

1. KOD – J. Cole

J. Cole had an outstanding year, with his peak being when he dropped KOD. Cole never said what KOD stood for, he wants people to interpret it themselves. People thought of many different meanings, King OverDosed, Kill Our Demons, and Kids On Drugs to name a few. All of these fit with the album, but Kids On Drugs fits more than anything for KOD.

2018 was a year where hip-hop changed. Many young artist became popular, these are the kids Cole could be referring to. Artist such as Lil Pump, Trippie Redd, Lil Peep, and many more promoted drug use in their songs. Lil Peep died of a drug overdose late in 2017. Many of the songs on this album are directed towards how drug use is bad for you, and how drugs had a major impact on Cole’s life.

“Once an Addict – Interlude” is the 9th song on KOD. The song tells the story of how his step-father would cheat on his mother and broke her heart, driving her into a deep depression and a dark time. Cole describes his mother’s alcoholism and how it affected him.

“Cigarette smoke and greatest hits from Marvin Gaye, she kill a whole bottle of some cheap chardonnay, I gotta leave this house ’cause part of me dies when I see her like this” Cole raps.

He is describing how is mom would stay up late at night drinking and smoking, while listening to Marvin Gaye, an R&B singer, to try and move on from the pain. J. Cole touches on many issues besides drug problems in his life.

In “BRACKETS“ Cole raps about issues with taxes. He raps about making a lot of money, yet the government takes all this money from him and he doesn’t even know what it’s going towards.

“If I’m givin’ y’all this hard-earned bread, I wanna know, better yet, let me decide, it’s 2018 let me pick the things I’m funding from an app on my screen,” raps Cole.

Taxes and drugs aren’t the only things he raps about in the album. Cole touches on everything, from people being addicted to money, to love, to his friends that have died from drug uses. Cole’s beats, which are all self made, lyrics, which he writes himself, and stories he tells in KOD can’t be compared to any other album released this year. KOD is the album of the year, undebatably.