The 10 Most Disappointing Rap Albums of 2010

[VIsqo]

The 10 Most Disappointing Rap Albums of 2010

If you like cheap samples, corny lyrics, and the sound of nails being drawn across a blackboard, then you'll love these albums. Ladies and Gents, I give you the 10 most disappointing hip-hop albums of 2010.

10. Ghost, Rae, and Meth - 'Wu-Massacre'
""© Def Jam

When the dangerous triumvirate of Ghostface, Raekwon, and Method Man join forces on an album you expect an explosion of wits. But without Jedi RZA steering the army, these killer bees flail around aimlessly. Way to clutter Wu's pristine discography with your ego, fellas.

9. Canibus - 'The C of Tranquility'
""© Interdependent Media

His songs still hover around the familiar -- tough talk, lyrical bravado, and the occasional reference to UFOs. Sorry, Bis, but there's only so many ways to talk about how lyrically apt you are before people start nodding off.


8. Ice Cube - 'I Am the West'
""© Lench Mob

If Ice Cube retired from rap today, I wouldn't complain. Cube had a helluva run in the 90s, and Death Certificiate will always be a masterpiece in my book. AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, too. Ah, those were the days.
Buy Direct

7. Twista - 'The Perfect Storm'
""© Get Money Gang Entertainment

Twista plans the perfect end-time coitus and brags about his ability to rhyme 10,000 words per second. The songs on Perfect Storm barely segue, playing like a collection of average-to-solid material with no apparent cohesiveness. There are some explosive rhymes buried here and there. You just have to dig through the wreckage to find them.


6. Redman - 'Redman Presents Reggie'
""© Def Jam

These days, Funk Doc is more interested in playing wise sage to the bevy of upstarts and weed buddies than leaving them in the dust. Unfortunately, he does it while rocking his "I Love the 90s" t-shirt. It would be nice to see his musical maturity catch up with his personal growth.


5. N.E.R.D. - 'Nothing'
""© Interscope

If you're expecting the fierce rhythms that made "Everyone Nose" and "She Likes to Move" floor favorites, you're in for a massive disappointment. Instead, Williams and co conjure a mixbag of uninspired songs. You're likely to be more entertained listening to your neighbors have annoyingly loud sex.


4. Rhymefest - 'El Che'
"Rhymefest - El Che"© EMI

Whereas Fest’s debut, Blue Collar, was thoroughly enjoyable, his second will cause you to feel something weird and it’s not adoration. Cheesy tales stretch across intense soundscapes but novelty takes a backseat to execution. Really, Fest, you don’t need to record every single idea you conceive.

3. Nelly - '5.0.'
""© Universal Motown

Nelly finally ran out of ideas. Those exuberant lyrics and captivating hooks of the past are now replaced by forced collaborations, cheap samples, and ridiculous lyrics. I'd rather listen to a chorus of snorting pigs than hear this again.


2. Black Eyed Peas - 'The Beginning'
"Black Eyed Peas - The Beginning"© Interscope

The danger in being formulaic is that you eventually drown in the comfort of your own formula. Nosebleeding electro club hits worked last time out, so will.i.am and company returned with more of the same. Listen to The Beginning long enough and you'll feel like you've been transplanted to a disco night at a mental institution.


1. T.I. - 'No Mercy'
""© Atlantic Records

Arguably T.I.'s worst outing yet, No Mercy relies on gruesomely listless party tunes and way too much whining. You're better off listening to a running loop of Serena Williams' grunts at the U.S. Open. Whatever happened to the guy who used to get it poppin' with that 8-ball corner-pocket rhyme?

http://rap.about.com/od/top10albums/tp/10-Worst-Rap-Albums-Of-2010.htm
___________________________________________________________________________________

I dont quite agree with this list.. There were a lot of more disappointing albums this year, and I like some of these.

[bigted]

This is some bs, Ice Cube, Redman, and Rhymefest are the realest rappers out there that deserve to be on the best of lists and I think Nelly's not as annoying as he used to be, but I never really thought much about TI, the only album from him that I liked was "King", when I think of dissapointing rappers I think of Soulja Boy, Lil' Wayne, Florida, and Tony Yayo, not a lot of the legends mentioned here, the person that came up with this probably thinks that Jay-Z is the greatest rapper and never heard a Big Daddy Kane CD....

