The 5 Year Retrospective of My Personal Top 10 Albums of 2018 (That Absolutely Nobody Asked For)

Long story short: I stumbled upon my Top 10 Albums of 2018 list and it confused me greatly.

I immediately knew that there were some albums that were way too high, some that were way too low, and many that I snubbed or just plain forgot. It was also hard to remember why certain artists were favored more than others, and confounding to sense without listening or even looking at the tracklist that some of these albums do not hold up well. Especially to unexpectedly packed year in Hip-Hop alone.

This caused me to stop and consider where these artists where at in their careers and in pop culture during 2018, which was a wild deep dive and gave me much more appreciation (or lack thereof, in some cases) for their journeys and trajectories.

This may SEEM like the most self-gratifying article ever written, since my original Top 10 Albums of 2018 wasn’t even an article on my own site, but a random Spotify Playlist folder, and a 5 year old personal Top 10 list should mean nothing to anyone, including me. THAT BEING SAID, it feels like the same line of thinking that goes into some of the content at The Ringer and something that Bill Simmons would do on his podcast, and for that very reason I took on this random thought experiment.

THE ORIGINAL LIST:

1. Ye by Kanye West
2. Championships by Meek Mill
3. Tha Carter V by Lil Wayne
4. DAYTONA by Pusha T
5. BEASTMODE II by Future
6. KIDS SEE GHOSTS by KIDS SEE GHOSTS (Kanye West & Kid Cudi)
7. On The Run by Young Thug
8. Suncity by Khalid
9. Invasion of Privacy by Cardi B
10. ASTROWORLD by Travis Scott
11. The Last Rocket by Takeoff
    Note: (I don’t know if this was meant to be an honorable mention or if I just couldn’t count at the time, but it’s eerie and powerful in hindsight nonetheless)

OVERALL INITIAL REACTIONS

Before jumping in Album by Album, I’m simultaneously impressed yet appalled, surprised yet nodding my head in agreement, and understanding yet confused at some of the specific placements. This list is a pretty solid representation of my taste in hip-hop, and an interesting snapshot of a moment in time.

Kanye West in 2018

Kanye was bipolar but not antisemitic. A surprisingly quaint time, in hindsight.

Reflecting on Ye and its Ranking

Jesus. What a weird time it was, with Kanye’s reemergence. We as a music fan collective were so conflicted over this new era of Kanye, but at the same time grateful that his out-of-left-field songs are still better than most other artists’ best hits.

I remember just being confused and bewildered during my first listen through of Ye, I can vividly picture that drive home and saying out loud to myself “This is… it’s just so weird. Why did he make it like this?? And why is it still kinda great?” It was a particularly bad traffic day that afternoon so I listened to it twice back to back. He certainly won me over but I was still so perplexed. “This is Kanye?” turned to “Well this is Kanye” as I began to accept and appreciate that we were getting anything at all, and I hoped that this would be the end of disastrously bipolar Kanye and the beginning of a new and prolific era. Little did I know…

I still look back fondly on Ye and I understandddddd why I couldn’t find anything else to top it at the time. It was too fresh and too stuck in my head. It truly felt like genius, and was a disruptive blow to what I thought rap was and a false flag as to where I thought rap would go from there. (Turns out it was just a weird album and rap would continue on its merry way after this brief period of confusing Kanye production.)

It’s certainly not better than a lot of 2018 albums. It’s arguably not even better than KIDS SEE GHOSTS, but at the time it was all I could think about. Honestly, I still thought it was an arguable classic for what it was up until the disillusionment that I felt after this recent barrage of negative press he drummed up for himself. Now I’m just tired, and I wouldn’t put it in the Top 5. We’ll see where it falls to.

