Rap Rebirth’s Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums of 2010
1. Rick Ross - Teflon Don - An almost flawless album. Great beats, lots of Rozay swagger and excellent guests. No skip tracks. Perfect summer album.
2. Nas & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives - Nas brings his usual lyrical genius and Damian Marley pulls off a nice hybrid of rap and reggae.
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - The production on this album contends with the great classics of all time. Musically it's a true masterpiece.
4. Lloyd Banks - The Hunger for More 2 - The G-Unit underdog makes a great album with that dark, dense Queens, NY sound.
5. Fashawn - Ode to Illmatic - Fashawn pays tribute to Nas' Illmatic with multis, internal rhymes, and that mid-90s hunger.
6. J Cole - Friday Night Lights - Understated piano on the production and excellent songwriting make a classic J Cole mixtape.
7. Statik Selektah & Termanology - 1982 - Brings back that mid-90s sound. Term is a master lyricist, reminds me of Big L. Statik's beats remind me of DJ Premier.
8. Drake - Thank Me Later - This album grew on me. Drake's producer 40 has a nice smoothed out sound. Drake may not be Ice Cube, but he's true to who he is.
9. Eminem - Recovery - Surprise comeback. Production is a little uneven but Em makes up for it with rapid flow, strong delivery and good lyrics.
10. Lil Wayne - I Am Not a Human Being - Solid album throughout. Good production and Wayne brings his usual wittiness. Nice prelude to Carter IV.