[Turntable]

I think they are kind of on point with Cube, Canibus & G'M'R, Rhymefest n even Redman.. They coule have made classics, but they only made good or decent records at the end.. Now the rest I did not expect anything from

[bigted]

Well nobody puts out classics anymore, there's some "good" albums out there but nothing groundbreaking these days, I actually look more for classics from previous years these days than the new albums....

[JumpinJack AJ]

I think the whole thing is silly. Certain artists (pretty much every popular artist) is getting their garbage albums placed in the "Best of..." lists while more legit artists are are ending up on these albums. I guess u could say Ice Cube's and Redman's albums are disappointing when u compare it to their work in the 90's. But their albums certainly aren't bad and they are a thousand times better than the releases coming from Lil' Wayne, Kanye West, etc. It's like the game is designed to promote and praise the weak, wack, and awful and tear down the creative, hardworking, vets. I don't really care for these lists anymore. What's the point when so many legendary acts aren't releasing new material or getting proper exposure?!

[VIsqo]

Nah man.. None of this albums can compare to the one Kanye released this year. Thats just another category. I can agree some of this albums aint bad, but they are not as good as we might have expected them to be. I actually think that Nelly's album was an improvement to what he had been releasing of late, and I bought the Ice Cube album and I like it too, I guess when u have really big expectations on something you believe is going to be great, when it comes out just regular good, you get disapointed. Im Not disapointed at Wayne's or Minaj album because I was not waiting for much from them..

[JumpinJack AJ]

I could care less about half of the albums on that. I haven't heard Redman's album all the way thru' but I've previewed every song on it and liked it. Ice Cube's is average. I like Rhymefest but he's music doesn't initially grab me. Whenever I get around 2 listening 2 it I end up liking it but it's never a staple in my music collection that I continuously go back to. I love the Black Eyed Peas...I just don't like their current music that much. I haven't listened 2 the new album since it came out. It's just a part 2 of their last album yet it's even weaker than that. I was never a Nelly fan when he was really popular but I did get his album because I love "Just A Dream." Some of the songs are really good. Whenever he doesn't try 2 hard, he does well. Some of the production is weak but it's a good commercial rap record. I'm not interested in the albums but T.I., N.E.R.D., or Canibus. I was curious about Twista's album but I'm not inspecting anything too impressive.

I think Eminem and The Roots are the only Hip-Hop records that really even stand out in my mind from this year. I don't like Kanye's music at all. I think Lil' Wayne and Drake are jokes. I don't few any of the last 3 rappers as rappers. They are more like pop stars. Music genres have blended and radio play has mixed so much that it's kind a like u are a pop star or u are a recording artist who is semi-successful or independent.

[bigted]

Most of what people consider the best stuff out in the past few years would be considered average if it was released during the golden era of hip hop between the late '80s and mid 90s, people are so hyped up about rappers like Eminem and Kanye over the last decade 'cause there's been so much mediocre stuff that they gravitate to whatever's considered average, Kanye and Eminem put out good albums for 2010 standards but those albums ain't on the level of Illmatic/Mama Said Knock You Out/He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper/The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick/Me Against The World,in reality though the best mcs are from the golden era still 'cause they set the standard for how great hip hop should be made... That standard's so high that they can't top themselves, Nas probably won't make an album better than Illmatic, Ice Cube probably won't top Amerikka's Most Wanted, KRS probably won't ever top Criminal Minded, JJFP probably won't ever top He's The DJ, but they know how to make good records for any era, they could throw up on a CD and they still would sound better than mostly anyone out these days, in respect even the newcomers in recent years like Lupe and BOB are good but they ain't on the same level as LL Cool J and Rakim, in my opinion hip hop probably reached it's peak already... Also I wanted to add that I get more newer mixtapes than newer albums over the past couple years 'cause mixtapes are the best way to get that quality hip hop since industry politics hurt quality albums from coming out, for instance if Kel released the material he put out on mixtapes as official albums and the record labels promoted it it would go platinum or better, the same goes for Papoose, Saigon, etc, the state of the industry has hurt hip hop...