Meek Mill in 2018

Meek Mill had recently been released from prison with some help from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Fanatics CEO / then Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin. Meek’s Philadelphia Eagles had also just won the Super Bowl with Nick Foles outperforming (and out-receiving) Tom Brady and the Patriots. (Everything in that sentence feels more like a decade ago…) It also marked the first collaboration between Drake and Meek Mill after their Summer 2016 beef (more on Drake beef later) and adds another hit to the trilogy of Drake x Meek tracks, following in the footsteps of 2012’s Amen and 2015’s R.I.C.O. (super underrated song from an underrated album, my favorite of Meek’s personally). While Championships and DWMTM are absolute classics that came out immediately after a tumultuous prison sentence, I pray that Meek never goes to prison again.

Reflecting on Championships and its Ranking

Upon first seeing the initial Top 10 list for the first time in years, my eyebrow definitely raised at Championship’s ranking. Initially, I chalked it up to that same joy and excitement I had to have Kanye and Wayne releasing music again. And I thought I remember the album being more Poppy than it actually was. Yes, I remember Uptown Vibes, On Me ft. Cardi B. and the lasting radio hit Going Bad ft. Drake, but this album has more feature-laden bangers like the chill inducing What’s Free ft. Rick Ross and Jay-Z, which was timely then after Meek’s release but has aged phenomenally as one of my favorite Jay verses since 4:44. Tick Tack Toe ft. Kodak and Pay You Back ft. 21 Savage show Meek’s versatility and ability to hang toe to toe with some of the best, hardest rappers around right now, but has chemistry with all of them at the same time. He even went more on the melodic side with 24/7 ft. Ella Mai, the insanely underrated 100 Summers, and Dangerous ft. Jeremih and PnB Rock. Respect the Game and Oodles ‘n’ Noodles Babies are electric Meek tracks with aggressive energy and a breathtaking look at hood politics and growing up poor, which Meek and 2 Chainz tend to deliver more eloquently than anyone. Trauma is one of the better songs Meek has released and it sets the album off right with a high energy yet deeply conscious and contemplative tone that Meek has made his own. Last but not least, Cold Hearted II is an absolute masterpiece and consistently gives me goosebumps. There’s a special type of artist that just knows how to end their albums with an exclamation point, and Meek is certainly in the same camp as Jay-Z in that regard. God damn, Meek Mill is good at what he does.

Whether it budges for one of the Lil Baby projects or Tha Carter V or something Future related, Championships still holds up as a Top 3 album of 2018 for sure and I would argue that’s it’s his best project since Dreams Worth More Than Money, with the chance of actually rivaling it on any given day.

Lil Wayne in 2018

It’s hard to remember now, but Lil Wayne was just finally emerging from a contractural purgatory during this time that felt much longer than a the few years it lasted. Here you have one of the hottest, most prolific, and most respected rappers in modern hip-hop unable to release new music due to an ongoing feud with Cash Money Record head and former collaborator and mentor Birdman.

The release of Tha Carter V was his first full official release since the aptly named FWA (Free Wayne Album) project in 2015, the first commercial release of consequence since 2013’s I Am Not A Human Being II, and most importantly the latest installment of the seminal Tha Carter Series since 2011’s exceptional Tha Carter IV, which I believe broke the internet after/during the MTV VMA’s at the time during the long wait for his first release after his prison stint at Riker’s Island. It’s ironic that this was his second Tha Carter album that had been long promised, long stagnated, and absolutely adored and celebrated once it finally released. In an industry where artists are constantly overpromising and underdelivering on long gestating albums, Lil Wayne is the prime example of over delivering and being worth the wait (next to other elite artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Young Thug, whose long awaited projects continue to hit quality-wise).

Since Tha Carter V, Wayne put out another banger in Funeral with its deluxe counterpart, a Carter V deluxe that nobody was expecting, and an even more unexpected joint project with Rich the Kid titled Trust Fund Babies (where you can hear Wayne absolutely carrying hard the entire time and shows why he runs laps around the next hot mumble rapper). But at the time, it was just so refreshing and exciting to get a new official Lil Wayne album, let alone the monumental (and long as hell) followup in his most iconic series.

