Albums Turning 10 Years Old in 2023

I thought it might be good to create an annual series which discusses great projects which are turning a decade old in the current year and reflect on them to see how they've aged, talk about what made them so brilliant, and discuss what has come of the artists since.

Doris - Earl Sweatshirt

Like every album on this list, this is an album I did not listen to when it came out, the first time I heard Doris was several years after its release, and after Earl's subsequent releases. Arguably the best demonstration of ill-lyricism of 2013, Doris is a beautiful onslaught of disgusting flows, sharp production, crazy rhyme schemes and punchlines and bars that smack you in the head. Reviewing Doris back in summer 2019 was an awesome moment for me, I had so much fun waxing lyrical over Earl's rhyme schemes and flows that ever since, and a big reason as to why I continue to write this blog, I have been chasing that feeling. In Earl's debut LP, he blends serious content matter, reeling off his deeper thoughts with wordy, slightly horrorcore, sometimes playful style, and his delivery is so clear and precise that it draws you in and keeps you there. I love listening to Doris, I pay attention so closely to his rhyme schemes and flows that I sometimes miss the content matter as it was intended, but my enjoyment comes from the skill Earl displays. As chilled-out as Earl is with his delivery, Doris is an album that feels irritated and angry, Earl can only get his shit off when he's spitting. Amongst the lyrical greatness is also a collection of sick songs and a classic Hip Hop album in my opinion. Since then, Earl dropped another brilliant project I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside, an even darker and dour album with more creative quirks. More recent years has seen Earl take his sound more leftfield with mixed results in Some Rap Songs and FEET OF CLAY. 2022's SICK! saw Earl bring it back to a more natural sound but still had Earl rapping on some unique and interesting production. Doris is my favourite project of Earl's, but the nice thing is, I'm still holding out with the consideration that he could top it.

Star Track -  Sasquatch

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 - Eminem

2013 saw Eminem do his own bit of reflection as he harked back to his 2000-classic The Marshall Mathers LP, and boldly named his new album to be her sequel. Throughout the 2013-album, Eminem hinted towards and referenced his magnum opus in what some would describe as "fan service", but was crucial nonetheless in knitting the two albums together to be a series. Starting the album with a 7-minute continuation of the story Stan, with dramatic and vivid bars was classically 'Eminem' and a crazy way to start the project. Following the seriousness of his 2010 album Recovery, on The Marshall Mathers LP 2 we hear are more playful side of Eminem. He's rapping just to rap, but he's also using a huge variety of production choices, samples that would be considered more "out there", and zany bars delivered with exquisite and genius rhyme schemes. Later we talk about another genius, Kanye, and his brilliant production, but Em's genius is his song-crafting abilities mixed with flow writing, rhyme scheme firing, wit, and delivery. His voice is great on this project, coming off slightly more high-pitched and nerdish, once again a subtle call-back to his earlier days. And it wouldn't be an Em project without him allowing us once again a front-row seat into his life and the trials and tribulations that he endures. Headlights sees an apology to his mother, Bad Guy sees his realisation of the hurt he's caused with his pen, Legacy taps into his childhood and what Hip Hop meant for him, and what it did for him. Groundhog Day from the deluxe edition was a fantastic storytelling track, reminiscent of Yellow Brick Road from Encore. Commercially, Em showed us he was still a powerhouse in the game and un-toppable, and was also the Grammy winner for Best Hip Hop Album too. Maybe not to the levels of his Recovery singles, but Berzerk, The Monster and Rap God showed us Eminem was going to flourish commercially in the growing internet and streaming era, and that much he has. In my opinion, since then, Em has dropped great, mid and trash projects, and unfortunately, his skill is waning as he moves to a focus on over-the-top multi-syllabic rhyme schemes, wordy flows and corny punchlines - he's losing what made him the GOAT in the first place, rapping whatever was on his mind with clarity and charisma.

