To Pimp A Butterfly is ambitious in its attempt to inspire a generation to change the world for the better and poignant enough to actually do so.

This is a work to prove that they could do it, and they've done it tenfold.

As the culture is currently enamored with more rhythmic patterns than the meat on the bone, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib have undoubtedly proved they can compete without compromising their composition standards.

The 16-track potent lyrical adventure is peppered with countless poetic musings masquerading as seamless Hip Hop tracks, easily solidifying Rapsody’s musical legacy.

Whether it’s a future classic or impenetrable catalog builder remains to be seen, but once more, King Kendrick has proved through linear vision he’s naturally able to outshine the rest of the mainstream while still working to figure out the world around him.

Not only is Homecoming an artistically-sound triumph, it’s a cultural touchstone and, quite possibly, the live album of a generation.

This project truly is an American requiem as the opening track states; it’s Beyoncé’s reminder that much has been sacrificed to allow her to claim her identity as a southern girl and fully partake in all of America’s unique artistic and cultural traditions.

RTJ4 cements Killer Mike and El-P’s right to be mentioned amongst the greats, especially in the realm of politically charged Hip Hop.

It is both album and manifesto, and illustrates the true power of art. The power to conjure back from the dark the voice of people the world has chosen to ignore.

Tip’s latest sets an example for matured vets who still like to get their hands dirty. Dime Trap is dually nostalgic and relevant, and cements T.I. amongst rap’s all-time elite.

Brimming with synth undercurrents, transfluid melodies, and delightfully jarring production shifts, Raven is a transfixing ode to human connection, interpersonal communication, and Black femininity.

The two have undeniable chemistry; woods always sounds exceptionally comfortable over a Kenny Segal beat, and Segal complements woods’s intricate writing brilliantly, keeping the backdrops uncluttered but ever-evolving.

The masterful way in which Thought delivers his bars, the sequencing and the soulful, almost comforting tone of the production (outside of a few cuts) make it a highly enjoyable listen.

J. Cole has a gift in turning tears into teaching tools and KOD is a concise, leather-bound audiobook of invaluable life direction goals.

Rather than cheap ploys to cross over, the questionable collaborations are more likely calculated concessions with the intent of sneaking his evangelical message to a greater audience. After the communion cup runs empty, Chance proves himself worthy of hero worship by subtly and subversively overthrowing the commercialized horrors of his town’s violent drill movement.

While Cheat Codes sometimes walks the tight-rope of being another installment in the Streams of Thought series, it’s still a lesson in supreme lyricism and pristine production that should have any aspiring MC/producer combo aspiring to get on their level.

In addition to being Dam Funk’s best production work to date, 7 Days Of Funk is Snoop's most enjoyable album in years.

Yeezus--like Yeezy--is jarring, uncomfortable, uncompromising and courageous--all the things that initially made Hip Hop great.

The realization of internet dream collaboration chatter, where the result is better than fantasy.

Pusha delves into risky artistic terrain and imparts flashes of lyrical genius only a few have the pedigree to pull off. The Prelude has once again positioned Pusha as an emcee with the ability to put forth a legendary piece of work.

No Poison No Paradise is Black Milk’s best album, and one of the year’s best in Hip Hop so far.

Each of Compton’s 16 tracks feel like individual set pieces bound together perfectly.

Though each installment seamlessly fluctuates from one temperature to another, redemption and regret guide the package’s dark enchantment.

Girl In The Half Pearl emits confidence despite being out of bounds for the average musically unconscious listener. Liv.e makes it clear she’s not here for external approval.

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips feels like an accumulation of that gained experience, a moment of breakthrough clarity. Kenny Segal, Messiah Musik, SteeltippedDove, JPEGMAFIA, and Child Actor handle the production, with every beat maker retreading past ideas to create invigorating new ones.

Book Of Ryan continues a four-year, six-album streak of top-tier lyricism, with noted personal and artistic growth in the process. His 2018 output will not only earn him noted respect as one of the best lyricists of the year but in rap as a whole.

