Okayplayer's Top 14 Albums Of 2014
It's that time of the year, folks. When we play like Pete Rock's elders and reminisce over our favorite musical moments from the last 365-day cycle, re-availing ourselves of all it had to offer. OKP is here to help jog that memory with it's Top 14 Albums of the calendar year 2014, the absolutely objective, 100% factual guide to the best of the year's best. The 14th year of the 21st century commenced with an explosion of new-school G-funk; Madlib and Freddie Gibbs can both vouch. But cocaine piñatas and oxymorons are far from all the year had to offer. We were welcomed to the Art Official Age by Prince, taught a proper lesson in how to Run The Jewels once more with Killer Mike and EL-P, introduced to the formidable creative collision that is NehruvianDOOM. Add to that some new flame from the ever-enigmatic future-frequency freaker SBTRKT , Flying Lotus' dread-filled opus, Ghostface Killah assuming the role of a verbal vigilante and you've got a pretty damn good year in music. But it was the twilight of the year that really defined it with a break-the-internet moment from one of the music world's most unusual suspects. It was D'Angelo that revealed himself to be pop music's Black Messiah, and we're all still very much recovering from that discovery. We could go on and on about what it all means about our place in the universe, in American history, in our headlong rush into the coming singularity where we all become cybernetic organisms. But this list is about the music, not the memories or the metaphysics. So without further ado, here are OKP's Top 14 Albums of the year,in no particular order--except that Black Messiah is #1. Read on...
1. D'Angelo And The Vanguard - Black Messiah
As I contemplated how to gain entry to the surprise Sunday afternoon listening session for D'Angelo's Black Messiah some 48 hours ago, one Okayplayer writer asked me, almost resignedly, But is there anyway it could live up to expectations? The answer, it turns out, is of course not but...Yes. The most surprising thing about Black Messiah is that it is, in so many ways, The D'Angelo album we needed and maybe even when we needed it most. It is at once everything music fanatics treasure in the signature sound of Voodoo; the easy soul-healing grooves, the intimate falsetto, the unpretentious love of jazz and sex--and a whole new signature sound in itself. As described in my first-reaction (p)review on Sunday, the familiar elements often serve to tie together several new layers that have only been hinted at by the leaks and live performances; a drunker, more stuttery post-Dilla rhythm section from Questlove and Pino Palladino; a much heavier Funkadelic, even Afropunk rock sound, anchored by D'Angelo's guitar, which has possibly surpassed his vocal prowess; a mix from Russ Elevado that manages to give these countervailing forces forward thrust by finding an all-analogue soundscape that nevertheless recognizes the sampled dissonance of the Bomb Squad; and--perhaps most importantly--a much darker, more otherwordly and yet more political thematic vision. Black Messiah's lyrics and melodic progressions that dance on the churchical edge between rapturous and apocalyptic ( in a way that speaks directly, seemingly prophetically, to the emotionally raw moment America finds itself in at year's end.
Like many such phenomena, it could not have been planned that way; it had to happen. Without any secret inside knowledge it seems clear that D would probably have continued to perfect Black Messiah until the actual Judgement Day if some security council of management and label heads (and maybe drummers?) had not forced his hand and said, essentially, people need to hear this record now. In that sense the most important reference point for comprehending Black Messiah may not be its obvious musical forebears so much as Bob Marley. Much has been said elsewhere about the record's rich influences, about D'Angelo's ability to channel the whole history of black music into a very specific oeuvre, but to name here only the most salient, compared with Prince, Eddie Hazel, Miles Davis, Sly Stone, Junie Morrison, James Brown, and yes, Black Sabbath--Marley's sonic influence amounts to almost nothing. And yet...it's been well recorded that at a certain point Marley parted ways with the mainstream of Jamaican music, continuing to explore further and further into his signature roots sound until he was almost a genre and an industry unto himself. With Black Messiah, D'Angelo has done something comparable to soul music. In the context of a year-end list the most striking thing about it may be how not-part-of the current conversation it is; there's zero attempt to reconcile his approach to r&b with the evolutions embodied by The Weeknd or Frank Ocean, the album's feel is often drunk or delirious but never screwed and D doesn't give a good goddamn if there's Mustard on the beat.