Reflecting on Tha Carter V and its Ranking

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Pusha T in 2018

2018 is a weird snapshot for Pusha T because this project was well regarded as one of the best of the year, and it seemed he was gaining some serious momentum prior to the biggest rap beef of 2018 or arguably the decade. While I lightly touched on the exchange between Meek and Drake earlier, that was more of an NBA or NFL shoving match. This was the equivalent of Push bumping into Drake in a hallway with a sneak diss on Infared, Drake shoving him on Duppy Freestyle and expecting it to be over with, and Push absolutely Mike Tyson haymakering the man, his producer, and Adidas for some reason with the absolutely out of pocket diss track (and album cover) Story of Adidon. It was the most insane escalation I’ve seen in my lifetime, and while I’m too young to accurately or intelligently comment on the historic Biggie vs. Pac or Jay vs. Nas beefs, this was certainly an exchange that set the biggest music star in the world on his heels, if not flat on his ass.

But strangely enough, Push was practically silent on the music front from the release of Story of Adidon to a handful of singles in 2019 and then nothing of consequence until his 2022 single Diet Coke and 2022 studio album It’s Almost Dry, which I heard zero buzz about unfortunately. And nothing has followed that release other than him leaving G.O.O.D. music due to Kanye’s meltdown and erratic, controversial behavior. So while I’m excited for him in his new venture, it feels like more of a 50 Cent situation where his epic momentum gained from beefing and rap battling might just coalesce into a few great albums followed by a decade of label work and pencil pushing. But you never know, I suppose.

Reflecting on DAYTONA and its Ranking

Honestly it feels a bit high in hindsight compared to albums that I’ve listened to dozens of times, like BEASTMODE II or On the Run, but from a objective sheer quality standpoint it justifies its placement. The tone throughout the album is dark and menacing. Push’s lyricism and delivery are biting and playful in a haunting way like someone that’s laughing at you when they know they’re about to fuck you up. It feels like a ride through a dangerous area with Push narrating the whole thing, and you’re not about the situation but he’s captivating in his description.

Santeria sticks with you as a dangerous depiction of organized violence. The stretch of drug talk from If You Know You Know to The Games We Play and Hard Piano ft. Rick Ross represents a trilogy of catchy and impressive rhyming and wordplay over thumping production.

I went into this retrospective wanting to bump DAYTONA down a few notches in the ranking but it’s such a good, well produced, well written album that it just might not budge. It’s held up well and it’s a shame that the Whitney Houston album cover drama and the Story of Adidon saga overshadowed what might be Push’s best album (and now I have to listen to It’s Almost Dry after this to find out for sure.)

Future in 2018

2018 was an interesting time for Future Hendrix as he was on the tail end of an absolute historic run. Leading up to BEASTMODE II, He had released 11 acclaimed projects since 2014 in order:

2014: His breakout album Honest and the truly smash success that elevated him, Monster

2015: An incredibly followup and a top 3 Future project Beast Mode, a very solid 56 Nights, DS2, AND What a Time to Be Alive

2016: The salty but iconic Purple Reign , the incredibly underrated front to back banger EVOL, and a solid and rarely discussed collab with DJ Esco called Project E.T.

2017: The amazing two pack of the banger filled self-title FUTURE and the more R&B focused also self-titled HNDRXX, AND the absolutely sensational Future x Young Thug collab SUPER SLIMEY that only gets better with age.

2018 saw BEASTMODE II, which was tight with great hooks and exceptional features, and very deserving of its name. But he also released the WRLD ON DRUGS collab with Juice WRLD that I didn’t appreciate fully until later, and shamefully left off the list. Future would go on to releasee the incredible album THE WIZRD and the haunting EP Save Me in 2019, with an okay album High on Life and a very fun out of left field collab album with Lil Uzi titled Pluto x Baby Pluto, with the Deluxe version serving as the true version to me. But 2018 was truly the crown jewel of this era of Future’s incredible run, and the beginning of his descent into weirdness (insert King’s Dead lyrics “La di da di da, slob on me knob”). And although not much as changed in regards to his saltiness and poor relationship with his ex baby mama’s, it felt especially notable and culturally relevant during this time.

