Hip Hop Records That Turned 10 Years Old In 2024

Not to make you feel old or anything, but some legendary discs celebrated their 10th birthday in 2024, I'm sure for many of them it feels like yesterday you were spinning them for the first time.

2014 was a big year for me, it was the first year I'd say I properly started listening to Hip Hop. Unfortunately, all these albums bypassed me at the time, I was still only discovering Eminem's music, the first rapper to get me into the genre. I was listening to some Nas, Dr Dre, and Biggie as well, but basically only older stuff + Em affiliates. What was coming out that year was gold but just not on my radar. In the 10 years since these albums dropped to now, I've been put on to them and listened to them all, and before the close of the year, it'd be nice to look back at some of these projects that celebrated the big one-oh this year.

J.Cole - Forest Hills Drive

I think there's a pretty convincing argument that this is the Hip Hop album of 2014. It's iconic and catchy hits, No Role Modelz and Wet Dreamz were everywhere in 2014 and the proceeding years afterwards. 2014 Forest Hills Drive took Cole to the next level, and solidified him. Before, he had his mixtapes and a couple of albums, but this was bigger. 

However, it wasn't just a commercial success. In the years just before 2014, Drake had dropped Take Care (2011) and Nothing Was The Same (2013), meanwhile Kendrick just dropped good kid, m.A.A.d city in 2012, and now it was Cole's turn to lay down a classic. But what's so good about it? To me it's smooth, conscious, lyrical, super authentic, sometimes can be corny, but mostly personable and likeable, and some brilliant song-writing - and just a ton of quotable and memorable bars. The production has roots in 90s and 00s Hip Hop, but still feels fresh and new, crisp and clear, with some excellent beat choices, especially on Fire Squad and G.O.M.D. There are some beautiful moments too, notably on Love Yourz. It's Hip Hop at its core and a modern day masterpiece. 

Star Track - Fire Squad

ScHoolboy Q - Oxymoron

If J.Cole is the vulnerable good-guy, carrying the torch for conscious rap in 2014, well ScHoolboy Q is not that. But he is carrying another torch. With his west coast flair, on Oxymoron, Q plays the rich-guy, braggadocious 'Gangsta' very well. Self-evident in the opening track, but also again on the expensive and anthemic tracks of Hell of a Night, Break the Bank, and Man of the Year, debatably the best 3-track run across all these albums we're talking about today. His violent and illegal formative years turned successful musician is a story we've heard before in Hip Hop, but Q adds a creativity in the production and his flow that just sets him apart from any 'by the numbers' gangster rapper. His voice is super infectious as well, it has a kind of squeaky aggressiveness, and like his music more generally, sounds very true. The gritty lyrics over the well-produced and musical instrumentals is a great concoction - a good example of all this is on Hoover Street. What I also like about Oxymoron is, yeah he has the bangers like What They Want, the hits like Collard Greens and Studio, but he also has the more challenging songs like Prescription/Oxymoron and His & Her Friend, in one case the subject matter, and in the other case the aesthetic of the song. To conclude, a very good album and arguably a classic, I personally prefer Blank Face LP, but I cannot deny the staying power of Oxymoron.

Star Track - Break The Bank

Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia Demo

Another pretty vintage TDE record, Isaiah Rashad dropped his first big release, Cilvia Demo in 2014 and it was pretty sick and still now, is quality. Isaiah can definitely spit but his knack for creating catchy melodies and moody atmosphere is second to none. The production is also really well executed and creates a pretty chilled, alternative boom-bap vibe. His hooks sometimes can be chanted or sung, or just mumbled, but they always sound nice. I like the refrains on Webbie Flow (U Like), West Savannah, Cilvia Demo, and of course Shot You Down which is just an epic collaboration with him, ScHoolboy Q and Jay Rock over one of the most iconic beats of the 2010's - I can't remember when I first heard this tape, think around 2017-2018, but hearing the Shot You Down instrumental brings some great nostalgia. This project grows on you with every listen, for example, it took me a few listens to realise how hard the song Soliloquy went, the sample in the beat, the pounding drums, menacing and provoking piano keys, it's a short, more aggressive track where Isaiah's barred up, I always like the rhyme scheme and lyric where he says "follow me the cult is back, sipping on that cognac and that jim jones, watching movies like, damn that Vince Vaughn is a funny cat". Other standout tracks are Ronnie Drake and Heavenly Father which have gorgeous female vocal leads on the choruses. Overall, a record that will never get old and has aged like fine wine in the 10 years its been with us.