Instead, he has gone deeper into the influences, elevated the sound and the craft and vastly expanded the themes of D'Angelo-in-the-year-2000 to create an incredibly compelling mirror universe to 2014's musical landscape. All of which begs, perhaps demands, the million dollar question: Better than Voodoo? That's too early to call, but 48 hours into the coming of Black Messiah, we are ready to formulate this question with a straight mind--and even speak it out loud. -Eddie STATS
>>>Buy Black Messiah On iTunes
2. Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
After exploring the universe on Cosmogramma and dancing with dreams on Until the Quiet Comes, the stakes were high for Flying Lotus's next move. Many (Okayplayer staff included) wondered how the mythical L.A. producer-composer could possibly do any more to erase the lines between sampling and live performance, to further bend hip-hop to the weirdness of his will. But he did it--and in the process also gave in to death.
You're Dead! is a feverish record built upon FlyLo's love for jazz and his ability to bring geniuses together. Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat, and a bevy of ace studio players all lent their talents to the cause, namely creating an afterlife-soundtrack that's scary, angry, bold and at all times self-aware. Where you expected rattling snares, instead wait flittering brushstrokes. Tracks that might have once featured lush strings instead carried rugged synth and not much else. But, thanks in large part to Thundercat's brilliant 6 string bass playing, it's also a record of beautiful details. It sounds better and stranger with every listen, and while many still focus on the raw power of "Never Catch Me," it's really the final track on You're Dead! that matters most. After crushing us with the gravity of death at every turn, "The Protest" brings peace and the comfort that life continues after death. The album's final dusty snare is the heartbeat we thought we'd lost forever. - Scott Heins
3. Young Fathers - DEAD
Scottish/Nigerian/Liberian trio Young Fathers' debut full-length Dead arrived this year after the release of two stunning mixtapes — Tape One and Tape Two— that could’ve well been albums. The 11-track LP channels the Edinburgh-based group's unconventional blend of haywire synthesizers, heavy beats, choral group vocals, and rhymes into a distinctively pop package. There's many shades to Young Fathers' apocalyptic pop and all are represented in these 11 songs — from the turbulent ballad "LOW" to the wall-shaking bass of "GET UP." It's not difficult to see how the band beat out FKA Twigs, Damon Albarn and other stiff competition for this year's Mercury Prize. For more from the group, watch their episode of Okayafrica TV and check out their exclusive mixtape for Okayafrica from last year. -Killakam
4. Pharaoahe Monch - PTSD
Pharoahe Monch fans likely recall when PTSD was just a rumored work-in-progress; a 5 or 6-song EP that would be the much needed/wanted/anticipated follow-up to his acclaimed W.A.R. album. But as the tracks on his fourth project began to take up residence in a skillfully crafted narrative, it was clear more work had to be done for the deliberately cinematic tale to be complete. Three years later, the Rap God gave us what is arguably his most focused and intricate effort to date. With production from longtime collaborators including Lee Stone, Marco Polo and Quelle Chris, Monch set out to do more than solidify his place as a “complex” and “multisyllabic” MC. To that end, guests like The Roots’ own Black Thought ("Rapid Eye Movement") and his Indie 500 crewmate Talib Kweli (“D.R.E.A.M.”) are well-placed industry greats rather than flavor-of-the-month features. For his part, Monch gives voice to issues of mental illness (“PTSD”); drug addiction (“Broken Again”); gun violence (“Damage”); and the disturbingly timely ills of society (“The Jungle”). With lyrics that can be as heartbreakingly poetic as they are Chuck-D-anti-establishment, Monch's career of 20+ years as an artist painting life’s canvas with words is clearly at its peak with PTSD -Cali Green
5. SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land
Prior to 2014, SBTRKT's modus operandi reflected the mathematical operation of his namesake, a seductive reductiveness in sonic palette, not to mention meta-data. Working mostly in minor-keyed rhythms and collaborating with a very short shortlist of likeminded Samphas, I mean singers, SBTRKT's minimalism left lots of space for the rest of the world to invite itself in--a temptation to try on his beats for size that Drake was famously least able to resist. This year, by contrast, his M.O. and name might meaningfully be described as 'go forth and MLTPLY' and his sophomore album Wonder Where We Land opened the SBTRKT sound outward to ask, What would happen if...?--in both title and in practice. SBTRKT x Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend = a surprisingly funky popin "New Dorp. New York." SBTRKT x A$AP Ferg and SBTRKT x Raury produced some of the year's best not-quite-rap. Throughout, however, SBTRKT's hard to define but easy to recognize sonic footprint--a certain way with bass harmonies and melodic percussion, a certain easy darkness, as well as the return of previous vocal collaborators Sampha and Jessie Ware--make Wonder Where We Land one of the most coherent album statements of the year--even if the statement is really a question. - Eddie STATS