Star Track -  Evil Twin

Because the Internet - Childish Gambino

One of 2 albums on this list that I only heard for the first time very recently, consequently, my experience with Because the Internet is still fresh in the mind. The experience was a fun one, I particularly enjoyed the infectious vocals on tracks like Telegraph Ave (Oakland), 3005, and Pink Toes. As much as there was an abundance of pop-accessibility to the album, Gambino was taking an abundance of risks, much more-so than his previous album Camp. Although some of the conceptual elements may have gone over my head, or atleast they weren't executed as strongly as they could have been, track-to-track I got a good sense of Gambino's mood and some of the messaging he was trying to get across. Gambino's music from this project did become slightly more experimental. Although he always had that tongue-in-cheek wit about his music, we see more personality and colour coming through on the production. It may not have the endearing nature of the production on Camp, but it does have something that feels modern, quite electronic, often similar to the production on Yeezus during those harder-hitting and energetic moments, but also has that Gambino sweetness to it. Gambino's songs tie themselves to the listener, and for me personally, I can't help but enjoy Gambino character and identity. Because the Internet for me, is clever, passionate, musical and dramatic, with some really quality moments to enjoy. Tracks such Shadows, Telegraph Ave (Oakland), 3005, Flight of the Navigator and Pink Toes demonstrate this thoroughly. Since this album, Gambino has only released 2 full-length albums in 10 years. Donald Glover himself has been busy though, with films and television, so you can see how the time has been limited for him when it comes to making music. In 2014 he released the EP Kauai which was pretty good, "Awaken, My Love!" was a hugely popular album in 2016 featuring the big hit Redbone. The album itself was a huge move away from Because the Internet, with less rapping and more soul tracks with Gambino displaying his full singing range. I think there's certainly some great songs and amazing production and it's cool to see him experimenting further with his music, but "Awaken, My Love!" is not something I'd listen to over Because the Internet. Lastly, in 2020, Gambino released 3.15.20 which I personally think is pretty poor, again, it had a couple tracks but the themes felt way less focused, the quality is not really there in comparison to Because the Internet or "Awaken, My Love!", and replay-ability was also much lower. Unfortunately, we haven't heard from Gambino since in terms of EP,s, tapes or albums.

Star Track - 3005

Nothing Was The Same - Drake

The second of a pretty sick 3-project run of Take Care, Nothing Was The Same, and If You're Reading This It's Too Late, this album is a real melting pot of sharp lyricism, some fun moments with pop-accessibility (like on Hold On, We're Going Home) and Drake doing some real reflection and narration of his career up to this point. It's definitely a high-point in Drake's discography, I think his wordplay and rapping is pretty strong, the production is of a high-quality with some legendary beats like on Pound Cake. On Nothing Was The Same, Drake is flexing, but you do also hear that more endearing side to Drake still, and I think some appreciation of life. His flows and delivery is very good as well, bringing us some nice melodic cadences in-between those moments where he's really spitting and getting his shit off. There's a good blend of lighter tracks and ones you'd consider a bit harder. The performance and production does keep Hip Hop pushing on and you can see today this is fairly influential album on what came next. There's definitely an argument to say this is Drake's best album to date, for me, it's certainly a toss-up between this and Take Care. Since this project, Drake's been busy with more albums, mixtapes, playlists, collaborative albums, compilation albums, with varying styles and sounds and to varying levels of success. Back in 2013, his commercial peak and hype was still in front of him, with Views (2015), More Life (2017) and Scorpion (2018) all having incredibly huge tracks on them that put Drake everywhere. As an album and from a pure consistency and quality perspective, Nothing Was The Same has got to be a level Drake hasn't met since in my opinion. That's not a wild criticism though as the bar he set with NWTS was incredibly high. Quality sampling, great vocal performance from Drake, nice variety of production and sounds he gives us, Nothing Was The Same is a top album and definitely a version of Drake that is on top of his game.

