Top 10 Most Disappointing Albums: 2009

by Thomas on December 31, 2009

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Kevin: There may be a lot of albums Justin, Thomas and myself disagree on, but one that we do agree with is that Rakim had the most disappointing album of 2009. Rounding out the rest of my Top 10 were albums that I was eagerly awaiting but ended up being very disappointing at the end result.

Justin: The God Emcee returned and off the strength of “Holy Are You”, looked poised to succeed. In the end, 7th Seal fizzled and have you wishing Rakim had given a call to Premo. The idea of Slaughterhouse had many fans drooling BUT their group effort & solos from Royce & Budden didn’t live up to the hype.  Busta Rhymes proved his album title correct as he gave us nothing but B.S. on his latest album. Stoupe of Jedi Mind Tricks gave heads a solo album they’d been looking for yet provided some of his most lackluster production in his career.

Thomas: The God Emcee did the unthinkable…he made a bad album. From the rhymes, the hooks, to the beats…it wasn’t a well put together album. Guru and Busta are normally trend setters, but followed the trends with their latest releases. The CNN album lacked the previous chemistry between the two emcees and Charles Hamilton dropped a dope “mixtape” (Pink Lavalamp), then made that dud of an album This Perfect Life. I may be the only person in internet land upset about this!

Kevin

01. Rakim – The Seventh Seal
02. Guru – Guru 8.0 Lost and Found
03. Rapper Big Pooh – Delightful Bars
04. Busta Rhymes – Back on My B.S.
05. Jadakiss – The Last Kiss
06. Alchemist – Chemical Warfare
07. Felt 3 – A Tribute to Rosie Perez
08. Masta Ace & EDO.G – Arts & Entertainment
09. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon
10. Freeway – Philadelphia Freeway 2

Justin

01. Rakim- The Seventh Seal
02. Royce da 5’9- Street Hop
03. Stoupe- Decalogue
04. Busta Rhymes- Back on My B.S.
05. Clipse- Til the Casket Drops
06. Eminem- Relapse
07. Kurupt & DJ Quik- BlaqKout
08. Joe Budden- Padded Room
09. Jay-Z- Blueprint 3
10. Slaughterhouse- Slaughterhouse

Thomas

01.  Rakim – The Seventh Seal
02.  Busta Rhymes – Back on My B.S.
03.  Guru – Guru 8.0 Lost And Found
04.  Capone n Noreaga – Channel 10
05.  Charles Hamilton – This Perfect Life
06.  Alchemist – Chemical Warfare
07.  Freeway – Philadelphia Freeway 2
08.  Camron – Crime Pays
09.  Jadakiss – The Last Kiss
10.  Fat Joe – J.O.S.E. 2

Related posts:

  1. Top 10 Most Disappointing Albums of 2008
  2. Top 10 Most Anticipated Albums For 2009
  3. Top 10 Free Albums: 2009
  4. My Top 5 MCs
  5. Top 10 Most Anticipated Albums for 2008

Follow: Thomas on Twitter


Posted in Lists

  • http://kevinnottingham.com Jon Garcia

    @ Justin
    slaughterhouse dissapointed you man?

  • bigon

    @Kevin:
    09. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon

    WHY?

    My Top 5:

    Rakim- The Seventh Seal
    Capone n Noreaga – Channel 10
    Royce da 5’9- Street Hop
    Slaughterhouse- Slaughterhouse
    Felt 3 – A Tribute to Rosie Perez

  • http://kevinnottingham.com Jon Garcia

    whats wrong with slaughterhouse?? lol

  • bigon

    @ Jon Garcia:

    Crooked,joell,royce and joe = MONSTER!!!!

    BUT:

    the beats are weak. the hooks are weak.

    when such 4 mc’s make an album you expect great.

    compare to other albums that is a good one.

    BUT i expected great things.and the album was only OK.

  • Ohini Jonez

    Agree with all these… except:

    Till The Casket Drops (hard to have 3 classics in a row you know)
    BlaqKout
    Delightful Bars

    past that.. yeah, I feel y’all, Slaughterhouse was a two edged sword… it was full of great battle raps, but didn’t have the content you’d expect from Buddens, Joell….

  • http://kevinnottingham.com Jon Garcia

    yea thats true i guess you were kinda let down a little
    its just hard to make a dissapointment list when you have an album that could also be in a top ten list haha

  • bigon

    i forgot Cormega – Born and Raised.

    Very BAD Album!

    The Realness is a Classic.True Meaning also.

    But B&R is not good at all.

  • http://kevinnottingham.com Thomas

    I had Royce’s joint on my most disappointed list, but took it off. It had TOO many dope tracks. to add to the list. Free’s joint isn’t an “official” album, but he still made those tracks.

    Jadakiss was disappointing because I wanted more “Death Wish” and “Cartel Gathering” then some of the other songs.