>>>Buy Wonder Where We Land On iTunes
6. Prince - Art Official Age
Purple pageantry was in full-effect this year when Prince announced that he'd be letting go of not one, but two albums this year as a measure of reconciliation with Warner Brothers. Taken together or separately, the 3rdEyeGirl-assisted Plectrum Electrum and the solo Art Official Age LPs stand as a formidable bifurcated effort; one taking to the steel-toed rock of "Bambi"-era Prince and the other saluting his more tender r&b side with just the hint of a regal nod to contemporary hip-hop schemes. But we're gonna go ahead and put the shine on AOA, as it's easily the most approachable of the two, not feeling forced or overly done-up in anyway. From establishing "THE GOLD STANDARD" to the future-funk, fast-spitting offering "U KNOW" to the blissful balladry of "THIS COULD BE US," Art Official Age gave The Purple One footing to reenter the contemporary musical landscape as a force, reaffirming not only his role as musical maniac of the century, but as a needed and proper influence in a culture that had begun to give up on the notion that he was capable of anything other than crashing your favorite jazz night and throwing some the most elaborate secret shows the world has even known and rarely seen. AOA straddles the line between commercial and cosmic r&b like a pair of his own tailored skin-tight trousers sans the embarrassment of actually getting fitted. Prince may still be the quirkiest musical genius in the game, but Art Official Age shows the timelessness of his process in spades and puts forth, declaratively, that The Kid is back and (we fervently hope) here to stay. -Z0
>>>Buy Art Official Age On iTunes
7. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata
Funny how the unexpected can so quickly become so necessary. When "Thuggin" first hit the world back in late 2011 the reports of Freddie Gibbs and Madlib's new collaboration had many scratching their heads. Back then many fans of underground, jazz-inflected "art hip-hop"--the music that Madlib's productions basically exemplify--had either never heard of or never much cared for Gibbs. A streetcorner shock jock MC signed to Young Jeezy's label didn't seem like the best logical match for Stones Throw's leading man. But "Thuggin" held surprising promise; Gibbs's relentless tale of life in the hood sat both wounded and empowered by Madlib's pizzicato string samples and dry drums. Boasts became warnings and hard-truth confessions.
The less-is-more soul sampling that Madlib employed on Piñata put Gibbs's awesome rapping talent in full view. Once coated with rattling trap beats, the Indiana MC now stood stripped but confident, in full view with his guns still loaded. Rhythmic twists and turns are child's play for Gibbs, who slipped genius lines between Madlib's spaced-out beats and made the legendary producer sound even better than before. It's been 9 months since Piñata dropped and still no other hip-hop record since sounds quite so classic. The sway of "Harold's," the aggro-hustle of "Shitsville" and kicked-back sex talk of "Lakers"--these are just a few of the moments that will endure for decades. Not only is Piñata musically brilliant, but it proves that more hip-hop heads need to tear down some fences and get to know their neighbors. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib. Game recognize game. -Scott Heins
8. Ghostface Killah - 36 Seasons
Who would've thought that with all of the Wu-Tang madness occupying the internets these days, that Pretty Tony would be the one to outshine all of Shaolin? While this particular Okayplayer is of the opinion that Ghostface has long been the top microphone menace of the foundational Golden Era posse, it was his virtually unchallenged solo venture 36 Seasons that really helped settle things for us. Over dusty soul samples and grimy, muscular beatscapes, GFK takes on the role of a verbal vigilante, slinging a thugnificent and romantic narrative that lines up perfectly with the Tony Starks persona's flame-retardant lyrical ambivalence. Many of you may have written off 36 Seasons in light of it Wu-Tang's A Better Tomorrow, but rest assured that if you're looking for a piece that captures the filthy swagger of early Shaolin, 36 Seasons is that drop. So get those neck and knee braces strapped, this thing's as heavy as anything you'll hear all year. - Zo
9. Electric Wire Hustle - Love Can Prevail
It's probably about time we went ahead and officially coined the genre term "Oceanic Soul." Electric Wire Hustle turned heads worldwide when they exploded out of New Zealand with their 2009 self-titled debut, an airtight record full of half-drunken beats and gorgeous lead vocals that quivered like a candle flame. And it would have been enough for them to double down on that sound and serve up more post-Voodoo soul and keep our necks nodding. But core members Mara TK and Taay Ninh have higher sights, and with this year's much-anticipated Love Can Prevail they injected a revelatory breathing room into their sound.