Edited December 30, 2010 by bigted

[Big Willie]

in reality though the best mcs are from the golden era still 'cause they set the standard for how great hip hop should be made...

Not really, there we're just s many wack artists out in the 'golden era' as there is now. They just weren't seen as wack because we didn't know any different at the time. They should be considered pioneers and respected as legends, but we cant slate them the 'best' just because they originated in a certain era. Kurtis Blow established hip hop in a major way, but is he really a better emcee than Eminem? If you're being honest with yourself, the answers probably no. Respect them? Yes. Place them on a pedastal just because they are originals? Not for me.

Although Nas was in what we consider the 'golden era' of hip hop, its safe to say he wasn't one of the orignators from the 80's, but he's still 100 times better as an emcee than most from that decade. The same way we all say people need to check the history before calling someone 'the best' we also have to not be closeminded in that, there is some new artists out there who are very worthy of being considered 'the best'. And just because someone says Eminem or Jay Z are the best ever, without knowing who Tupac etc are, doesn't make them wrong!

Thats my take anyway!

[Turntable]

You are right.

[Da Brakes]

Hear hear!! It's what you do on the mic not when you started rapping that determines how good you are as an emcee

[bigted]

if people really judged artists based on talent then rappers like soulja boy woulda never got a record deal, it's a fact that too many of these rappers that people consider 'hot' don't have much talent, anybody that thinks that rappers these days are putting out classic albums on the level of "Illmatic" are fooling themselves....

Edited January 3, 2011 by bigted

[Da Brakes]

if people really judged artists based on talent then rappers like soulja boy woulda never got a record deal, it's a fact that too many of these rappers that people consider 'hot' don't have much talent, anybody that thinks that rappers these days are putting out classic albums on the level of "Illmatic" are fooling themselves....

But its not talent that is selling records these days. It's gimmicks, dance crazes and off mic activity. Record Companies are all about making money at the end of the day and if you look at it from their point of view they are just reacting to what people are buying. This craze will be over soon enough and then it will move onto the next one. Also remember that styles of music are not forever. What may have been big in the 80's will not be as big in the 90's, and what was big in the 90's will not be as big in the noughties.

Yes we can look back and say I really liked some of the stuff that came out in the 80's, 90's etc but to say that because you came out during that time that you are automatically better than anything that's out today....I can't get my head around that one. By your logic, you hold Lil Wayne in high opinion amongst other rappers as he came out in 1992????

Edited January 3, 2011 by Da Brakes

[Big Willie]

if people really judged artists based on talent then rappers like soulja boy woulda never got a record deal, it's a fact that too many of these rappers that people consider 'hot' don't have much talent, anybody that thinks that rappers these days are putting out classic albums on the level of "Illmatic" are fooling themselves....

There were equivalents to Soulja Boy in the 80's and 90's too, Ted, don't forget that. Not every rapper from those decades are worthy of being considered any better than Soulja is, it just so happen that there was a lot more quality out back then that we didn't get to see them in the mainstream as often.

I hate to say it Ted, but you're stuck in your ways. If you're talented, you're talented, regardless of when you started.

[Big Willie]

But its not talent that is selling records these days. It's gimmicks, dance crazes and off mic activity. Record Companies are all about making money at the end of the day and if you look at it from their point of view they are just reacting to what people are buying. This craze will be over soon enough and then it will move onto the next one. Also remember that styles of music are not forever. What may have been big in the 80's will not be as big in the 90's, and what was big in the 90's will not be as big in the noughties.

Yes we can look back and say I really liked some of the stuff that came out in the 80's, 90's etc but to say that because you came out during that time that you are automatically better than anything that's out today....I can't get my head around that one. By your logic, you hold Lil Wayne in high opinion amongst other rappers as he came out in 1992????

EDIT: Just to add to what Brakes said, if anything, instead of criticising the likes on Em and Jay, you should be partially grateful that they are still selling quality hip hop and not becoming too consumed with gimmicks in their material. Recovery is one of the best things to happen to hip hop in the mainstream for a very long time.

Edited January 3, 2011 by Big Willie