Reflecting on BEASTMODE II and its Ranking

Wi-Fi Lit, Cuddle My Wrist, and 31 Days are wildly catchy, and show that Future’s ability to make these high energy head bobbing bangers has never left. He has so many different flows and he can keep each melody going over the course of an entire song without it feeling old or worn out. The fact that Doh Doh with Young Scooter is the only feature on the album shows how secure Future is in his songwriting ability and mastery of the mic. Whether he’s crooning, mumbling, or straight up yelling, he’s able to creature different vibes and moods over the course of the tape without anyone other than Zaytoven. He’s a beast on Doh Doh too, but that’s besides the point.

Racks Blue shouldn’t work at all because it’s a dumb premise for a hook but, as always, Future makes it cool so it lands.

Hate the Real Me is sad Future Hendrix at his absolute best. The lyrics are so deeply saddening and gutting, but the delivery over Zaytoven’s keys is beautiful and makes you hope for better days. I’ve listened to this song on my worst days and on my best, and it hits every single time.

The tough thing with revisiting this album in this context is that it’s such a consistently great and solid album that is more of Future at his near best, where the other 2018 entries are new peaks or extreme highs and lows of different artists, and it feels lazy to just give a Top 5 spot to a great but short Future album when it could go to Pusha T’s breakout album or Nipsey Hussle’s last album. That’s where you run into philosophy and psychology and all of those things that are way too extreme for a list this trivial. But it’s stressing me out nonetheless. Much like all the times that I saw him subtweeting his ex after 7+ years apart, sometimes I wish I wasn’t such a big Future fan. But what can you do.

Kanye & Cudi in 2018

Not much to say here other than I’m disappointed this didn’t go further. They had such great chemistry and it felt like the comeback that Cudi fans have been hoping for since 2009’s Man on the Moon and 2010’s Man on the Moon II, which was even disappointing to some Cudi fans back then. I’m happy he’s doing well, and he’s released Man on the Moon III and Entergalactic since then, so he’s still making solid music, but Kanye’s influence and production on KIDS SEE GHOSTS brought the absolute best of Cudi in a decade and gave me and others hope for more. But I don’t expect a KSG2 anytime soon.

Reflecting on KIDS SEE GHOSTS and its Ranking

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Young Thug in 2018

Before I forget, it’s incredibly unfortunate that the title “On the Run” applies even more today than it did in 2018, as he and Gunna are ensnared in a controversial RICO case right now, covered in a Hulu documentary series that I need to check out.

Much like Future, Thug was coming off an insane stretch of proliferation. He released 5 Mixtapes and a joint Rich Gang mixtape in 2014, Slime Season 1 & 2 as well as Barter 6 in 2015. He dropped I’m Up, Slime Season 3, and Jeffery in 2016. 2017 saw the combination of Beautiful Thugger Girls, Young Martha EP, SUPER SLIMEY with Future, and Slime Season 4. That’s not even counting all the I Came From Nothing tapes and other stuff that dropped before Barter 6.

On the Run isn’t even his only 2018 project, I completely missed putting Slime Language on my extremely calculated system of putting albums into folders on Spotify. But admittedly I was slow on the uptake of both Slime Language, thinking Thug was being a little too erratic and out-there before fully appreciating this chapter of his music and listening to this album at least a hundred times since. I had a similar effect with SUPER SLIMEY, and I remember the album getting bashed in the Rap Genius comment section as well for being mid, or for Thug carrying Future throughout the album. But revisionist history is literally the whole point of this random article, so here we are.

Reflecting on On the Run and its Ranking

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Khalid in 2018

B.

Reflecting on Sanctity and its Ranking

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Cardi B in 2018

B.

Reflecting on Invasion of Privacy and its Ranking

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Travis Scott in 2018

B.

Reflecting on ASTROWORLD and its Ranking

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Migos in 2018

B.