Whether it's the slow climb of "Bottom Line," the low-heat guitar of "Loveless" or the rooftop storm of "Numbers And Steel," the countless discrete moments of hard-wrought composition that make up Love Can Prevail show just how much EWH means it. Their first record flowed over the planet like a river; this one captures and carries us like a net. So long as this band is making music, soul will always be safe. -Scott Heins
>>>Buy Love Can Prevail On iTunes
10. Black Milk - If There's A Hell Below
It’s no surprise the sixth studio album from Detroit native Black Milk is popping up on year-end lists across the board. The producer-who-happens-to-rap continues to draw Dilla comparisons as he put forth some of his most soulfully catchy tracks to date. And as many have noted, If There’s a Hell Below is the product of Milk's earnest efforts to find his voice and hone his sound -- both as an MC and as a producer -- over the past nine years. While his MC skills have clearly grown, his ability to match storytelling and production is also impressive. "Detroit's New Dance Show” gives shine to his hometown’s techno glory; "Everybody Was" takes us back to the lunch table; and “Story and Her” stands out as an example of live instruments meeting synth sounds. Solid features include Pete Rock ("Quarter Water"), Bun B (“Gold Piece) and Random Axe-men Sean Price and Guilty Simpson ("Scum"). A mostly start-to-finish listen, If There’s A Hell Below has us waving the Black Milk flag and eager to see what comes next. -Cali Green
>>>Buy If There's A Hell Below On iTunes
11. Bishop Nehru x MF DOOM - NehruvianDOOM
We're pretty much all ears when it comes to anything that occasionally slips out from the weird and wild world of the ever-elusive MF DOOM, who takes on lyrical and musical disciples like Black Jesus (not to be confused with another redeemer of the funk canon on this list.) The villainous, legendary beat sculptor turned a new page this year, tucking young Bishop Nehru under his wing for what was easily one of the best offerings of the year, a cross-generational collision of the true-school's darker frequencies and new-school's swaggering, sharpened lyricism called NehruvianDOOM. The collaborative piece with ol' metal fingers provides an an ideal introduction to the immensely talented Nehru, granting him the sonic space to spread his poignant and introspective narratives over everything from full blown blap-attacks "Coming For You" or soulful and displacing soundscapes like the album's closer "Disastrous." All of which confirms a formidable and necessary presence in the game. -Zo
>>>Buy NehruvianDOOM on iTunes
12. Killer Mike & El-P - Run The Jewels II
Damn near perfect as a total body of work, Run The Jewels II LP spits all over the suggestion of a sophomore slump and provides a very concise blueprint for what a properly executed hip-hop project can be when all of its gears are properly oiled and the artists' most noble intentions, fearless ideas and gutter tendencies are allowed to mingle and bear fruit. Killer Mike and El-P are as political as they are impolite and the deft hand with which they inscribe their voices onto wax is a harbinger of the genre's potential for life after death; Run The Jewels II has been wildly popular above and below ground, despite the proliferation of the urban radio agenda and the complaints of many purists, who believe that their beloved genre has been watered down to the point of permanent injury and possible impotence. The follow-up project proves that the duo's success and sound were not merely a flash in the pan meant to fade after the first LP, but the beginning of a series of critically-acclaimed cult classics that have allowed Killer Mike and El-P to find their stride in the game and force hip-hop to evolve in the process. The Meow The Jewels cat sounds LP is only one very concrete and quirky example of this. People have asked whether the first album is better than the second, or vice versa. Each project is singular, spectacular and significant to a specific point in the duo's growth. Run The Jewels II will never be Run The Jewels, and fortunately it didn't try to be. Raising the bar on their second outing, Killer Mike and El-P amp up the electricity, channel the deviant spirit of punk, pick apart the system and make it abundantly clear that it is perfectly fine to be intelligent and unapologetic at the same damn time. Theirs is a take on beats and rhymes that has burned the instruction manual, cemented them as legends and challenged all of the fuckboys in the industry - especially your favorite rappers and producers - to do better. - Karas Lamb
>>>Buy Run The Jewels 2 On iTunes
13. Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty
Shabazz Palaces’ third studio LP Lese Majesty first hit our radar via Okayafrica, where readers were introduced to the project according to the etymology of its title and the spirit of rebellion contained therein:
‘Lese Majesty — a subtle anglicization of the French ‘Lèse-majesté’ (which translates to an attack on either a sovereign power or deeply rooted beliefs and customs).’