Star Track - Pound Cake

Yeezus - Kanye West

Yeezus is a very divisive Kanye album, with many loving it, and an equal number of people loathing it. And it's not hard to see why. The electronic, futuristic, abstract and erratic production pushes new buttons for Kanye and is a lifetime away from the equally seminal production on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy just 3 years earlier. The album is full of energy, atmosphere and swagger. You may not get an insight into Kanye's mind in a traditional sense like you would on The College Dropout, but Yeezus shows Kanye to be a wild creative who still largely prioritises the listening experience. Kanye displays passion and confidence with his tongue-in-cheek lyrics, he seems somewhat pissed off at times, perhaps with the treatment of him, and you can hear that in songs like New Slaves, but equally on the more aggressive Black Skinhead. He seems in touch with social issues also, again, heard on New Slaves. He blends self-awareness and wit with more provocative and inflammatory language with songs like Bound 2. The samples are awesome, particularly Blood On The Leaves which is a heavy song but also the closing moments on New Slaves are a thing-of-beauty. There's so many cool, crazy and catchy musical moments that hit the ear really well, I like the contribution of Beenie Man on Send it Up but also Chief Keef on Hold my Liquor. For every piece of distortion on this album, there's a perfect harmonic moment (whether in the production or lyrics) that creates this puzzle-like album that really is a collection of songs perfect together, that come together to create this masterpiece. Certainly a left-field choice but for me, it's my favourite Kanye album. I think it gets badly overlooked. I'm not sure what it is, of course the production is amazing, but Kanye's tone and attitude during this album, and also on The Life of Pablo (2016), really draws me in and I love it. Since this album, Kanye dropped The Life of Pablo (2016), Ye (2018), Kids See Ghosts (2018), JESUS IS KING (2019) and Donda (2019), all of which have there merits, particularly those first 3 since Yeezus. Could I see Kanye doing anything like Yeezus again? Yes. But will he? No, and that's also what solidifies Yeezus, it's very unique in the discography. The flavour of the album is rich, it only makes sense to dish it out sparingly.

Star Track - New Slaves (very very very tough to choose)

Watching Movies With the Sound Off - Mac Miller

This is the other album on this list that I only heard for the first time very recently. I see Watching Movies with the Sound Off as another great piece of work that will slot into my listening rotation easily. Production is some of my favourite from Mac's catalogue with beats that are progressive with some experimental, quirkier choices like on Bird Call, but then we also get that classic, harder more Hip Hop-typical instrumental, on Red Dot Music. Mac's lyrics take a step up too compared to K.I.D.S., the content matter and aesthetic is more serious with a little more depth to it, but we still hear Mac's tongue-in-cheek bars and delivery, like on one of my favourite tracks here, Avian. I've not heard Blue Slide Park which came out between K.I.D.S. and this album so I cannot comment on the style of that project, but I would say the mixtape Macadelic (2012) is closer to the style of Watching Movies with the Sound Off, due to the more adventurous production choices. Like on Guild from Doris, we see Mac and Earl bouncing off eachother, whilst Mac also strikes up excellent chemistry with Ab-Soul on the song Matches, another highlight for me and one of the lighter songs on the album, where both MC's reflect on their youth. The album begins with brimming creativity with Mac exploring various vocal effects and alternative production choices, we have this middle section of the album that has really strong performances from a rap-point of view but also some nice catchy moments like on Objects in the Mirror. After the banger Watching Movies and the strange, but lyrical Suplexes Inside of Complexes and Duplexes, Mac finishes the album with some slower, melodic songs with Remember, Someone Like You and Aquarium. For the bonus tracks, I didn't like the beat on Goosebumpz, O.K. featuring Tyler, The Creator was a banger and Claymation was pretty solid tune too. In terms of looking back on this album, maybe it goes slightly under the radar and I see less people talking about this album compared to say, GO:OD AM, or even K.I.D.S. In terms of how I would rank it, I would put it up there with them albums but maybe not quite as good as those. It's really sick though and I certainly enjoyed it. Since then Mac released GO:OD AM (2015), The Divine Feminine (2016), Swimming (2018), and Circles (2020), and of course sadly passed away in 2018. Out of the projects I have heard, he hasn't really missed at all throughout his career, making him one of the most consistent and perfect artists of the 2010's. It's 10 years on from this album, but I know people will be spinning Mac's music for as long as time lets them, RIP.

Star Track - Matches