Reflecting on The Last Rocket and its Ranking

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MAKING UP FOR MY MISTAKES

ALBUMS I MISSED:

• Drip Harder by Lil Baby & Gunna
• Street Gossip by Lil Baby
• The Black Panther Soundtrack by Kendrick Lamar
• Slime Language by Young Thug
• Goodbye & Good Riddance by Juice WRLD
• WRLD on Drugs by Future & Juice WRLD
• Still My Moment by Tee Grizzley
• Victory Lap by Nipsey Hussle
• Bobby Tarantino II by Logic
• KOD by J. Cole
• Whack World by Tierra Wack
• Life’s A Trip by Trippie Redd
• Life of a Dark Rose by Lil Skies (God damn I forgot about him and how good this album was. He had a weird situation with XXL but he’s regularly producing music at a 2 year/album clip so he should be dropping again this year or next. Definitely want to add him back to the rotation, he’s awesome)
• Culture II by Migos (Not a massive snub but worth referencing that this was a high high and low low type of album. It had massive singles but was indicative of the Playlist vs. Album situation that was going on at the time.
• i am > i was by 21 Savage
• Hoodie SZN by A Boogie Wit da Hoodie
• RESET by Moneybagg Yo
• Northsbest by Lil Mosey (More of an honorable mention to a great mindless work album. Shoutout Lil Mosey, shame he bodied himself with that XXL Freestyle.)
• Scorpion by Drake (Honestly this was the moment I stopped liking Drake as much so I’m glad this got left off. It’s not a bad album by any means, and had some standouts at the time, but it’s too bloated and I’ve have Drake fatigue hardcore from then to this day.)

BONUS: Albums I Still Haven’t Checked Out, Shamefully

When researching what albums came out in 2018 to see what I left off the list, I was met with pangs of shame when scrolling by some of the best albums of that year that I still haven’t given a fair shot to in the last 5 years since they came out. While it’s easy for me to say that I’ll “definitely listen soon”, I’ve had many car trips since they came out with no luck. Therefore, I’m documenting the process to keep me honest and on task. Here are some of the albums I will be finally circling back on and checking out.

1. Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe (This was one of the Music Twitter consensus albums of the year and I’m still intimidated to listen in less than perfect conditions but it’s at the top of the list now. I’ll just drive around my parking lot for an hour if I need to.)
2. TA1300 by Denzel Curry (I’m like 4 DC albums behind at this point but this is the biggest error. He was part of one of my favorite XXL Freestyles of all time so I’m just wasting time if I don’t at least check it out)
3. Feed Tha Streets II by Roddy Ricch (I’m literally listening to PEMFBA while I write this and I LOVE Feed Tha Streets III so why not check it out, even if it’s more raw than the latter albums. Roddy is one of my favorite modern rappers so it can’t be a waste of time.)
4. Stokely by Ski Mask the Slump God (I remember this being really hyped when it dropped. One of those albums I tried a couple times in the background at work but not a true listen through)
5. NASIR by Nas (loved the few tracks I remember, but this deserves a proper play through in the car)
6. DiCaprio 2 by JID (When I finally listened to The Never Story after years of putting it off, I was kicking myself for not checking it out earlier. Same artist, same energy)
7. Until Death Call My Name (Reloaded) by Youngboy NeverBrokeAgain (Love everything that came after this with a passion so it’s the same energy as FTSII by Roddy)
8. East Atlanta Love Letter by 6LACK (He’s easily the best R&B rapper and most aligns to my preferences in that regard so I wanna revisit this album that I used to play in the background at work)
9. SKINS by XXXTentacion (I honestly just missed his wave for the most part and this was one of the most anticipated projects of his so I wanna check it out with some space from it. I like the punk/rap approach on paper, but at the time it was just so weird and Dada-ist that I couldn’t get with it too much.)
10. K.T.S.E. by Teyana Taylor (Basically Kanye had that 7 song album stretch and I was listening to Ye and KIDS SEE GHOSTS and DAYTONA so much that I never checked out NASIR or K.T.S.E. and I still regret that. I’m sure I’ll love it because she’s talented as hell. Plus I wanna see what’s good with that Kim K tape sample that Kanye allegedly put in one of the songs, I’ve always been curious but it was just too much at the time.)