Challenging the status quo and any expectations established by previous releases, Palaceer Lazaro (Butterfly) and Baba Maraire returned with a collection of tracks fiercely devoted to their compulsive individuality, insatiable curiosity and a fetish for experimentation. A statement of staunch artistry that challenges widely-held notions of what hip-hop - and genre itself, for that matter - should be, Lese Majesty exposes the eccentricities in rhythm, melody and the minds of the men behind the project. Trading the kalimba lines of Baba Maraire for the floating harmonies of THEEsatisfaction’s Catherine Harris-White, the compilation is reinforced with echoing platitudes, undulating synths and poignant percussive statements. This is blackness unbound by space or time or pain or policy. With this project, Shabazz Palaces provide concrete proof that the beloved 808 boom and fervent blues can survive and sound sick as hell, far outside the matrix. -Karas Lamb
14. The Roots - ...and then you shoot your cousin
As a rule, we don't review albums by The Roots on Okayplayer. Questlove is the founder of this site and even apart from that we don't pretend to be anything other than non-objective, obsessive fans of The Legendary. This record is different, however. Besides being the "Est"-est Roots album ever (the darkest, the minimal-est, the experimental-est, the conceptual-est) ...&TYSYC is also in many ways the final artistic statement of Roots manager (Roots svengali, Roots scientist, Roots maneuverer and Roots radical) Rich Nichols AKA Dixpop, who passed away 5 months ago. For that reason alone it is a historical marker on par with Black Messiah--an album not only of the year but of the decade or decade and a half--because it is the last album by "The Roots" as we have known them. Rich has been with the group from before the beginning, was producer of every Roots LP to date and a prime mover of their group identity, their sound and the statement the group was trying to make with each record. We fully expect The Roots will go on to make other, brilliant records but when they make them they will not be quite the same band.
For so many other reasons ...&TYSYC, is the only record that could meaningfully bookend this list--this year, this era--with Black Messiah, standing opposite to it in much the same way that Things Fall Apart did to Voodoo, 15 odd years ago. In its simultaneous reduction of tighter and tigher rap verses by the core Roots MC roster--narrowed down to just 2 mics (Black Thought and Dice Raw) for most of the record--and its proportionate expansion into cosmic themes and soaring, bottomless vocal and string arrangements to convey them, ...&TYSYC is in many ways a greater leap in musical evolution from TFA than that gamechanger was from Organix. Although in its core message it stares the possibility of a godless universe in its eyeless face--again an eerie mirror opposite of Black Messiah--its ghetto existentialist universe of street corners and id-meets-death urge was clearly telling us what we clearly weren't yet ready to hear, months before Ferguson and Eric Garner became household words, telling us on the only timetable that Rich and The Roots had available to them: Too soon.
Though it has thus far mostly been overlooked by year's best lists and Grammy committees, I have little doubt that 15 years from now we might very well hold Black Messiah,Yeezus and ...&TYSYC as the trilogy that defined this particular era of American music, much as Things Fall Apart, Voodoo and Black On Both Sides defined their millenial moment. Until that day comes, listen again and raise up a glass (or a lighter) for Rich. "The Roots" are dead. Long live The Roots. - Eddie STATS
Buy ...and then you shoot your cousin On iTunes
Honorable Mentions: J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive; Pharrell - Girl; Common - Nobody's Smiling; DJ Premier & Royce Da 5'9" - PRhyme; Isaiah Rashad - Cilviademo; Taylor McFerrin - Early Riser; Mary J. Blige - The London Sessions; Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron; Adrian Younge Presents : Souls Mischief - There Is Only Now.