Star Track - Shot You Down

PRhyme (Royce da 5'9 & DJ Premier) - PRhyme

From Boom to Hip Hop, when Royce Da 5'9 and DJ Premier get in the studio together, they only make gold, and that happens once more, in a more modern setting on the tape PRhyme. An iconic boom-bap, beat-scratching master + a lyrical assassin and legend in his own right, Preemo and Royce Da 5'9 were only going to make something hard. This tape is for the freestyle finding, multi-syllable appreciating, 90's loving Hip Hop heads. It's a nice breath of fresh air if you were ever disillusioned about the quality of lyricism in Hip Hop in 2014. The opening track PRhyme tells you what this project will be, Royce updating you on his own current life and also reminding you how ill he is and how ill he knows he is. 

They also get some sick features on this, some from older cats like Common, and some newer spitters too, notably Mac Miller and Ab-Soul on the same beat. There's also a track with ScHoolboy Q and Killer Mike on the same beat. And on the deluxe version they gets a feature from none other than MF DOOM! All on DJ Premier production can I remind you like whattt. A relatively short project but still packs a huge punch and an impression on the listener, Microphone Preem is an epic posse-cut outro on the original edition of the project (not deluxe) featuring the other members of Slaughterhouse doing what they were born to do. You Should Know is a beautiful, more calm moment on the tracklist that still contains punchlines, multi-syllable rhyme schemes and exquisite production to never get bored of. The sequel in 2018 to this tape is dope but this original will always be at a level difficult for any producer-rapper combo to reach.

Star Track - Dat Sound Good 

Logic - Under Pressure

Although Logic can sometimes wear his influences a little too much on his sleeve, sometimes Kendrick Lamar, sometimes J.Cole, when I first listened to Under Pressure, this album felt like a breath of fresh air. Logic's flow was super articulate and sounded so crisp, clear and smooth, over some pretty awesome boom bap production as well. His flow was fast and so well timed, every syllable landing, mixed with his introspective and righteous lyrics, he was a likeable guy. An underdog Hip Hop head that had huge respect for quality penmanship and clearly learnt from the best lyricists before him. Logic on this was a very likeable presence, because he was so good you naturally rooted for him. Songs like Soul Food which has a great haunting instrumental and hard beat and tone switch showed his technical abilities with solid wordplay and flow, but songs also like Buried Alive showed he had good song-writing ability as well, an ear for melody and a chorus that can stick. The three bonus tracks on the deluxe, Driving Ms Daisy, Now, and Alright were all quality additions to the tracklist too. Overall, the album is of a very good standard in terms of listenability, accessibility, lyricism, and as an introduction to a rappers pen.

Star Track - Buried Alive

Mac Miller - Faces

Potentially Mac's greatest project he ever released, Faces takes some of what Mac does best and puts it on full display. With eclectic and varied production choices such as Here We Go all the way to Diablo and Insomniak, and regardless of the beat type, Mac finds a way of making an interesting and entertaining song. What I like about Faces, there's isn't many rules it follows. You can have a song like Friends at the top of the album with its whimsical, drugged out production, with a minimal ScHoolboy Q feature and a hard drawn out Mac verse with a hard drawn out rhyme scheme. Then a more structured track at the end in New Faces v2 featuring Earl Sweatshirt and Da$H which is equally sick. Point is, the songs on the project are all different, whilst simultaneously you can tell they came from the same dude during the time period. I think that is because there are a few rules they do follow; Mac can explore some serious topics, Mac can say things that are quite provocative, the lyrics can be witty, and lastly, the beats will usually be something most rappers wouldn't think to choose. So yeah there are definitely some recognisable traits of the record, that you can enjoy throughout the colourful journey that Faces takes you on. From my first listen to my most recent, this project has continued to grow on me. No doubt this tape will be in rotation for many years to come, RIP Mac.

Star Track - New Faces v2