    I was expecting more from ALC’s joint. I’ll agree with my main man Matt. The beats do bang (I gave it some other spins), but the rhymes from his guest were C level to me overall.

  • http://kevinnottingham.com Justin

    @Jon yeah because even though I personally was not expecting something amazing, the hype around them coming together a big deal in 2009. People were crowning SH album of the year before it dropped lol. I said this when it dropped – if it was a mixtape, I’d be impressed. But it wasn’t, it’s an album. It is too cluttered, too formula based and not a well crafted LP. Same with Royce’s solo which many people expected big things from. After all his guest spots and Bar Exam 2, it looked like he’d finally make that complete album. Yet again, he came up short imo.

    btw, Busta’s album was the worst LP I heard this year. It would be higher but I wasn’t anticipating him dropping something mind blowing (I didn’t think he’d put out complete garbage though either).

  • http://www.soulfullvibes.net Soulfull Vibes

    I can agree on all of them except Masta Ace & EDO.G – Arts & Entertainment, the rest was a dissapoinent major Rakim WOW MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!!!, I like Jada and Busta but not there Cd’s the rest WACK!!!!

  • http://twitter.com/whatizhiphop Kinge

    Whoa, Justin, I thought for a minute I was reading the wrong list. I know these are opinion based so you get mad respect. The 5 below are not bad albums. Especially Slaughterhouse. I thought it was dope and Royce is kind of nice too. Murder and On the Run were great. The Phonte assisted track was nice. Eminem required multiple spins but I got it. BP3 is a nice piece of work. DOA set a tone the album didn’t quite capture and his use of guest features were questionable but it is definitely one that deserves a rotation spot.

    02. Royce da 5’9- Street Hop
    05. Clipse- Til the Casket Drops
    06. Eminem- Relapse
    09. Jay-Z- Blueprint 3
    10. Slaughterhouse- Slaughterhouse

    @Kevin Kid Cudi I was with you after first listen. But it’s a conceptual piece of artistic creativity that expands beyond hip-hop. For a hip-hop release, after much anticipation, yes, just deserving. It is actually, imo, in line with the Kanye 808′s album. You have to adjust your frame of mind when you listen to it.

    @ Thomas Charles Hamilton was my top guy before Drake came along. With TPL, I was pushing him hard to many individuals. Then Drake came along and I think he could not keep up with his sudden stardom. If Charles would have stayed with his formula, I believe he would have made it. Charles Hamilton went too far to the left in his experimentation of new sounds. Throw in Drake and the label knew that Charles Hamilton was not creating a product that would last in the market. It did not help the controversy he started with the Dilla production. I believe that almost completely derailed his career and he is still recovering. I still like dude and check for his stuff but he is not capturing my attention as he did in day’s past. 2010 could be a rebound year for him.

    Good stuff gentlemen.

  • http://twitter.com/whatizhiphop Kinge

    Wow. I totally was feeling Slaughterhouse and herald it album of the year at that time. Brother Ali was another one that was great content wise and conceptually. Didn’t get quite the shine it needed. Slaughterhouse was just that grimy, hard core real rap. It didn’t have a shine and didn’t need one. It was dark, raw, rough, and ragged which I feel was perfect for those type of MC’s. I’m really surprised to see Slaughterhouse on any list.

  • http://kevinnottingham.com Thomas

    Fat Joe’s joint was HORRIBLE. His last two album were decent. This album had one dope cut “Music.”

    I agree with Justin that the SH album isn’t cohesive. It lacked a certain chemistry, however I expected that as the emcee’s just starting working with each other. I expect a more cohesive album next go around. With that said I think it is one of the better albums I heard this year off of the lyrics alone. All four did their thing. Joell mos def for me.

  • Victor

    There was nothing wrong with the bars on the SH lp nor the chemistry imo. The main issue was the fact they always had all four of them on every track which made it plod a bit. Another issue was that for some reason minus the standout cuts (sound off, microphone, not tonight, the one) the beats felt hollow to me. I dunno how some of them made it on and a track like woodstock didnt make the cut.

    I think Street Hop had toooo many dope cuts on it. I think the issue was we’d heard a fair number of them for a long time. Tracks like Shake This, Part of Me and Warriors are among the best of Royce’s career.

  • http://kevinnottingham.com Thomas

    @Victor I think chemistry is a problem when they don’t know each other well enough to trust that fact that maybe Royce and Budden sound good over this type of track and not all four of them. IMO can’t just throw people together and think it will work right away. There are exceptions to every rule…not in this case IMO.

    I thought the beats on SH album were a good fit for them. I didn’t have a problem with the beat selection. I do think Joey A&R the project because it sounded like a Joey album.

    I didn’t mind Part of Me or Shake This on the album as they were dope songs. The album just didn’t flow smoothly all the way through. It had too many dope cuts for me to put on a disappointing list tho. I still supported and still rock it tho.

  • http://sirnigel.bandcamp.com Sir Nigel

    i though the Delightful Bars was dope. production was bananas. and Pooh came right. but there were too many features.