There's no doubt--R.A.P. Music is the best Southern Rap album since Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty.

With its substantial subject matter, solid production and tightly-woven sequencing, Charity Starts At Home does exactly what a solo debut should: showcases the artist's skill set and personality all at once.

There are a great many moments that make Under Pressure feel like a feature film about Logic’s life, and when at its best, it is creating that sort of imagery.

Black Thought is rightfully held as a model for what Hip Hop fans could (and should) expect from MCs demanding to be held in high regard. The project’s only fault is its length prevents the five nearly flawless records truly getting off the ground.

With Cadillactica he’s found his stride by taking new steps. K.R.I.T. isn’t slept on, but he’s proven again that he should have a bigger bandwagon by now.

Throughout RTJ2 [El-P] holds his own rhyming alongside a superior wordsmith.

Whereas a lot of listeners might be tempted to ask themselves if ScHoolboy Q’s latest offering was worth the wait, his remarkable growth also suggests that years of experience is perhaps what births the richest music, especially in a word-heavy genre like rap.

The production is exquisite. A lush, cosmopolitan collection of sounds spread out and allowed to coalesce. The album is quiet, subtle and monastic.

Rapsody evolves on this latest album--increasingly comfortable revealing a wide range of personal facets while developing into an apt storyteller.

As Gangster Rap, Piñata is free of conceptual pretense; it’s a slice more than a thesis. It’s also a new benchmark for Gibbs and may end up as a career calling card. If nothing else, it quickly sounds like one of the year’s best.

Clocking in at 47 minutes, the album is both Tyler, The Creator’s shortest and most cohesive album to date and is full of introspective admissions that logically line up with his public character.

They make poignant soul that’s fresh sounding at all angles. Most importantly, Choose Your Weapon stands on its own as one of the year’s best albums.

Those looking for an album which actively engages the future of music while remembering the imperfect past has much to enjoy with In Colour.

No I.D. and company have helped him make music that’s both uncomfortable and lived-in, and Staples sounds more himself inside of it than ever before.

Black Messiah is ambitious and adventurous, and in that way it delivers wholly on the promise of D’Angelo as an artist.

Renaissance is both backward-looking and forward-thinking. A colorful, euphoric and glittery celebration of what has passed and what is still to come.

Directors of Photography is a top-notch effort. Production and lyrics are both outstanding, and there are few qualms, if none at all.

Nobody’s Smiling is defiant, as full of commanding musicality as it is of Common’s own provocation.

The Hamilton Mixtape is an enthralling musical journey through American history that manages to stay relevant to our country’s turbulent political landscape.

With Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City, Compton's flag bearer unveils a group of songs equally potent individually and collectively, meeting the mainstream and rabid fans in the middle, improbably touching that thinnest slice between mass appeal and mass respect.

It’s powered by honesty that goes beyond any titles fans have come to associate with the venerable spitter. In a career that’s stretched more than 20 years, Michael sees Mike as his most honest self, and it’s his most comfortable role yet.

Although it feels druggy and improvisational at times, the outcome is soberingly great.

Hell Can Wait is Vince Staples’ best short release to date and his true-to-form introduction as a Def Jam artist. It’s proof that he can improve for a new audience without compromising to reach them.

In an era where artists hype up projects that turn out to be nothing but half-baked playlists, 6LACK’s thoughtful embrace of the album format is refreshing. East Atlanta Love Letter is a moody masterpiece that may very well take the artist’s career to new heights.

The project furthers Top Dawg Entertainment's winning streak and marks the formal arrival of a cornerstone for this organization, an interestingly deep thinker whose determination and expanding consciousness seek to uplift and shape the world around him.

Curry has constructed a project that plays to the sonic structures of the era without sacrificing meaningful content in doing so. TA13OO is the culmination of his promise and talent, resulting in Curry’s magnum opus.

A Seat at the Table is her strongest work to date.

Outside of the disappointing “They.Resurrect.Over.New” (featuring Ab-Soul)--which connects conceptually, but sounds less dope doing so--Tetsuo & Youth glistens with maturity and imagination.

