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“You had your chance and you blew it!” These were our most disappointing album releases of 2012.
10. Saigon – The Greatest Story Never Told Chapter 2: Bread & Circuses – The problem with making a sequel to classic or beloved hip-hop record is that people will undoubtedly compare it to it’s predecessor. Saigon’s official sophomore effort was not a bad record by any means, but consider this: a) his first album, being in the vault for so long, had the time to marinate to perfection and b) his first album was almost entirely produced by Just Blaze. With Just only contributing two tracks, the difference was evident. Saigon still held his own, but perhaps billing it was a sequel to the original was not the right move.
9. Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – We’re not sure what we were expecting here, and probably should have known better, but after the original Pink Friday, we hoped for a return of the “mixtape Nicki”, considering she’s built a fanbase that will buy her album no matter what. Instead, we got another pop record with a bunch of tracks like “Starships”. Even worse, not even a year later, they tried to re-release it as Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up, counting on her less-than-scholarly fans to go for the double dip. Re-tarded.
8. 2 Chainz – Based On A T.R.U. Story – Yah? No. Sure, it was packed full of hits, but he really delivered a stinker with the album. We thought that the G.O.O.D. Music affiliation might have somehow made for a decent LP; joke’s on us for believing in marketing.
7. Meek Mill – Dreams & Nightmares – Meek had a strong year, filled with many of the biggest club tracks, which unfortunately were not included on his album. The fiery Philly upstart spent bangers like “Ima Boss”, “Burn” (w/ Big Sean), and “House Party” on other projects, rather than lacing his own record with them, while the album itself was a pretty weak entry to begin with. Perhaps his sophomore release will see the manifestation of his untapped genius.
6. Wiz Khalifa – O.N.I.F.C. – The pressure was really on Wiz to deliver something great, as his Atlantic debut was a huge letdown. After collaborating with Snoop on the solid Mac & Devin Go To High School soundtrack, we thought for sure that Wiz would settle in nicely In First Class. Things started off on a sour note once the internet caught a glimpse of the cover image, while the album itself didn’t do much to justify the curious choice of wardrobe.
5. Slaugterhouse – Welcome To Our House – While this album wasn’t bad, the standard set by Shady Records is so high that naturally we expected a better LP from the House Gang. It was probably also a challenge to channel four different personalities into one cohesive effort.
4. Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Part One – Only topped by Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up, this album just missed the “most asinine album title of the year award”. The all black album cover – which worked on Jay-Z’s The Black Album because it was a near classic – tried to put this record on some kind of high level of pretention. Likewise for audacious sampling of Pete Rock’s “T.R.O.Y.”, which caused a stir of it’s own. Much like Lasers, LF’S F.A.L.2.T.G.A.R.A.P.1. was a disappointment.
3. Busta Rhymes – Year Of The Dragon – Bait & switch. The year of the dragon was 1992, when “Scenario” came out. At least it was free.
2. J. Dilla – Rebirth Of Detroit – The idea of this album was to create some kind of “rebirth of Detroit”, pairing Dilla’s beats with a lot of different emcees, some of whom never worked with Dilla in the past. The end result was not only a let down sonically, but it also caused an “unnamed engineer” who mixed parts of the album to attack the project, calling it a disgrace to Dilla and his catalog. Dilla’s legacy is fragile, let’s not taint it with anymore bad, posthumous releases.
1. G.O.O.D. Music Presents Cruel Summer – Easily the most anticipated album of the year, one that boasted a super-group of Kanye, Common, Q-Tip, Kid Cudi, John Legend, the album was more focused on pushing newer members Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz – the latter of whom is not even a card-carrying G.O.O.D. artist. Sure, the album produced some of the year’s biggest hits, but was a far cry from the rest of the music of the collective crew.
10. Saigon – The Greatest Story Never Told Chapter 2: Bread & Circuses – The problem with making a sequel to classic or beloved hip-hop record is that people will undoubtedly compare it to it’s predecessor. Saigon’s official sophomore effort was not a bad record by any means, but consider this: a) his first album, being in the vault for so long, had the time to marinate to perfection and b) his first album was almost entirely produced by Just Blaze. With Just only contributing two tracks, the difference was evident. Saigon still held his own, but perhaps billing it was a sequel to the original was not the right move.
9. Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – We’re not sure what we were expecting here, and probably should have known better, but after the original Pink Friday, we hoped for a return of the “mixtape Nicki”, considering she’s built a fanbase that will buy her album no matter what. Instead, we got another pop record with a bunch of tracks like “Starships”. Even worse, not even a year later, they tried to re-release it as Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up, counting on her less-than-scholarly fans to go for the double dip. Re-tarded.
8. 2 Chainz – Based On A T.R.U. Story – Yah? No. Sure, it was packed full of hits, but he really delivered a stinker with the album. We thought that the G.O.O.D. Music affiliation might have somehow made for a decent LP; joke’s on us for believing in marketing.
7. Meek Mill – Dreams & Nightmares – Meek had a strong year, filled with many of the biggest club tracks, which unfortunately were not included on his album. The fiery Philly upstart spent bangers like “Ima Boss”, “Burn” (w/ Big Sean), and “House Party” on other projects, rather than lacing his own record with them, while the album itself was a pretty weak entry to begin with. Perhaps his sophomore release will see the manifestation of his untapped genius.
6. Wiz Khalifa – O.N.I.F.C. – The pressure was really on Wiz to deliver something great, as his Atlantic debut was a huge letdown. After collaborating with Snoop on the solid Mac & Devin Go To High School soundtrack, we thought for sure that Wiz would settle in nicely In First Class. Things started off on a sour note once the internet caught a glimpse of the cover image, while the album itself didn’t do much to justify the curious choice of wardrobe.
5. Slaugterhouse – Welcome To Our House – While this album wasn’t bad, the standard set by Shady Records is so high that naturally we expected a better LP from the House Gang. It was probably also a challenge to channel four different personalities into one cohesive effort.
4. Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Part One – Only topped by Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up, this album just missed the “most asinine album title of the year award”. The all black album cover – which worked on Jay-Z’s The Black Album because it was a near classic – tried to put this record on some kind of high level of pretention. Likewise for audacious sampling of Pete Rock’s “T.R.O.Y.”, which caused a stir of it’s own. Much like Lasers, LF’S F.A.L.2.T.G.A.R.A.P.1. was a disappointment.
3. Busta Rhymes – Year Of The Dragon – Bait & switch. The year of the dragon was 1992, when “Scenario” came out. At least it was free.
2. J. Dilla – Rebirth Of Detroit – The idea of this album was to create some kind of “rebirth of Detroit”, pairing Dilla’s beats with a lot of different emcees, some of whom never worked with Dilla in the past. The end result was not only a let down sonically, but it also caused an “unnamed engineer” who mixed parts of the album to attack the project, calling it a disgrace to Dilla and his catalog. Dilla’s legacy is fragile, let’s not taint it with anymore bad, posthumous releases.
1. G.O.O.D. Music Presents Cruel Summer – Easily the most anticipated album of the year, one that boasted a super-group of Kanye, Common, Q-Tip, Kid Cudi, John Legend, the album was more focused on pushing newer members Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz – the latter of whom is not even a card-carrying G.O.O.D. artist. Sure, the album produced some of the year’s biggest hits, but was a far cry from the rest of the music of the collective crew.
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