  • midwizz

    all I can say is that Guru’s album made me cry, seriously.

  • http://www.myspace.com/psymunsays Psymun

    relapse is so dope! i’m confused!

  • Thomas

    Relapse is one of those hate or love albums….kinda like Nas’s joint last year. People either loved it or thought it was trash.

  • David

    Save for a couple a couple obvious radio grabs, Royce definitely showed he has skills with the best of them, but he had way too many guests…and the guests were wack. It was disappointing for sure, but not for the reason I would’ve expected.

  • David

    also, Rakim was disappointing for sure, but anyone who remembers ‘The Master’ (a so-so record if you go back a listen), shouldn’t be overly shocked.

  • LEX

    Back on my BS & Relapse were definitely my top 2.

  • GREATPAID

    YOUR STRAIGHT TRIPPING ON THIS LIST WOW

  • Jigsaw

    Wifey been getting at me about how much she likes it but BP3 was an ugly but strong second to Rakim’s 7th Seal as the most disappointing of ’09. The last time the god MC & HOVA dropped shit in the same year was ’96 and the fall off was as steep as the years were long.

    Jada shit was hot & shouldn’t be on anybodies list however I’m still stuck on stupid; Rakim & Jay-Z put out garbage in the same year. “Holy Are You” & “Empire State of Mind (27 & counting)” are incredible singles that should be constant reminders to their respective camps that they owe us more!!!

  • airyeezy
  • Jigsaw

    Oh an Em…

  • Victor

    I think BP3 was a grower. Plus it helped that i had like no anticipation after the timbo joints got leaked. To me like half of it was dope and the other half was average to poor (forever young is supreme trash as are hate and off that). That said stuff like DOA, Thank You and Already Home were good. I dont think it deserves to be in best or worst of lists.

  • http://twitter.com/fuhnahtik FUHNAHTIK

    I think we all agree on Rakim & Busta … Slaughterhouse to me is still a stretch (I read the above comments but really, it was a dope effort and the start of a movement), I think Jada’s album was a disappointment, and in all honesty I didn’t like the Clipse album either but I’m not a fan of them in general so take that as you will.

    Royce album was disappointing at first but after listening a few more times I’m listing it as dope, too many great tracks. The skits are irritating because they’re stuck on the intros to songs.

  • http://www.legitimate.bandcamp.com Legitimate

    Though “Chemical Warfare” had its weak moments, I’ve been bumpin “Therapy” and “Calmly Smoke” for a while. And for Slaughterhouse, individual songs? Hype. Coherent album? Nope.

  • Chris B

    Royce is “somewhat but not all the time” garbage.

    i know alot of you are probably not very pleased with my comment, but its true. Royce has always KILLED features (Losing Out for example) but proven that his solo releases arent exactly amazing. He is at best Good, or OK. alot of people dont really take note to what the message is behind the lyrics. Now, to give a counterpoint – i DIDNT listen to the entire thing yet, because of school and whatnot…but from what i heard from Royce (besides Part Of Me….which is amazing) is as said before – OK at best. to add onto that, Yes, i will admit that he has given some good songs in the past, but for the most part….nah.

    and on that note…Slaughterhouse is not really a good album either. but many thanks to Kev and the crew for putting the sample set together. It just seemed like the entire album was bragging about how good the crew is gonna be. which they really werent.

    listen to the Show & A.G. Experience: Live Hard album, and compare it to what you heard on street hop. Live Hard is Hip Hop with an actual relevant message to the community. Street Hop and Slaughterhouse is not.

    -Chris

  • http://www.hgraphiks.com Kid Captain Coolout

    When compared to the Diamond District album, which is as dope, as plain and as simple as it can get… there’s a huge amount of albums that fall short of expectations. I definitely think Rakim has been overrated for way too long. He’s the same lyricist he was when he first came out and his style has gone stale. I think BP3 was a pretty good album for Jigga to try pleasing everybody. And I liked 3 of the songs off The Clipse’s album so much, that i deleted all of the rest of them.

  • True

    Wow, a lot of artists make bad hip hop music but Rakim is not one of the, wow wow wow. 7th Seal is a good album, who the hell listens to Rakim lps for beats. In 2020 you will be able to listen to 7th Seal and know what 2009 was like, it’s a good reflection of that year. I thought Satisfaction Guaranteed was one of the best displays of lyricism last year.

    “Is he Moses or drugs? Either way it’s a profit (prophet)” And I loved the grown maturity on the lp but I can cee how it would sound foreign to some who need ear candy and to be entertained. Rakim isn’t one of the most serious hip hop artist ever though, he aint no joke, he doesn’t try to make hits, just hip hop and with his own label doesn’t need to be paying for producers that charge an arm leg leg arm head. The god doing his thang on some La Schmoove ish and my hat goes off to him.

    yall buggin’, however I still think this site is doper than many hip hop sites I’ve come across.

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