Kool Herc: Fertile Crescent is at its root empowering, challenging and subversive, most strikingly, it’s simply an incredibly rewarding listen.

With welcome to: OUR HOUSE, Slaughterhouse has somehow managed to improve upon its already-absurd skill set.

In reaching out and grabbing every pop sound that’s been successful in the past half-century of mainstream pop, rolling it tightly in a blunt and setting them ablaze with Abel Tesfaye’s sonorous vocals, this release gets much higher than most anything else released in 2015.

Every song on The Dreamer/The Believer succeeds off the strength of Common and No I.D.'s seasoned chemistry.

From nine-minute douchebag manifestos, to enlisting an A-list Grammy ensemble to piece-mealing his album out to the masses every Friday, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy defies logic and it ignores convention.

Ultimately, the album is challenging and uncompromising as it makeshifts a rallying cry for the disenfranchised Millennial Redditor; a manifesto for the misunderstood.

In sum, the mysterious Tahliah Barnett has created a devastatingly beautiful and industrial debut.

By co-opting the title of John Coltrane’s 1965 classic, A Love Supreme, Bilal is at least hinting at lofty expectations. For the most part he exceeds them.

Alfredo is a master class in rap — 35 minutes of cutthroat bars that feel like 15, leaving you hungry for another course.

The album is brimming with peerless content and an enlivened ambience that is manifested from his spoken word introduction to his grandmother's parting words on the closing track.

On Wildheart, Miguel excels in embodying the name of the album by being an artist both making a progressive album, but also uncovering more knowledge of self in the process, too.

With its glitchy instrumental palette backing it, Lahai is a serene look to the future where Sampha can be at peace with his memories and can raise his family in a positive environment.

There are several JAY-Z albums that are superior in terms of musical creativity, but never has the man behind the Roc chain been more prolific in thought. It’s catharsis on steroids, walking the tightrope between FYI and TMI.

Monét weaves an instant R&B classic out of empowerment anthems, genuine respect for her soul elders, and an unflappable confidence that can only be admired.

Phonte and Pooh have released the best Little Brother album since 2005’s The Minstrel Show. In doing so, they’ve reaffirmed why LB means something special to so many people and proven the improbable is still possible.

With Care For Me, Saba accomplished his objective by making an album that can endure for years to come.

One of the best R&B/soul albums of 2018.

With Cudi playing the role once occupied by his own ego, Kanye’s music sounds freer than ever before. Together, these two studio wzrds have managed to produce something that is equal parts raw, honest, touching, spooky and ethereal. We’re going to need more than seven tracks next time.

GUMBO’ is arguably Siifu’s greatest work to date. It’s an album that’s accessible but never treads on its underground street cred or lessens the dusty aesthetic to conform. It’s compact with moments of wonder, tenderness and fun folded into each other. GUMBO’! is as complete as it is essential to Siifu’s discography.

Minor potholes aside, Victory Lap not only boosts Nipsey’s stock but it raises expectations for the next time he eyes a checkered flag. The benchmark for quality has been set and the race to officially hit the championship podium is only getting revved up.

She’s unafraid of uncharted territory and willing to step outside the conventional box Americans place on Afrobeats, all while broadening the umbrella of dance music.

Through thick and thin, Tribe embodies the fully fleshed out idea of the Hip Hop their impassioned audience clamors for: work that’s soulful, thought provoking, and gripping enough to transport minds away from strife to another world sonically.

On IGOR, Tyler showcases a more polished iteration of the hazy pop he’s been perfecting for years. Though some might be disappointed that he’s becoming more of a singer than a rapper, this is the kind of project that should encourage more artists to disavow labels and relish in taking risks.

Each of the tracks contain replay value, but the standouts besides the aforementioned are the blues-tinged “New Thangs,” “No Window Tints,” and the punchy funk-heavy snares and easy listening jazz keyboards on “Buddy & Sincere.”

