Wale's "The Mixtape About Nothing" was available for download on 5/30/2008
Wale
The Mixtape About Nothing
(mixtape)
There’s much to be said for Wale even choosing Seinfeld as the backdrop of an entire album. When toying with one the greatest sitcoms of this era, the potential to completely screw up is extremely high. So how did this D.C. upstart manage to mix the wit of Jerry and Elaine to his go-go flow without coming off as silly as George or Kramer? With incredible music, proper placement of show dialogue, and pure rap skill,The Mixtape About Nothing was worth more than it’s free price tag. Way more.
- Brad Wete
Jazmine Sullivan's "Fearless" was released on 9/23/08
Jazmine SullivanFearless
(J Records)
Not since Jill Scott has a singer from Philly come with a stronger freshman effort. Jazmine Sullivan’s 12-track debut runs the gamut of emotions, from the stewing anger of “Bust Your Windows” to the dramatic trepidation of “Lions, Tigers & Bears”. Not only is it the debut album of the year, it’s a debut that lets us know Sullivan will be around for years to come. - Jozen Cummings
Portishead's "Third" was released on 04/29/08
PortisheadThird
(Island)
Portishead used to make something they called trip-hop. Now they just make break-your-face music. Their third album of original material—nearly a decade in waiting—once again wrangles and recalibrates the sad, cinematic scope of the trio’s groundbreaking ’90s sound, but producer Geoff Barrow gives singer Beth Gibbons something new to wail over: neck-snap drums. “Machine Gun” is the hardest knock you’ll hear this year—rap, pop, rock or otherwise. - Sean Fennessey
Lil Wayne's Tha Carter II was released on 8/18/08
Lil WayneTha Carter III
(Cash Money/Universal)
What is left to say about this album? A scattershot batch of experiments; a tumbling audio capture of stardom in bloom; a dazzlingly schizophrenic tableau; a rapper’s rap album; a singer’s rap album; a dysfunctional masterpiece. Wayne finally did it 2008, after years of anticipation, channeling his off-kilter flows, dialing up his songwriting chops, and breaking through the Southern stigma with a wondrous, wounded album that knew no convention it wouldn’t destroy. So, Carter IV anyone? - Sean Fennessey
Ne-Yo's "Year of the Gentleman" was released on 09/16/08
Ne-Yo
Year of the Gentleman
(Def Jam)
Ne-Yo’s third album, Year of The Gentleman, serves as the perfect example of how one matures, but stays true to themselves. Granted, songs like his worldwide hit “Closer” and album cuts like “Single” saw him make the transformation from relationship prey to predator. But a complete listen to Gentleman uncovers throwbacks (“Fade Into the Background”) to Shaffer Smith’s humble beginnings. It shows that Ne-Yo will keep making the tracks you expect, and some that you don’t and still love.
- Brad Wete
Erykah Badu's "New Amerykah" was released on 2/26/2008
Erykah Badu
New Amerykah, Part 1: The 4th World War
(Motown)
Neo soul queen? Please. On her fifth album, Badu continues her ambitious evolution as one of music’s most unpredictable troubadours. Whether celebrating the life-changing virtues of hip hop on “The Healer,” imploring the ‘hood’s self reliance on “Soldier” or displaying her much underrated vocal brilliance on the melancholy “Telephone,” the Dallas innovator fashions grooves that are as explosively funky as they are avant-garde. - Keith Murphy
Kanye West's "808s & Heartbreak" was released on 11/24/2008
Kanye West808s & Heartbreak
(Def Jam)
The most polarizing album of the year, but hey, we like it. Kanye’s fourth album is a gut-wrenching ode to lost love that abandons rap in favor of this year’s studio gadget du jour, Auto-Tune. Singing his heart out instead of rapping his head off, Yeezy somehow manages to create a deeply personal album that anyone who has loved and lost can relate to. - Jozen Cummings
Nas's untitled was released on July 1, 2008
NasUntitled
(Def Jam)
Let the cynics debate the sincerity of Nasir Jones’ at times uneven but challenging dissection of societies most polarizing, racially charged word. Lyrically breathtaking (“Queens Get The Money”), incendiary (“Testify”) and cautiously hopeful (“Black President”)—it’s a sobering reminder that even in president elect Barack Obama’s post racial era, America’s turbulent past is never far behind. - Keith Murphy
Radiohead released "In Rainbows" on 1/1/08
RadioheadIn Rainbows
(Ato Records)
Much of the initial hype surrounding Thom Yorke and the gang’s glorious return to form was their groundbreaking offering to fans, allowing the diehards to name their own price for a download of veteran band’s new album. The pay off? A spirited work that seamlessly connected Radiohead’s trippy ‘90s guitar-driven songwriting with their penchant for experimental electronica. Among the highlights: the soaring “Weird Fishes/Arpreggi” in which you can almost envision the usually cryptic Yorke smiling. - Keith Murphy
Young Jeezy's "The Recession" was released on 7/29/08
Young JeezyThe Recession
(Def Jam)
Rarely does an album speak to its time as precisely as Jeezy’s third effort. Before Bush wanted to even say the word, Jeezy entitled his album The Recession and bore an 18-track opus with gangsta grit and conscious diatribes. “Crazy World” and “Circulate” are two songs explaining how even your neighborhood dope boy has fell on hard times, but nothing tops the triumphant forecasting of “My President”, which has grown into the unofficial national anthem. - Jozen Cummings
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