The 17-track project finds Tyler leaning into his rap prowess and flexing more bars than on previous efforts like 2017’s critically acclaimed yet sonically lighter album Flower Boy. ... The blatant dichotomy between emotiveness and almost blind arrogance peppers nearly every track, shedding even more light on who Tyler is beneath the surface.

It’s indeed Summer Walker’s authenticity she sells on Over It that feels right at home with ’90s R&B, and adjacent to contemporary druggy Atlanta-centric Hip-Hop. Summer Walker is unashamed, contemplative, and despite her debut album name, far from over.

What strikes you most is the sheer joy present in the sessions, imperfections galore. The free-flowing yet concentrated totality of Kendrick’s method.

Keith has built an entire career on his abstract, stream-of-consciousness rhymes, which scream loudly throughout the 11-track project. ... An undeniably intriguing affair.

Moments like “Pt. 2” where Yeezy reflects on his parents divorce, his mother’s passing, his near fatal car crash over Rick Rubin, Mike Dean, and Metro Boomin’s bouncing madness linger long after last listen.

With Pieces of a Man, Jenkins is surely having his own Frank Ocean-esque moment--he’s expressing himself on his own terms with poignant lyricism and nuance.

Overall, it works and is another jewel in her crown — one that she, overall, can be proud to call hers.

Noname overwhelmingly succeeds in telling her coming-of-age story where she removes all emotional layers to explore everything from comical socio-political ideology to sexuality minus self-serving preachiness.

The seven-track album goes the distance to add further refinement and distillation to the steely, luxurious drug raps that earned him rap relevance. ... The album is only seven songs and 21 minutes long, but Kanye covers a lot of ground sonically without getting scatterbrained.

If his discography to this point was the regular season, From King To A GOD could be a sign that play-off Maquina is going to be a problem.

The 12-cut package is a concoction of sharply digitized beats and eloquent instrumentation in mechanical form, processed further to synthesize hard-headed mafioso bars. .... Lyrically, Everybody Can’t Go is the latest addition to the empirical evidence piling up in favor of Benny The Butcher’s craftiness with words.

The result is dangerously addicting and affecting, where modern relatability rests on top of nostalgic production, avoiding the pitfalls of corniness and imitation. Full of soul and life, PinkPantheress’ status as social media’s newest darling is secure, as she crafts a garage dreamland that may just stand the test of time.

It does highlight Justin Scott and Big K.R.I.T. in their truest essence; spiritual, witty, and loyal to Mississippi, with overly soulful, southern production. Thanks to 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time, Justin Scott has once and for all ensured that his musical legacy is worth remembering.

With The Wild, Raekwon firmly grabs another trophy for the squad while continuing to pad his own hall of fame legacy in the process.

The 14-track album keeps all the commended technical framework of The Never Story but elevates the delivery and songwriting to a point where he sounds completely like his own man with his own plan.

This isn’t a simple listen. The lyrical punches fly faster than a speeding bullet, making it impossible to digest the staggering amount of content in a single sitting. It requires an acute attention to detail and several run-throughs to truly capture the brilliance of the project.

Gangsta Gibbs has enough fire here to remind fans that he’s able to compete in an era that has continuously boats of some insane releases.

He succinctly gets his point across by instilling that much needed old-school nostalgia lacking in music today with nine tracks. Instead of diving into the album with a bloated guest list, Bruno and his production team, Shampoo Press & Curl (with assistance from longtime collaborators The Stereotypes) ensure 80s babies stay forever young.

Blank Face LP could’ve cut some fat from its 72-plus minutes and 17 tracks, especially since some songs cover the same ground. However, as a whole, Blank Face LP is a victory not only for ScHoolboy Q, but for a T.D.E. crew that had seemed to lose momentum outside of its star player.

Despite how direct the lyricism is, it plays like two friends riffing in the studio and building off each other’s energy; listeners can hear how much Nas loves what he’s doing. The fact Hip Hop fans are getting appetizers of this caliber to hold us over until an inevitable third entry in the series is, in itself, Magic.